Novelty Though the result of an input is predictable, there should be enough

small, subtle differences in response to keep controls feeling fresh and interes
ting. One enemy of novelty is linear animation. Even in a game like Jak and Da
xter, where the linear animation is of uncommonly high quality, it s very easy to
tell that Jak is doing the same punch every time. The problem is that, once exha
usted, even quality content gets boring. Watching Jak punch for the ten thousand
th time is significantly less compelling than it was the first time. For a sensa
tion of control to hold the player s interest, it needs to feel novel and interest
ing even after hours of play. Even repetitive actions should feel fresh each tim
e you trigger them. Many games attempt to solve this problem with mountains o
f additional content, running the player through a series of increasingly challe
nging and varied levels that give new and interesting context to the virtual sen
sation to keep it from feeling stale. Another approach is to introduce more mech
anics additions and modifications to virtual sensation over the course of the game.
For example, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow does a great job of constantly adding n
ew virtual sensations through different souls and weapons, each of which adds
a different feel to the underlying movement or augments it with new states (such
as the ability to jump twice without landing). Another approach is to increa
se the sophistication of the global physics simulation. Physics games make contr
ol feel novel because the player will never be able to offer the same input twic
e. While the player may be able to consistently achieve the same result in Ski S
tunt Simulator jumping a ravine then doing a backflip over a wooden hut, for examp
le no two runs will ever be the same. The parameters that govern the simulation wi
ll react identically each time, players can t perceive the subtle differences in t
heir own input. The system is more sensitive than the player s perception, much li
ke the real world. Because our perception is keenly tuned to physical reality, w
e subconsciously expect certain things to happen when objects interact and move.
One thing we expect is that no motion will ever be exactly the same twice. This
is the nature of reality: messy and imprecise. No one person can punch exactly
the same way twice or throw a discus or javelin the same way twice. If we see th
e same action happening in the same way over and over again without subtle varia
tion, it starts to look wrong. Pg323