Ever since the wii, the term gimmick has been thrown around a lot with regards to video games. Yet what does it mean?
I was thinking about Hololens and realised a pretty clear definition with regards to games, so hey why not make a thread about it!
IMO a gimmick is "a concept that appears beneficial towards video games from a second hand perspective, but while actually playing is neutral or negative to the experience." Take the light bar on the dual shock 4. Before the PS4's release it sounded cool. It'd add so much to gaming! Then upon actually trying it ourselves we realise it's hard to even notice the light outside of annoying reflections on the TV. The concept of the light bar is much cooler than the reality of it.
Same goes for the wii and motion controls in general. The concept is so cool! Marketing for all these things captured our dream games like star wars lightsabers and what not. Then once we have the games in our hands, we realise physical movement sucks. We're not ninjas that can do backflips.
I was thinking about Hololens and realised a pretty clear definition with regards to games, so hey why not make a thread about it!
IMO a gimmick is "a concept that appears beneficial towards video games from a second hand perspective, but while actually playing is neutral or negative to the experience." Take the light bar on the dual shock 4. Before the PS4's release it sounded cool. It'd add so much to gaming! Then upon actually trying it ourselves we realise it's hard to even notice the light outside of annoying reflections on the TV. The concept of the light bar is much cooler than the reality of it.
Same goes for the wii and motion controls in general. The concept is so cool! Marketing for all these things captured our dream games like star wars lightsabers and what not. Then once we have the games in our hands, we realise physical movement sucks. We're not ninjas that can do backflips.
