Captain Waycool

Sculptor Do Ho Suh’s Staircase-III, installed at Tate...

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:38:30 -0400

Sculptor Do Ho Suh’s Staircase-III, installed at Tate Modern in London. I got to see this in person last year, and it’s a very beautiful work of art — but what makes it really special to me is just how special it seems to be to game designers. Every friend and colleague in the industry I force this upon, look at it, goddamn you!, exhibits a similar response: wonder. It’s like looking at the start of a Hammer level from the inside.

Incidentally, what prompted this today was a really great article in Vice about the infectious culture of delusion that seems to inhabit some circles of the art world. It’s comforting to read those words when I’ve wondered, quite often—especially lately—whether my utter lack of emotional response to 98% of art meant that I was dead inside, or maybe just thick.

But then I remember Staircase-III, and I am reminded that what I want art to be is an engine to inspire wonder. It may be rare as hell, but it happens from time to time.

Chance Encounters in the Wastes

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:22:00 -0400

I met my best friend, Kevin Mahoney, on the Internet in 1998, back when it was weird to meet people on the Internet. This is because many such acquaintances, like ours, began on IRC—internet chat before internet chat and instant messaging were common, inescapable aspects of a digital lifestyle. We bullshat infrequently for about six months before we discovered, to our mutual shock and surprise, that we lived not just in the same town, but within a few miles of one another. Our first in-person meet-up started with an exchange of then hard-to-obtain game soundtracks—his Final Fantasy VI for my Chrono Trigger—and ended with an opening-night viewing of The Matrix. This was, I believe, the nerd equivalent of becoming blood brothers.

There was a time in which this kind of personal trivia wasn’t the sort that you’d readily volunteer in polite conversation—and while, yes, this story is still phenomenally nerdy, it isn’t nearly as rare as it used to be. Gamers no longer have to look terribly hard to find like-minded people, or entire communities of new friends, be they connected digitally or amassed at an event like PAX. The increasing commonality of the above anecdote, though, only serves to remind me of how cool it is that shit like that actually happened back then.

Similar feelings bubbled to the surface while playing Journey, and I chalk that up to a number of factors: that pairing with my companion was unfettered by a matchmaking process or game set-up screen; that I wasn’t immediately put off by a screenname like SePhIr0000000th and a shrill child’s voice; indeed, that we couldn’t speak at all, and were limited instead to a one-button input calling mechanism and the universal language of play.

Absent the usual pretenses and apprehensions, we got straight to business, united by common interest. It’s no wonder that playing Journey felt like making friends in the pre-internet nerd dark ages—though companionship was virtually assured, the game made me feel like I had hit the jackpot, and found—among a faceless crowd—just the right person to accompany me. We had a blast, hailing one another when glyphs were located, chanting in unison as we marched up a mountain. When it was over, we added eachother to our respective friends lists and even exchanged a couple of messages.

It wasn’t like matchmaking into co-op in Halo, or team deathmatch in Call of Duty. Without any of the several thousand factors that usually get in the way of a seemingly genuine connection, we were able to focus on sharing the experience. That alone is pretty powerful, but it definitely helped that the experience itself was a gorgeous, well-crafted and compelling one.

When Dark Souls debuted, it was interesting to watch the reactions of players new to the franchise—the folks unaware that the game drastically limited their abilities to designate partners for cooperative or competitive play. But Dark Souls, like Journey, practically primes you for serendipity by opening the world to you, making every encounter a chance encounter, with all the possibilities—good and bad—that that implies. Sure, it doesn’t always turn out great; sometimes it can backfire entirely. But when it goes well it feels almost like magic. And this is is an outcome that can potentially be engineered—at least in part—by clever system design.

I hope we see more games that experiment with this sort of matchmaking. Chance is exhilarating, and in our increasingly connected and choice-oriented world, it’s really something to play a game that emulates that experience.

Holy crap! gebak: Minecraft dome i am working on.

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:36:57 -0400

Holy crap!

gebak:

Minecraft dome i am working on.

Sometimes I really, really do love Nintendo. Rhythm Heaven...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:33:53 -0500

Sometimes I really, really do love Nintendo. Rhythm Heaven Fever is out in the states today and well worth the $30 (!) they’re asking for it.

