First impressions count, and many, many, many games make bad to very bad first impressions.
The solutions? Very simple to implement with little cost to you!
And to help, here's a few tips on making a good impression every time a gamer uses their purchase.
(Trust me, you keep them liking the product, they'll come back for more!)
Beginning with funny and/or mood setting intros: GOOD!
This amuses people and/or sends tingles up their spine, stands hairs on the back of their necks in a good way!
Game example: "Sam and Max Hit The Road"
The short musical credit sequence even leads to one of the first gag lines after it ends:
"That was a pleasantly understated credit sequence."
Quick game startups: GOOD!
Lack of legal crap and logos is a GREAT thing! If the gamer is even slightly interested, make a "Credits And Logos" entry in the menu. Nine times out of ten, gamers ignore these intro screens completely.
Game example: "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock"
There are so many logos to chew through, you'll need jaw surgery.
Slow startups: BAD!
Impatient gamers are annoyed/irate/frustrated gamers, and this seeps into the like or dislike of a title and the company that made it!
Game example: [Any games with long load times and lots of legal and logo screens.]
Annoying and/or repetitive startups: BAD!
"Kill it with fire!" yell the annoyed. "Oh shit, my HDTV!" cry the shocked who threw their controller at the TV in anger, shattering the screen.
Game example: Any game with one or more of the following:
- Loud/irritating intros (You really thought we'd like it the Nth time?)
- Company logo overload (The box tells us you did this! QUIT telling us!)
- Long load times (I could go for a drink, go to the bathroom and take a holiday by the time this is ready!)
- Unskippable cutscenes (X...Y...A...B...triggers...[]...^...O...JUST SKIP ALREADY!)
Pages and pages of logos and legal crap: BAAAAAD!
You can't use ONE combined page for EVERYONE/EVERYTHING?!
This is the age of decently big HDTVs not tiny SDTVs!
(Even those owning SDTVs now have the big screen models!)
Game example: [Many of the games where multiple companies join forces. One to make the game, one to make the boxes, one to make the graphics engine, one to distribute...you get the idea.]
Take this advice if you want to make gamers love your work and not get irritated with your products and company name from the start.
Just look at Rockstar. Very short intros, and their credits set the tone for the game.
(Like say, GTA Vice City. The music and mock Commodore 64 credit screen made the logos FUN and set the 80s mood. This was furthered by the Miami Vice style credit sequence for the design team.)
Or RARE. Their intros since Donkey Kong Country have amused, brought smiles/grins and sparked nostalgia from being colourful and not just showing off.
Or (90s) Lucasarts. Their logo did something different every single time, and one of the fun parts of getting the Lucasarts adventure games in the 1990s was seeing what insane things the logo would do next.
(The trend has sort of been brought over to new titles like The Force Unleashed, but it lacks a little of the warmth it once had, like the tradition isn't for fun anymore but just to drag old fans in.)
Or Bioware. They proudly show off their logo, then jump right into the title screen.
(There are more factors than just that behind their success, but this is one of them.)
Or Valve Software.
(The Half-Life series for example. One or two screens, then game menu! At most an intro video to add to this - see Left 4 Dead - but that sets the mood for that game's zombie survival gameplay.)
All you need is a great start, and you'll reel us into playing.
The next step, an amazing game, well...
This, my developer friends, is up to you.
