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Filling in the Details in Video Game Worlds
When an author constructs an entire world, they tend to want to show it off as much as possible and provide explanations to game players. That's when games get stuck, especially if borrowing from sci-fi or fantasy literature.
20 Sep 2010
Games
Post-Structuralism in Video Games
It doesn’t matter what you try to force a space into being, people will define that space themselves in connection to other parts. A game designer never truly plays their own game.
14 Sep 2010
Games
Sierra vs. Lucasarts
What benefit is there to having terminal consequences in an adventure game? Adventure games always succumb to the issue of having an interface where you can theoretically do anything and having it confined to a space where you can only do what the designer allows.
06 Sep 2010
Games
Perfecting Loss in 'N+'
For as often as I died while playing N+, maybe the best compliment that I can pay it is that I didn’t mind a single time.
30 Aug 2010
Games
Video Game Parodies
The general traits of a video game parodying another video game are simplification of both content and design to show how inane the bare bones interaction of that game really is.
23 Aug 2010
Games
Mastering the Basics in Butcher Bay
Escape From Butcher Bay is a simple story with simple mechanics, but it works with what it has elegantly.
16 Aug 2010
Games
Mary Flanagan's 'Critical Play'
“In the final analysis, a critique of performance practices must ask: Who gets to play?"
09 Aug 2010
Games
'LOST' and Video Games
At the end of the fourth season, LOST abandoned mimicking the content of video games and instead focused on how they characterize space.
02 Aug 2010
Games
The Multiple Choice Game
A multiple choice exam is looking for a sweetspot of a certain percentage passing, not too high and not too low.
26 Jul 2010
Games
A Good A.I. Trick
The art of video game AI is in making a player think that they’re interacting with something more sophisticated than it really is.
19 Jul 2010
Games
Transparent Difficulty in 'Order of Ecclesia'
The perception of challenge in a game is always contextual and based on prior experiences in the game space.
12 Jul 2010
Games
Johan Huizinga's 'Homo Ludens'
You can describe the characteristics of play and you can define qualities of something that is not play, but it’s always going to be a loose concept.
05 Jul 2010
Games
Sensing the Sublime in Lumines
Destroying the very sensation that seems to be appealing about these games is an intrinsic part of the experience.
28 Jun 2010
Games
'Groundhog Day' and Video Games
Bill Murray's Groundhog Day is like Bioware RPGs. When the plot is over, all you can do is go back to the start. If you die, you get sent back to a different part to try again.
21 Jun 2010
Games
Plot Twist Overkill in 'Indigo Prophecy'
You can’t just tell a player to care about someone because they’re your friend or it will save the world. Spoilers abound.
14 Jun 2010
Games
Michael Buble Being Stalked by a Velociraptor
"I think a site where it's just a raptor trying to eat Octomom would be boring. With Michael Buble, you don't really know what the raptor wants or why he wants it."
07 Jun 2010
Games
'Zeno Clash' and Active Characterization
What keeps Zeno Clash’s strange story so intriguing is not how weird the characters are, it’s how weirdly they act.
31 May 2010
Games
FPS Narrative in 'Star Wars: Republic Commando'
You can have all the intrigue and plot twists you want, it’s not going to amount to anything without genuine characters and interaction.
17 May 2010
Games
Pogo: Turning Classic Films into New Songs
"That’s what sampling is all about – hearing something you love, no matter how short, and forming it into something bigger, more inspiring and more enjoyable."
10 May 2010
Games
Julian Dibbell's Guide to Gold Farming
There are people who make money by selling things that don’t exist.
03 May 2010
Games
Team Economics in Halo 3: ODST
Firefight is a great team game because working with other players feels voluntary instead of forced.
25 Apr 2010
Games
T.L. Taylor's Guide to MMO Culture
"There is no culture, there is no game, without the labor of the players."
19 Apr 2010
Games
Fable 2's Fantasy Economy
A breakdown of the economic elements of Fable 2 that make it a more complex RPG. Mild spoilers are included.
12 Apr 2010
Games
Edward Castronova's Guide To Synthetic Economies
Perhaps synthetic worlds have begun to offer a new mythology.
06 Apr 2010
Games
Making a Better Spectator Game
The elements of a good spectator sport all involve figuring out ways to get people to care about events they have no control over.
29 Mar 2010
Games
The Literary Merits of Dante's Inferno
The funniest thing about Dante’s Inferno is that the only people who will really enjoy the game are the fans of the poem.
22 Mar 2010
Games
Ubisoft's Imagine Series
A post cataloging the common design elements in three of Ubisoft's Imagine games.
08 Mar 2010
Games
The Troubleshooting Review
If a game is the space between design and content, then engaging with topics like feedback, distribution of load times, and accessibility to new players are important factors.
01 Mar 2010
Games
Modern Warfare 2's Multiplayer Map Style
The map is very literally your weapon in Modern Warfare 2.
22 Feb 2010
Games
The Peak of the 'Mario' Franchise
The fun of 'Super Mario World' is just figuring out ways to break the level.
15 Feb 2010
Games
The Problem With No More Heroes 2
A game where conformity should probably not be considered a positive for once. Mild Spoilers in the next to last paragraph.
08 Feb 2010
Games
Jesper Juul's New Book 'A Casual Revolution'
Between the success of the Wii, Rock Band, and cross-over titles like Puzzle Quest, two once distinct genres and communities are now beginning to find commonality.
01 Feb 2010
Games
ZA Critrique: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space
What Weird Worlds offers is an enormous deck of variables: what aliens you meet and what gear you find, and shuffles them up every game.
25 Jan 2010
Games
Jim Rossignol's 'This Gaming Life'
Jim Rossignol’s This Gaming Life is a casual discourse on the growing culture of multiplayer gaming.
19 Jan 2010
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