GameCareerGuide: LCD Results, And An MMO Challenge

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra's education-focused sister site has posted the results of its retro LCD challenge, while opening up a new one which asks readers to design an MMO gameplay system. Challenge: LCD Gamesystem GameCareerGuide's most recent completed challenge, inspired by dedicated LCD handheld games, invited readers to design their own title in this nearly-lost form of video games. The major restriction of LCD games is that they have specific images imprinted onto the screen, and thus can only permit motions that account for this limitation. For videos of how these games work, check out Nintendo's official Game & Watch page. GameCareerGuide challenged its readers to create an interesting LCD game that adheres to the restrictions of the format. What follows are the best and most original entries we received. Here are our top picks. Ryan George, Game Design Student, Columbia College Chicago, Radiant Flux Radiant Flux's unique double-sided hardware presents an interesting challenge to the player, and allows for a level of depth not seen in many LCD games. Kris Kamfield, Sr. Ringtone Recorder, Boom Badoom Kris Kamfield designs a simple but effective head-to-head multiplayer game enhanced by importable midi music and ringtones. Logan Neufeld, Programming Student, Neumont University, Dungeon Explorer Logan Neufeld tackles a complex genre for his entry, but emerges with a successful design that respects LCD hardware limitations. The full results, including many runners-up, are available at GameCareerGuide. Challenge: MMO-OFF At the same time, GCG has opened up its latest challenge. Inspired by a controversy with Final Fantasy XIV's newest gameplay system: There's been a fair amount of controversy over the past several years about players spending too much time in MMOs; some governments have even levied restrictions against games in the genre. On the other hand, there is, perhaps, an even bigger crisis. Most MMO games are full of hand-crafted content. If players blow through your content too quickly, they'll become bored and leave the game. Creating game content up to contemporary standards is a painstaking and expensive process, so this is a crucial issue. Your task is to design a system for an MMO which encourages players to limit their playtime in a game (or, perhaps, limit their progression but not their total playtime) -- but without making the player feel like they are being penalized. The full details of the challenge and how to enter are available at GameCareerGuide.