BANDWAGON
One of the most pleasurable things I do concerning my involvement with Gamers Alliance is to play games. Love it! Love it! Love it! But with so many games to play, there is the dark side to that pleasure: going through the miles and miles of rules to games so as to learn and lead them correctly. If only there was a way to make this sometimes onerous task easier. Of course, I’m not the only one to feel this way. Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing a meal with Gamers Alliance Report contributor Chris Kovac and Chris came up with an intriguing thought: “Why not have universally recognized icons in games?” Now that’s an idea!
With game publishers targeting markets beyond their own nation’s borders, the continuing trend has been to make games language neutral. By avoiding words whenever possible and using icons in their place, gamers in one country lacking fluency in the language of another are not hindered in enjoying a quality game. By removing the language barrier, game professionals have discovered that new markets open, new customers attracted and new profits made. But, as Chris remarked, the icons used to represent similar or even identical actions or abilities in games are often very different. This complicates a simple concept.
Universally recognized icons are nothing new. Music, for example, is often called the “universal language”. By using those black squiggles on lined paper, music can be read and played by anyone in any country familiar with those icons. The Morse Code uses dots and dashes to convert symbols into words and is recognizable across the globe. Surely $ and £ are familiar icons across international boundaries. At an even more basic level, every worldwide traveler can tell which bathroom is for men and which for women just by glancing at the pictographs by their entrances. This has been recognized by others too, and most recently, in the toy sector of the play industry.
The Spanish Toy Research Institute (AIJU) has designed a free, universal iconography for the global toy industry to help simplify the labeling process for manufacturers and make it easier for consumers to understand labels on toys. ICONTOY was designed by experts and tested internationally with more than 2700 consumers and 150 companies and associations around Europe and the US. More than 90 percent of consumers said that universal icons on toy packaging would be useful. The set of 15-20 universal icons provide information on age-grading, technical aspects (sound, use of batteries etc.), educational features and more. As reported by Playthings Magazine, more than 81% of companies surveyed said they considered “the creation of a common iconography for toys to be very useful”.
So, is a universal “iconology” for games on the horizon? My heart says “yes” but my head says “probably not”.
Of course it’s true that some games call for specific attributes in their play that might not be a “universal” fit but many share similar attributes where universal icons could work. But people will often resist change even when change is beneficial. Overcoming inertia is always difficult; why should this be any different? But other factors may be involved here.
Although there are many reasons to grant a game creator/publisher/licensor a proprietary interest in a gaming property, specific icons could be one more factor in making a proprietary claim on a game making those same people reluctant to cede that particular claim to the cause of “universality”. And, admittedly, language and universality don’t always go well together. When was the last time YOU spoke Esperanto? Most importantly, for such an idea to work, you’d need cooperation. In a world where dysfunction has reached a high art form and compromise is a dirty word, that seems unlikely. Still, a good idea is a good idea and, the way I see it, the positives far outweigh any negatives. So…
I offer a “tip of the hat” to Chris Kovac for an excellent idea to make gaming better. Although “jumping on the bandwagon” generally means joining a movement that is already gathering steam and making progress and the idea of “universal icons” is nowhere near that, the bandwagon has to start somewhere. So I’m starting it HERE! Lots of game company designers, executives and influential gamers read GA Report and, in their gaming lives, are in positions where they can do something along these lines (standardize icons in their line of games or in their own designs, for example) if they’re willing to jump on the bandwagon. So here it goes: I second Chris’ motion and give that bandwagon a swift hard push in the right direction. Ladies and gentlemen of the gaming world, we are now on a roll. The rest is up to you.
In this issue of GA REPORT, we fight for king and country, go on quests, build guilds and get fashion fever! Editorial icon Chris Kovac explores Quebec, Joe Huber says “Aloha”, Andrea “Liga” Ligabue takes up space, Ted Cheatham gets it in gear, Pevans simply shows his Napoleonic complex and meets his Waterloo while Greg Schloesser considers whether “it takes a village”. And, of course, much more!
Until next time, Good Gaming!
Herb Levy, President
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