I know a few of us in this group are relatively new to gaming, so I thought it would be interesting to start a post about "new gamers" who start their gaming experience by playing horror games. It seems a little extreme to jump right into horror games, but in some ways I see it as a "full immersion" type of experience. Playing wii bowling, and even wii boxing, in class today seemed like a breeze after spending a couple of hours fighting my way through Left 4 Dead.
I dont think being a new gamer meant my experience playing horror games was vastly different from a veteran gamer's experience. The horror games seem scary to all us. Playing alone to anyone probably seems scarier than playing in a group. I think being a new gamer just heightens each sensation felt and every emotion felt just a bit.
I often experienced a lot of anxiety during game-play because I wasn't used to operating controls. I felt even more anxious, however, when I played in a group because I didn't want others to think I was totally incompetent. Even if the game is new to a veteran player, he's probably seen something similar in another horror game he's played, but to a new gamer, it's all completely foreign and they have no past experience and outcomes to base it on.
Unlike Bioshock, Left 4 Dead at least offered a lot of instruction. The AI picked up on my lack of skills quickly and began to direct more with text as well as the actions of the other characters. Still, after playing pretty devotedly for about a week, I'm still not sure I fully grasp the mechanics of the game.
I thought this class and this assignment in particular might have me hooked on horror games for the rest of my life, but it doesn't seem that way. Sure, I understand how some may unwind at the end of the day by shooting some zombies, but for me, it just stressed me out. I wonder if this will change if I play more or if it's more a personality kind of thing. Thoughts??
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I kind of knew from the beginning that nongamers were probably not going to enjoy playing horror games.
ReplyDeleteIn horror games the excitement and tension comes from an awareness of imminent death. It is going to be incredibly stressful for people unfamiliar with gaming in general to start by playing a genre that capitalizes on player weakness and vulnerability relative to challenges in the game. I don't think horror games are really designed to be welcoming to people who have never played before-- yes, they often have guided learning curves, like other games, but if player inexperience with controls is such that they cannot appreciate the diegetic experience-- the horror-- they're missing out on what makes horror games unique as a genre.
I agree with Laura on this one. Of all of the game genres that come to mind, horror is probably the LEAST forgiving for new players. WiiSports is probably one of the easiest games for non-gamers to play because the actions that you preform in the game are similar to the actions that you preform when playing those sports in real life. If I were actually killing zombies, it probably wouldn't involve my thumbs as much as it seems to in games!
ReplyDeleteI also wondered if this project would make me totally hooked on horror games (I've largely avoided them up to this point). They make me stressed out too, though! I love Dead Space, but I've barely ever played it alone. It just makes me too tense.
Yea I agree, being inexperienced was a definite disadvantage when it came to playing horror games. For me, they weren't any less scary, it was just harder because you have the added tension on not knowing what you are doing, on top of the tension that the games are just scary.
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