There are certain games that you often find yourself going back to. Something about it makes you crave it, want, even need it. Everyone has a game that they think about on the bus to and from work or school, the game that you can't stop thinking about during every one of your daily activities. We often don't know exactly why we keep going back to them, but we still do. Gaming addiction does exist (I'm sure you're familiar with stories of people playing World of Warcraft until death), but most people wouldn't consider themselves addicts. You probably think that gaming is just a fun way to kill time, and that you would never be stupid enough to play a game until your body physically can't anymore. You're probably right, but what would it take to push you over the edge? What keeps bringing you back to these games?
The answer lies in what is often called polish. The special "something" about a game that you can't put your finger on, but you know is there. Not many games have polish now, as development costs have skyrocketed in the past 10 years, but you surely notice them when they do. Much like nail polish, game polish is made up of many different ingredients. Little things in a game are in fact the most important part. Millions of people shell out fifteen dollars every month to play World of Warcraft, and to many of them, it's second nature; like the paying the gas or electricity bill. However, why aren't they playing Age of Conan or Lord of the Rings Online? The reason: WoW has something that those games don't. The addictiveness comes from the small things; polar bear mounts, special pets, character animations, zombie invasions, dragon riding, auction houses, dancing, and achievements, to name a few. The truth is that people play some games more than others for reasons that might seem trivial during development, and even play time, but are of the utmost importance. Developers, and even gamers, might say in their head, "it doesn't matter that the capes don't flow in the wind, that doesn't even affect the gameplay," but in truth, it affects your enjoyment of the game. All extra details affect your enjoyment of games, whether they be good or bad. I have played Plants V.S. Zombies every day since I bought it, just so I could water my Zen Garden. True, the Zen Garden does not really add much to the core gameplay, but it gives me a reason to double click the icon on my desktop when I get home.
If you find yourself playing one game more than all the other ones you own, think about why. The reasons may be more trivial than you think. For me, the thing that really attracts me to a game or console is the operating system and menu screens. Doing anything in the Xbox 360 dashboard annoys me because of the short loading time for every window I open. The loading time may only be a second long, but it detracts from my enjoyment of the Xbox 360 in general. True, the reason is trivial, and I may be shallow for judging games and consoles for reasons like these, but I'm ok with it, because everyone else does too, whether they know it or not.
The answer lies in what is often called polish. The special "something" about a game that you can't put your finger on, but you know is there. Not many games have polish now, as development costs have skyrocketed in the past 10 years, but you surely notice them when they do. Much like nail polish, game polish is made up of many different ingredients. Little things in a game are in fact the most important part. Millions of people shell out fifteen dollars every month to play World of Warcraft, and to many of them, it's second nature; like the paying the gas or electricity bill. However, why aren't they playing Age of Conan or Lord of the Rings Online? The reason: WoW has something that those games don't. The addictiveness comes from the small things; polar bear mounts, special pets, character animations, zombie invasions, dragon riding, auction houses, dancing, and achievements, to name a few. The truth is that people play some games more than others for reasons that might seem trivial during development, and even play time, but are of the utmost importance. Developers, and even gamers, might say in their head, "it doesn't matter that the capes don't flow in the wind, that doesn't even affect the gameplay," but in truth, it affects your enjoyment of the game. All extra details affect your enjoyment of games, whether they be good or bad. I have played Plants V.S. Zombies every day since I bought it, just so I could water my Zen Garden. True, the Zen Garden does not really add much to the core gameplay, but it gives me a reason to double click the icon on my desktop when I get home.
If you find yourself playing one game more than all the other ones you own, think about why. The reasons may be more trivial than you think. For me, the thing that really attracts me to a game or console is the operating system and menu screens. Doing anything in the Xbox 360 dashboard annoys me because of the short loading time for every window I open. The loading time may only be a second long, but it detracts from my enjoyment of the Xbox 360 in general. True, the reason is trivial, and I may be shallow for judging games and consoles for reasons like these, but I'm ok with it, because everyone else does too, whether they know it or not.
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