Positivity..

The problem is that nobody has ever done a ''positive'' game well before, at least AFAIK. Violent games are easy, and the production methods for them are much more refined since they''ve been worked on quote a bit over the years.

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Original post by Extrarius
The problem is that nobody has ever done a ''positive'' game well before, at least AFAIK.

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Leisure Suit Larry!

I''ve been really into how people solve problems of late, and what methods they think are moral.

Is a game where you shoot up Nazis negative? If you''re triumphing over evil that will not bargain or negotiate, and is known to be hurting others, aren''t you doing a positive thing? The soldiers in WWII didn''t have stun guns, afterall.

I''d like to see more game where the real tradeoffs between positive and negative approaches were explored (that''s my goal). Most war oriented games that give you such a tradeoff build into the rules a certain level of failure with the more nurturant approach. Civilization is a great examples: Yes, you can win through diplomacy, but despite its name, civilization (the real kind) isn''t ONLY about war. Plus, combat is more strategically engaging and rich in choices, and therefore more fun. So the game is biased towards what you might think of as a negative approach because it''s more likely to result in victory. This maybe communicates a message that war is more likely (desirable?) than peace because peace is boring.

I''ve watched the game industry evolve over 20 years and I''m happy to see that you''re getting your wish, Ketch. We have more tycoon games, more Sims-style games and a widening of the audience. But I think it''ll be even more interesting when we see more moral tradeoffs. Then games can do what they do best: teach as well as entertain.

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Just waiting for the mothership...

Nobody''s ever done a positive game well before?!? What the heck are Harvest Moon and the Sims then? Or even Sonic the hedgehog, since when you defeat things in combat there it''s good because it frees the little animals.

Perhaps you meant nobody''s ever made a positive RPG? You might be able to argue that, since RPGs kind of by definition include combat.

-Most puzzle games aren''t negative. I''ve recently become aquainted with the Bobble games - Puzzle Bobble and Bubble Bobble (ok, so BB is more of an action game). Those are cute, pretty fun games.

-DDR... it makes a ton of money at the Playdium in West Edmonton Mall - it''s on a projector screen... huge! (and when you wait for your turn, walk a short distance to Puzzle Bobble, lol)

-Tetris Attack... get addicted

That''s just me rambling...and now, back to whatever it is I do...

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Black and White has the option of being played completely positive.

I played a game called "Psycho Fox" on the Sega master system. It was a side scroller that was positive, fun, and my friends and I stayed up all night playing it one night. It still stands out as one the shining moments in my youth.