minutia
« Previous EntriesDefining Game
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009Matthew Gallant recently posted on Defining Video Games over at the Quixotic Engineer. For the record, here’s the definition he proposed:
Software which displays images on a video screen, interacts with a player or players and is intended to provide challenge and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.
I replied that the inclusion of provide challenge [...]
January ‘09 Round Table - Updated 01-07
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009Welcome to the first Round Table of 2009. We had a great year last year and I look forward to another 12 months of insightful and fun posts. We’re going to start out the year on a bit of a light-hearted note and see where it takes us.
January ‘09
Putting the Game Before the Book What [...]
December ‘08 Round Table - UPDATED 12/31
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008Here we are at the final round table discussion of 2008! My thanks goes out to all the bloggers that contributed this year and made the round table such a success. This month’s topic continues the theme of the last two months, but asks us to peer into our crystal balls…
December ‘08
The Ghost of Gaming [...]
Kärleksfull Levande Död Jul!
Friday, December 19th, 2008It’s that time of year again–the holiday season. Shopping malls are besieged by shuffling masses of dead-eyed shoppers, lurching towards any hint of a lively bargain. Family homes are festooned with natural-resource-draining, enormously-tacky blow-up Santas and lighted reindeer, whose warm glow is sure to draw the attention of any passing zombie. Kitchens and larders are [...]
Hats in the New Year
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008I have a confession to make–I’m psychic. What’s that? You want proof? Okay! How about I predict what the next year is going to hold for me and, I’m fairly certain, for many of you as well. Here goes…
The next year is going to contain many challenges… and many opportunities.
Yeah, I know. I’m good, aren’t [...]
Renown & the Modular Game Board
Thursday, December 11th, 2008Remember Renown, the strategic card game I designed? You can be forgiven for that as I’ve given all appearances of forgetting about it as well. Thanks to the move and resulting turmoil, I’ve been thrown a bit off my design schedule. I haven’t been ignoring it, though–quite the contrary. Renown and its open deck of [...]
Mechanics are to Grammar as Dynamics are to…
Monday, December 8th, 2008There are a lot of great comments on my post, Multi-Purposing Game Mechanics. I’ve peppered this post with quotes pulled from the discussion–quotes that I either had a strong reaction to, or have been mulling over–but you ought to read the full thread if you haven’t already.
Game mechanics are the means by which a story [...]
Senior Social Interaction Designer
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008The following floated across a mailing list I’m on. It’s an email from Bob Moore, Ph.D. Bob is, “a sociologist and game designer looking for a job in the MMO/virtual world industry. Ideally I’m looking to fill a role that does not yet exist in the industry but which I believe is much needed.”
My first [...]
Living a Charmed Life
Monday, December 1st, 2008This is a bit late, but I didn’t want November’s Round Table to slip me by.
It probably goes without saying that I spend a lot of time with games. Over the last 20+ years of my life, gaming has risen in prominence from casual hobby, to obsession, and finally–to career. Nearly my every waking impression [...]
