A few days ago, I finished up the story mode of Saints Row 2. If you're not a gamer, SR2 might not be a household name, but it is, in 50 words or less, "a Grand Theft Auto-like open world game, which puts you at the head of a gang, caught in the middle of a brutal turf war in the fictional city of Stillwater". You know, typical wholesome family entertainment. If you think you can guess where it goes from there, you're probably close... or at least you would be, right after you take your prediction on violence, criminal activity, and immoral behavior and double it.
Though I could (and probably should) get to a post about what exactly it is that draws seemingly normal people to enjoy such deplorably virtual pursuits, that is a post that will need to be saved for another day. Because today I'd like to focus on another aspect of this particular game.
It is entirely possible that Saints Row 2 is the single most customizable game I've ever played. Character personalization has become pretty common in any game with RPG elements, so the fact that you get to tweak "yourself" to your liking is no surprise. But customizing yourself is only the beginning with SR2. A brief overview of the possibilities:
If it sounds overwhelming, it is. More importantly though, its flat out awesomesauce. But we'll press the pause button on this epic tale for a moment and switch gears.
A few weeks ago, the EGC had a design retreat with some friends from the College of Agriculture. The purpose of the retreat was to flesh out some design ideas for an animal raising game they are looking to build, which they hope will help teach some of the basic lessons of farm animal care (I'll save the specifics for another time). At one point in the retreat, however, the question was raised as to what would make this game compelling to play more than once - a critical question for any game designer, perhaps even more so for an EduGame designer.
All of this now brings us to the "so what" portion of the evening. Why should anyone care about the fact that a video game lets you customize the hell out of everything? And perhaps more importantly, what does a game about virtual gang violence have to do with raising a virtual pig?
The answer is ownership.
When you can make something your own, the sense of personal investment and attachment to that something grows. The more you're invested, the more you want to invest. Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of the greatest games of all time, and yet I've logged more time (post story) in SR2 in a week than I have in GTA4 in 6 months. Why? Because when GTA's story was over, so too was the game. When Saints Row 2's story ended, I found myself with more cribs to buy, more rides to pimp, more content to unlock. Almost nothing to do with the game and everything to do with me and my own intrinsic motivation to improve that which I feel as though is mine (this is exactly why The Sims franchise has crushed the top spots on the PC game sales charts).
I continue to play not because the game's narrative drives me to, but because its "my row" now. Investment breeds investment. Customization and personalization lead to motivation and re-playability.
Which is, my friends, exactly what virtual gang violence has to do with raising a virtual pig. Stay tuned.
Images from gamecenteronline.net, planetxbox360.com and animalattraction.com
Though I could (and probably should) get to a post about what exactly it is that draws seemingly normal people to enjoy such deplorably virtual pursuits, that is a post that will need to be saved for another day. Because today I'd like to focus on another aspect of this particular game.
It is entirely possible that Saints Row 2 is the single most customizable game I've ever played. Character personalization has become pretty common in any game with RPG elements, so the fact that you get to tweak "yourself" to your liking is no surprise. But customizing yourself is only the beginning with SR2. A brief overview of the possibilities:
- Your Character. Not only can you choose the basics of your character's physical appearance (age, gender, ethnicity, body type, hair style, etc) but you can also go nuts tweaking things down to the smallest detail. You can choose the width of the bridge of your nose, the verbal taunt you can use to antagonize your enemies, even your standard facial expression, gait, hand to hand combat style and even their in game voice.
- Your Cloths and Accessories. It verges on obscene that SR2 allows players to choose from almost 500 different pieces of clothing and accessories available at 12 different in game stores, ranging from shirts to facial piercings, right down to undergarments and socks.
- Your Weapons. Its not enough to have a shotgun. You need 5 different types of shotgun to choose from! I won't stress the weapon stuff too much, but lets just say you have lots of choices about what you'd like to wield (mercifully the game does not actually let you customize the weapons themselves in the absurd Army of Two fashion).
- Yours Cars. Tricking yourself out is one thing. Tricking your cars out brings the game to a whole different level. So you want to paint your car eh? Forget about the color. Do you want metallic, candy, pearl, or iridescent paint?. What about the accent areas? Paint or metal? Steel, gold, silver, platinum, aluminum, or chrome? You want NOS? Sure! A racing hood? No problem! How about the grip level or size of your tires or the style and color of your rims? Type of exhaust? Window tint? Convertible or hardtop? Upgrade your torque? How about frame stability, front and rear bumper style, headlight configuration, right on down to the placement of your rear view mirrors... Oh, and did I forget to mention that you can have as many cars, trucks, motorcycles, helicopters, private jets, and world war 2 fighters as you want, ranging from a tractor trailer cab to a Lamborghini.
- Your Crib. As the game progresses and you earn more cash, you can purchase various residence locations around town which functionally serve as massive inventory banks for all your stuff. But if you can't customize it, it doesnt belong in Saints Row. You can add pool tables, pianos, 50 inch plasmas, upgrade your bed, or pick from one of several overall styles for your place among other things.
- Your Crew. Pick the type of cloths your crew wears, the cars the'll drive, your gang sign and even your spray painted gang tag.
If it sounds overwhelming, it is. More importantly though, its flat out awesomesauce. But we'll press the pause button on this epic tale for a moment and switch gears.A few weeks ago, the EGC had a design retreat with some friends from the College of Agriculture. The purpose of the retreat was to flesh out some design ideas for an animal raising game they are looking to build, which they hope will help teach some of the basic lessons of farm animal care (I'll save the specifics for another time). At one point in the retreat, however, the question was raised as to what would make this game compelling to play more than once - a critical question for any game designer, perhaps even more so for an EduGame designer.
All of this now brings us to the "so what" portion of the evening. Why should anyone care about the fact that a video game lets you customize the hell out of everything? And perhaps more importantly, what does a game about virtual gang violence have to do with raising a virtual pig? The answer is ownership.
When you can make something your own, the sense of personal investment and attachment to that something grows. The more you're invested, the more you want to invest. Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of the greatest games of all time, and yet I've logged more time (post story) in SR2 in a week than I have in GTA4 in 6 months. Why? Because when GTA's story was over, so too was the game. When Saints Row 2's story ended, I found myself with more cribs to buy, more rides to pimp, more content to unlock. Almost nothing to do with the game and everything to do with me and my own intrinsic motivation to improve that which I feel as though is mine (this is exactly why The Sims franchise has crushed the top spots on the PC game sales charts).
I continue to play not because the game's narrative drives me to, but because its "my row" now. Investment breeds investment. Customization and personalization lead to motivation and re-playability.
Which is, my friends, exactly what virtual gang violence has to do with raising a virtual pig. Stay tuned.
Images from gamecenteronline.net, planetxbox360.com and animalattraction.com
Leave a comment