Feedback in games

We get into how feedback is in games. In Zelda, breath of the wild the player has to be vigilant of remaining energy while running. If you empty the energy stor e you will be punished by having to walk for a while. The feedback for this is a circle on the screen and we talked about how this could be implemented as a continuous and nuanced feedback and how there are very many missed opportunities. The Nintendo Switch, and some earlier consoles by the company, tries to push for new interactions and feedback but it seems to be hard to convince game makers to use these. I remember how many reviews of the Switch focused on the console as an artefact and these feedbacks where key. The click when docking the joycons is even part of Switch logo.

Gaming is a genre where it seems to be easier than most to introduce new concepts in interface and interactivity. The VR "revolution" has focused on gaming in both iterations (90s and 20-teens). The same seems true for haptic feedback, even though Apple has been focusing on this lately. The Apple haptic feedback seems to be more about how you can make thing thinner if they don't have to move but you then have to create an artificial feedback to make up for the lost feedback.

Update: The Playstation 5 has been announced and they seem to move towards more nuanced feedback and feedforward with "adaptive triggers" and "haptic feedback far more capable than the rumble moto" Wired interview with Sony