Success+Quest!+(Alex)

 Overview
I define a successful game as a game with two properties: First, it must be exciting, if I get bored after playing it for only few hours then I would say the game is not exciting. Second, it must be challenging, the game should get more difficult as your progress father and farther through the levels or plot. The three factors that I believe give a game the two properties I discussed above.

The first is, plot. A successful game must have a plot that develops in both an interesting and exciting fashion. I find that the games that are most successful have plots that mirror or function a lot like movie or novel plots. The best example here is, // Halo //, developed by // Bungie Software //in partnership with // Microsoft. Bungie //released three versions of Halo that followed the main story line of “Master Chief” as he attempted to save the universe from the covenant aliens. One of the reasons that // Halo // has been such a success is that it has a plot that flows between all of the versions of the game that keeps the gamer invested not only in their success inside of the game (completing the campaign mode) but also in the longer term success of the story at large. I found that as I played // Halo //the story line kept me playing to uncover the story and make it to the “end”. The second factor in creating a successful video games is making the game ascetically pleasing. What I mean here is that the graphics in the game make it pleasant to look at and at that no matter the scenery, the graphics add to the experience of the game. As technology progresses, it has become easier for video game developers to make this factor prevalent in their games. // Halo //also provides a good example here. One of the first things that drew me towards // Halo // was the way that the game environment looked. Every detail of the game not only felt right, it looked like how I would have liked it to look. The first scene in the first game is on a space ship that is under attack; not only is the detail striking on the ship but every where you turn in the level, every detail is sharp and on point. If you chose to look out of the windows of the spaceship // Bungie //made the outside of the ship look much more complex than just a field of stars. Moreover, as the // Halo //series progresses the graphics keep up with the technology but the theme in terms of style stays consistent from the first game through the third. This consistency makes the gamer feel familiar with the game, which makes it easier to enjoy. The final factor is difficulty and variety within game play. As a game progresses it should gradually become more challenging. Moreover, as the game play becomes more difficult you should gain new ways to adjust to the increased difficulty in the form of weapons or abilities. Once again, // Halo //provides a good example. At the beginning of the game you start killing smaller covenant aliens but as the level gets harder the number of smaller aliens in your way increase but you also have to kill larger more powerful aliens. An increase in difficulty makes the game not only exciting but also challenging because the gamer needs to develop new strategies to deal with new challenges.

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**Opinion**
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**Future Trends?**
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