Here's the wrap-up of our talk with Braid designer Jonathan Blow!
Inside, we discuss games publishing, the constant stream of "sword dude" games, and where gaming is going…
Tag: Games as Art
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Jonathan Blow, Part Four
Welcome back again! Here's Part Four of our fantastic discussion with Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid.
In this piece, you'll hear more about
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Jonathan Blow, Part Three
We are back, baby, with Part Three of our (now) five part interview with Jonathan Blow. In this episode, we get more into trickery in game design, what is "fun," and design by committee.
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Jonathan Blow, Part Two
Welcome back to the second part of our interview with Jonathan Blow, creator of the indie smash Braid and the upcoming The Witness.
In this episode, we begin the discussion of what it means to spend our time playing games. Paramount to this: our discussion of "achievements" and how they feed into creating structures that presuppose challenging design.
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Jonathan Blow, Part One
Welcome back to State of Play with Brandon Bales!
Here's the first part of our interview with Jonathan Blow, creator of the amazing indie hit Braid and the upcoming The Witness!
In this episode, we dive into Mr. Blow's history in the industry and into the genesis of Braid, one of the breakout hits of the new Download Renaissance.
Cinematic action gunplay
In a cinematic action game, the player needs to keep moving forward because the intent of the game is to both tell a story and excite the player. Viewed as a question of design alone, difficulty that forces several replays of any section is undesirable because it gates progress and converts the game into a movie that is merely very inconvenient to watch.
The crying game
There is a certain muddiness here between "narrative" components and "systems". Would I have loved Agro as much if he were a lizard? A featherless chicken? A square with four squares sticking out of it? Perhaps I would not have. At the same time the graphical (i.e. narrative) depiction of Agro as a horse serves to contextualize the system he presents and make the game's rules intelligible.
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Kellee Santiago, Part Three
Here's the final piece of our interview with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany, creators of Flower and the upcoming Journey!
In this episode, we discuss not only their forthcoming and beautiful new game, but also the workings of their unique company and their relationship with Sony.
Thanks again for watching! We've a new blog up at stateofplayshow.com; and come back in January for our interview with Jonathan Blow!
Engagement and storymaking
The idea of a game world typically appears in the context of immersive games like Far Cry 2 or Grand Theft Auto IV. Games of this type use attractive graphics to imitate reality, making the idea of a virtual world a natural one.
State of Play with Brandon Bales: Kellee Santiago, Part Two
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!
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