Raphael Koster: a really old game design essay

“Game design, and particularly computer game design, is learned by proxy or casual apprenticeship. It is absorbed by the intuition, not by the mind, and it is learned by doing. It is not taught. It is too expensive in materials, hours, and people to allow casual experiments. We see staffs made up of gamers, because it is better to have development teams made up of fans who might have a glimmering than one made up folks who have no idea what they are doing. […]

A gamer is not a game designer. Nor must a game designer be an avid gamer.”

A really old game design essay

The Art of Fun

Damion Schubert’s reply to Anthony Burch’s “Fun isn’t enough“.

Awakener

30 games in 45 days

Not having a job or classes to attend sure can make a man feel pretty bored. So what would you do, if you had so much time on your hands and a ton of great unfinished games lying around? Well, of course, you would go find a job and earn some money, you lazy sonofabitch!

But that’s another story. Right now we’re going to be watching the “unemployed pc gamer” try to finish 30 games in 45 days. Which, of course, is insane. Will he make it? Place your bets!

How Tim Schafer got in the games industry

We continue our journey back in time, this time travelling alongside Tim Schafer, who was so kind to remember that 20 years ago he got his first job in the games industry. And while some of us start small, the dude scored a job at freakin’ LucasArts 🙂

Typical for Schafer, the story of how he ended up getting this job is full of funnies. And drawings. And failure. And win. Epic!

Homeworld’s 10th Anniversary

Homeworld, motherfucker!

2 days late, but what the hell… Relic takes us on a stroll down memory lane and reminds us that 10 years ago they launched an impossibly beautiful and courageous game: Homeworld. It was a crazy concept to start with: “what, a strategy? in 3D? and set in… space?!” (yes, those were pretty retarded times) but the guys at Relic pulled it off and shoved the strategy genre into a new age, where they still reign supreme.

On offer for today is the original demo for Homeworld, now with added LAN support. The bonus is a very nice Q&A with 2 of the original Homeworld developers.

Also, this means that everyone that is now starting to have fond memories of those ancient days is pretty old. Goddamnit!

Games as tools for academia

Here’s an interesting article: Jim Rossignol (of RPS fame) writes about the increasing number of academia “experiments” that use games as their medium. It’s an emerging trend, something that should legitimate games as more than just idle fun. Go read.

Icycle

Icycle (Flash)

Lucidity

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Lucidity (from Lucas Arts)

Plants vs Zombies – free & online

Yes, yes, yes: the excellent Plants vs Zombies can now be played online for free.