What makes a good tutorial? This week, Slicers Graham and Seb examine the good, the bad and the ugly of video game tutorials, and ask: Why are they so terrible?
To read the full article, head on over to Edge Online.
Edge Article: “Why Are Tutorials Terrible?”
September 10th, 2011Vertical Slice’s Scary Game Study Online
September 10th, 2011
Our recent work pitting the scariest Xbox 360 games against each other has been published in Gamasutra. We’re also delighted that our friends at Kotaku, Joystiq, Eurogamer and many, many more gaming blogs have decided to share our findings with the world.
Which game do you think is scariest on Xbox 360? Do you better understand what makes games scary? Do you agree with our verdict?
Graham on OneLifeLeft Tonight – Listen Live!
August 22nd, 2011
Graham McAllister will be tonight’s super-special guest on OneLifeLeft: the UK’s favourite video games radio show!
Listen live here or tune in at 104.4fm in London at 7pm.
Vertical Slice at Develop 2011, come and meet us!
July 18th, 2011
For the fourth year in a row, Vertical Slice director Graham McAllister will be talking at the Develop conference, providing insight into “Designing for Emotions: Understanding the Player Experience”. Expect some sneak peaks into the processes and results of our recent work, including our Biometric Storyboards, and our recently-featured scary games investigation from Official Xbox Magazine. Graham will be presenting in The Den at 4pm on Thursday, but we’ll also be around for the whole conference, so be sure to get in touch for drinks or a chat.
We’re also opening up our usability studio to visitors! Our studio is only 9 minutes on the train from Brighton, or we have parking on site. Email us as info@verticalslice.co.uk for more information, or to RSVP.
See you in (currently not-so-sunny) Brighton!
“Usability Testing: Face the Fear and Learn to Love It”
July 18th, 2011
Blitz Game Studio’s Chris Viggers’ article on usability testing with Vertical Slice is now online at Gamasutra. We’re very proud to have contributed to both YooStar 2 and Fantastic Pets for the studio, working with them to create two brilliant and innovative games using the Kinect hardware.
Our work with the Blitz team demonstrates just how valuable usability testing and user research can be, even at the Design stage of development, before a single line of code has been written.
Thanks again to Chris and the Blitz team, we’re looking forward to working with you again!
The VS Team
New Fortnightly User Research Column in Edge
June 21st, 2011
Vertical Slice’s resident games guru Graham McAllister is pleased to announce a new fortnightly feature at Edge Online. Graham’s articles will be exploring the interface between player experience and designer intention, as well as providing insight into the processes and techniques Vertical Slice use to answer game designers’ biggest questions.
Graham’s first article, “Who Cares About The Player?” was published last month, and talks openly about some of the processes that make user research our passion (and possibly not what you think). Our second article, titled “Wii U: Controlling The Experience” gives some insight and opinion on Nintendo’s controversial new controller, and what it might mean for the games industry as a whole.
So, what’re you waiting for? Head on over to Edge Online, and keep an eye out for more of Graham’s articles every fortnight, and if you’ve got anything you’d like Graham to cover, drop us a line at info@verticalslice.co.uk.
Vertical Slice’s Paper at DiGRA Accepted; Pejman Talks at CHI
June 21st, 2011
We’re delighted to share the recent successes of jet-set Vertical Slicer Pejman, who has just returned from Vancouver following his successful talk “Biometric Storyboards: Visualising Meaningful Gameplay Events” (PDF) at CHI2011. Pejman’s talk outlined our unique Biometric Storyboarding visualisations, which we’ve used extensively on recent games.
Pejman’s successes continue alongside fledgling user researchers Seb and Emma, as another of our academic papers is accepted to the DiGRA conference in the Netherlands. Following our own research on two of gaming’s most successful First Person Shooters, the paper “Understanding the Contribution of Biometrics to Games User Research” considers the value of the skin sensors used by Vertical Slice when compared with other types of user research.
Stay tuned for more news on Vertical Slice’s latest publications…
Scariest Xbox 360 Game Revealed
May 11th, 2011
Here at Vertical Slice we recently conducted a study into determining the scariest game on the Xbox 360. We worked with the Official Xbox 360 Magazine to produce a report, which was published in the June edition of the OXM magazine. It has already hit the shelves, so go and pick it up today! The publication featured an 8 page spread covering the enquiry, with interviews with the Vertical Slice team and further insights into what we do.
The report itself highlighted some interesting findings, including:
> First encounters with enemies tend to be the scariest
> Small numbers of enemies and implied threats are scarier than overt, mass number ones
> Cut-scenes affect casual players and hardcore gamers in different ways
> The grotesque can catalyse shocks, but is not scary in isolation
It also found that Dead Space 2 is the scariest game so far this generation, followed by Condemned, Alan Wake and Resident Evil 5. The full report can be provided, by asking Joel on joel@verticalslice.co.uk
Brink Released by Splash Damage
May 11th, 2011
This Friday 13th May will see Splash Damage’s Brink hit the shelves across the UK. The acclaimed first-person shooter was worked on by us lot at Vertical Slice, and we helped with the usability and player testing for the game whilst it was in development. The reviews have already been flooding in, with the majority of them scoring favourably.
Major and reputable gaming outlets OXM, GameSpy, Games Radar, The Guardian, CVG and Eurogamer all gave the game at least an 8 out of 10, with reviewers praising the synthesis of a mulitplayer/singlesingle hybrid.
Following on from the success of AVP and Crysis 2, Vertical Slice are quickly becoming experts in the FPS genre. We have more juicy projects in the pipeline too, so keep your eyes and ears open!
The iOS Twin Stick Shooter Usability Guide
April 1st, 2011
Vertical Slice recently researched the various control methods used in iOS twin stick shooter games, with Graham McAllister producing a comprehensive report on the matter. The study highlights different strengths and weaknesses in the multitude of control systems that can be found in the genre, and discusses the viability of virtual control sticks as an appropriate mechanism for playing such games. A version of the report can be found at GamaSutra, who picked up the article, and can be read here.
The guide is absolutely essential for anyone working in the genre or on the platform, and makes for a compelling read even for those just casually interested in gaming or touch-screen interfaces. If you liked the report and have anything to contribute, please get in touch with us at info@verticalslice.co.uk. Let us know if you have any other good ideas for articles too, or if you have any comments or insight to provide yourself.
If you would like to download the original document, then please do so by right-clicking and saving the following link, or simply click on it to read it in your browser: Read the iOS Twin Stick Shooter Usability report