I’d like to get Flower on the cheap…

Anyway, if there is anything we’ve all learned from this, something we’ve taken away from this whole experience, I hope we can agree that that thing, that precious thing, is that I am right and you are wrong.

That, and we are obviously both bored and I’m guessing insomniac.

I will say that its status as a game seems more important to you than it is to me though… so at this stage I’ll just concede that it is probably a game, even though for me it was really more of an interactive screensaver (a pretty one at that).

/headbutts wall

Would you agree that Flower does require some degree of dexterity? That there are objectives to complete? What is a game if not some challenge with a set objective that requires some degree of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH?

As for snap, yes, it’s a game. It involves both competition and reaction speed. There’s also a clearly defined winning condition… but perhaps more importantly, it’s something you can lose too.

Anyway. Answer the question, you cheapener.

You seem to be judging whether something is a game or not by how difficult it is for you, as a hardcore “gamer”, which to me is odd.

Would you consider the popular, well-known card GAME “snap”, a game?

Only for those that are dumb as a brick, massively arthritic… or as dexterous as a gorilla missing both hands.

Whilst two stick controls would be more precise, I wouldn’t say that the lesser precision of the motion controls added any sort of challenge. Merely a hump for people not used to the controls to get over.

That’s not what I was saying at all. I shan’t labour the point any further, though, my previous posts are there for all to read.

Aha! So, some degree of challenge there, then? And therefore a game after all?

And personally, for me, the game would have lost a lot of its appeal if it was dual stick controls, more accurate or not.

Anyway. I would define it as a game. It has objectives, it has its own rules. That’s that. You cheapen games as a whole by not allowing Flower as a member. You cheapener.

Once you know how to control it, every level is just a case of going from point A, to point B with zero opposition or any sort of puzzle to solve or agility to display. Had their been some sort of bonus to completing each level with a certain number of petals then I guess I may have felt differently… but as long as you can find the hidden flowers (find, not even keep to the end), you unlock everything.

But anyway, it’s still beautiful… it’s just not what I’d define as a game.

YOU FAILED, OH YOU FAILED, YOU BAD, BAD, BOY

Then maybe the sound of a whip?

Would you be punished enough then? Or do you need more? You naughty boy.

If you missed a petal in Flower and the game sent you back to a checkpoint, undoing the progress you made, then it would be punishing you. Likewise if there was some kind of chain/combo scoring system in place that reset. As is it’s just waiting for you to finish, your missing of the petal having no bearing on anything as far as the game is concerned; the player might see it as a failure, from the game’s perspective it’s simply progress not yet made.

To put it another way, if an enemy kills you in Modern Warfare 2 you’re punished for it by being chucked back to the last checkpoint, but if you miss a shot it makes no odds to the game — you aren’t losing a score multiplier or the like. So, whilst missing said shot might lead to your death, the game is punishing you for dying, not for missing the enemy. It’s a subtle distinction but an important one, I think.

For the record Flower is one of my favourite PS3 games. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone who doesn’t like it, so everyone should give it a try if they can.