Glitch Feed

It’s 2 am. The air is wet and cold yet you persist, crawling down the back alley towards that single lantern. A simple light illuminating a worn, metal door brings you forward out of the darkness. To that beacon of hope you slither till your body crashes into the door that is unforgiving and seemingly unwilling to allow you to indulge in your painful addictions.

Your fist pounds upon the barrier and it responds with a dull echo, and then silence. Your addiction is forcing your limbs to move, forcing you out into a cold night that might otherwise kill any lesser man. It eats away at your body and denies you the rest and peace you acutely desire. You need more.

And who am I to deny you of “more”? Your addiction is your problem, but you bring me business and public approval. I am here to give you what you want, what you cannot live without.

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The following are game design concepts developed by myself along with the enigmatic yet lovable Stephanie. Using some form of periodical as our source, we chose an article and then designed a core game concept based upon what was being written.

You might notice that this challenge was published about two weeks ago. At that time we claimed we would have our resulting labors published, a paltry seven days later. Those finely edited works would then be ready for all you in blogoland to consume, digest and worship.

Your cries have been heard! We apologize for causing you to hold your breath longer than physically possible. To those faithful readers who have survived that whole suffocating thing, may we present to you: Relevant Game Design episode ONE!

Note: we publish the following so that these concepts may be discussed, debated, applauded, whatever. Public opinion is always appreciated. These projects are not closed off to anyone who would like to join in. When we announce our second design project, we hope that those who wish to join in will do so!

JUMP IN!

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Stephanie and I always seem to line our conversations with some sort of commentary on the interactive digital medium more commonly known as video games. These thoughts go far beyond the typical trolling of “man, games today suck, why do they suck?” “I dunno, we should make a cool one.” “Yeah, a wicked cool one, man! With guns and wicked awesome graphics.”

Such statements are impossible because Stephanie would never say ‘wicked’ during casual conversation, and secondly because we each have sworn an oath to never use “awesome graphics” as a means to a successful gaming project. I consider there to be a chasm sized distinction between awesome (ultra realistic) graphics and exceptional art direction, but those truths are for another post.

We had a moment of clarity, Stephanie and I. The tumult of graphics and erroneous plot gave way and we re-discovered one of the factors responsible for holding the medium back from being a recognized and significant art form. Cultural relevance is a facet that is needed to legitimatize any artistic medium. The inability or unwillingness to comment on, question or analyze society by any critical method is what forces video games into cultural obscurity.

Suddenly, any fictional narrative we were considering felt devalued. In our haste to spin an epic tale, we had lost sight of what made Glitch Feed’s perspective different from everyones else’s. The core of the gaming experience must be transfigured by focusing upon the base concept. Graphics, sound, game-play, even story all suffer if the concept is poor.

In an effort to focus ourselves onto what we consider to be important in game design, Stephanie suggested a series of projects focusing on developing the concept and core game-play before anything else.

Hit the jump to see how we (and you) will make this manifesto a reality!

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