Group items tagged

article by Nick Montfort, MIT Professor and If author, and Emily Short, author of Galatea and other noted works of IF.

Hard science on the importance of play for human development. How are games and play different? What are the categories of play? Can video games give us the same result as play? Should we have a category of "video toys" separate from "video games"? If we move toward video game education we need to make sure play is a portion of that education.

A novel released in 1500 word segments each day through an iphone application. Part of the work can only be read if physically in the geolocation which coordinates with the text. These optional side stories, called "field reports", are tied back into the larger narrative. They are written in relation to the surroundings which they are placed, so the reader is getting visual cues by the setting. By Matthew Derby. He is also the senior interface designer for Harmonix. 

This is pretty cool! Another Emerson VMA student, Frank Horton, had a start up company that was attempting to do something similar to this idea.

An analysis of German style boardgames, and the implications they have on gameplay in general.

The "long" version of this game is one of our absolute favorites. Try to play it sometime if you have time. I can loan it to you if you like...

about Plotkin's recent iOS app for SHADE...

This week, we explain why settling on a story before you've started your game may be a bad idea. Come discuss this topic in the forums ! -I don't know if I agree with all of this, but it's good to think about.

article in today's Globe mentions grammatologists Ong and Havelock

Recently there's been chatter that Valve - the company behind the massively popular gaming service Steam - has been considering getting into the hardware business. Specifically, there have been rumors that the company has been toying with the idea of creating a proper set-top console which could potentially pose a threat to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

This is an interesting development. Console games have been the domain of the "Big Three" for years (XBox, Playstation, and Nintendo). Now, another player is threatening to break into the market. Steam is a digital distribution service with over 40 million active users. Users install the Steam software and then purchase and play various computer games through the Steam interface. When I was helping to develop an indie game a few years ago, it was considered a huge accomplishment to be listed on Steam. It boosted the game's exposure and user base significantly. It will be interesting to see if the console is released and how it fairs in the difficult-to-enter market.

thought this might be of interest to you all....

Wow, thank you! As we spoke in class, so many opportunities. Yet I find it a little bit complicated. Maybe cause I'm facing it for the first time.