Level Up.pdf

Shake, Rattle and Roll 167
character was scared or hurt, the controller ’ s “ heart ” would vibrate, telling
the player that they were in trouble. It was really creepy and effective.
A gyroscope allows the player to rotate the controller as another way to
manipulate an on - screen element. The control applications for gyroscopes
can be quite robust. I have played games that allow the player to nudge
arrows while in flight ( Heavenly Sword), maneuver falling characters (Ratchet
and Clank: Tools of Destruction), or even flip over an entire level ( Super
Mario Galaxy).
The most important thing to remember about having the player use
gyroscopes is to clearly communicate the direction they have to turn the
controller in. As the gyroscope is “ hidden ” within the mechanism of the
controller, it ’ s easy for a player to forget that this is a control option; make
sure to remind the player that this function is available.
Whatever the action, I find that players respond best when the moves match
a real - world action. If you tell players to swing the controller like a sword (or
a tennis racket, or a bowling ball, or a conductor ’ s baton … ) they get it. The
trick is to design and tune your in - game sword to feel like a sword through
animation and physics. Game animations with the right timing, speed and
feel of friction in the world will make them feel less “ fl oaty ” and “ gamey ” — a
feeling which is always less desirable to the player.
The fun thing about gyroscopic controls is that you can get away with
silliness. No game plays with the user more than WarioWare: Smooth Moves
(Nintendo, 2006). While there are only about 20 “ moves ” (and half of them
are button presses) that the Wii Remote/nunchuck combo can do, the
designers of WarioWare encourage players to hold the controller in bizarre
ways to play their microgames. But it ’ s all part of the fun; the goal is to
make the user look stupid, whether it ’ s placing the Wii Remote on your head
like a Mohawk haircut or flipping it like a spatula tossing a pancake.
True motion controls are still in their infancy, especially in the home market,
but here are a few things to keep in mind as we march forward into the
future:
• Many players don ’ t play video games to exercise. Unless the goal of
your game is for players to lose weight, don ’ t forget to build in breaks
and changes in control motions to keep players from wearing out or
suffering repetitive stress injuries.
• Always account for lag: the time it takes between performing an action
and when it happens on screen. As most games are based on timing,
nothing is more frustrating than an action not happening when the player
does it. This is especially true for rhythm games like Rock Band and
fighting games like Street Fighter, where lag issues can screw up the