The idea of playing games to solve problems in real life may seem far-fetched to some. The stereotypes that exist for games (and gamers) aren’t very positive; to add to that problem, the concept of games that inform and educate is often undercut by poor use of semantics or improper context. These problems often occur when talking about so-called “serious games,” two words that should never exist in the same phrase together. Listeners are left …
Attending a large college is somewhat of an interesting experience; students who lived at home are both relieved at the freedom they now experience and yet stranded from everything familiar to them. Fortunately for students, most universities seem to develop groups of every imaginable category (and if it doesn’t exist, chances are that someone out there would be willing to join). While many are shy about making new friends, these groups seem to be the …
Remember how back when I posted that it was hot I said I was busy in real life and that was totally interfering with my usual schedule of being around on the site I should arguably be responsible for maintaining? That was totally true, yo. So true in fact that it’s not even hot any more and I’m still too busy to, you know, pay attention to Tap. I’m really sorry about that.
Luckily I have many fine contributors and the ability to recycle my own content from other sites. Thus do I give you the latest installment of Culture Clash, which is a little incoherent on account of the busy – something about hearts breaking, and I think childhood. Harbour Master is mentioned in there as well. I dunno. It made sense when I wrote it. Enjoy! I’ll be back in like three months.
I happen to be a fan of Insomniac Games. I’ll be the first to admit that Ratchet & Clank sometimes feels a bit stagnant. I have my disappointments with Resistance. But in my experience, Insomniac is a consistent game developer that makes fun games that usually have something in them that make me laugh or go “Hey, cool!”. I have not played Resistance 3 yet – sort of a side effect of the whole “poor …
Discussing video game addiction is never a particularly easy subject to broach. At least not in my experience. Ordinarily it’s not something I particularly like to talk about at all. That could be because I’m a gaming addict in denial, or because I’m ultra defensive over my chosen hobby and quickly angered by the stupidity and banal waffle that usually follows such discussion in the mainstream media. The problem for me is that I am a gamer, …
EVE Online, what an odd game. My only character was made in 2006 and had probably only been played for around ten hours before she went into permanent hibernation. I found EVE incredibly dull when I first played it all those years ago. Some might argue that that is a demonstration of the skill ceiling being set so high, yet I think much of it was simply due to being lonely. Space is a …
I may occasionally bitch about the IGDA, but I am lucky and proud to be a member. The Detroit Chapter has struggled mightily to maintain itself on account of a vast geographical area – we don’t want to splinter into an Ann Arbor Chapter, a Lansing Chapter, an EAST Lansing Chapter, a Grand Rapids Chapter, etc etc etc – and is currently amidst a new period of growth and energy. At our monthly social meetings you get to drink and meet the wonderful game development community of southern Michigan. And thus it was that I met Jacob Elert, who stated without a hint of irony that most people called him Bear. If you ever meet Bear, you will see why. Bear is a big fella; but he’s not a “Gorilla” or an “Elephant,” he’s definitely bearlike. In addition to being bearlike, Bear is a passionate new entry to the game development world, and I enjoyed chatting with him so much that I suggested he toss me an article for Tap. And he did! Today you’ll be getting a bear’s view of what MMOs have meant to the game experience as well as just the market. I think you’ll find it well worth your time. Take it away, Bear!
— S
One of the big movements in gaming these days, albeit one that’s only occasionally talked about, is toward user-generated content. Gone are the days when mission editors were arcane tools only the most dedicated could learn to comprehend, much less use. And so I present my own recent adventures in user-generated content, courtesy of Sucker Punch’s inFAMOUS 2 and its mission creation tool. Also, I plug my mission a little so you’ll go and play …
Sylvari week has ended and for those of you who haven’t yet delved into the delights offered by ArenaNet, I suggest you head on over to the blog for a five day feast of information covering the design and lore, plus some delicious wallpapers. The redesign has been well received by both press and fans and it was unquestionably brave of ArenaNet to redesign an entire race so deep into the development cycle. And yet …
I first met Amanda Lange about two years ago – until quite recently, she taught Game Design at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Detroit, Michigan, and I had the honor of being invited to speak with one of her classes. I don’t think Amanda expected me to ramble on for an hour and a half, but then again… she didn’t know me at the time. Now she does and is correspondingly more wary.
A longtime member of the International Game Developers Association and supporter of many local efforts and endeavors, Amanda’s moving to a new state soon on account of getting relocated, so we’ll miss her at the Detroit IGDA meetings. In the interim, though, she kindly offered to put together a Celebrity Guest Editorial on a subject that I think many Tap readers have pondered over the years. Take it away, Amanda!
—S
Of the few forums I follow with fervor, I happened to be at the Maniaplanet Forums at exactly the right time when one of the devs started playing the dev-titled “stupid games” to give out beta keys to test Trackmania²: Canyon (“Canyon”). It was really a fluke, and as I entered the first beta round I knew I was an interloper. I have beta tested countless MMOs. This was different. I felt instantly out of my …
When my brother Lewis and I were little we used to play ‘army’ a lot. It turned out that other kids called it ‘war’. We had a grandad with a shed full of wood-working tools and it wasn’t unusual for him to kit us out with wooden guns, swords and shields to act out our pretend fighting (I even got him to make a wooden brick once — yeah I know, I have no idea …
Typically I don’t publish my Culture Clash columns here until they’ve been run at the IGDA website, but honestly, in the last few months I’ve had no fucking clue what’s going on over there. So I present to you my latest – sort of, in that it was filed on June 10 and I haven’t heard anything from an editor yet, which is uncommon because my editors there are apparently of the opinion that I have no professional writing experience whatsoever – with all hopes that it pleases you.
This one comes on the tail of a column that… well, it caused some chaos, let’s put it that way. And while its final published form didn’t spark any particular controversy, it was quite an adventure for those behind the curtain. As such I went for a more innocuous, if not entirely cheery, thesis this month. Enjoy!
It’s no secret that the Nintendo 3DS hasn’t exactly been lighting up the cash registers since it launched back in March this year. With its main USP still seen by many as an unwanted gimmick and under increasing pressure from iOS and mobile platforms, this particular $250 dedicated handheld was always going to be a difficult sell. Even judged by already tepid expectations, the 3DS has endured a rough start to its life on the market, struggling to sell units, and with only Super Street Fighter IV and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – both ports of existing titles from various points in the last 10 years – doing the business on the software front. When Sony matched Nintendo’s launch price for the shinier, more powerful and altogether more striking PlayStation Vita, Nintendo’s reaction almost became an inevitability.
Starting from 12 August, the 3DS will now cost just $169 in the US, £130 in the UK and 160 Euros in Europe.
Back in ’03, a small French game development company, Nadeo, created a racing game within a system designed to allow people to easily build and share a plethora of community-created content. This Trackmania was a platform with so many outlets. It had fresh racing gameplay distilled down to bare essentials. It had a track editor that worked like Legos, including various brick themes. It had a car painter to paint and place stickers in real …