Re: Wild Cursing from Seat 7A

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:35:00 -0500

I lucked out on my flight yesterday, snagging a free first-class upgrade for the first leg of my trip to London, from Seattle to Atlanta. I decided to celebrate by spending some time with Terry Cavanagh’s VVVVVV on my 3DS. I can’t imagine that my thunderous guttural roar of ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccck was the first such utterance of that most hallowed Word of Power in business class, but it was definitely my first. That’s right, fellow passengers—don’t mess with me. I’m on “Doing Things the Hard Way”.

This is my 4^th purchase of Vee Six Times. I have no trouble giving Cavanagh as much of my money as he’d like. It’s one of the most enchanting games I’ve ever played, and that bottomless charm has less to do with the Apple-II era visual stylings (though they certainly help) and more to do with the profoundly austere design foundation.

The player’s relationship to the world of VVVVVV is 100% about negotiating terrain, getting past obstacles, dodging hazards. To do this, the game offers you three and only three goddamnit input buttons: left, right, and toggle gravity. This never changes. You don’t earn new abilities, double-jumps, or weapon augments; you don’t level up and allocate skill points; you don’t unlock alternate playable characters. The way the player plays VVVVVV in the first three minutes will remain constant through the rest of their time of the game.

The game leaves the heavy lifting of progression—difficulty, complexity and complication—to the environments themselves. And yeah, they can be an absolute handful, and infuriating, like Super Meat Boy Fuck Fuck Fuck infuriating. But the reason it works is because the most essential elements of gameplay remain constant. You don’t need training stages; every preceeding challenge serves as training for the upcoming hurdles. You don’t need tutorials, because your task is always the same, just a lot fucking harder, demanding progressively longer stretches of flawless play to advance.

Generally, my most favorite games are usually built on the most basic gameplay loops that remain as such for the duration of the experience. Design is at its best when the layered complexity is restricted to the elements surrounding that basic loop, not the loop itself. That there is an important lesson, rarely distilled quite as elegantly as Cavanagh has with VVVVVV.

No Words

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:59:12 -0500

fuckyeahidiotsonic:

Who Run Jedi Town

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:05:00 -0500

Some stray observations from The Old Republic, my first deep-dive MMO experience since EVE Online:

I hate it much less than most MMOs. Most of this is thanks to the conversation system, which makes the game feel like a single-player BioWare experience that happens to feature other folks running around. When I’m engaged in a quest, when the camera zooms in and I get a one-on-one dialogue scene with a clutch character, fully voiced — and that’s a really important part of this — I feel like I’m actually an important part of the story.

That feeling of being utterly incidental to the plot is something that’s haunted me for years in most other MMOs. I could never take my part in the story seriously, particularly when I was waiting in line with seven other nobodies to talk to the same quest-giver who would assure me how important I was in saving the world. I’d get the quest. I’d slay the monster with a bunch of other dudes. The next day, the monster’d be back, and the world was just the same as it was the day before. My utter lack of ability to impart any measurable influence upon the world was incongruous with the smoke that NPCs kept blowing up my ass.

Narratively, Old Republic hides the man behind the curtain in a few particularly important ways. First: when you engage in a quest-related conversation with an NPC, all other player characters vanish when the camera shifts to a dialogue view. This is a crucial move, and not just one to take advantage of BioWare’s familiar, signature conversation engine—it effectively divorces these moments from the typical anonymous MMO experience.

And as I mentioned earlier, every bit of quest dialogue is fully supported with VO. Taking into account the sheer volume of content is reason enough to mark this as a herculean accomplishment, but it has as much to do with giving a fuck about these interactions as the aforementioned conversation view. It grants the player a sense of meaning and importance to what’s being said.

Sure, when it’s over, I’m back in the usual swing of things — go kill 15 Imperial-controlled Power Guards, destroy 10 pieces of BetterLife bioengineering technology, slay 20 mutated beasts and return when you’re done — but that swing of the camera and the corralling of all other player characters out of view keeps my attention focused squarely on the story. I’m actually absorbing lore, which is a first for me in an MMO. I’m often so overwhelmed by the sheer scale of information dumped in these games that I shut off by default. But Old Republic feels meaningful, even if it’s simply dressed up as such.

