Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy manual

Trigger Happy

enjoy a greater importance in the business of providing feedback to the player on the basis of which he can determine his next action. It is more intuitively and speedily understandable to “read” an indexical shape such as the remaining health segments than to read the numerical symbol, especially since the index provides, as the number does not, an instantly comprehensible representation of current health or speed as a ratio of the possible maximum. The reason is exactly the same as why your car’s dashboard features an indexical speedometer: an arrow pointing to a certain point on a circular dial. A bald numerical display, such as that used by the odometer, is simply not instantaneous enough in its communication of critical data.

G-Police provides a polyphonic display of signs, and so, as already noted, it is a shame that its control system is too complex for fluid execution of the player’s wishes. The badly designed language that the player is given erects a barrier between him and the world of the game.

Even in games that are less stuffed with quantitative information than G-Police and its simulation-style comrades, indices are still of great help in telling the player how to organize symbolic interactions. The best example is in exploration games

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