Burnout 3 Takedown vs. Peggle

Xandu's picture
Submitted by Xandu on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 20:20

As some of you may have noticed I have been playing a lot of Peggle lately. It is amazing how such a seemingly simple and random game can be so addictive. After reading the latest issue (200) of Edge I understand more about why this game appeals to so many people. Sukhbir Sidhu, Studio Director at PopCap, creator of Peggle reveals what games inspired them when creating Peggle.

Burnout 3 Takedown is one of the games that have had a big impact on the design of Peggle. Mr. Sidhu is a huge fan of Burnout 3 Takedown and he thinks one of the reasons why the game is so satisfying and addictive to play is that it constantly rewards you for almost everything you do. Steer your rival into an oncoming motor home, get a “Homewrecker” bonus; knock a car into the lake, get a “Gone fishin’” bonus. The game also recognizes and acknowledges the little victories that you achieve as you smash your way around the track – if you barely miss crashing into oncoming traffic by a few milliseconds, you have got an “Extreme Escape”. Knock out five cars in a row, that’s a “Takedown Rampage”.
 
Even after you crash you can steer your smashed-up car into a rival to score an “Aftertouch Takedown”. While the amazing feeling of speed and exhilaration is astounding, the drama of the takedown is staggeringly epic. When you take down another car, the frenzied action suddenly slams into slow-motion for just a second or two, while the camera follows the hulk of your rival’s car as it flies through the air, then the game quickly shifts back into top speed.
 
During the early design stages of Peggle the team was totally hooked on Burnout 3 Takedown and they logged over 500 hours of play time. It is not surprising that some of the concepts from Burnout 3 Takedown made it into Peggle. Peggle has very simple play mechanics and little user interaction and the team wanted as much drama in the game as they could.
The constant feed of positive feedback in Burnout 3 Takedown inspired the numerous “Style shots” you can score in Peggle. For example sliding the ball across a line of brick pegs earns an “Extreme Slide” (Extreme Grind in Burnout maybe?).  If the ball makes multiple bounces around the free ball bucket before eventually falling in gives you a “Lucky bounce”. Even the slow-motion crashes in Burnout 3 Takedown influenced the Peggle team. When your ball is only pixels away from hitting the last orange peg the action switches into slow-motion briefly to heighten the drama.
 
Personally I think that Peggle is an absolute gem of a game. I think the creators of the game (like the Burnout Team with Burnout 3) have truly captured the essence on how to create a fun and addictive game that is universal both regarding age and sex. Less is often more and this truly goes for Peggle.
 
Link: If you don't now what Peggle is or have not played it you can try it for free here: http://www.popcap.com/games/free/peggle

 

Comments

ZombieTron's picture

ZombieTron

Wed, 04/15/2009 - 11:42

I found the article in Edge really interesting! And considering how Peggle addicted we are at the moment, it's a revelation that I didn't like Burnout for the cars!!! It could have been any kind of game and as long as it had the constant stream of rewards and encouragement and little moments of heightened excitement I would have been hooked!

I hope the Burnout boys at CG take note and include those little touches which made Burnout 3 so addictive to all their future games!

I have only dreamt about a handful of video games, normally only when I have been playing them for a while before going to sleep, Burnout 3 and Peggle are the main ones which have entered my dreams. That for me is the sign of a great game!

hn6's picture

hn6

Wed, 04/15/2009 - 20:01

I'd just be happy if when I do a x6 barrel roll a beaver was to slide onto the bottom of the screen and tell me how mad l33t I am.