Grant Midwinter

This is the first in a series of posts about Grant Midwinter developing a game for Sony and this week we’ve had the pleasure of meeting legendary games creator Charles Cecil for a little input on our project. For those of you not in the know Charles Cecil is a major force in interactive entertainment and has been part of the industry for over 25 years. Mr Cecil’s hits include the soon to be re-released Broken Sword (for the iphone) and the classic Beneath Steel Sky which is available for the iphone now.

As part of our development for Get in the Game we’ve received some wise words of support from Mr Cecil. Gameplay was the major topic of the day and as budding games designers it’s our first concern.

We are at an interesting point in the public’s attitudes and exposure towards the games industry. ‘Brainwashed 9 yr old Jonny attempts to save princess by climbing into sewage system’ scare stories from the 80′s and 90′s media have been (some what) replaced by glorious ‘Free wii fit training regimes’. This broadening of what was previously considered a specialist hobby has seen the re-jigged introduction of many gaming mechanics that experienced game players may have thought they had seen the back of. There are plenty of great examples out there and the one that both Mr.Cecil and Grant Midwinter can admit to playing (and enjoying… just a little) is the iphone game DoodleJump.

I have to say I bought DoodleJump primary to see what a 59p chart topping iphone game looks like. 30,00 sales in a week! The public can´t be wrong can they? Simon Cowell would be happy with those figures!

DoodleJump is a platforming game where the sole aim is to make it to the next platform, no ammo, no gaming changing decisions and no buttons. The game integrates the iphones gyroscope to allow you to control the main character (tilting your iphone left, sends Doodle left, tilt right he moves right). The simplification of controls plus a single goal make for a addictive cocktail of pure gameplay buzz plus something cool that you can show your mom with a chance she’ll understand how to use it in under a minute. The previous statement provides a tough benchmark for any game developer but is worthy of further exploration as the physical and mental barriers between gamer and game are removed. As we design our first gaming experience we are more than aware we need to provide a ‘quick entry’ to the core concept and user controls and ‘reluctant exit’ through exhilarating gameplay. How we create this balance will be down to painful trail and error testing and as soon as we’ve nailed it you’ll be the first to know.