|
|
|||
In 1975, Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt published a deck of cards named Oblique Strategies. Their idea was to give creators a tool to help them get unstuck or see differently. I want to develop a similar kind of deck for game designers.
Would you like to help?
Continue reading "The Little Deck of Game Design [Project]" »
Many developers want game making to be treated as a skilled profession. They want it to be serious, have stable working hours, to acknowledge their contribution and to be paid accordingly. They want to see themselves as craftsmen bringing decades of experience to bear on projects.
This desire reminds me of a scene in The Wire where Marlo steals lollipops in plain view of a security guard, and when the guard challenges him Marlo sizes him up and says:
‘You want it be one way. But it’s the other way.’
I believe that games are an art form that defines the twenty first century. However, compared to some other art forms, they are somewhat conservative. They may be loud and violent, or quiet and serene, yet the kinds of worlds and roles that they offer are often recognisable and safe. Rarely do we see games that confront society as well as being fun to play.
Instead they tend to play it straight, focusing on the authenticity of escapism, the rewards and the gameplay. Their role, it seems, is to escape existing culture rather than define it.
Can games define new culture? Are they able to be edgy? Can we foresee a day when the ideas within a game cause discussion and debate much as a controversial play might? Are games capable of radicalism?
Your MMO guild members may be good friends but they’re scattered all across the world. Your mobile games steal your attention away from talking to people. Your social game hassles you to bug your friends for gifts, but otherwise you play alone. Your co-op sessions of Portal 2 tend to be played with mute strangers.
Most innovations in digital gaming tend to produce solitary experiences. This is fine most of the the time, but players don’t always want to be solitary. They like to gather to play, to participate and hang out. Social contact is healthy, and games have always had an important role in helping to bind communities together.
Video games have not really tapped into that spirit yet, but it feels to me like that’s the next wave. Local games are coming.
200 days ago I published my first post on What Games Are. It was a quiet period in my life and I didn’t quite know what I was going to do next. I had something of a draft for a book that I was writing, an urge to create something more immediate, and to strike out on my own and take a risk that I had something worthwhile to say.
Six months later, I’ve published around 130,000 words (and easily written double that). I’ve been invited to write for a couple of esteemed publications. I’ve had the chance to speak at a couple of events. And my consulting business is booming. I am, in short, really really busy.
I thought the 100 post milestone might be a good opportunity to pause and reflect on how things have been going, and talk about my plans for the next 100 posts.
I really like paper.li, the social news startup that compiles top shares from your Twitter account into a newspaper. It’s fun, but also incredibly useful. I’ve been testing it with my own account for the last two weeks (the Tied Tiger Tribune) and it’s great as a personalised source of interesting things, like a more social StumbleUpon.
It’s also given me an idea:
Continue reading "The What Games Are Journal [Experiment]" »
Follow What Games Are
What Games Are is about game design, game development, games as art, craft, culture and industry and how you can make better games. Follow through any of these links:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join over 3400 readers
| Follow Tadhg Kelly |
