Talk:Cardinality of Gameplay

From Gameontology

There may be another category that needs to be defined here to cover the difference between the cardinality of interaction within the gameworld, and the cardinality of the human player in the real world.

I'm not sure that you'd want to account for the possibilities of movement the player has in the real world. Isn't the ontology about gameplay? You could argue that as far as the player is concerned, everything happens in 3D, right? Some people like to hold a controller in one way, others in other ways...

Consider Guitar Hero. In the gameworld, this game has 0 dimensions of cardinality, since the player is limited to pressing buttons at specified moments in time. However, in order to press these buttons correctly, the human player must move their fingers in 3D, and must carefully position their body and the guitar in 3D. Consider what would happen in Guitar Hero if the controller were placed down around the player's knees; this would make the game much more difficult to play. Why should this be if the game is only 0-D? A PS2 dualshock controller usually can be played very much the same if held down low or up high; the kinesthetic aspects of the location of the controller and the hands aren't as important for most games. Yet, for Guitar Hero, the way the controller is held is very important.

It's important to play better/worse...but it really depends on the person playing, not on the game itself. (I prefer to play sitting down...I find it more comfortable) ;-)

Dance Dance Revolution is also similar. When played with the dancepad, this game requires the player to think in 3D to ensure their feet land on the appropriate squares in synch with the music. Thus, while the gameworld cardinality is 0-D, the cardinality of the human player is 3D. With the dancepad, the player must think in 3D, otherwise they will not reach the highest levels of the game. It is an intrinsic part of the gameplay.

The new Wii controllers also raise this issue. In Wii Sports baseball, the gameworld cardinality is low (!D or 2D), but the player is still moving in 3D to play the game.

I think the ontology should have more entries in the interface part to account for all these "new" controllers that are coming out. Given that you can play DDR with the pad OR the dancemat...it kind of makes sense, no?