Game Jolt interviews The Catamites- the source of gleeful madness like Murder Dog IV: Trial of the Murder Dog and Pleasuredomes of Kubla Khan.
I spent a lot of time playing his title Goblet Grotto during IGF judging last year. There’s a wonderful feeling of discovery when you are playing something totally unhinged. The glaze of sameness that makes me turn off most games about 15 minutes in is gone, and you feel like anything could happen.
Tonight in the New Yorker (or at least one of its electronic proxies) is an article about the legendary toils of our prodigal son Steph Thirion, and his longsuffering iOS game Faraway- 2011 Fantastic Arcade grand prize winner, yet still not in our hot little hands. It’s such a shock and a joy to see any mainstream press of such a small and beautiful struggle
(and with an animated gif of the comet to boot!)
There’s an open problem in skill-based game design about the razor-thin line between simplicity and complexity. Too simple, and games become boring over time, converging on the anodyne safety of Candy Land. Too complex, and they become arcane mechanical labyrinths, glorified spreadsheets that molder even in the closets of obsessives. The zone of perfection between those extremes is a moving target, especially if, like Thirion, your role-model games have been played for centuries. “If I were to design Go, or chess, it would take many, many, many years to get that game right and balanced,” he explained, “so there’s a component of getting the gameplay right that took a long time.”
I wrote a short piece that is included in this exquisite coffee table art book of my friend Steve Brudniak’s sculpture. The book will be received along with an exhibit of 30 years of his work at the Avis Frank Gallery in Houston on May 3rd.
This is going to be a really special Juegos Rancheros get together that should not be missed.
juegosrancheros.com — JUEGOS RANCHEROS presents: Two New Games from KATAMARI creator Keita Takahashi.
I can’t explain to you how old this makes me feel.
Edge online writes on last Sunday’s Juegos Rancheros indie buisness development crash course, Nation of Indies.
There’s a great, well deserved profile of my friend Divya Srinivasan on James Renovich’s feed in the Austin Chronicle today.
butterflies drinking the tears of a Yellow Spotted River turtle in the Amazon. It is believed the salty liquid is needed to help them produce. The endangered yellow-spotted river turtle cannot easily brush the salty liquid away, while the insects need sodium in its diet. In addition to sodium, tears also contain proteins that could represent a high-quality resource throughout the year.
Photo credit: Jeff Cremer
Meiko Kaji
Stalker (1979) - Andrei Tarkovsky
the ritual is complete
