In an article last Saturday, Tim Kreider threw a punch at the old Puritan adage that says “an idle mind is the Devil’s workshop.” Idleness, he argues, is a requisite part of the creative process that we often sacrifice to increase productivity. But are we really being productive? Idleness is not jus
Recently debuted at Joue le jeu at la Gaite lyrique, Interference is a game designed by Eric Zimmerman and Nathalie Pozzi. Unlike most games, Interference is “complicated by the fact that in order to play [the players] steal pieces from each others’ games.” Aesthetically, it looks as if Calder stepp
In an attempt to tackle one of the universe’s greatest mysteries, Jesse Singal has broken down his theory of nerdiness and, more specifically, the ‘nerdrage,’ which I assume is the antonym of nerdgasm: nerdrage: the overwhelming feeling of anger engendered when a nerd is disappointed by that thing
Quantic Dream’s “Kara” tech demo showed not only the power of their latest game engine, but also the company’s continued focus on narrative and emotion. Creative lead David Cage recently spoke to Edge about the state of the game industry and its future. Do you think that narrative games are the end
As part of the recent 7DFPS jam, game designer Eddie Cameron began development on a project called Past Enemies. Chris Donlan wrote about it recently, comparing the gaming experience to reading Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon. It’s a typical story, really. You awaken in a row boat fi
With the upcoming sequel to Octodad set for a 2013 release date, Patricia Hernandez has posted a conversation with Phil Tibitoski in which she unearths some of the creator’s motivations and musings. All cephalopodic jokes aside, Octodad may be the greatest example of how the simple constraints of a
Children’s play these days doesn’t require much packaging. Downloadable games lack the physicality of a box of Legos—that satisfaction of peeling off the disposable outer shell for the first time to reveal whatever is hidden within. You might say digital games have no packaging or, on the other hand
A new data visualization project from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design allows us to see how much of our language is silent. Silenc cleverly recombines written and spoken language into a unique, synesthetic reading experience. By means of a red light filter, the viewer can interactively
While long-awaited game announcements have been as sparse as usual from the quiet Bellevue-based studio, Valve has instead been announcing new tools in the last few weeks that empower users in creative ways. At the recent Games For Change conference, they revealed an educational initiative called Te
In case you missed the chance to meet the creator of the Choose Your Own Adventure series last Sunday, rest assured that you still have more opportunities to relive your childhood. Zach Weiner, of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, is kickstarting a new “choosable pathway gamebook” called “Trial of
Virtual currencies have been in the news a lot recently, pointing to the need for a more nuanced understanding of the way gamers spend their money—whether it’s real or not. Jamie Madigan has been posting an interesting (and entertaining) series of articles about the psychology of loot in Diablo III
Game developer Jay Pavlina, of Super Mario Bros. Crossover notoriety, is currently kickstarting a new game project called Super Retro Squad. Rather than borrowing characters directly, Pavlin says he is creating a new set of characters, including “Manny and Lanzo, two German miners” who “must rescue
Seth Porges recently spoke to Ford about the way games are making their way into car design—a new development in the “gamification” pandemic. Achievements? Badges? Of course, this will all sound very familiar to anybody who’s ever logged onto Xbox Live or Foursquare. And Rork is unashamed to say th
According to Tom Stafford, the science behind human laughter is more than it’s cracked up to be. So if we want to understand laughter, perhaps we need to go deeper, and look at what is going on in the brain. The areas that control laughing lie deep in the subcortex, and in terms of evolutionary dev
We’ve talked about games for the blind before, but today we’re talking specifically about sports. Shot in the Dark, a new documentary project on Kickstarter, will explore a game called Goalball for visually impaired players: Our film “Shot in the Dark” takes the viewer on a journey through the liv
Further complicating the old notion that ‘everything has been invented’, bestselling author Nicholas Carr proclaims, “If the current state of progress disappoints you, don’t blame innovation. Blame yourself.” Outlining a pattern of technology that parallels Maslow’s hierarchy, Carr argues that peopl
Tetris may not seem relevant to the cutting edge these days, but the household name recently made news when it brought Xio Interactive to court for copyright infringement—and won. Interestingly, as Ars Technica reports, the judge for the case determined copyright infringement not from the game and i
The Mass Effect series may finally reach its conclusion. Again. In the few months since its release, the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3‘s ending has been discussed extensively. Tomorrow, BioWare will release a new ending to the game that will be “available to download at no additional charge
