Sucker Punch
Game designers talk about their most influential fights
By Justin Amirkhani
There’s a moment of clarity after you’ve been punched in the face. Your brain rattles and your soul shakes, and your reality shrinks to two things: you and your opponent.
A physical confrontation is one of the most intimate experiences you can have. You invade your opponent’s space both physically and mentally, anticipating their every move while they’re doing the same to you. This is the most common relationship a player has with his game world. Most videogames are designed to be confrontational. There’s rarely an option to forgive and forget, or to make up over a cup of coffee. Players must learn to despise their digital foes, and it’s up to game developers to pull us into that well of hate.
