June 2010
11 posts
“Of course, Words With Friends was hardly the first such word game on the market,...”
– A Look Behind The ‘Words With Friends’ iPhone Gaming Phenomenon
True Evolution: A Peter Molyneux Interview →
“Research continues to show that people who read linear text comprehend more,...”
– The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains
A really interesting exploration on how the internet and technology is changing the way we think.
“How To Beat Apple At Their Own Game
You can’t, just like you can’t...”
– Why Apple Succeeds & Others Fail ~ Flyosity by Mike Rundle
He’s probably right.
[gb] Studio / The Blog / Happiness →
Written for designers. Good thoughts and perspective for just about anyone.
“I’m not saying the App Store is a beautiful garden. That is not a very good...”
– The Walled Garden
The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People | Zen... →
Great read!
I’d agree that solitude is very important to creativity. However, I think the real No. 1 key here is focus. Focus and mindfulness are things I’ve realized to be essential to creative thinking. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), it’s fairly hard to focus given all the distraction that comes along with our lives. Thus solitude can really help enable that...
Cargo Cult Game Design →
Baked in as opposed to tacked on. You can say this about almost anything, here Brad Hargreaves is talking about adding game mechanics to non-games. Good advice.
The BioShock Pitch | Irrational Games →
This is some interesting stuff. Really cool of Irrational to share.
May 2010
28 posts
Thoughts on Lost
Some quick thoughts on Lost’s Finale, now that it’s over. There’ll likely be some spoilers in here, so don’t read on if you haven’t seen it and care about spoilers.
Overall I thought Lost was a good series. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I liked most of the characters, thought it was extremely well-crafted and, most of the time,...
“So what’s my point? Simply this — free-to-play games are no intrinsically more...”
– Free-to-Play Game Developers Can’t Outsource their Dirty Work - Facebook Indie Games
Good, if somewhat disturbing (from my perspective anyway) point.
(via Instapaper)
“One CEO, who asked not to be named, told me in the hallways today that Facebook...”
– Facebook’s ambition
Scary.
(via Instapaper)
Feeling Touchy; Learning how to build great touch... →
As you move to a new platform, it is interesting to watch your brain morph over time. I remember switching from Windows to Mac. At first the fonts looked blurry and weird. The mouse pointer didn’t weight right. The constant app menu was strange. There were things I liked about it right away, but they were mostly the fact that I had a command line, and the fact that apps were minimal, pretty,...
Bill Mooney Outlines Zynga's Methodology For... →
Some decent sounding advice here.
(via Instapaper)
iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing →
It’s Jakob Nielsen so read with a grain o’ salt.
(via Instapaper)
“Because players of social games do not fork out money to have the chance to try...”
– Gamasutra - Features - First Five Minutes: How Tutorials Make or Break Your Social Game
A great article on first play experiences in social games. Been thinking about this a lot.
(via Instapaper)
IGN Girlfight Episode 6: Special Guest Brenda... →
Interesting stuff!
“We’re shaking things up a bit at Harvest. We figure that a smart person...”
– UX Designer with ZERO experience.
Love this move and think there is something to this.
I have seen many cases where a talented, smart and driven person comes into a job with little or no experience and does very, very well. I’ve done it myself, a few times.
You have to find the right...
Google Opening Web App Store Including Games →
Been very lightly following the Google TV/ Google App Store stuff. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
“The formula last year was viral growth through aggressive spam but that no...”
– Trip Hawkins Blog: WHAT’S NEXT FOR SOCIAL GAMES
I love it when I see that someone smarter than me, in this case Digital Chocolate’s Trip Hawkins, reinforces specific ideas/thoughts that I’ve long believed to be true.
Been really enjoying their games as well. Subscribed!
With social game market in flux, what Zynga needs... →
“With today’s agreement, Facebook has said it will use its 30 percent cut...”
– What does that mean, exactly? Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this.
Facebook, Zynga, Reach Five-Year Agreement On Virtual Currency
“But Kopycienski wants to encourage more traditional developers to view Facebook...”
– Interview: SOE Talks Building Out The Agency Onto Facebook
“In spite of all the recent noise and complaints we are very confident in...”
– Wooga’s Jens Begemann on Facebook Social Gaming
He makes some solid points here and I’m with him. As I’ve been saying, it’s all going to be about a quality, fun and engaging gaming experience. If developers can make fun games they’ll do well.
“Segerstrale talks a lot about the triumph of “service” over...”
– David Rowan on paying for virtual convenience
“It is much wiser, Dweck says, to praise children for work and persistence....”
– Carol Dweck’s Attitude - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Blizzard Announces Battle.Net Facebook Integration →
‘bout time. :)
Brian Reynolds On His Social Transition →
Love reading about how a veteran game designer sees the transition from AAA game design to social game design. Especially since I’m coming from the exact opposite direction to the same space.
“Virtual goods. We don’t do advertising. We don’t have subscriptions....”
– Interview: League Of Legends’ Merrill On Succeeding With Free-To-Play Core Games
Facebook, The App Store, And The Sound Of... →
A great article that puts this stuff in perspective.
Funny, only slightly related, sidenote: I was just thinking how interesting it is that one the web “business” is such a touchy subject. Folks seem to hate it when someone wants to protect their interest, yet the people who cry the most are the ones (not surprisingly) who’s bottom-line is taking the biggest hit.
I’ve...
My Notes on Game Design Workshop, Second Edition... →
I finally finished it and figured it might be fun/helpful to some folks to post my review (such that it is) as well as the notes/observations I took.
“Don’t get us wrong — FarmVille is a great product; it has more than...”
– Crazy New Trend On Facebook: Games That Are Actually Good
April 2010
68 posts
Interview: The Rise of Free-To-Play At EA →
An interview with Ben Cousins, general manager of EA’s free-to-play team. He talks about Lord of Ultima (which I’ve been playing the last couple days and enjoying) and the transition to more browser-based, cross-platform, free-to-play gaming.
“In contrast to Flash-based games or lightweight Facebook games, the Monkey...”
– InstantAction debuts instantly playable Monkey Island online game
Well, this is only half-true. If you’re on OSX you can’t play. Not a bad idea though.
Self-expression in Social Games
One of the biggest motivators, in my opinion anyway, for many social games like Farmville, is self-expression. For example, I’ve been playing a lot of We Rule and I’ve actually spend a few bucks on it to help the progress of my little kingdom along. Why?
Well, it’s not so much about the social aspects, which, while sort of fun are pretty light and mostly inconsequential. ...
The Huffington Post Starts To Give Out Badges To... →
Interesting and fairly lightweight use of game mechanics to add fun to social interaction on THP. Worth noting.
How Bejeweled Maker PopCap Games Went Social →
The PopCap dudes on social gaming, etc.
“The greatest threat to our creative nature is ourselves. Today, many people are...”
– Summation: creating beats consuming
Wow, some interesting stuff to think about here. Especially when devices like the iPad (which, surprisingly and maybe in this case, ironically, is a good creation tool) make it so easy to consume.
Good tips here as well.
“The opportunities are clear. Well-written videogames are incredibly compelling....”
– Revolution’s Cecil On A Career Of Storytelling
Charles Cecil (Broken Sword) talks about storytelling in games and more.
Empire Avenue →
It’s still in invite only beta, but it’s a damn fun social “stock market” game where the stocks are people and businesses. I think this has been tried before, but this seems like some solid execution. It’s fun.
Also, here is my RSS validation code: EAVB_JIQBSODNET