My first game
"Technically, my first game" This is a video of the very last thing I made in the online metaverse of Second Life. It's an espionage/adventure game, and this video was taken by one of the few Second Life residents who was actually able to complete the game. I started scripting and building the game off and on in August of 2012, as a side project to my main SL business (Schism Industries Custom Weapons) and it lay dormant in its alpha state from Oct 2012 and onward. Two years
Addressing absence in Gone Home
"In a medium which often relies on interaction with the visually-overt, Gone Home is an intriguing example of a game narrative which is ideally expressed in terms of absence. It is this absence in the game which serves as the central quandary and is presumably the main task of the game--to find out what has become of your younger sister Samantha. In order to address that absence in a way that leads to the resolution of said quandary, the player tromps through the empty house
Gone Home is a triumph
I just finished Gone Home. I will honestly say, I was in no way prepared for just how moving this game turned out to be. Gone Home elevates the medium of games. My chosen research path mandates that I come into contact with a wide variety of creative works. It means experiencing and sometimes being affected by the creative digital endeavors of humanity in a never-ending quest for self-expression and the transference of honest emotion. For that, and for Gone Home, I am gratefu
On Papers, Please
Playing through Papers, Please. There is a part early on where a married couple shows up. They are immigrating, escaping a dictatorship. The husband's papers are in order, but the wife is lacking a permit. They beg for mercy. She says that she will be killed if she can't escape her country. In the alpha I downloaded, I denied her entry. Today in the full version, I took the monetary fine and let her in. What's happening here? http://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/ #indiega
GDC 2014 Recap
As ever, this recap will be a vignette-ish panoply of my thoughts and insights at GDC 2014. Readers beware. Early registration and conference pass pick up before the week begins in earnest. They are blasting 80s music in here, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Men at Work, etc. Nice musicality "The things you do matter. The stories in your games go out into the world and help players with their lives." -Kim Shashoua, "Video Game Rx: Narrative as Therapy" I guess if this were a more pu
Plain Box Interactive
昨日、Bevisさんは同人ゲームグループの「僕らについて」のウエブサイトのために（http://plain-box.com/about.html）、プローみたいな写真をとってくれた。ありがとう、Bevisさん。 水野さんは、「Backstreet Boysと似ている」って言いました。僕は、否定できないね。 So, yesterday thanks to Bevis (tagged below), Plain Box Interactive got some pretty good-looking headshots and photos for our "About Us" section on our website: http://plain-box.com/about.html Aiko Mizuno thinks we look like the Backstreet Boys. I can't deny that entirely. #indiegame #gradschoollife
To The Moon
It's 2:30 in the morning. I just finished playing this indie game I purchased off Steam, a 16-bit RPG called "To the Moon" (Freebird Games, 2011) It's a very short game. I was not ready for what this game turned out to be. By the time I finished this game, I wept. #gameimpression #jrpg #steam #game #indiegame #masters #otaku #personal
Meaningful Play 2012 Student Game: "Don't Kill the Cow"
学生製作、道徳的「Don't Kill the Cow!」(牛を殺すな)というゲームである。目的はそのままである。ただ、7分間で牛を殺せず。だが、ちゃんと牛を無視したら、妹がなくなる。プレーヤーにとって、どちらのほうが大事: 条件を満たすことか妹を救うことか？ Student-produced game entitled "Don't Kill the Cow." All you have to do is not kill the cow for 7 minutes. If you do, however, your little sister will starve to death. So what is more important to the player: fulfilling the game goals or saving your kid sister? #game #studentgame #indiegame #conference #ethics #fun #gamedesign #gamedevelopment #gr
