There's no denying that ESP Game and Peekaboom are great fun to play, but watching this presentation by their designer reminded me of so many conference talks which broke the game creation process down into a series of lifeless, algorithmic choices. That's probably a bit harsh because Luis von Ahn seems like a very creative and inspired (not to mention clever) man, it's just that these projects evolve from quite specific research. The games are really a front to get people to do work that computers aren't very good at, such as labeling pictures. His presentation to Google was very interesting, if a little laboured, but I get the impression he doesn't expose himself to enough other game material beyond his own creations. It all seems a bit, well, academic.
He describes his output as 'games with a purpose'. Surely all games have a purpose: entertainment. Yes, his have an ulterior motive, but their primary aim is to entertain the player, otherwise they'll never achieve their secondary goal.
The video was linked on many a blog over the last week, but I found it here - a page Google titles 'Videos from the Googleplex'. There are links to all the other TechTalks as well as several Authors@Google videos which are also very interesting. I haven't been to GDC for over two years, I need my fix somewhere!
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