Design challenge: weekly game idea
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jan 16th 2006 at 1:30PM }
Patrick Curry, lead designer
of hidden-gem
Stubbs the Zombie, has challenged himself to produce
one new game idea per week, every week this year. His first two game ideas included Toothache, a Nintendo DS
dentist simulator, and It's all Business, a text-based, multiplayer, cell phone title. This week's title is
the most elaborate. Mountain Bike Mike is an "extreme-sport racing adventure game." Curry details the control scheme, calling it his inspiration for the idea: "I love control schemes that evoke the real-life activity, and I think you could do some cool stuff with mountain-bike controls. The first part of the idea is that you control your steering separately from your body weight, as controlling your weight on a bicycle is important, but especially important when you’re barreling down a mountain. The second part of the idea is that you control your front-brake independently from your rear-brake. While this might sound cumbersome, anyone who’s ever flipped a bike will tell you that there’s an important distinction here."
I know of a guy who might not only need a lesson in mountain bike controls but is also in a position to green light Curry's idea. Any interest in making a next-gen extreme mountain biking title J?
[Via Raph's Website]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Evil Inside @ Jan 16th 2006 1:50PM
I really hope more developers start to think like this, instead of following the rest of the herd and just making WW2 FPS and sequel after sequel.
There needs to be a lot more people thinking up new gameplay and control ideas if we ever want the video game industry to advance.
We have the stunning visuals, immersive audio and professional voice acting, lets advance the rest of the video experience.
stuntdog @ Jan 16th 2006 4:34PM
A substantially similar control scheme appeared in MotoGP 3 on the Xbox.
sam @ Jan 16th 2006 4:49PM
Would someone please make a MMORTS!!???
Blizzard should totaly do this, call it World of Starcraft. You would start with your own planet, mine, build and then conquer other planets in a mode just like Starcraft. Heck even make it 2-D. Just have the planets be cicular maps. I would buy this in a second.
Eric @ Jan 16th 2006 4:50PM
How about a Mountain Bike Mike game for the DS, utilizing a cartidge with a mercury switch, ala Wario Ware Twisted. Only, use two switches; left and right twists control the steering; tilting the DS forward or backward control the riders weight shift. Tap A for a quick bunny hop, hold down A and release just as your going off a ramp for bigger air time. Left and Right shoulder buttons can be used for bitch slapping competitors that get too close. The best part about all this though? Laughing your ass off at the person playing the game when you see them leaning left 'n right and rocking back 'n forth.