After watching "The Extra Credits" episode on "Survival Horror" (if you haven't seen it, please do) and its migration to Action Adventure, I got thinking about new and innovative ways to bring back that those elements that really made survival horror about SURVIVING and encountering HORROR.
I am only a 15 year boy from London but I really think this game mechanic i've thought of really could help the genre and maybe save it before it dies completely.
(I am sure the mechanic has already been tried and failed but I am failing to see a major reason for this)
Picture the scene:
You're trapped in a small village. You start off with a set amount of food in the house but eventually you run out because one of the mechanics in the game is that you can die of hunger and thirst (reminiscent to the hardcore mode in Fallout New Vegas). So you, the player, and your possible recruited survivors must go to the local shops for food (it can be any product).
Now at this point in the game, the player may realize there are only a set amount of things he/she can buy and that the one that costs the most offers the best nutritional value.
Well my idea is that yes, we do have these in-game foods but how nice would it be to have a input menu where the player can put in the bar codes from products, that'll register as something in the game. For example, if I were to be eating a bar of chocolate in reality I could then put the barcode into the game so my character within the game has that chocolate bar to eat as well.
This means that no two players could ever really be the exact same and immersion would be that much greater as it would be your possessions in-game. It would be your packet of Walkers crisps or your can of Coke. This allows for Product Placement which is already happening within some television programs. I am sure companies would want for their products to be marketed within a game with this mechanic as it may boost sales of this product in real life. The mechanic allows for lessons on nutrition and may even make people aware about obesity and malnutrition in their own lives as well as with in the game. This mechanic could be updated every few months or at least once a year so that new products are put in, each with their own nutritional value for the player. With this mechanic even the big weekly shop would feel less like a chore and more like an adventure.
But this doesn't just have to apply to food and drink. If I were to buy myself a rucksack for hiking or garden shears each would come with its own barcode to be put into the game for its own application. (increased inventory space and as a weapon). If this were to happen with products away from food with, for example the Ipad, it could open up a whole new niche in which DLC could be made. Buy and Ipad and use the code or use download it from XBL or PSN (marketing the product without it actually being bought) and it can open up new scenarios. This justifies the monthly/yearly update of the products within the game.
The idea when it comes to rendering these products its to keep things like food simple but recognizable. A packet of Walkers cheese and onion crisps could just be a blue square with a yellow circle. This way not a lot of space is taken up and it leaves room for the thousands of other items on the market out there but the item is still recognizable by being infamous in real life.
A small flaw I have stumbled across is people just going to their local corner shop and writing down the barcodes there or just using a barcode scanner. Yes this is a problem and one that i doubt we can stop but all ideas have their pros and cons. I believe that the pros here definitely weigh out the cons. I believe this mechanic could work in games from Grand Theft Auto to Fallout to Silent Hill.
What do you think?
If you have found a flaw please tell me what it is.
I am only a 15 year boy from London but I really think this game mechanic i've thought of really could help the genre and maybe save it before it dies completely.
(I am sure the mechanic has already been tried and failed but I am failing to see a major reason for this)
Picture the scene:
You're trapped in a small village. You start off with a set amount of food in the house but eventually you run out because one of the mechanics in the game is that you can die of hunger and thirst (reminiscent to the hardcore mode in Fallout New Vegas). So you, the player, and your possible recruited survivors must go to the local shops for food (it can be any product).
Now at this point in the game, the player may realize there are only a set amount of things he/she can buy and that the one that costs the most offers the best nutritional value.
Well my idea is that yes, we do have these in-game foods but how nice would it be to have a input menu where the player can put in the bar codes from products, that'll register as something in the game. For example, if I were to be eating a bar of chocolate in reality I could then put the barcode into the game so my character within the game has that chocolate bar to eat as well.
This means that no two players could ever really be the exact same and immersion would be that much greater as it would be your possessions in-game. It would be your packet of Walkers crisps or your can of Coke. This allows for Product Placement which is already happening within some television programs. I am sure companies would want for their products to be marketed within a game with this mechanic as it may boost sales of this product in real life. The mechanic allows for lessons on nutrition and may even make people aware about obesity and malnutrition in their own lives as well as with in the game. This mechanic could be updated every few months or at least once a year so that new products are put in, each with their own nutritional value for the player. With this mechanic even the big weekly shop would feel less like a chore and more like an adventure.
But this doesn't just have to apply to food and drink. If I were to buy myself a rucksack for hiking or garden shears each would come with its own barcode to be put into the game for its own application. (increased inventory space and as a weapon). If this were to happen with products away from food with, for example the Ipad, it could open up a whole new niche in which DLC could be made. Buy and Ipad and use the code or use download it from XBL or PSN (marketing the product without it actually being bought) and it can open up new scenarios. This justifies the monthly/yearly update of the products within the game.
The idea when it comes to rendering these products its to keep things like food simple but recognizable. A packet of Walkers cheese and onion crisps could just be a blue square with a yellow circle. This way not a lot of space is taken up and it leaves room for the thousands of other items on the market out there but the item is still recognizable by being infamous in real life.
A small flaw I have stumbled across is people just going to their local corner shop and writing down the barcodes there or just using a barcode scanner. Yes this is a problem and one that i doubt we can stop but all ideas have their pros and cons. I believe that the pros here definitely weigh out the cons. I believe this mechanic could work in games from Grand Theft Auto to Fallout to Silent Hill.
What do you think?
If you have found a flaw please tell me what it is.