Hardcore casual gamers

 Posted by (Visited 8850 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: ,
Jun 292006
 

It really shouldn’t be surprising that studies are showing that so-called “casual gamers” are hardcore about their game. Playing casual games isn’t about a choice of timespan; people who have hobbies devote the time they want to their hobbies. Interruptibility may be a factor, but far more important is whether they enjoy what they are doing.

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Games for Change summary

 Posted by (Visited 6088 times)  Game talk
Jun 292006
 

Games for Change writeups are filtering out, which is good, because frankly, I missed most of the conference. I saw five minutes of Bob Kerrey’s Q&A, and I saw Mary Flanagan moderate a panel but only with half of one eye, because I was rearranging the notes for my talk.

I had to sign a podcast release, so I would guess that at some point the audio for the talk will show up; if and when it does, I will see about transcribing it and posting it here. My notes are just notes, and the talk itself was, as usually, largely improvised, so I don’t have anything to post here.

Steven Johnson’s keynote was liveblogged a couple of places, though.

The discussion hosted by Harper’s was fascinating and wideranging and the folks there were brilliant (Steven included). I cannot even attempt to do it justice. You’ll have to wait for the magazine!

Here in NYC @ G4C

 Posted by (Visited 7154 times)  Game talk
Jun 272006
 

Ah, the Long Island Expressway. 🙂

I’m here in NYC, taking a quick break before heading out to dinner with an old friend from high school whose current location here in Manhattan I found serendipitously on Google just day before yesterday. Tomorrow I’ll be doing the lengthy panel discussion-cum-interview with Harper’s, plus giving the closing address at Games for Change. I note that the conference website states that the backchannel for the conference is open and can be found starting here at tag 06-CG4.

No time to write more, have to get changed for dinner…!

The Merchant of Pixels

 Posted by (Visited 13321 times)  Game talk
Jun 272006
 

Lovely.

BOARD GAME
To bait the intelligence of our youth: if nothing else,
it will make them happy. They have disgraced me, and
hindered me many millions; laughed at my losses,
mocked at my gains, scorned my mechanics, assigned me to
bargain bins, wrecked my reputation with licensed copies
of poor games; and what’s the reason? I am non-electric.
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40 ways to be a better (game) designer

 Posted by (Visited 209536 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: ,
Jun 262006
 

I’m always looking for ways to become a better game designer. I frequently think I am no good at it, after all. (Just ask in random forums such as Blue’s News or the Fires of Heaven guild forums). So it’s with interest that I read articles like 50 ways to become a better designer.

Much of the list isn’t directly applicable, but some of it is, and it inspires a list of my own, centered around games. Not exhaustive, and probably not even accurate, but stuff I have often helped myself with. Many are cribbed and adapted.

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