Cliff Bleszinski, aka CliffyB, has a very interesting post up on his blog about what makes the difference between a good game and a great game. That intangible, nigh undefinable quality that makes a game like Halo 2 or World of Warcraft into a phenomenon.

Everyone wants to know what it is. That certain “je ne sais quoi” that an actress or a restaurant or, say, a game has.

The delta between good to great. The difference between, say, the hot chick on the cover of Low Rider magazine and Scarlett Johansson. There are a zillion girls that are hot in a town like Los Angeles but what is it that a girl like Scarlett has that those other girls are missing?

Quality design has a definite Zen-like aspect to it. Great design is something that you feel… it’s not quite explainable, but the thing ends up being greater than the sum of its individual parts. It’s what causes me to keep going back to Halo 2, despite the stunning graphics and immersive gameplay of GRAW. On paper, GRAW should be awesome, but Halo 2 gets all of the little things right.

Sigh, CliffyB’s post gives me one more reason to be excited about Gears of War. (As if I needed any more…)

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