Videogames and UX: undo and rewind

We get used to good things quickly, and take them for granted even quicker.

My first experience with a computer was when I was just a kid, and it was really exciting. Nowadays that seems unremarkable because kids are carelessly handed what would have been labeled as a supercomputer in that day and age —yes, I'm talking about smart phones.

I wanted to give some recognition to one of the features of computer software that I love the most. One that it's so incorporated in our day to day working with computers that we don't even think about it.

Fixing drawing mistakes as a kid

As a boy I spent hours drawing. But sometimes you'd make something that didn't look on paper as you had expected. There were two easy solutions: starting again (if you were at the first stage of it), or reaching the eraser.

Starting again was a chore, you'd lose every other aspect of the drawing that you already liked —and even risked making a new mistake.

Eraser would remove the failure but also leave a visible scar in the drawing.

The best feature of computer software

In my first experience when using a graphics design application, the feature that made the biggest impact on me wasn't drawing perfectly straight lines or other geometries. It was the option to effortlessly revert a mistake. Did you just draw a misaligned circle and wanted to try it again? Just press "Undo". The mistake simply vanished as it had never happened. Mind blowing.

The first Undo I tried had one step only, and couldn't revert the undo (the now common Redo). But it was powerful.

Undo in games

Playing as a child; playing as an adult

Being a child, you can get upset when the difficulty curve of a game cranks up unexpectedly. You get stuck in some part of the game, or an enemy is too quick for your reflexes. You try time and again until you master it and get past it. That flow can get very rewarding because you know you overcome that challenge on your own.

But then you grow up, yet still like gaming from time to time. Although now the time available for it comes after many responsibilities. So when playing you expect to get entertained for a while, and mastering some parts can get in the middle of the fun.

Emulation features

Usually, console titles have been tied to the console they were launched on —unless the developer made a relaunch for a newer one. Emulation has been a popular alternative, especially when companies neglected the previous option or made a newer unfaithful version of the game. You just load the emulator application, then the game, and off to the races.

Emulators have brought many useful features, one of them being able to rewind the last seconds of gameplay. So if you're jumping between platforms and fall off a cliff, you could rewind and try again to better time your inputs in the controller. It's like an "Undo" feature altogether! And as an adult gamer, I admit I find it very necessary to enjoy my time with some games, largely for old ones which present a tough challenge.

Some developers have implemented rewinding in current titles, while others have even expanded it and included it as part of the core gameplay:

Hardcore players may complain that this feature lessens the experience the original development team envisioned for the game, but it's optional, no one forces you into using it. I believe it's a nice addition that improves accessibility and the enjoyment of games for everyone —particularly for those with a tighter agenda.