Learning Game Design with Arcade Berg

What defines a game?

A question I often find very hard to find a pin point answer for is: What defines this very game?

Is it the kind of gameplay? Is it the art style? Is it the story? The setting? The core mechanic?

I think the answer for any game depends on who you're asking. Different people get different experiences from the game. But at the same time, there's probably something, the X-factor that makes a special game feel the way it feels.

Super Mario 64, a pinnacle in platform gaming: What is it that makes that game what it is? The controls? The graphics? The fact that it has Mario in it and is in 3D? It's probably a mix.

Screenshots from Max Payne 3 are released. Max Payne you say, I don't see it.
http://www.rockstargames.com/maxpayne3/index2.php (24/6/2009)

Sure, they're just screens so they don't tell all that much. But when I look at them, I don't feel the Max Payne-vibe. I don't recognize it. I don't think "That's a Max Payne-game!".

I don't see the setting, the character, the dark story or the gameplay.

But I'm not saying they're doing it wrong. I have confidence in Rockstar. I think they're gonna make a great Max Payne-game and I think they're gonna treat the IP with great care.

However, I get curious as to what they think "This is Max Payne". When I play the game once it's released, who knows, I might instantly feel "Yup, this is Max Payne!". Maybe they've nailed it. Nailed every important aspect. I bet they've thought long and hard about what makes the game what it is.

That's a really hard thing to do; getting a game and having to figure out what actually makes the game what it is. It sounds easy at first, but it's really not.

I think it's an important thing to figure out when making a game yourself. What is this game? It doesn't have to be unique, it doesn't have to bring anything new to the table, but you have to at least know what it is.