GCG Book Excerpt: Designing Character-Based Console Games

Today's latest feature for Gamasutra sister educational site Game Career Guide highlights the designer's role in making a game through the life cycle of a project in an excerpt from the initial chapter in The Console Design Process. Published by New Riders and distributed through Charles River Media, the book follows the design process from concept to finish, and offers insightful information for designers of all levels and skillsets. Author Mark Davies introduces the idea of design conception in the following extract: “This is the most free and organic part of the process, and it can be daunting. Searching for the idea can be very difficult; it is all too easy to copy what has been done before. Creating a whole new IP (Intellectual Property) from scratch can be particularly daunting and very costly to market to the right audience, but the rewards are often great. There are ways to start with an advantage. Licensed property can be fairly expensive, but the right license will guarantee interest from a certain market and should result in increased sales. Licensed games have, in the past, made a bad reputation for themselves by being poorly conceived and cheaply produced. However, the quality of licensed games these days is much higher than it used to be. The subject of this book is focused on a narrow subsection of games that are based on the use of characters and developed on game consoles. In reality, this is far from a narrow field, but to encompass the vast field of game design would be a truly mammoth task. Character-based games are the predominant type of game made and sold throughout the world, and game consoles are the most popular platform on which they are played, so there is a huge market for such a title. Conversely, this can make it harder to get noticed in a saturated market. The recipe for success is in making a solid game, marketing it well, and having some good luck.” You can read the full Game Career Guide feature on the excerpt to gets an even greater understanding of how to bring game development ideas from concept to reality (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).