It’s just enough to allow me to suspend my distaste for the genre’s characteristic elements and sink into the experience. And you can take it further, if you feel the need: close down the chat window and ignore the other warm bodies scampering around Taris shouting about how World of Warcraft is still a better game and it becomes, effectively, Knights of the Old Republic 3. With a lot more empty space.

Lots of

empty

space.

But one other thing: it bears the hallmarks of BioWare’s alignment system, which is sorely in need of an overhaul. This is mostly tied into the utter lack of options for role-players that often find themselves inhabiting neutral space — something I’ve whined about before. And while there are neutrally-aligned companions and conversation options, when it comes to make the Big Decisions, it’s usually the same pet the puppy/kick the puppy paradigm evident in the Mass Effect series.

There’s a whole lot of grey in the Old Republic universe, and it’d be really rewarding to see that somehow reflected in the alignment/reward system. Keeping your eggs out of either basket, opting to pet puppies when appropriate but kick ‘em when you’re trying to look like a badass (or the appropriate moral quandary of the moment), and reaching a particular high level without leaning too far in either direction could just as easily result in alignment-neutral equipment.

There are neutral Republic and Empire characters throughout the first two KotOR titles. Why not this one? I’ll be hoping and hunting for such opportunities as I, uh, continue to play. A lot.

I just got a speeder. I look like an idiot on it. I totally don’t care.

Game of the year for 2011. Go on, say “what about...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:28:09 -0500

Game of the year for 2011. Go on, say “what about Skyrim?” I dare you.

danjonesdesign: Breaking Bad by Matt Needle

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:26:02 -0500

danjonesdesign:

Breaking Bad by Matt Needle

Hello Internet, How I Missed You

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:13:52 -0500

It’s been way, way too long since I put anything up here. I’ve been crazy busy, what with that game I was working on and the GDC talk and traveling and fighting dinosaurs and various other heroic tasks. I was recently reminded that I have ignored this space, and the guilt is weighing heavily on my heart. So here I am. “HEY AARON WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING INSTEAD OF WRITING”, you froth? I’ll tell you:

Driver: San Francisco. I can’t believe this game exists. It’s not just a great game in a franchise that I have long dismissed as semicrap—it’s a great game wrapped with an absolutely batshit, sorta-sci-fi story and sprinkled with dynamite incidental writing. It’s on sale on Steam and worth the price of admission.
Star Wars: The Old Republic. I never played World of Warcraft, but I hear veterans of that timesink discuss Republic as a combination of the very best of WoW and its imitators, dressed up in everyone’s favorite bazillion dollar franchise. I chose a Jedi Knight because I love David Hayter, and I elected for a human because I love beards. The blind Force-seein’ dudes can’t have beards. Conclusion: BioWare hates blind people.
Saints Row: The Third. All Mascots cheat + Bloody Mess cheat + Drunk Pedestrians cheat = the greatest achievement of humanity

Gears of War 3 is out today. Look for me in the credits.

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:34:52 -0400

Gears of War 3 is out today. Look for me in the credits.

No words for how much I fucking adore this. Took top honors in...

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:42:03 -0400

No words for how much I fucking adore this. Took top honors in the Portal 2 music video contest.

Life is at its most marvelous when natural weather phenomena and...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:24:02 -0400

Life is at its most marvelous when natural weather phenomena and fantastic, otherworldly occurrences are virtually indistinguishable. Chief among them: the haboob. This one rolled over the suburbs of Phoenix earlier this week. Haboob comes from the Arabic verb هب (hábba), which means “to blow” or “to rage”; a fitting term to describe a sandstorm, or a fat, angry djinn.

idrawnintendo: I’ve been talking about Earthbound so much, I...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:37:18 -0400

idrawnintendo:

I’ve been talking about Earthbound so much, I thought I’d do a comic to back up all that talk. There was a cool feature in the game where you could play more after Giygas is defeated…that was kinda what I was thinking about here, just a group of friends, running around at night, celebrating, enjoying life.

