The production of big-name, high-budget games increasingly relies on outsourcing (or “external development,” if you prefer) for the creation of 3D art, level design, and other game assets. Michael Thomsen visited one of the firms that provides this work, the Shanghai-headquartered Virtuos Ltd. Thomsen draws out the tension between the demand for such work and […]
gaming
Posted inArts & Culture, Business & Tech, Quotes
Second Life: A World that, for Some, Allows Full Participation
Second Life offers both escapism and a refuge for its hard-core digital denizens.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The $5,000 Decision to Get Rid of My Past
After a series of painful losses, Ben Kuchera learns that when your games become your ghosts, it’s time to clean house.
Posted inBusiness & Tech, Nonfiction, Quotes
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Screen: On the Addictive Escapism of Video Games
In Vulture, Frank Guan, an avid gamer himself, digs deep into the appeal and addictive qualities of video games in an effort to understand the psychology that undergirds hard-core gaming — and whether it has an impact on or can predict our politics.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games
Many Americans have replaced work hours with game play — and ended up happier. Which wouldn’t surprise most gamers.
Posted inNonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘Not Too Much, Not Too Little’: Programming Luck Into Video Games
At Nautilis, Simon Parkin examines the responsibilities and challenges of engineering luck into video games.
Posted inEditor's Pick
How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games
“Humans have taken the reins from the gods, and luck has become a design tool capable of changing players’ experiences and expectations.” A look at how game developers strike a balance between luck and fairness.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Virtual Swindle of the New Breed of Video Games
When pay-to-play becomes pay-to-win, the classic model of video games—paying for time or access to the game—turns into something much more insidious. In The Baffler, game designer Ian Bogost asks us to consider which extracts a higher social cost: the explicit violence of Grant Theft Auto, or the addiction and sly financial drain of Candy Crush? […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Virtual Swindle of the New Breed of Video Games
When pay-to-play becomes pay-to-win, the classic model of video games—paying for time or access to the game—turns into something much more insidious. In The Baffler, game designer Ian Bogost asks us to consider which extracts a higher social cost: the explicit violence of Grant Theft Auto, or the addiction and sly financial drain of Candy Crush? […]
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction, Story, Uncategorized
Forever Young
A group of Hungarian game developers spent more than 20 years developing a game for the Commodore 64.