Jim Preston, my former boss at EA, told me that my “destiny lies with Natal.” Apparently I talk a lot about the physicality of video games when I’m in his presence, and looking at the games I’ve designed recently, I can understand why he would make that judgment. To clarify, when I talk about the physicality of video games, I’m not just looking at the physical actions players are taking outside the screen, but also the digital sensation (“game feel,” “juicy feedback,” whatever you want to call it) of controlling an avatar on screen. Ico creates a strong sense of physicality, as does World of Goo. WOMP!, the game I’m currently working on, focuses entirely on digital physicality (if that combination of words makes sense). But this is all tangential to the point I want to make.

I’m still thinking about the story I linked to yesterday and how games can be used to create a common ground between humans. It’s a powerful sentiment and one that fundamentally motivates me to do what I do. And while I don’t want to belittle the role current games play in the relationship between the father and son in the story, I strongly feel that video games do a piss poor job at facilitating meaningful communication between players. Be it the impenetrable zombie-like gamer face (Rock Band and Call of Duty are the T-Virus to the modern gamer face) or the fiercely competitive mechanics most multiplayer games adopt, players are never given the opportunity to socially engage with one another.

Worse yet, video games never encourage players to even look at each other. What little communication players do engage in is entirely mediated by the screen. Ask yourself how much time you spend engaging in face-to-face communication with other players when playing a multiplayer video game. Compare that with the amount of face-to-face communication you engage in when playing a board game with your family and friends. Where, in the realm of video games, are the poker face moments where I stare into the eyes of my opponents and try to read their thoughts and movements?

I’m intent on changing the conversation video game players are having with one another. I believe this is the key to creating common ground between players, and, as a side effect, truly expanding the game playing audience. One way to achieve this is through creative physical input. We communicate so much about ourselves through our bodies, and much of this body language is universal. That is why I’m so gleefully stoked for Natal. It creates the opportunity to change the flow of play from human-computer interaction to human-human interaction. In other words, video games can finally be about people rather than things.

Isn’t that lovely? :)