What Games Are
Auto Added by WPeMatico
The VR-Smartwatch Continuum
There’s a lot of enthusiasm at either end of the spectrum for “go big” virtual reality and “go small” smartwatches and other wearable devices. Is the “game-changing” hype of either justified? Or are they overblown? The Reason To Be Cheerful About HoloLens
With the release of the HoloLens, Microsoft put something out there that has a chance of being transformative. Not in the high concept way, but in a general way especially for gaming. But is Microsoft able to bring it home, or will it get lost in its own ambitions as it has so often before. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
The Message Is The Product: Solving Mobile Gaming’s Price Problem
The medium is the message, says Marshall McLuhan. If so the message is the product too. In considering the problem of paid games on mobile (conventional wisdom says people won’t pay for them) it seems more than ever that that reasoning applies. Mobile game makers don’t market premium, so they can’t charge premium. Time to take a leaf from Hollywood’s book. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
The Perfect Gaming Phone
As a recent acquirer of an iPhone 6 Plus I had thought that a bigger phone would have better battery and be easier on my eyes. However what I hadn’t expected was the degree to which playing games on it would be much more fun than on my previous iPhone. An Open Letter To Tim Cook About Game Censorship
An open letter to the CEO of Apple to change the company’s mind in how it handles the vetting of game content, as happened this week with Papers Please. Video games are an art form just like movies or music and deserve equal treatment. Crowdfunding Ain’t The Bank
We in the games trade like the crowdfunding avenue in so far as the money that it brings, but we still struggle to not hold our communities at one remove as we might investors. As a result we are often mistreating fans even when we don’t mean to. We need to get better at the skill of community. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
The Lesson Of Monument Valley
I’m fascinated by the reviews left by Monument Valley players after learning that new content was going to cost an extra $2. Why does something so apparently ordinary generate such resentment? What Is Journalism Anymore?
With the increasing rise of YouTubers, movements like Gamergate and so on, questions about the role of journalism abound. Who’s a journalist? What does it even mean to be a “journalist” as opposed to something else? Does anyone really know anymore? Why And How To Hire A Game Designer
I am a game designer but I don’t envy the task of potential employers or partners in trying to find someone like me to hire. Game design is very difficult to assess from the outside, to understand what role you think it would play in your team and whether it would be a fit. Some thoughts on how to approach it. Read More
Powered by WPeMatico
In response to my article last week I got a fair degree of heated comments, but most civil ones said that the gamergate issue was about journalistic integrity. Is it? Or is it actually about the culture of games? And how does that affect the industry going forward?