Games After Gamergate

gglogo Perhaps the greatest testimonial to those who endured Gamergate is not to remember it. To not talk about it all. So I won’t. However one aspect that I will talk about is what it did to game development. For many of us Gamergate destroyed our faith video games as a medium, an art form and so on. But only temporarily. Read More

The Sorry State of “Games Are Art” In 2015

See No Evil Hear No Evil : Cinema Quad Poster With Apple’s banning of games wholesale because of a flag we have yet another example of how games are censored more than other media, how games are devalued and treated as second class media citizens. This at a time when experimental games are under threat from all quarters. Games should be treated as equals. Read More

Why I Cautiously Support the App Store Change

2015-06-07 13.44.28 There are very good reasons for Apple’s recent change to the App Store’s listings, especially for games, as the charts had become over-dominated by incumbents at the expense of newer developers. At the same time is this change really enough? Read More

Incremental Design Won’t Save You

f9e5aa7051ed854193b934312a2e80be In games most studios follow that “distribution” strategy to a greater or lesser degree. A lot of them are concerned about where to find players, how to hold onto them, how to monetize them efficiently and so on. Too often they sideline the issue of how to actually design a game worth playing – to their cost. Read More

Why Games Journalism Should Update Its Thinking

Kent_brockman_reporter Gaming’s media is increasingly under strain from too much coverage of the same subject matter. And yet the biggest single market for games – mobile – remains very poorly covered. Isn’t it time for games journalists and outlets to update their thinking? Read More

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Microsoft?

60718733 It’s great at business software and technology, but Microsoft still struggles to make coherent consumer products. The problem seems ingrained and cultural, starting with its constant reversion to ecosystem plays and through to its increasingly bizarre user interfaces. Maybe the solution is to stop trying to be so fancy and focus more on its engineering roots instead? Read More