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Kotaku
Activision's James Portnow has written an excellent article examining the nature of fairness in videogames. He argues that videogames are quite fair in rewarding gamers during play. But in order to take the medium to the next level (no pun intended), games must become more like the unfair life that they emulate. Explaining that unfair often equals a boring or frustrating experience for gamers, Portnow offers one type of gaming that is both unfair AND addictive: gambling.
...we know games can be unfair and yet immensely appealing. Almost every gambling game is weighted and yet gambling games have been popular for millennia. Indeed, gambling games which are not weighted soon lose their appeal (try betting on coin flips with a friend).
I would argue, however, that gambling videogames aren't nearly as addictive than their real counterparts because addiction to gambling is an emotional high—not from winning—but almost losing. And with videogames, no matter how they are designed, the player has nothing tangible to lose but their time...which was sort of gone as soon as they booted up the console. Thoughts?
Game Design: Is Fairness Really Fair [nextgeneration]
