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Portal fun.
Nov. 13th, 2007 11:22 pmI just beat Portal. It's a computer game where your only weapon is a device that lets you create a portal between two different locations.
It's clever, funny, and well put together, although the first part was really a bit too easy.
I definitely recommend checking it out.
(video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb7aDZeO_MQ
The original concept came from a student project. Portal was essentially the "big studio remake" of a small independent hit.
Also, unlike other games which can take a good work week or so to beat, Portal is beatable in just a few hours.
It's funny how entertainment comes segmented into different bite sizes. To some degree, these sizes are arbitrary.
Let's map it:
Storyline sizes:
The gaps in live shows make sense. People don't want to go to the trouble of attending a live show if it's only going to last an hour... and a live show longer than a few hours is difficult in terms of the human labor required to put on the show and in terms of requiring a large audience to synchronize their breaks. The gaps in interactive games don't make as much sense. There's no reason that the game companies couldn't make games with 1-3 hour storylines. They could be sold for $5-$15.
I haven't been paying that much attention to the games industry lately. Perhaps that gap has been filled.
It's clever, funny, and well put together, although the first part was really a bit too easy.
I definitely recommend checking it out.
(video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb7aDZeO_MQ
The original concept came from a student project. Portal was essentially the "big studio remake" of a small independent hit.
Also, unlike other games which can take a good work week or so to beat, Portal is beatable in just a few hours.
It's funny how entertainment comes segmented into different bite sizes. To some degree, these sizes are arbitrary.
Let's map it:
Storyline sizes:
| A few minutes | Close to an hour | A few hours | Dozens of hours | ||
| Text | Newspaper article | Feature story in a magazine | Short book | Long book or series | |
| Moving pictures | Youtube | TV show | Movie | Season of a TV serial | |
| Live show | Street performer. Vaudeville. (dead) | Relatively rare. (eg boxing) | Concerts, plays, sports games | Rare. | |
| Interactive game | Online Flash minigame. Arcade game. Racing and 2-player fighting games. | Relatively rare. | Relatively rare (eg Portal) | Most computer & console games |
The gaps in live shows make sense. People don't want to go to the trouble of attending a live show if it's only going to last an hour... and a live show longer than a few hours is difficult in terms of the human labor required to put on the show and in terms of requiring a large audience to synchronize their breaks. The gaps in interactive games don't make as much sense. There's no reason that the game companies couldn't make games with 1-3 hour storylines. They could be sold for $5-$15.
I haven't been paying that much attention to the games industry lately. Perhaps that gap has been filled.
