numberless » interface

Hypertext > static text.

Scott — Tue, 08 May 2007 03:34:10 +0000

At least, this is the conclusion I reach in my review of McKenzie Wark’s Gamer Theory, published as part of my Off the Grid column on Joystiq. Wark developed the hypertext version of Gamer Theory first, later including the first round’s comments and criticisms into a print-based version published by Harvard University Press. In tandem with the dead-tree issuing, he also introduced Gamer Theory Version 2.0, which re-opens the commenting system for the digital text.

The result of this dual-publication is the inevitable comparison between the two mediums. In my opinion, hypertext clearly comes out on top. The text is made stronger by its original format, and the accompanying commentary serves the text better when offered simultaneously, rather than being pushed to an endnotes section.

Arguably, however, the hypertext version is stronger because the content was originally conceived as hypertext. And Wark has already commented on my review, stating that “are supposed to be different reading experiences. The former stresses the role of the comments more while the later ‘hides’ them a bit to produce a more linear reading feel.”

Still, I do wish that Wark experimented more with the print medium, rather than intentionally working within convention. His decision though. Wark’s (hopefully) coming to Bard toward the end of the month for a small conference on games and conflict. I look forward to meeting him.

Also, the senior project is done. I plan on posting some of the material on my site in due time. I’ve already looked into installing MediaWiki, and my host doesn’t support it (yet).

On web design, grids, and awesome people.

Scott — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:43:31 +0000

In a haze of clicking around, I stumbled across Khoi Vinh’s web site, and his post on a talk given recently at SXSW in Texas. The focus of the talk was the use of grids in visual design. I started reading it without realizing that Khoi’s the guy responsible for this recent redesign. That just made me read closer.

His post (which was so good I’m linking to it twice) talks about a theoretical redesign of yahoo.com using grids, and he includes the slides from his SXSW presentation on the topic. A lot of what he talks about is working within certain constraints, such as an average display resolution, and the various ad units which have to be taken into consideration in the design. He says the following:

Ad units complicate things, but theyâ€™re actually very helpful because they serve as fixed constraints.

Constraints are the mother of design invention.

How awesome is that?! His slides were awe-inspiring, and have already taken root in my brain. I love when stuff does that.

No birthday parties on the Wii, apparently.

Scott — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:15:40 +0000

So my birthday’s today, and I decided to boot up our Wii to see if there was any mention of the occasion. On the Nintendo DS, the system information includes the birth-date of the owner, so when he/she enters Pictochat on that day, the system presents a special message. Since each Mii can be personalized with a birth-date, I figured the same sort of attention would be given.

But apparently not. No mention of my little Scott’s special day anywhere.

It’s a missed opportunity on Nintendo’s part. They’ve got this super-adorable Mii Channel, and yet no Mii birthday parties? At the very least, I expected my Mii to be wearing a party hat. In my most grandiose expectations, however, I imagined that when the player entered the Mii Channel, the birthday Mii would be front-and-center, and all the other Mii’s would be throwing confetti, jumping up and down, and singing “Happy Birthday.” How cute would that be?

(P.S: I’m 22 now. Twenty-two. That’s a lot of numbers.)

Why casual games are addictive: an unordered list.

Scott — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:24:24 +0000

No instruction necessary: learn as you play; the game won’t eat you alive if you don’t know what you’re doing.
You only need one hand: most actions are often mapped to the mouse; easier to relax while playing; simple controls also make it less intimidating to newcomers.

You’re not gonna die if the phone rings: a lot of the action is dependent upon the player, so if you need to walk away for a minute you’re not jeopardizing hours of gameplay.
If you lose, it’s not the end of the world: little to no chastising for making a mistake; innumerable opportunities to retry a level; no ominous ‘game over’ screens.
The simplest actions become significant: Match two diamonds and fireworks go off; spell a word and it makes a fireball; nothing keeps a player going like the satisfaction of accomplishment; they’re playing for the bells and whistles.
You can play for five minutes: …but you never do; “Just one more round…”

On interaction, Apple.com, and "slide to unlock."

Scott — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:39:36 +0000

Apple’s site has been pissing me off lately. It’s a silly little thing, but it’s frustrating to me. They’re advertising the iPhone on the front page of apple.com. It’s shiny, it’s pretty, it’s the bleeding edge, but the site is instructing me to do something that I can’t do.

I can’t “slide to unlock,” because the phone is just a quicktime video. And the second I click it, before I have a chance to slide, it sends me to the iPhone page.

It’s stupid, right? But I doubt that I’m the only person who tries to “slide to unlock.” And this isn’t just an annoyance. I want to slide to unlock. I want to be able to have a playful relationship with that image, and by extension with Apple, their website, and the iPhone.

Let me slide to unlock. If nothing else, give me the satisfaction of having that tiny interaction. At worst, it will give people a half-second of enjoyment. At best, it’ll make them feel a connection to the phone; a direct causal relationship to its interface. It might even make them want to play with it more.

DS apparently stands for "Dissing Southpaws."

Scott — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 02:52:12 +0000

Update: Okay, so it seems I spoke too soon. Turns out Hotel Dusk does have a setting for left-handed folk, which essentially negates my entire argument. Oh well. I’ll leave this post here for posterity.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for the Nintendo DS sure sounds awesome, but the unique way you hold the system could potentially alienate left-handed gamers (comme moi) from the game. When playing Hotel Dusk, it seems that players must hold the DS vertically, like a book, with the touch screen on the right and non-touch on the left.

Unless the game has an option to invert the two screens (allowing the touch screen to be on the left), it’s going to be hella awkward for lefties, who’ll have to hold the stylus in their less-dominant claw in order to play.

I’d be okay with this if it hadn’t already been a nagging problem. In fact, the last two DS games I’ve played have had similar issues. The Sisters mode of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin requires players to have one hand on the d-pad and one on the stylus at all times, forcing me to play rightie. All they had to do was add an option to use the four face buttons as an alternate d-pad, and the problem would have been solved (an especially heinous oversight considering that the face buttons aren’t even used in this mode of play).

Same issue in Animal Crossing: Wild World. While the stylus and face buttons can both be used to control all aspects of the game, it’s much easier to switch off between the two, moving your character around with the d-pad, and navigating menus with the stylus. This natural style of play, however, is not easily accomplished by lefties, who have to either commit to right-hand stylusing, or constantly switch between holding the stylus and holding the d-pad. Again, a minor gripe, but one that could have easily been fixed by swapping the functions of the d-pad and face buttons.

Even if Hotel Dusk lacks a southpaw mode, I’ll admittedly still buy it, but I’m getting a little tired of designers failing to consider these issues when creating their interfaces. Innovative controls are a hot trend in video games these days, but it’s all a wash if accessibility doesn’t evolve with the rest of the market.