Head of Research Craft at Player Research Former Games HCI Professor and Critic for IGN Portugal (He/Him)
Brighton
Joined May 2013
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Wanna UserResearch everything from Life Is Strange to EldenRing? PlayerResearch's growing like a katamari so we need you to join us!
Did I mention EldenRing? Tiny game we worked on? Our bread and butter. Wanna work on stuff like that? Get in touch!
We're hiring: Games User Researchers in Brighton, UK and Montreal, Canada. Experienced & early-career roles. Come join our team of player research specialists, contributing to the world's best games.
➞ Details playerresearch.com/careers/
#gamedev #gamejobs #gamesUR #playerresearch
Need some pearls of A11y wisdom? Player Research's a11y consultant extraordinaire, Ameliane Chiasson, is spreading the gospel in this wonderful new podcast with the incomparable @stevesaylor. Don't miss it.
Our new podcast on games accessibility! Hosted by the wonderful @SteveSaylor. Episode 1 out now, with our #a11y guru Améliane F. Chiasson — more episodes posted weekly.
📺 YouTube: youtu.be/PoEF4ZLRaT8
🎧 Spotify: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/s…
📃 Transcript: playerresearch.com/learn/adv…
Wanna take your first step into the most worthwile game dev frontier?
The amazing Ameliane @TheSlasherChick has a webinar for you.
Live Accessibility Webinar - Friday, July 19th
💡 Join our conversation on game accessibility fundamentals & the bizcase for prioritizing a11y.
Get equipped with facts & solutions to advance your game's accessibility plan.
RSVP: lnkd.in/eJdVgpP9
#gamedev #a11y #gamesUR
ALT Live webinar: Game accessibility, fundamentals, business case and services. Friday July 19th. EDT time zone, 11am. BST time zone 4pm. PDT time zone 8am. Webinar presenters: Améliane F. Chiasson, Games Accessibility Lead at Player Research. Harvey Owen, UX Researcher at Player Research. Presented by Player Research and Keywords Studios.
Wanna breakdown your game's barriers and become an A11y champion?
The accessibility champions @PlayerResearch are sponsoring a Games A11y gathering during Brighton Develop. July 10th hosted by @unity!
Come get your UX and A11y secrets, with a free cuppa.
Link in comments
Wanna hear all the secret @PlayerResearch rezza magic?
I'll answer all your game design, UX, and research questions. I'll even buy you a cuppa!
Meet me at the @developconf in Brighton!
Dms open to organise chats.
Amazing Nintendo-direct!
Long awaited re-releases (Fantasian, DQIII) and rebastareds (what have they done with ma baby DK?)!
Cool indies! Creepy Hobbits!
A new Zelda: Link's Awa... no, Zelda's Awakening!
BLOODY METROID PRIME 4!
And it looks mostly* METROID PRIMEY!!!
The past month shows why the medium is simultaneously at the best and worst it's ever been. The best cause there's an avalanche of masterpieces being released (too many to cite here) The worst cause the excessive compression of releases is beyond any mortal's schedule and wallet
Superb Microsoft presentation. The full fat E3 buffet: stylish trailers, a diverse range of genres, and tentpole experience after tentpole experience. An embarrassment of riches (and no free2play GaaS bs too...) Flawless victory?
What happens when stakeholders make decisions based on greed instead of hard data research.
"Executives kept reviewing demonstrations of the game and sending laudatory feedback, praising the graphics and saying they expected Suicide Squad to become a billion-dollar franchise"
NEW: What went wrong with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?
This is the story, based on interviews with two dozen people who worked on the game, of how Rocksteady Studios went from the revered Arkham series to a $200 million flop: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Can the Erdtree deliver all these amazing boons?
Elden Ring was an absolute banger, defo one of the best open-world games ever, and the second most proud I've ever been working on a title @PlayerResearch (the number one is a secret... for now)
Erdtree in my veins now, please!!!
Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree's map will have same "sense of wonder and exploration" as base game
eurogamer.net/elden-ring-dlc…
ALT The player-character looks out over a valley with soft gold fields and skies filled with blackened veils in this screen from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
This looks... exactly like the original. And that's the biggest praise I could give to a remaster of one of the best and most lavish looking games of all time. Excited to play it!
These are great practices that allow Senua to look and play different
But at a cost: the game has to be mechanically linear/simple, ape genre conventions, and use a non-contemporary fictional background (dark fantasy, psychological drama) to justify its elegant UX.
BUT
14/15
Designers chose constraints as that empowered their cinematic/immersive vision. This approach doesn't work in other genres and games, I fear.
If you enjoyed this UX analysis, know this is what we do @PlayerResearch - run Expert Analyses, usability playtests and much much more ;)
When the game needs to teach you something new – how to use focus to slow down time, figure out puzzles, how to react to attacks – it uses dialogue from the Furies.
"Focus!" "Dodge!" "Kill!" Voices work as both thematic devices and hint system.
13/15
RB to block is a minor issue–almost all games use left-shoulder buttons, likely due to dominant lateralization (we gen prefer strong actions w/right side of body, e.g. hand dominancy, how warriors equip sword and shield)
Expect to sprint into attacks now and then😩
BUT
11/15
BUT even if you dive headlong into an attack and die... when Senua falls to the ground, you have one last chance for recovering from near death (with most HP?)
And even if you do die, you recover from a nearby checkpoint.
Thus, learning to play never feels penalising.
12/15
ALT Senua on the ground with an attacked nearby, the voices telling her to get up.
The game is also linear – so there's few unplanned situations and PoVs that designers can't shape (or weren't usability tested at least).
A lot of the game you just follow a carefully curated path – so you see what designers want when they want – so you dont get lost
6/15
'A' for dodging not common today but was used back in ps2 days (usually jump + dodge)
'B' for interaction also relatively uncommon, but only needed in slowpace exploration – when players have time and mindspace to recall it.
Both mappings also in GoW: Ragk! so not bad
10/15
ALT God of War Ragnarok controls. X for evading and Circle for interacting just like Senua.
... the game (mostly) leverages genre conventions so players aren't burdened to learn/memorise new controls
X ('□') Fast and Y ('△') Heavy Attacks are a PS2 action staple, a la old GoW
LT to focus is akin to Zoom/ADS in most shooters
LB sprint recalls Last of Us
9/15
ALT Last of Us Part 2 Controls. Sprint is L1
ALT Darksiders 3 controls. L2 is for Focus. Attack is Square, Hollow Attack Triangle, Jump X, Interact Circle.
