Jacket Art, Title Announced
Nick Montfort and I are happy to share the cover art and a revised title for the book we wrote on the Atari Video Computer System (more about the book). The final title is Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. “Racing the beam” is a way some VCS programmers describe the process of setting up scan lines of… read more
Why athletic excellence alone cannot be appreciated
My sister-in-law Susannah is a world-class gymnast. Despite the fact that her event, tumbling, is much, much more atheletic and arresting than plain old artistic gymnastics, it didn’t make the cut even for exhibition at the Beijing games. That may have something to do with China’s weak performance in the sport. In any case, she didn’t get to go this year.… read more
How gameplay makes changes in the real world. From my "Persuasive Games" column at Gamasutra.
Playing a video game is usually something we do outside of our everyday lives. As with any medium, our experiences with video games can influence how we think about our real lives, whether now or in the future. But when we play games, we take a break from that life. Playing a game is different from sorting digital photos, filing… read more
Opinion piece published in The Guardian
There are a few common reasons why advertisers want to use videogames to reach consumers. One is the belief that videogames are a place to recover the waning audiences of television advertising. The highly desirable, seemingly elusive 18-34 male demographic is often, unfairly, assumed to correspond directly to videogame players. What better way to retrieve these “lost” consumers than to… read more
Straight Outa Canada
This week I was in Canada, which is the country immediately north of America (“the States” for the rest of you). I like to read the newspapers delivered to my hotel room when traveling, so I inhaled today’s issue of the Globe and Mail, which is a national coverage paper in that country. Among the many things I learned about… read more
On using videogames for practical jokes and gags. From my "Persuasive Games" column at Gamasutra
In one of the many memorable moments of Ricky Gervais’s BBC television series The Office, troublemaker Tim encases Gareth’s stapler in Jell-O. Gareth is annoyed, and the viewer is amused, because both comprehend the act immediately: it is a prank. Pranks are a type of dark humor that trace a razor’s edge between amusement and injury. The risks inherent to… read more
Why downloadables aren't more accessible than physical media
Recently, friend and colleague David Edery wrote a nice feature on Gamasutra about how to make trial versions of downloadable software sell more games. He has some good points, including observations about how a trial shouldn’t just be the beginning of the game nor should it give away enough that a purchase is unnecessary. But there’s something missing from Edery’s… read more
On representations of holiday cheer in videogames. From my "Persuasive Games column" at Gamasutra
It’s the time of year to find Christmas all around you, no matter where you go. Lights on neighborhood shrubbery. Red bows on downtown streetlamps. Christmas music on the FM dial. Pine-scented candles on the mantle. Gingerbread lattes at Starbucks. Red and green-wrapped versions of the consumer goods you buy the rest of the year in brown and puce. In… read more
Reflections on relaxation in games. From my "Persuasive Games" column at Gamasutra
There is an aphorism you sometimes hear when people compare video games to other media. Video games, they say, are a “lean forward” medium, while others are “lean back” media. Leaning forward is associated with control, activity, and engagement. Leaning forward requires continuous attention, thought, and movement, even if it’s just the movement of fingers on analog sticks and digital… read more
A clip of my segment and some responses to common questions from friends and colleagues
I appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report on Tuesday August 7. A lot of my friends and colleagues have been asking the same questions, so I thought I’d try to cover them all in one place. First, if you haven’t seen the interview, I’ve embedded it below. It runs about five minutes or so. This clip doesn’t include… read more