Personal game history of Michael Barthen
Created by mgb1229 on Feb 4, 2011
Last updated: 02/04/11 at 02:26 PM
Question 1: Why was this game important to you? X-Com: Terror from the deep is what made me a fan Science-Fiction in general. The depth of the game and it's dynamics made me thirst for games about space and aliens. Question 2: From a Designer’s Perspective, what skills was the game trying to teach? And how did the game try to teach these skills? Terror From the Deep taught seek and destroy and accomplished this by first making down an alien craft and then go do your mission, either under water, at an alien base, or in a city someplace in the world. Once you arrived to your mission you had to seek and destroy the threat before they found you. To encourage your active seeking, countries in the game would pay you according to how well you hunted the threat and fended off that particular country from invasion.
Question 1: Why was this game important to you? Betrayal at Krondor is important to me because it is one of the first games I remember buying and beating, all by myself. I remember playing the game that, at the time, had some of the best graphics I had ever seen in a game. Question 2: From a Designer’s Perspective, what skills was the game trying to teach? And how did the game try to teach these skills? Betrayal at Krondor taught exploration, analysis and logic. The game taught these subjects through different factors. It rewarded exploration of the game by having hidden treasure chests, side quests and other little rewards for going out of your way. Combat used your analytical skills to sum up your opponents as you were often out numbered and weaker than your opponents so you had to figure out how to beat them with what you had, and the game taught logic by incorporating puzzles into quests and treasure chest. If you couldn't solve the riddle, you didn't get the treasure or know where your next step should take you.
Question 1: Why was this game important to you? Warhammer was a game that truly brought out my imagination. The painting of the figures, the endless possibilities in the game, and the different scenarios to play kept me occupied for quite a long time. Question 2: From a Designer’s Perspective, what skills was the game trying to teach? And how did the game try to teach these skills? Warhammer at it's core is nothing more than battle tactics and attention to detail. Everything in the game is controlled by numbers: how far a piece can move, how much damage it can do, modifiers to damage etc. Because of that aspect, if you successfully attempt a flanking maneuver on your opponent, or manage to take the high ground, then you have the advantage, just like in real life.
Question 1: Why was this game important to you? This game was important for one, because it was a gift on Christmas to myself and my brothers together, and because when we got it a couple friends from down the street played it with us almost every day during our Christmas break from school. This game also opened me up to a whole new genre of games. Question 2: From a Designer’s Perspective, what skills was the game trying to teach? And how did the game try to teach these skills? This game teaches economics, strategy and conquest. During the game you collect money based on how many territories you control, and you spent that money on armies to defend or attack either the Axis powers or Allies during World War II, depending on which side you chose. Every game was potentially different because a single alteration of strategy completely changed the dynamics of the game.
Question 1: Why was this game important to you? Metal Gear was the first game that me and my brothers couldn't beat in just a single sitting. So we collectively tried our hardest, working together to finish the game, so for all the time that we spent together after school to play the game as a team, instead of fighting each other, is why this game is so memorable. Question 2: From a Designer’s Perspective, what skills was the game trying to teach? And how did the game try to teach these skills? From a design prospective the game was teaching combat hide and seek. The objective was not to kill as many bad guys as possible, but to slip through their defenses and kill only when you failed to hide. If you alerted the guards and drew their attention they would sound an alarm and swarm you with overwhelming odds.
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