Clubberjack’s Unfocused Ramblings

Some thoughts on the essence of expressive simulation. Goes well with Fable 2, which I've been playing a bit of here and there.

A cogent (if starry-eyed) take on the new ecosystem created by the advent of server-based streaming games. Starts to think about the impact on development and design.

Found this bookmark in an old folder and gave it a read over lunch. Nice breakdown of how choice might impact player happiness.

I often disagree with Michaël Samyn about games, but his posts are always thought provoking and often reveal deeper truths about the interactive medium: "And when I stop playing, it feels more like the game has lost me than I it." In the same post, he also comes up with this: "The nature of something should not change just because of my feelings about it."

A short meditation on obligation and play… I feel this way all the time with many games.

Spelunky sounds awesome. The idea of nearly infinite replayability and the learning inherent in that is really powerful. This is now on my "to play" list.

Neat look at design. Includes great quotes like: "Every new tool you learn is like eating a million mile tomato."

A reaction to Brenda Brathwaite's Train.

Short interview (and video) with Brenda Brathwaite about her game, Train.

A description of Brenda Brathwaite's game, Train.

Saw this mentioned in relation to Brenda Brathwaite's game Train. Very interesting thoughts on the nature of work. Neat to think about from the perspective of a craftsman/artist.

Zombies!

This explains why I've been enjoying the little games, like Gravitation. Or maybe it's that I don't have time for epics these days…