In Real Life

Crowdsourcing Invents Games With Donut Whales And Robot Pickles

The Game Developers Conference sees a lot of creativity and interesting ideas pass through the halls of the convention centre it’s hosted at. Production company iam8bit put together their own creative project that spawned some abstract and quirky game ideas.


March 17, 2012
News

If Loving Games Is Right, I Don’t Want To Be Wrong

It’s hard for me to look at the news of the preceding 10 or so days and not feel like there’s been some enormous, possibly irreparable rupture between gamers and those who serve them. I certainly contributed to this with a post about the ending of Mass Effect 3 and the movement to have it changed or appended.


News

Epic Games’ Anti-Cloning Solution? Make It Huge And Add ‘Secret Sauce’

It’s not only smaller, younger developers who have to worry about cloning. Idea theft is on the minds of the people at Epic Games, too. Even though they make big, burly games like Gears of War and Bulletstorm, the developer still sees themselves as an indie, said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. People could try and do what Epic does, he offered, but the studio’s titles have size on their side.


In Real Life

What Do Great Game Developers Know About Tic-Tac-Toe? I Battled Them To Find Out

Only one award-winning video game developer got violent when I played Tic-Tac-Toe with him last week.


Mobile

Witness The Awesome iPad Game That Lets Your Fingers Get Intimate With The Universe

Steph Thirion’s games understand the power of touch. While most iOS games require tactile contact to play, so few translate what it means to touch in real life. Touching a thing or a person can connect you to it intimately. Think about touching ingredients when you cook or affectionate laying hands on a romantic partner. There’s an specific kind of pleasure and feedback that comes from that dynamic and Thirion’s Elissone of our iPad Bests — revels in that


March 16, 2012
PlayStation

This PS3 Game Feels Like A Hallucinogenic Drug Trip

I’ve never done hard drugs. But I’ve heard that they’re supposed to make you feel invulnerable, ecstatic and connected to the universe. Y’know, the things video games aspire to but with none of the messy addiction. Mostly.


March 15, 2012
News

Notch Says He Doesn’t Just Change Minecraft Because He Feels Like It

Markus Persson thinks of himself as more of a programmer than a game designer. “I don’t spend a lot of time on mechanics,” the creator of the hit sandbox/adventure hybrid says. “I play [Minecraft] more than I write it, because I want to make sure the things you can do in the game can be fun.”


March 13, 2012
In Real Life

Giggle With Us Now At These Goofy Motion-Capture Demonstrations

Motion-capture technology’s changed the way that today’s movies, TV shows and video games look and move. Usually, sessions where special cameras and suits upload a person’s movement to computers happens in sequestered studios, far from prying eyes. At GDC 2012, mo-cap happened right out in the open and it was a wonder to behold.


March 11, 2012
News

‘Stop Thinking You’re A Producer,’ Former Mass Effect Designer Tells Gamers

Christina Norman worked for BioWare on Mass Effect. She’s with Riot Games now. But she must have felt pangs of sympathy when BioWare got raked by gamer complaints about day-one DLC in Mass Effect 3. Because she basically gave them a double-barreled middle finger in a rant at GDC.


March 10, 2012
News

Chris Hecker Calls Out Players, The Press And Developers For Lack Of Variety In Games

Why are so many games just copies of past games? Who is responsible for this state of affairs? Does the industry need more variety to survive?