Apple's Idea of Mother's Day
Thanks to a direct email advertisement, I had the opportunity this week to behold Apple’s idea of what mothers like. You can see it below: Just in case you can’t see it clearly, Apple manages to pull out every mom stereotype they could connect to their products. Moms like pink, they like casual games, and they like classic female recording… read more
This week has witnessed much talk about Amazon’s possible release of a new, larger Kindle eReader designed for newspapers and textbooks, culminating in an article in the New York Times that claims confirmation of such an impending announcement. That’s on top of talk from magazine publisher Hearst’s announcement that it intends to produce its own reader, not to mention the… read more
Henry Jenkins interviews us
Henry Jenkins recently interviewed Nick Montfort and me about Racing the Beam and the Platform Studies series. The two part interview is online now at Henry’s site: A New “Platform” for Games Research?: An Interview with Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort (Part One) A New “Platform” for Games Research?: An Interview with Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort (Part Two) I… read more
CRT Emulation for the Atari VCS
This spring, I had the pleasure of advising a Georgia Tech Computer Science capstone group. The capstone is a requirement for the degree that is meant to draw on all aspects of the students’ experience in the program. Each project requires an advisor and a customer. In my case, I played both roles. The project I came up with was… read more
Production Hacks in Racing the Beam
I like that someone noticed this: (I also enjoyed that the book [Racing the Beam] itself is a nice recursive hack. Its (fairly cheap) printing process didn’t allow reproducing the detailed color photos of the games needed for reference. So they printed them on the inside of the dust jacket instead.) Indeed, it was essential that color images of the… read more
I’ve finally updated my Xcode Tools for Atari VCS Development, such that syntax coloring works in Xcode 3.1. Apple keeps changing the specifications for it, so every version I have to figure out how it works again and retool. This is just a pointer post for those of you who keep track of such things.
Jesper, the Videogame Chair
There I was, browsing through the Ikea catalog, when I came upon this remarkable chair. On first blush it looks like those ill-fated ergonomic chairs of the 1980s, but it’s really just a bench at two heights. The user is meant to straddle the lower height and use the upper to rest his arms while holding a videogame controller, avoiding… read more
On "Bushnell's Law" and why it is misunderstood. From my "Persuasive Games" column at Gamasutra
Here’s a game design aphorism you’ve surely heard before: a game, so it goes, ought to be “easy to learn and hard to master.” This axiom is so frequently repeated because it purports to hold the key to a powerful outcome: an addicting game, one people want to play over and over again once they’ve started, and in which starting… read more
Coverage of my GDC Talk
Lots to catch up on as I return to the real world from Spring Break and GDC. In the meantime, you can read Dan Terdiman’s coverage of my last GDC talk, Learning from the Atari 2600, over on CNet.com. Additionally, Amazon.com finally got Racing the Beam back in stock!
Where to find me this week
It’s time again for the Game Developers Conference. Here’s my speaking schedule for those of you who might be interested. Serious Games Summit. Monday-Tuesday, all day, Room 3007, Moscone West. I co-organized the summit with Ben Sawyer, which means you can blame us if the content isn’t to your liking. Where Were the Election Games?, Monday, 2:10p-3:10p, Room 3007, Moscone… read more