E-mail Interview With Editor-In-Chief of GameTrailers.com …

Hey folks,

Shane Satterfield, editor-in-chief of GameTrailers.com, was nice enough to do an e-mail interview. He gets to check out a lot of different games so we wanted to get his perspective on interesting game designs, etc…

The interview is below…enjoy 🙂

What have been the most interesting game mechanics you’ve seen this
year?

Shane:
I would say the most interesting game mechanic I’ve experienced in 2010
so far is in God of War III. At the end of the major battle with
Poseidon the player actually starts viewing things through his eyes. The
player sees Kratos coming towards them with anger in his eyes, ready to
finish the job.

It truly makes you view the main character in the game
from a different perspective and allows you to appreciate what the other
characters in the game are feeling as they fall under his blade. I also
enjoyed a level later in the game that utilized optical illusions in the
level design. Haven’t experienced much of that in video games before,
either.

What are the emerging game design spaces/areas that you feel indie
game developers can innovate in to reach success?

It’s all about being different and using technology for more than visual
appeal. Braid is a good example of this. It looks like a simple 2D
platformer, but it utilizes technology in its rewind functionality to
provide a fresh experience. Games with big budgets tend to play it safe
with game design and theme, and then rely on visuals to make a
statement.

What would happen if a developer tapped all the power of the
PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 and used it for advanced AI, drawing more
objects of a lower quality, or otherwise dumped those resources into
other things than graphics? It could provide game design breakthroughs
that the industry has not yet seen.

Where do you think the industry is headed in the next year?

In the next year I think we’ll see if motion controls have reached a
saturation point or if it’s just getting started. With PlayStation Move
and Microsoft’s Natal being released to the market, everyone will have a
chance to jump on the bandwagon.

I think we’ll also see just how committed Sony and Microsoft are to the
initiative when they have to dedicate their development resources to
either traditional games or motion-based games. No matter how great
their technologies are, if they don’t support it with software no one
will care. It will be a very telling year.

What do you think about Social Games? Where do you see Social Games
heading in the next year?

I think social games will continue to gain momentum in the next 12
months. I’ve seen a lot of people who used to be “hardcore” players
switch over to these types of games in the past year as their lives
became more hectic and they needed the ability to play games for short
bursts and get something out of it.

Couple that with keeping them in touch with friends and loved ones as
their physical lives grow farther apart and it’s a recipe for success. That
said, if I get another request to play Mafia Wars I’m going to flip out.

Have you seen any interesting mobile MMOs? Do you think that the web
will be the largest place for MMOs or will it be mobile?

I still think that the PC and laptop will be the primary places to play
MMOs in the near future. Whether it’s a full-priced release like World
of Warcraft or Star Trek Online, or a pay-for-upgrades model like the
Korean MMOs, I think the majority of time will be spent in front of a
large screen. MMOs really have a lot of details to keep track of, and
doing that on a small screen will require some serious though. I haven’t
really seen any excellent mobile MMOs.

Where do you see mobile gaming heading?

I think mobile gaming is going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds.
The general public isn’t as concerned with graphics as the “hardcore”
player. You need no more evidence of this than the success of the Wii
and Nintendo DS. Right now things that are wired are almost looked down
upon.

If you can’t take it anywhere and use it anytime, it’s becoming
increasingly difficult to get people to commit. I think this trend will
continue as society gets faster and faster, and if you can roll a lot of
functionality into one device all the better. As the handsets and
handhelds grow in power, the desire for people to stay home and play
games will diminish. I think most people believe that the Wii features a
level of graphical fidelity that they can tolerate, and once there’s a
handheld with graphical capabilities to that level (the PSP is close),
selling home consoles will become a difficult proposition.

Thanks again for your time 🙂