The Latest Wordsmithery
By Jamin Warren —Is the game industry a well-oiled, profoundly risk-averse machine with a stranglehold on creative talent, or is crowdfunding about to destroy publishing as we know it? Jamin Warren takes a look at the unprecedented success of Tim Schafer's Kickstarter project Double Fine Adventure and sees a potential sea change in the creative ecosystem of gaming.
2012-02-16 04:00:00
By Reid McCarter —Let it be known that game designers are not without heroic ambition. Tom Sennett designed the 2011 IndieCade award for Game Design winner, Deepak Fights Robots, and challenged Shigeru Miyamoto to a 24-hour game jam. Reid McCarter asks Sennett why he likes to work alone even though he's a "shitty programmer," and how working with MS Paint has worked in his favor.
2012-02-15 17:00:00
By Gus Mastrapa —What do boardgaming's stars look like? If Donald X. Vaccarino is any indication, they are difficult to grasp. The designer of runaway favorite Dominion builds games that change and remake themselves nearly to infinity. In his latest column Gus Mastrapa tries to get a foothold in Vaccarino's twisty world.
2012-02-15 04:00:00
By Jon Irwin —Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka continues to defy expectations with Fishing Resort, a Wii game that moves at the pace of nothing. Jon Irwin explains why watching the water poses a deeper challenge than the average game.
2012-02-14 04:00:00
By Jason Johnson —What's in a name? The word "gamer" is used to connote men and women who enjoy videogames, and it contains the perilous highs and lowest lows of human experience. Jason Johnson argues that it's time to leave the term behind.
2012-02-13 04:00:00
By James Dilks —How are sports created in our own image? When the global game of soccer is digitally transformed into an international hit in FIFA, the ball finds itself caught between disparate communities, economies, and goals. James Dilks charts its journey from the western coast of Africa to the cables of the First World.
2012-02-10 04:00:00
By Thomas Rousse —When boundaries were pushed at this year's Nordic Game Jam, it was in all senses: technological, creative, and personal. Thomas Rousse followed the two-day development of Awkward Tarzan Grinding Game and found its tangle of dongles and vines anything but.
2012-02-09 04:00:00
By Danielle Riendeau —Will videogame design find its next frontier in the dynamically generated particles of Cell: emergence? Danielle Riendeau talks with its creator, Deus Ex writer and science-fiction author Sheldon Pacotti, about his relationship with technology, futurism, and scientific discovery.
2012-02-08 04:00:00
By Scott Wayne Indiana —Nicolas Cage may be our greatest living actor. On the precipice of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Scott Wayne Indiana talks to Brandon Bird, the insane genius behind the Nicolas Cage Adventure Set.
2012-02-07 04:00:00
By Michael Thomsen —The ever-popular genre of medieval role-playing continues its downward march with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a collaboration between game-design heavyweight Ken Rolston, fantasy luminary R.A. Salvatore, and comics auteur Todd McFarlane. Michael Thomsen finds the results less than uninspiring; they are anti-creative.
2012-02-07 03:00:00
By Drew Millard —Between War Horse and Bronies, pop culture is currently obsessed with two things: horses and iPhones. Drew Millard dives into My Horse, an iPhone game about horses, and comes up for air—with a thesis of the new generation between his teeth.
2012-02-06 04:00:00
By Abe Stein —How would snow or Tebow factor into the upcoming Superbowl? In anticipation of this weekend's game of all games, Abe Stein shares his findings on various simulation matches via Madden 2012.
2012-02-03 15:00:00
By Filipe Salgado —Regardless of one's familiarity of the game, some sports games just fall flat. Filipe Salgado paints a picture of why NFL Blitz won't have Madden worrying about competition anytime soon.
2012-02-03 04:00:00
By Jamin Warren —Recent cash-in knockoffs of popular mobile games Tiny Tower and Triple Town have the gaming scene in a fury. But there's a problem with this scenario: It's nothing new, with plenty of precedent in other media. Game designers need to embrace their copycats. Here's why.
2012-02-02 04:00:00
By Filipe Salgado —One of the most prolific developers in the burgeoning indie game scene, Stephen Lavelle recently released his first large-scale game production with English Country Tune. Filipe Salgado catches up with the recuperating developer about the transition from small to large games, the difference between coding for a studio and developing his own indie games, and the importance of reading.
2012-02-01 04:00:00
High Scores: The Best of 2011
