Some press hits

 Posted by (Visited 6578 times)  Game talk, Writing
Jul 072005
 

A couple of press hits today.

First up, there’s this interview at NextGen which is mostly about the theory of fun and how it can be applied towards opening up new audiences for games.

The current games can be daunting to new players. “Look at what’s happened to the RTS market,” Koster says. “You have 300 buildables and 500 vehicles and your tech tree is enormous. To a novice, that’s just overwhelming. It’s like teaching a kindergartener to read with the Encyclopedia Britannica.

“New genres are exciting because that implies that they open new markets. It’s based on how games and brains work. Focusing only on the kinds of games that already exist really only caters to your existing base.”

Secondly, and less related to the book, is the streaming videocast of the IBM MMOG conference I took part in about a month ago. You’ll need to register for free here, and then go here to watch it. This talk is mostly about what I call “Moore’s Wall,” which is the notion that the advance of technology has in some ways been a barrier for us in game design, rather than an enabler, because of increasing costs. This has also been
Slashdotted and blogged about. It may seem less related, but taken in tandem with the above interview, might form a more coherent picture of some of the issues facing the industry today.

I can’t end this post without offering condolences to any Londoners who might be reading. 🙁

  One Response to “Some press hits”

  1. Blogroll Joel on SoftwareRaph Koster Sunny Walker Thoughts for Now Sex, Lies and Advertising

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