Pandering to Your Audience

This is more or less a follow up to last week's discussion. The majority of the problem presented last week had to do with the developers vision clashing with what the audience was demanding. There are several problems in a situation like that, none of which have nice and easy answers. For one, the designer has a vision. It is his or her game and they should strive to make it as such. Second, one must know their target audience. Certain games will appeal to different people, and tailoring the experience to something they enjoy will make the difference between a "bleh" game and a blockbuster. Third, the audience knows what they want (or think they do). Since you will most likely never produce this game, they will never be happy with what you DO produce, this is a fact of all types of buisness. Finally, the problem that turns this all into a major problem, is that developers create expectations and when these don't get met the player feels cheated. The first three issues mostly just divide players into those who like the game and those who don't. It's this last one that causes the sort of outbursts Bioware is currently facing over Mass Effect 2. The "tame" sex scenes wouldn't have been such a big deal probably, if Bioware had not made such a big deal out of the ability to do so.

So, next up on the altar for disobeying its audience is another game I mentioned last week: Bayonetta. Again, I have not played this game and from what I've heard I'm not going to. However, the game resurfaced in my mind because of an article about it in my latest issue of Game Informer, who continue to send me free issues for some reason. They interviewed the director of the studio that produced the game regarding some questions that the game left them with. Several of the questions hit on the issue of sexuality, but they are blown off by the claim that the character Bayonetta was designed by a female designer and so she should pander to both genders and that she is sexy, but not vulgar. That last bit is an absolute lie as I understand it. But to move away from last week's topic to this week's, let's look at the Q&A that got me fired up: Q, "We liked the game's Space Harrier sequence, but that shooting seemed to go on for a really long time. Why is that?" A, "Hey, I don't think it is too long. (Laughs) I think that gamers of my era excelled at the ability to approach games in the vein of 'I'll find the fun in what I've been given,' and not 'You guys need to give me what I want.' Maybe I expressed my feelings of nostalgia for that era a bit too strongly. But even that is just one of the idiosyncrasies that make up Bayonetta, and I would be really pleased if you enjoyed it as such."

This just makes me want to smack the guy in the face. It comes across to me as being quite rude, he could have said the same thing and put it in a way that doesn't make me feel insulted as a gamer. As I tried to express with my quick overview of teh sexuality bit, the entire set of answers seemed rather rude. At basis, it looks like he's telling the player to suck it up and like what we hand them. Well, actually, that goes well with my belief that a developer should make their own game. But, if you alienate your audience, players are going to go elsewhere.

In the end, both sides have to be willing to give a little to the others demands. Give a little, not give in.

Bayonetta and her ludicrously long legs are not changing for your sake!