metabloggin'

Posted by Derek Yu Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:22:00 GMT

metablog

Raigan and mare, collectively metanet, the Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker of independent game development, now have a shiny, minimalistic new blog. It’s only been up a week or so, but already it’s racking up some great content. Everything from information about their new game, Robotology:

The high-level direction for the game was “Umihara Kawase + parkour”, in a world where the environment was not just static platforms, but moving, mechanized, segmented “robots”. (Link)

...to a wonderful diatribe against casual gaming:

The casual games industry, and to a certain extent most of the commercial games industry, is in this way similar to the fast-food industry: churning out cost-effective products with an utter disregard for any factors beyond what will appeal to the greatest number of people. (Link)

I actually don’t find casual gaming to be too offensive. Of course, the rampant cloning is disgusting and I personally would never find much creative satisfaction in making such a game, but… well, as an example, I was at the bank a couple of weeks ago and I told a banker there that I was making a video game, and she got excited and told me that she like to play games in her free time. And what do you think she plays? Fucking Bejeweled! But the fact is that Bejeweled allowed me to have a connection with a middle-aged woman. And that sounds very wrong, but my point is that it was because of Bejeweled and not, well, Cave Story, that allowed this woman to appreciate what I did for a living, and so there has to be some kind of value there, right?

Posted in ,  | Tags  | 12 comments

Comments

  1. negative zero said 39 minutes later:

    dude, that’s deep.

  2. Derek said about 1 hour later:

    So deep, put her ass to sleep?

  3. Lorne T Whiting said about 1 hour later:

    Derek, I think I lost my editor password again! Oh no, wait. It’s in my email still.

    Anyway, robot game looks cool.

  4. KKairos said about 1 hour later:

    Not that it doesn’t have its influences, but isn’t Bejeweled generally considered one of the more original (or at least popularized) variations on its puzzle-concept, as opposed to a clone?

    This isn’t also to say that Bejeweled isn’t also one of the token “games that one’s mother, yea verily, doth play.”

    Of course, my Mom’s cooler. She’s even played Cave Story.

  5. KKairos said about 2 hours later:

    Not all the way through, mind. Due to work and stuff she sort of had to stop. But I still got her playing it. To defend her coolness though, she beat Link to the Past before me.

  6. crackers said about 3 hours later:

    I quite liked Bejeweled. I wonder how I can use this to hit on older ladies.

  7. Raincoatduck said about 4 hours later:

    I’m still somewhat embarrassed to tell people I’ve made games. But next time someone asks I’ll just tell them straight up “ONE TIME I MADE A GAME WHERE YOU CAN MAKE A DOG’S HEAD EXPLODE IN BLOOD.” I think I will make many new friends.

  8. Aubrey said about 4 hours later:

    I’ve had people walk away from me, mid sentance when I’ve told them I make games. I shit you not. And these were members of the supposedly polite english gentry.

  9. Radix said about 7 hours later:

    Same here. Though the game in question was Sim Stalag, so I’m not sure I can gauge anything from that.

  10. ZombiePixel said about 11 hours later:

    Fuck it, game making should me a little more punk rock. Take some pride in your contribution to the delinquincy of minors and the decline of civilization.

  11. the2bears said about 12 hours later:

    In other news, Derek announces his latest game project, “Cougar Hunt” ;)

    Bill

  12. Aw Yeah said 1 day later:

    Cougaria

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