Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 28, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
“Computer games are the media of the future. It would be a great pity if experience worlds missed the moving train here because they no longer understand the growing generation of gamers,” says the author. “There is no doubt that interactivity will make its way into experience worlds, but at present park operators mainly reproduce themselves with initial experiments such as so-called interactive dark rides. For novel gameplay and new ideas, one should therefore also rely on computer-game design and not only on hybrids of ghost train and shooting gallery.”
With the help of its own examples and expert opinions, “Interactivity in Experience Worlds” explains what kind of “gameplay” are suitable for experience worlds and does not shy away from very concrete application examples. The results are additionally supported by its own market studies. Grünwald focuses on the genre of so-called adventure games: “Many in the park industry still believe that interaction always has something to do with sport, skill or competition and with winning and losing. Actually, that is a contradiction to a day in a theme park, where I do not necessarily want to compete, but can simply let myself go. In the amusement park, everyone should be a winner when needed.”
Adventure games follow precisely this approach: The focus here is on experiencing and testing a particular story, not competition. “Interactivity in Experience Worlds” explains concretely how this complex and long-proven game mechanic could be transferred to completely new types of attraction and does not shy away from such exciting topics as queue problems, visitor addressing or language barriers.
Grünwald, who himself works in the games industry: “Theme parks are ultimately always about stories too. It therefore makes a great deal of sense to examine the mechanics of the story-heavy adventure game specifically for this industry. This genre has experienced a major upswing for several years. Germany is the market leader in this segment and brings numerous capacities to us. The chances are therefore higher than ever before.”
With his book, the author hopes in the long term for an unprejudiced discourse between the amusement and games industries. He does not want to earn anything from his work: The book can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet; author’s copies are also sent for a contribution toward costs of €14.90 (including shipping). Toward the end of the year, the master’s thesis can be purchased as an “on Demand” paperback in bookshops (ISBN 978-3-00-023106-3, then plus wholesale price).
Potential contacts are more important to the graduate: “At the beginning, Walt Disney knew very little about the amusement industry. It was only the combination of filmmakers and engineering that created a completely new kind of park concept at the time. I therefore think it is time for amusement-park developers to bring game designers on board too, in order to create something new again. There have already been initial enquiries about these new ideas and concepts. I hope the work can contribute a certain part to this process of rapprochement.”
Further information:
- free book
