Activity - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 81

RPG

Sports

Strategy

Fighting

Strategy

Shooter

Platformer

Sim.

RPG

Action Adventure

Platformer

Shooter Rhythm Action/M/P

Sports

Sim.

Adventure

Puzzle

Driv./Pilot./Crew.

Sports

RPG

Platformer

Fighting Sports

Action Adventure

Figure 3.3 Genre relationship map.

Only the top fi ve closest similar matches for each genre were included, but as
two genres may share a characteristic but one will rate it in the top fi ve and the other
does not, there will be some duplicates. Also, to create a map with only twelve genres
labeled once would produce a complicated spherical shape that would be diffi cult
to visualize. But looking at the relationships between genres gives you plenty of
food for thought. Take a look, for instance, at the relationships the sports genre has
with others. It appears four times and has close links with seven of the twelve genres
but its closest link is with platformer . Conversely, adventure appears only once and
has fairly distinct links with only sim , action adventure , RPGs , and sports . DPC is
similarly out on its own to some extent.

SUMMARY

The theory from the previous chapter was that games are characterized by the activi-
ties you perform when playing them. In this chapter we showed how that theory
could be made very practical by a model—the 49 activity groups—in software. This
also allowed us to calculate twitch factors for games and groups of games. Compar-
ing activity profi les is a great way to gain an understanding of games you haven't
even played, as well as to gain deeper insights into games you know. Comparing
activity profi les allows you to compare games in detail and to compare them against
an average profi le of a set of other games, from the same genre for instance. We
also showed you how to do a more detailed comparison between genres and to
generate a map of the relationships between genres. Activity profi ling is a powerful
and practical way to gain insight into what games are and how they compare with
others in a more rigorous manner.
In terms of the question that names Part I of this topic, it should also be clear
that there are various reasons why people play different types of games:

• Different types of activities will appeal to different types of players. Games
that feature communicating, character development, and story will not be
popular with people who want to be fi ghting all the time.