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[Thorst]

Do games have something like the major scale in music, which feels right to everyone?  It would be nice to know as a developer.

The first games you play definitely shape your experience of later games.  For example, Mario feels awkward to me.  Klik games feel just right.  I feel like I was not raised properly.

[Corpus]

Yeah, except that teachers notice the moment you pull your cell phone out of your bag and start pressing buttons, so what's the point anyway?

Well, most people keep their phones in their pockets (why keep it in your bag? Every time somebody rang, you'd have to take it off, open it up, dig around, etc...) so it just takes some smooth moves to get it out without the teacher noticing. Then, if you know your way around your phone's keypad, you can text without even looking at the screen...

[joshg]

Yeah, except that teachers notice the moment you pull your cell phone out of your bag and start pressing buttons, so what's the point anyway?

Well, most people keep their phones in their pockets (why keep it in your bag? Every time somebody rang, you'd have to take it off, open it up, dig around, etc...) so it just takes some smooth moves to get it out without the teacher noticing. Then, if you know your way around your phone's keypad, you can text without even looking at the screen...

Yeah ... maybe.  My wife is a high school teacher (and I'm heading in that direction myself) and I've heard a lot of stories.  Sure, sometimes you can be sneaky enough, but to be honest most of the time you think you're going completely unnoticed it's really just that the teacher is trying to decide which is funnier: busting you immediately, or letting you think you're sneaky and then waiting until the opportune moment to bust you in such a way  as to maximize your embarrassment. 

Or, I dunno, at least that's totally what I'm going to do.   :D :D

[Chris Whitman]

Do games have something like the major scale in music, which feels right to everyone?

Blue sky backgrounds.

[Xion]

Another extra 'sense' I discovered while watching "The Triplets of Belville" was that I could tell the difference between the flat animation and the cel-shaded 3D whereas my dad couldn't.

Great movie. But wow, I didn't know mixing 3d and 2d animation ever actually fooled anyone into thinking that they were the same. Though there is that one short in the Animatrix, with the sprinter, where the dude throws the key and I thought it was 3d but it was just insanely well-ly drawn 2d. But I think that's no fault on my part, just crazy skill of the artist.

[Bree]

He's onto something though; most kids who've grown up with CGI seem to have an easier time telling what's fake and what's not. Like, if you showed me a clip from a Hollywood blockbuster, I'd probably be able to tell you what was real most every single time. Unfortunately, this is becoming less so, as technology is reaching stages of awesomeness to the point that we really can't tell the difference between reality and fiction.

[Thorst]

OK, I find this thread mildly disturbing.  Are we talking about a sense for games in general, or a sense for certain types of games?

I like to think that a game can appeal to almost anyone, but the game-sense described in this thread indicates that gamers are specially attuned to particular platforms or eras.

[skaldicpoet9]

Mainly I was thinking about playing games in general. Being regaled to certain things that people that play more games notice and others that play games less frequently don't notice. Another example would be the fact that I can pretty much start any game and pick it up right away. Did you ever notice that a lot of people have to get "used" to playing a certain game? I am sure most of us here play games in this fashion. I think after playing games for so long a person develops a knack for certain control setups (RTS, Adventure, RPG, FPS etc..) and can pretty much get the hang of a game without reading the manual or going through a tutorial.

[Thorst]

Could this be a result, though, of game developers reusing the same patterns, not because they make for good games, but because they make for familiar games?

I hesitate to criticize anyones favorite console, but I find SNES games difficult to comprehend.  They are like an obscure, musical sub-genre that you cannot get into unless you make it your lifestyle.

By contrast, games like Myst or The Sims take Mozart's approach.  Their quality comes from near universal aesthetics and emotions.  So, these games are easy to get into, not because of one's intuition from playing lots of games, but because anyone can easily get into them.

[Xion]

I could never get into Myst.

[Thorst]

I could never get into Myst.

Maybe I am just as stuck in 90s PC games as someone else is stuck in SNES games.  That is what bothers me, that games get caught up in their era and their platform.

[Corpus]

Sit my mother in front of the Sims and she will have not a clue what to do, despite the numerous visual clues superimposed on the screen right in front of her.

[Thorst]

I feel I could have been relying on sales figures to indicate how accessible those games are.  That is probably a worse faux pas than not loving the SNES.  But, am I making sense about games belonging to little clubs that shun the uninitiated?

[moshboy]

I think my game sense is pretty bad in general. I play a good deal of games (pretty much 100% indie stuff the last few years) and I often get stuck in various platformers or adventure games relatively early on because I miss an obvious clue or a ladder that might be close to the edge of the screen that I just didn't notice.

As far as noticing things being 'off' in games.. sometimes yes, sometimes no. I suppose it would be more likely to happen if I was quite familiar with the game in question, although I can't really think of any examples off hand. I suppose the closest thing I could think of is back in the days where arcade games ruled, I could spot things that were off in home conversions but I think that would be the same for most people since usually the differences are glaringly obvious.

[deadeye]

I feel I could have been relying on sales figures to indicate how accessible those games are.  That is probably a worse faux pas than not loving the SNES.  But, am I making sense about games belonging to little clubs that shun the uninitiated?

Yeah, I think just about any genre needs some getting used to.  I think Myst is a bad example though because it was really accessible, and a lot of non-gamers played Myst because of that.

[Smithy]

My game sense is rockin', yo! I'm so fast, my reflexes are so tense, you're PWNed before you even know what happened! Check out this photographic proof:

[Hideous]

... I'm only 59 WPM

[Xion]

I'm 56

[Akhel]

79. Used to be about 95 before I switched to Dvorak and back to QWERTY.

114 is fucking insane.

[Corpus]

I type in a really dodgy way: fingers splayed, forefingers rappity-tapping and arms entangled like the threads of a cat's cradle.  I need to learn to touchtype. 76 WPM.