The anatomy of a great video game

After months of playing, I decided I was good enough at “Soulcalibur IV” to take my skills online and put them to the test. I signed on, and within two minutes, I had conquered a poorly dressed lizard man with my warrior princess.

I glowed with pride as the screen displayed my 100 percent victory rate. My name had been added to the world online ranking, and with it, my undefeated record was there for all to see. By the next match, I had been thoroughly spanked. My heart sank as that ranking quickly fell to 50 percent.

I cursed myself for not yanking the power chord from my Playstation before the game had time to save my score, but it was several months later, after having three players drop out of online matches with me, that I’m glad I didn’t follow through with that first reaction. While messaging these players with every curse word in my vocabulary, I wondered why developers didn’t put more punishments in place for this sort of thing. Naturally, I couldn’t prove whether the other players were running from imminent defeat, or suffering from a poor Internet connection. While I wanted the developer to grant me an automatic victory every time a player dropped out, that would still mean a loss for the player who disconnected. I know from experience that playing online games with wireless Internet is like playing Russian roulette: You never know when you’re going to die.

Game developers have the difficult job of balancing punishment and rewards. If the gamer doesn’t think that the prize is worth it, then the whole game falls apart. This has become increasingly difficult over the years, as gamers are nowhere near as patient as they used to be. This was painfully obvious to me during a session of “Mega Man,” where running out of ice ammo right before my battle against Fire Man meant I would be playing the entire level over again.

Time has always been one of the most popular forms of punishments in gaming. We play in constant fear of having to backtrack, or do something over again. It’s ironic how we value our use of time in a medium designed to waste it.

One type of video game that makes effective use of punishment in games is the first-person shooter. In games such as “Halo,” or “Call of Duty,” if the player dies, it’s relatively easy to re-spawn back to an area where they can pick up and continue where they left off. Weapons are always abundant, and you never lose anything necessary to continue playing. Some of the best first-person shooters are the games that sacrifice very little time. Perhaps that’s why the biggest complaint I’ve heard about the “Call of Duty” series is that it simply isn’t long enough.

One emerging trend in gaming is the surge of social media games. Games such as “FarmVille” or “Mafia Wars” are easily accessed through sites such as Facebook or MySpace. They are simple to play, and convince thousands of people every day to invest their precious free time into them. Punishment for these games is usually distributed in the form of bragging rights, perhaps the second greatest motivator in games today.

The ability to show off the results of such small accomplishments is already contributing to the success of this new type of game. According to a recent poll conducted by Information Solutions Group, more than 24 percent of Internet users already consider themselves social gamers.

It’s the balance of fun and accessibility that makes a game great, but also, the rewards and punishments that build the foundation of that game. When you come across a game that you are willing to sacrifice the time and money for, if the benefits can outweigh the potential punishment, then you know you’ve come across something truly special.