By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
MDMAlliance on 09 October 2013
Edit Thread
HoloDust said:
happydolphin said:
HoloDust said:
That's really silly statement - game genres are not like movies genres, so that they build, more or less, upon common ancestry. What's P&C Adventures, Turned-based military strategies or Flight simulators, to name just few (and there are A LOT others), got to do in common with Mario games?

Why is this concept so complex for some of you? There is more to a game than its genre, there is more to a game than its gameplay, there is the idea behind this or that innovation, there is music, there are themes.

In the case of Mario, just the idea of hidden blocks or warp zones through plumber pipes is a concept, the spirit of which can be adopted in an FPS, for example what was done in portal (never played it but I can imagine).

Why is the concept of Mario not being Holy Grail of all game design so complex for some of you? Nobody is saying that there's nothing to learn from them, but I would really love to hear what game designer that creates tactical war games, or submarine sims, or tactical shooters, or P&C adventures, or construction and managment simulations, or.....I could go on.....has to learn from Mario games?

Seems that some people are either too young, too fanboyish, or simply don't know much about history of computer games (vs console games) to realize that Mario, while having big influence on video games industry (specially its console part), is nowhere near as important or influential for game design in overall as people like to believe.


I think you misunderstand.  It's not about the genre.  It's about making games, regardless of genre.  I would assume that you would agree that there is a common element that separates video games from other forms of entertainment media.  Also, mentality can be another thing a game designer could learn from Mario games.  If you try making a game without knowing the basic mentality you should have while making a game, your game can lack some of the basic mechanics you need to make the game enjoyable.