It's often said that the opening 30 minutes of any video game are possibly the most important. Not only do they give the player an indication of the title's quality, but they can also be used to show how the game works, establish its core mechanics and tease elements of an epic storyline.
With this in mind, game developer Stephen Mortimer has started a new YouTube channel devoted to the first 30 minutes of a series of titles he has never played before. He plays the opening half hour and then - from a game design perspective - feeds back on what worked and what didn't.
Why should you care what Mortimer has to say? Well, he used to work at Nintendo Software Technology and contributed to titles such as Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars and Mini Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge.
After 11 years at NST he has now moved on to Riot Games, and plans to run the channel in his spare time. First 30 of Game Design is well worth a look if you're in any way interested in how games are made, and Nintendo fans should be interested to know that Mortimer has already covered Paper Mario Color Splash and Rive. Have a watch and let us know what you think.
[source youtube.com]
Comments (12)
NST? The company with the extremely troubled game development history. You never hear Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars and Mini Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge being mentioned when talking about Wii U's great games. You never hear about them at all really.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE yes, and?
I agree with that first 30 mins rule. Some people will argue that you need hours to get into a certain game; I say it's broken by design if that's the case. Sure, it might get real good and reveal lots of cool story stuff after a couple hours, but you should be in there and enjoying yourself within a couple of minutes of starting any game as far as I'm concerned. And, if I stop playing a game after 30 mins and never get to see all that wonderful stuff later on that you're talking about, don't blame me—the game should have made me want to play for long enough to get to that stuff, not the other way around.
I hope Nintendo will one day (sooner rather than later) make a new entree to the Wave Race and 1080 Snowboarding.
@locky-mavo I second that. Two of my all time favorites, and some sequels are LONG overdue.
He also seems to be a DigiPen alumnus, which might explain how he got the job at Nintendo Software Technology Corporation in the first place.
Not really sure how you can move on from Nintendo, at least to something better, but okay.
i know his mii
@Retruate You place too much faith in a company
@SLIGEACH_EIRE the NST games you mentioned are amazing games. Have you even played them, or are you just spouting useless bile from rumours you heard?
@Simbabbad No they're not.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii-u/mario-vs-donkey-kong-tipping-stars 70% isn't great for Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars.
Mini Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge doesn't even have a Metacritic score because it only has a few reviews. The game's a bit of a scam really so I'm not surprised nobody reviewed it. It only exists to try and flog SCamiibo. To play the full game you've to spend €150 on them.
What a terrific idea! Followed.
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