The Periodic Table of Controllers

Found by my buddy Todd. Too cool not to share. Click on the image or click here it to view a much larger size. Enjoy!

Little late to the game on this one, but I found this EvE Online Dev Blog post from the 18th that detailed some of the changes coming to EvE Online’s character creation experience. Simplification of the UI to benefit new users? How very… un… game… like. From the MMO that has long been considered one of the hardest and most difficult games to master, this comes as welcome news to those who wanted to try EvE out but were daunted and overwhelmed by the steep learning curve. I have a feeling this is a stragetic move since EvE is getting a boxed version which should bring with it a influx of new players.

So, here’s a salute to EA Redwood Shores’ for the UI work on their title Dead Space. The whole interface is extremely well done and is built to drawn the user into the experience. Instead of the typical action shooter HUD we are instead given a holographic projection that appear before the protagonist Isaac, viewed over his shoulder.

While that alone is enough to make me smile, the inclusion of the health meter into Isaac’s armor caused me to get practically giddy. A blue light runs up Isaac’s back changing and shrinking from blue to yellow and to red when things are looking grim. Instead of glancing away from the action to check health stats (GTA IV, Assassin’s Creed, etc.) the user is presented information in the center of the action. This draws them in more, and gives the players one of the best game play experiences they can have: immersion.

At times it seems like every game seems to suffers from something, whether its the head-up display being unclear or menu text that is unreadable because of over stylization the list goes on and on.  Yet the mass of usability experts turn their attention to the web or focus on productivity software. Entertainment seems largely ignored.

In my mind entertainment should strive to always be as clear and approachable,  games should always have the BEST and not fall flat. Thus is the focus of Inglorious, to bring game UI/UX into the lime light, to look at not only the onscreen interface but the interface required to interact with what’s on screen. We’re going to prod, poke, berate and celebrate the good and the bad in game UI/UX.