Casual Games, Game Design, Gamer Culture, Nintendo Wii
Simplification for the masses.
Nintendo’s doing it, catering to the casual crowd with its dreck for the Wii, and Microsoft aims to do the same with Project Natal.
“Blasphemy!” old-time gamers say. But simplifying things really isn’t so bad. Simple games like Today, I Die show the benefits of paring games down to their core, and by becoming increasingly accessible, games can become experienced rather than played.
Game Design, Gamer Culture, Interviews
In this interview, we get a glimpse into gaming’s future from a narrative designer duking it out in the field.
As writer and narrative designer, Stephen Dinehart helped bring WWII to life in the RTS Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. A featured blogger for Gamasutra, he runs the Narrative Design Exploratorium and now works at NarrWare, an indie developer.
He’s written extensively on the field of narrative design and is exploring new ground in the gaming industry. Today he sheds some light on what narrative design is all about, as well as his ideas behind dramatic play.
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Gamer Culture, Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid, Movies, Videos
When it comes to video games, Hollywood has it all wrong.
But with the recent release of indie film The Legend of Zelda: Hero of Time, it seems gamers can finally watch a faithful adaptation of a great game. It’s not a big budget production, but the film crew nailed it better than the hot shots at large movie companies.
Sure, they don’t have the best special effects or big-name actors, but where the rest of the movie industry has failed, indie filmmakers can create movies actually deserving of their video game-based content.
Business, Game Design, Gamer Culture, Headlines
Do pirated games translate to lost revenue? If so, can in-game advertising fight it?
In a world where software piracy runs rampant, one indie developer is choosing the lesser of those two evils. Greener Grass Games, based in Vancouver, hopes to create a free-to-play, browser-based game supported entirely by in-game advertisements.
The practice hasn’t quite caught on with larger companies (video games are still viewed as experimental ground by many advertisers), but increased advertising in video games is part of the industry’s future, and this project could herald the beginning of a new era.
Business, Game Design, Interviews, Profiles
If you’ve been reading Penny Arcade in the past few weeks, or have been reading coverage of PAX, you’ve probably heard of a little game called Strange Attractors 2 by Ominous Development. I got the distinct privilege of sitting down with Ominous Development’s music and sound specialist, Chris McGarry, regarding his team, their game and his impressions on the indie game development scene.
Casual Games, Game Design, Gamer Culture
I had a chance to check out the Indiecade exhibit today at E for All. Maybe you’re hip to the indie scene: you’ve mastered Mr. Robot and been through the bullet hell of Jets ‘n’ Guns. If you’re like most gamers, though, you’re only passingly familiar with independent gaming. Well, it’s alive and well, and if you are looking for more experimental gameplay experiences or just need something to pass the time before “First-Person Space Shooter #644: Now with More Bullets and Also You Turn Into a Werewolf for No Raisin,” I’ve got some recommendations from the show floor.
