Game Design & Dev

Here's our second episode of State of Play with Brandon Bales!

In this episode, we discuss with Kellee Santiago more about thatgamecompany's "Big Idea," as well as pretty much everything there is to say about their last hit game, Flower.

And next week: we discuss their delicious upcoming PSN-exclusive, Journey!

When I got home from the store [with Metal Gear Solid HD Collection], I was looking forward to popping the disc into my PlayStation 3 and seeing how the games looked in HD... but upon reading the disc, I got the message that I've seen way too many times over the course of this console generation: Version 1.01 found.

Welcome to the first episode of State of Play.

This show is a new voice in the gaming journalism world. Our interviews are long-form, personal, and in-depth. You should check it out, as I don't think there's much like it on the web right now.

Our first interview is with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany, creators of the iconic Flow, Flower, and (the upcoming) Journey. In it, we discuss their company, their philosophies, and their first game, Cloud. If you like what you see, stay tuned: upcoming interviews will include Jonathan Blow and David Jaffe.

I am so super-excited to launch this show, as it's been a real labor of love.

If we intend to interpret videogames entirely in terms of rules and mechanics then obviously we ought to model our study off the long tradition of analog games.

Quantitatively speaking, I prefer Plants vs. Zombies to every game, ever. Plants vs. Zombies is not my favorite game. I'd say it's not even in the top 20. That honor belongs ICO, a game that typically lasts less than six hours and that I have played exactly four times, to net less than a fifth of the hours I have spent playing Plants vs. Zombies. ICO is my favorite game because of how it makes me feel.

I have more to say about Final Fantasy XIII, but that post is so depressing to write I thought I'd hold off for now and elaborate on a point I made in my post discussing its combat mechanics. Role-playing games tend to get broadly divided into "turn-based" and "action" categories, distinctions that are not particularly informative, often get used inaccurately, and don't usefully elaborate the relationship between the player and the system.

While it's hardly high art, Gears 3 generally manages to craft a satisfying enough experience—except in one regard. For some odd reason Epic Games made the strange decision to saddle Marcus not just with his usual team of cohorts (Dom, Baird, and The Cole Train), but to also add in some new characters as well. The additions of female characters Anya and Sam to the mix works out well enough, but the decision to add Jace Stratton to the team is a disaster.

Criticism of Deus Ex: Human Revolution tends to be mostly directed towards its boss battles. That's fair, because they don't fit the game very well, but the overwhelming focus on these moments seems to have distracted people from an equally significant problem, namely that the game seems to fall apart in its final level.

So, let me guess... You haven't played Rochard yet. In fact, there's probably a pretty good chance you haven't even heard of it—and that's a damned shame, since it's one of the best download-only titles I've played all year. I gave it an absolutely glowing review, but a game like this deserves more. So, in my pursuit of fighting the good fight, I'd like to present this brief interview I was fortunate enough to have with the Lead Level Designer of Rochard, Samuli Viikinen.

Unlike previous entries in the Deus Ex franchise, Human Revolution has a clearly characterized protagonist. Except for his extremely dry sense of humor, J.C. Denton was essentially a blank slate for the player, and Alex Denton had even fewer set characteristics. Adam Jensen, on the other hand, comes into his game with a long, involved backstory and several pre-existing relationships.