Playstation Blog has an interesting interview with Jenova Chen, creative director at thatgamecompany and creator of flOw and Flower.
On multiplayer games being social:
If you really wanted to stimulate a social activity, you need to re-think it from the ground up. What is the skill they’re supposed to acquire? Accuracy? Or is it the ability to convince others? If the skill is social, it’ll be very relevant and useful. People still play poker. Why? Because the skill of deception is useful for real life. Look at online games. How many skills are based on social elements? Most games are based on grinding, accuracy, physical dexterity. They are not social games. They’re just old games with online features.
Yeah. I like fighting games too.They’re fun. But as I get older, what’s the point in pulling off another infinite combo? What does that do for your life? It’s not useful. People still play chess because strategic thinking is useful. Brain training games, fitness games…these have relevance. People don’t have much time to waste, so they want relevance. Whether it’s emotional relevance, like experiencing joy or sadness, or intellectual relevance, or social relevance.
Journey looks like it’s going to be an beautiful original title and an interesting social experiment to see if Jenova’s notion of social relevance actually takes hold with players.
Read: Jenova Chen Explains Journey: Social Relevance and Artistic Inspirations – PlayStation Blog.