When making yesterday's "I'm so busy" excuses rationalizations for not posting frequently, I forgot to mention something else cool: I'll also be contributing some reviews to AV Club's Sawbuck Gamer section, where we look at smaller titles, many of them indie or off-the-beaten-path, that can be had for less than $10. I recently wrote for the section about Tyler Glaliel's IndieCade Gameplay Award winner Closure, which pretty much blew my mind. The agility of bite-sized, brilliantly-simple approaches to game design even as megabucks and mega-values continue marching on in the traditional console space never ceases to amaze. I'm glad we have both approaches.
On the same topic, Gamasutra had an interview yesterday with the co-founders of Odd Gentlemen, creators of upcoming, buzzworthy XBLA title The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Cool dudes -- you should read the whole thing, but this bit stands out to me when I think of Closure:
"It's like they get really impactful in 10 seconds, whereas you might play a Final Fantasy game, and you don't give a shit until the eighth hour mark. That's when it really connects to you. Who needs that? Exactly like you said, you can make a poignant, small experience that gets to the core of what you want to feel and experience it. It's wonderful."
"It's like they get really impactful in 10 seconds, whereas you might play a Final Fantasy game, and you don't give a shit until the eighth hour mark. That's when it really connects to you. Who needs that? Exactly like you said, you can make a poignant, small experience that gets to the core of what you want to feel and experience it. It's wonderful."
True that. Oh, we also had an interview I did yesterday with a guy from the Need For Speed games. The only "car game" I like is Midnight Club Los Angeles, but I didn't realize that the guys who do the physics in the Need For Speed series -- recent ones, at least -- get to go try the cars out all day on a closed circuit track with help from pro racers, so they know how it's supposed to look, sound and feel for players. Now that's gotta be a fun job.
In other news, some of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen me mention Kill Screen, the swank new gaming mag being assembled by some of the writers I respect most, in gaming or anywhere. Some of you might have even helped donate for Kill Screen's fundraising (thank you!) and secured yourself a copy.
Now, you can read a little more about the folks behind the project. I'm kicking in a small piece for the magazine too, which is probably news to my editor. Hey, Chris? When I said "this morning" I meant, like, Australia time or something. It's coming, cross my heart! I'm almost done!
