My friends and I were talking about my character builds the other day, and they said they found it intriguing that I was working on the different characters’ motivations. They asked me if how I build and play my characters was shaped by the game or a reflection of myself? That question got me thinking, before I…
Month: February 2017
Scribe Michael – pt 2: Righteous Authority & Quartermastery
I wrote about my inspiration for a traveling merchant character within Fallout 4 in my character article Scribe Michael – pt 1: Brotherhood without the steel. In today’s article I’ll be discussing the development of my character Michael, and the process I went through in defining his playstyle. Perks Science – Michael will expand upon his engineering skill with the knowledge he gains…
Super Smash Bros.: A showcase of Nintendo’s mechanics
Nintendo has created a cornucopia of characters and game worlds in their decades of game development. Each representing a different genre including: adventure with the Mario & Pokémon franchise, high fantasy with Zelda & Kid Icarus, sci-fi with Star Fox and Metroid, and beyond. Each unique character has allowed Nintendo to explore a vast variety of game…
Who brought the Wii U?: playing games with coworkers
One of the awesome benefits of working within the video game industry is that you and all your coworkers share a passion for gaming. Impromptu gaming tournaments on lunch breaks are par for the course. Some of the best memories and friendships have been forged in competitive and cooperative play, whether playing Counter Strike in…
The Super Bowl: commercializing a sport
American Football The game of American football has come a long way from its origins as a game played between colleges in the late 1800’s, inspired by the fusion of rugby and soccer gameplay it developed as an independent sport and soon became the game we all know and love today. When watching the pinnacle of American sports, Super…
Angry Birds Transformers: physics birds in disguise
When I first saw an ad for Angry Birds Transformers I immediately thought it was a hoax. We all know the type, ones that show us Starcraft screenshots and claim to be an addicting space game, when they’re actually just boring combat builders released yesterday with 2 reviews saying they weren’t what the ads showed….
Scribe Michael – pt 1: Brotherhood without the steel
I have been playing Fallout 4 ever since its release and have become obsessed with creating unique characters, as I tend to do with Bethesda games. Similar to my character builds in Skyrim; Pom Pom the Illusionist, Puck the Prospector, Sandora the Shieldmaiden, Nicole the Traveling Merchant, & Bael the Thief, my Fallout 4 character builds will be…
Cheater pt 3: Exploits
The act of cheating in games stems from the desire to get away with doing what one knows is against the rules. While not always malicious, it is always for the player’s advantage through a deception or trick. In my three part series Cheater (part 1, part 2), I am exploring the ways gaming culture has…
Playing while you wait: how mobile gaming is taking over our free time
Killing time origins When mobile games originated they were designed to occupy people’s attention for brief periods of time. A quick game of Snake here, an attempt at a high score in Tetris there, all in good fun and meant to entertain us when we were waiting in the doctor’s office, or for the next train. These games were…
RoverCraft: a lesson in iterative design
Rover design RoverCraft is a game whose core mechanics are based off of tilty car games, 2D side scrollers which typically allow the player control over acceleration and reverse of a vehicle. Using these two inputs the player must take their vehicle from a start point to an end point without running out of fuel…
The Wolf Among Us: Being big and being bad
In my article The Wolf Among Us: being brave and kind I explored the challenge of sticking to one’s morals when others are in danger, and choosing between results and righteousness. In my first playthrough of The Wolf Among Us I chose to focus on being diplomatic and kind. After seeing the results of my choices…
Slim Plus S Pro: do we need mid-generation console releases?
Releasing mid-generation updates to existing consoles is nothing new. Going all the way back to the first home consoles, manufacturers have been releasing updated and slimmed down versions few years after their original release. One of the most notable improvements on silhouette and size came with the transformation from the original Playstation 2 to it’s slim model. However,…
Play Professor 