Come Watch Me Flap My Jaw Re: Narrative Design at GDC Online 2011

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:41:30 -0400

Corrections are in place. Behold! My session at GDC Online 2011, “The New World: Case Studies in Transmedia Narrative Design”.

DESCRIPTION: In “The New World”, we’ll examine the possibilities and pitfalls of expanding storytelling beyond the core game and across a variety of established and emerging media—manuals, collector’s editions, marketing campaigns, ARGs, and more. Using case studies on Portal, Portal ARGs and the Halsey journal from Halo: Reach, Aaron will explore the potential of engaging players across multiple channels of communication, and why we, as storytellers, must embrace transmedia as an essential component of narrative development.

IDEA TAKEAWAY: Attendees will leave with new knowledge of how they can utilize transmedia content to expand a narrative experience, techniques for envisioning and executing narrative development on emerging transmedia platforms, and strategies for leveraging these opportunities to maximize player engagement with a product or IP.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: This presentation primarily targets intermediate game writers and narrative designers interested in new opportunities for storytelling in the rapidly expanding landscape of transmedia experiences. Novice writers and designers looking for ways to add value to their projects through ancillary content development are also strongly encouraged to attend.

Buy this goddamned game. ASYNC Corp. is a delightfully unique...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:52:02 -0400

Buy this goddamned game.

ASYNC Corp. is a delightfully unique puzzler and the final production of Powerhead Games (Glow Artisan). They will be missed.

ASYNC is a whip-smart puzzler that demands a sort of lateral thinking from the player, and it tickles my brain the way algebra class used to, if that makes any sense. It’s also goddamned adorable (see above).

The puzzle space is a really, really tricky space in which to innovate—I can think of maybe two or three such titles in the last five years that really grabbed me—but I’m super impressed with this game. Go buy it.

"The Sniper has decades of experience surviving in the barren Australian outback. The Demo, on the..."

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:22:16 -0400

“The Sniper has decades of experience surviving in the barren Australian outback. The Demo, on the other hand, has never even been to the beach—but his empty eye cavity naturally accumulates moisture that drips down his head into his throat, making him the equivalent of a one-eyed cactus that swears.”

- I fucking adore Valve.

Behold: The Cancer Vaccine That Will Cure Your Cancer, Mwa Ha Ha Ha, The World Continues to Belong to Everyone

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:39:00 -0400

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have successfully cured prostate cancer in rats using an ingenious immunotherapy treatment which produces no side effects. In essence, a cancer vaccine. This breakthrough research, led by Mayo immunologist Dr. Richard Vile, yes, his name is Dr. Richard Vile, as in Dr. Vile, and yes, I’m thinking about that too.

What was I saying? Right. This breakthrough research may lead to new and effective treatments for a range of heretofore deadly cancers—pancreatic, lung, and Dr. Vile’s Dreadspore Scourge, an aerosolized microbial agent that, when dispersed in the planet’s troposphere, shall create a mutant army with which Vile shall lay siege to Earth and its governments. No, that’s not right. Sorry. Back to the article.

“This world is ill,” said Dr. Vile, seated atop his burning skull throne in the Mayo Clinic’s historic Heart of the Void pediatric clinic. “And I alone hold the cure. Gaze into the abyss[, Cancer!] and despair!”

thealchemist created this fake cover of the Criterion Collection...

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:00:53 -0400

thealchemist created this fake cover of the Criterion Collection edition of The Wizard, which I found on a Tumblr dedicated to Criterion fakes, which is beyond any doubt one of the greatest blogs ever conceived. See also: this amazing Heavyweights cover.

Such mockups—these Criterion fakes, the Penguin Classics game covers, and others—are utterly fascinating. They’re the product of cultural convergence so multifaceted that it boggles the mind: a mash-up of lifetimes of media consumption, sincere affection, and good-natured irony.

It’s really interesting to me how the manner in which we present an item can have such a profound impact on our expectations of that item—or, in the case of The Wizard, our memories of it.

nedroidcomics: Mario NO!!!

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:41:03 -0400

nedroidcomics:

Mario NO!!!