A quote I particularly like is attributed to William R. Inge: There are two kinds of fools: One says, “This is old therefore it is good.” The other one says, “This is new therefore it is better.”
I can’t help but think about this quote often in the game industry as new fashions are introduced. There tend to be two camps: one that clings to the old ways while fearing the new, and one that rushes to the new claiming it will wipe away the old. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between, but the game industry sure does like its extremes.
So, with this in mind, I want to take a look at social games and metrics-based game design, two more recent fashions to hit the game industry.
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