Hey!
I realized I didn't post anything on my blog over here for quite some time. Time to catch up then!
Indeed I was quite busy with work and also with a small side project: "BlockedIn" my first iPhone game.
As you can easily guess, gameplay is clearly inspired by classics like BreakOut and Arkanoid, with a bit of Ram It thrown in-between. It's a very simple concept with minimalist graphics but I feel it can work well for a few minutes of fun while commuting.
It is free, support
Just before the holidays, I got a few minutes to post some very exciting news: my new book “The Golden Age of Video Games: the Birth of a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry” is going to be published, like my previous work “On the Way to Fun”, by AK Peters!
But that’s not all: the book will feature a foreword by Mr. Ted Dabney, who also helped me with some very valuable feedback on the early Atari days, besides an exclusive interview with Mr. Mike Kennedy of GameGavel.com about collecting classic
Time flies and here we go again with another round of my favorite games from this year.
Best Artwork: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
Best Sound Design: Gran Turismo 5 (Sony)
Best Indie Game: Minecraft (Notch)
Special Mention: Halo 2600 (Ed Fries)
Most Innovative/Fun Game Experience: Kinect Sports (Microsoft)
Best Handheld Game: Intellivision Lives! (Intellivision Productions. At last a set of emulated Intellivision games that play like the original thanks to DS tou
The last months have been pretty busy with many things running on: not long ago I posted a new experimental music game prototype, Orfeo, in my game page (ProgramAndPlay.com) and submitted it to the ”Sense of Wonder Night” within the Tokyo Game Show which will take place on September 17 (SOWN). I am really happy to say that it was accepted for presentation together with eight other projects among sixty entries!
Besides, I just found out that my game has also been featured as “Freeware Game Pick
I just read on Gamasutra an interesting article Study: Does Industry Lose Money By Ignoring Aging Gamer Needs? which inquires about the needs of older and disabled gamers.
I think the analysis of AbleGamers' president, Mr. Mark Barlet, is perfectly on the spot regarding what new games should take into account to become more accessible and provide more enjoyable experiences to a broader audience who may have very different types of disabilities, ranging from moderate color blindness to seriou
I just found out a very interesting survey about games, inspiration and innovation from the Finnish website gamesandinnovation.com: survey on games and innovation
There are still a few days to take part and the organizers arranged also for a lucky draw where you can win a game design book of your choice amongst a list of selected titles which… amazingly also features my own “On the Way to Fun” book alongside those of much more famous people!!
Take the survey and… good luck!
During my last trip to Korea for the Korea Games Conference last year, I was quite intrigued by a tiny handheld console named "Wiz" and manufactured by the Korean company GPHoldings. I heard of these guys already, of course, thanks to their previous models, but the Wiz came out as a novelty and a much better item compared to their earlier products.
Unfortunately they were just showing it at the conference and not selling it so I had to wait till back home: I sold my PSP and ordered the Wiz thr
A few days ago on this very same board, I was having an interesting discussion with a well respected member of the forum that made me finally understand why there are still many heated debates on which is the “first video game ever”. Simply put, people can’t even agree on how "videogames" should be defined so, of course, there can’t be any agreement on which was the first video game at all!
Maybe it is not that surprising considering that there is no universally accepted definition for what a
I recently wrote a small book titled “On the way to Fun: an Emotion based approach to successful Game Design” where I summarize my latest research in game design. It has just been published by AKPeters (book description on my website) and it can be found on Amazon and other online retailers. This is my first book so I am obviously quite excited and proud of it!
It is a book on game design/analysis where I take into account a subset of basic emotions and instincts to show how games can be "f
Just a few weeks ago Microsoft has announced they will premiere their new motion sensing technology at the upcoming E3 in June and a lot of buzz has obviously started among both developers and fan/hate boys…
Will it be the revolution in gaming it promises or will it just turn out to be another gimmick that almost no one will really care about?
IMHO, a lot will depend on how Natal is going to be brought to market: to be successful, from the first day after its release it should be an inte
Hi all!
This is my first post on this blog where I'll just let my thoughts and opinion go wild and run free about my projects (I love experimenting with new game design ideas and I'm writing a couple of books) and anything I see in the videogame industry, especially if I can relate it to classic gaming experiences.
As many people on this website, in fact, I started getting interested in videogames at an early age in the late seventies so I had a chance to witness almost all the develop
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