Designing for Experience

OK So I’ll be the first one to say, “huh?” on this one, but that was because I didn’t quite understand what it was about at first.

Go to seriousgames.ning.com and you’ll get a better picture of what I’m talking about. Ning.com seems to be a social networking site and you can have friends on there just like on facebook or other social networks, but in this case you can build communities of people who are all interested in the same topic. The theory is that people can get together and talk about serious games, form relationships, and develop ideas in that space.

Will it work? I have no idea, but I am willing to find out.

Visit my profile add me as a friend, let’s talk!

So yes as you may imagine from the subtitle of my blog I’m interested in serious games. Serious Games? I mean, this term means almost nothing to someone outside of the industry, and I just love the looks I get when I drop that term on people. Confusion, a wry grin, and who can blame them, it’s an odd term. Especially when I’m going to stand (well I’m actually sitting) here and tell you I think that first and foremost serious games should be GAMES, i.e. really fun to play.

So yes I’m interested in Serious Games as well as non-serious games, entertainment computing, or whatever you want to call it. I am interested in the topic generally, but more specifically I think that UI in most games needs serious help. I want to make it easy for new players to pick up a game and play. I want to make it welcoming to the newbie, while still satisfying the power user (is such a thing even possible?). Do I want to make it the focus of my professional life? That’s a definite maybe for now.