I want to open this article by addressing the most common problem of all: (drum roll) Originality! Some of you might think it's Gameplay, (don't get me wrong, that's very important too) but when was the last time you played a game like..."DEFENDER! Return of evil!" or "ZOMBIE WARS! 10 levels of pure zombie-killing action!" The next time I see a title like that, I'm going to PUKE! Try to make something that is different, exciting, or just plain fun! Even if you're making something such as an army game, make it where the soldiers are from the future, or have psyonic powers, or something like that! You don't even have to make the plot as complicated as the "Matrix" but make it in a way that people say "Hey! Now that's cool!" A prime example is a game called "MDK 2." If you can find it, GET IT!!!!! The plot is simply that aliens have invaded earth, and you have to stop them. Boring, right? NO!! You go from playing as a six-armed dog with a love for firepower, to a guy in a kevlar suit with a head-attached sniper scope, running for dear life from an alien that's two stories tall!! If you can get your hands on this it is a GREAT game to study, both for story, and gameplay (which kicks serious butt, I might add)

Another thing to think about is the little things. Intead of making weapons such as a pistol, shotgun, uzi, chaingun, bazooka, flamethrower and so on, make guns like ones that shoot acid, or ones that discharge little parasite aliens that kill the enemies, or ones that fire canisters of poisonous gas! It's stuff like that that make a game fun to play! I hope that this has helped you in some way, and that your games will BE ORIGINAL!

By the way, here are some games that are GREAT for studying (and playing I might add too ) All of the Half-Life games, Oni, Jekyll & Hyde, Septerra Core, Darkened Skye, Spiderman, (the old one for PC), and Rayman 2.

X)Good Luck!X)