Tag: Game Development
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Of Geeks, Games, and Girls
I read this a while back. The essay, which looks at how geek/nerd culture may discourage women from studying computer science troubled me. It troubled me because much of geek/nerd culture is precisely what is produced by engineers that go into game development. So are these researchers telling me that because games are rooted in…
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The Price of “Closed” Hardware
I’ve been screaming about it for a while now, 2007 to be precise. But the proof is in the numbers. More game developers are working on the iPhone and soon the iPad. The DSi’s lack of support for an open SDK is particularly nonsensical, given its reliance on less expensive games for download. But, the…
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The Cult(ure) of Secrecy…
I mentioned it in my dissertation. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Smarter folks than I say it all the time. That great idea you have? Your obsession with secrecy? Yeah… It’s not that cool really. Your idea might become cool. But that will be pretty close to the time you release it. It…
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On Game Mechanic Patents…
Anyone familiar with me, or my work, knows that I spend far too much time looking at the patents that come out of videogame companies. Why? Because they’re interesting and they index what these companies really value as innovative. It is also often the only real information available about how their devices function, at least…
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Production Protection to Copy(right) Protection
I have an essay up over on the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing titled, “Production Protection to Copy(right) Protection: From the 10NES to DVDs” talking about how many copy protection schemes also have roots in controlling the ability create content. Simply put, copy protection retains an inherent interest in also controlling the means…
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Game Studies and Game Development Texts
I get at least two or three emails a week from folks curious about the texts that I use in classes or what I’m reading at the moment. So the new approach is to place all of those items in that sidebar. There are a bunch in there already, but only 3 at a time…
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(Inadvertantly) Pimping Unity3D at SIEGE
Well, this weekend was a whirlwind of activity at SIEGE in Atlanta. I ended up speaking at two different panels, one explicitly about Unity 3D and the other, ostensibly, about physics. Though it wasn’t my intention, the Unity 3D Panel ended up being mostly a Unity 3D love-in after Tom Higgins managed to handle the…
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Experimenting with Format and FONM
I spent the latter part of last week at the “Frontiers of New Media” organized by some great folks at the University of Utah. You can get a sense of the conversation and the different talks over at their website, but I wanted to post here the contents of my talk, which were delivered with…
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UGA ICE, ICE, Baby…
No, not that baby. At least not yet. No, this was a very fun talk presented at the University of Georgia‘s Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE) “Gaming Seminar” last Tuesday evening. All in all it was an excellent seminar, connecting me with all sorts of interesting new folks at UGA who I’ve not yet really…
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Magic: the Gathering – Game Designer Training Ground
As if my blog hadn’t managed to establish as a given fact, I’m a nerd. “Geeeeeeeeaaaaeeeek,” is a phrase that describes me and I have no reservations in that. Though I do remain steadfast in my un-dorkiness. But the splitting on hairs aside, I had a revelation while playing Magic: The Gathering – Duels of…