Player vs. Player vs. Environment
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007Did you do the PvP reading I assigned in yesterday’s post? If so, here’s another one for you from the Cesspit (link). If not, don’t worry about it too much. While reading those posts gave me a launching point to discuss some things I’ve been chewing over, so did breakfast this morning and my specific [...]
Nerf the End Game
Friday, January 26th, 2007The Burning Crusades expansion for World of Warcraft has raised an interesting point — what do you do with your old end game when the new end game makes it completely irrelevant?
In creating a whole new area to explore, with quests beginning at level 58, and crafting rewards which will carry players 10 levels beyond [...]
Wii’ve Been Played!
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006A while back I said that the Wii would bring gameplay out of our televisions and into our living rooms. Given the number of blank, quizzical, and/or skeptical stares I’ve received when repeating this belief since, I thought it might bear further discussion. As always, I’m gong to back up a bit and try to [...]
TVs, Gender, Marketing, and Round Tables
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006The Carnival of Gamers returns to late night television today over at Unfettered Blather (link). That means the November Round Table launches on Monday! I have a couple of topic ideas to grapple with over the weekend including some that are sure to be mildly controversial.
I may run up to New York City this weekend [...]
Pushing the Buttons of Fear
Friday, October 20th, 2006Well, the October Round Table is over and I’d have to say I enjoyed it. Most notably I enjoyed the disagreement which has sprung up between Chris Bateman and myself following my closing entry. Contrary to almost every other post in the Round Table, I (to sculpt a grotesque summary of my position) claim that [...]
Carnival of Gamers: Revival!
Thursday, October 5th, 2006After a brief hiatus, the Carnival of Gamers is back, but… what is this? Gone are the rides, gone are the sideshow freaks, gone are the sounds and scents of wild abandon and in their place, directly in the center of the field, is a large white tent, brightly lit against the encroaching night. As [...]
Mc-Cart-Before-The-Horsey-ism
Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006I have, time and time again, bashed advergames and ads-in-games in my Marketing witchhunt. Please take a moment to note that I chose to capitalize the word ‘Marketing’ in the previous sentence.
Chris, of Only a Game (link), has, time and time again, told me that I’m being a bit harsh. He has pointed out the [...]
Devil Designer: Or How I Learned to Stop Leveling and Love the Nerf Bat
Thursday, January 19th, 2006One of my problems with the early days of RPGs was that I frequently ran across game masters who were engaged in some sort of perverse power struggle with their players. I’ve seen temper tantrums thrown when players quickly figure out a painstakingly crafted trap filled dungeons, escaping with most of the treasure and [...]
Games As ‘Open’ Texts
Thursday, December 15th, 2005Note: I’ve been stewing over this post for some time now. I was on the verge of completing it yesterday, when I received some news that destroyed what focus I had. The problem, over all, is that my reactions to the topic are slippery, moving from positive ‘A-ha!’ moments to bewildered ‘Bring it [...]
« Previous Entries