Insomniac's Ted Price on how to make a great game

Speaking at the PAX Prime keynote, Insomniac designer Ted Price outlined what he believes to be the four most important components to making a great game.

1.) "Do one thing better than everyone else." Don't bite off more than you can chew, in other words, and focus on what makes your game unique. He cited Minecraft as a prime example of this.

2.) "Fun comes first." According to Price, all the adorning qualities that construct a game like "story, characters and visuals are subservient to fun."

3.) "Define your audience." Don't try to make a game for everyone. You'll actually reach more people focusing on a smaller, dedicated niche audience.

4.) "Make it personal." Look at what makes it distinctly you.

On this note, he mentioned how he wanted to keep the weapon wheel from Resistance into its sequel, but someone else on the team was adamant that it use a two-weapon system ala Gears of War or Halo. Price began to doubt his own convictions and decided a two-weapon system would "make it fresher." He later regretted this decision and brought the weapon wheel back in Resistance 3.

Elsewhere in the keynote, he noted that his favourite weapon from the Ratchet & Clank series is the bouncer, which shoots giant homing bombs at its enemies.