The sequel you've all been waiting for! Last time we had a look at what happens before code is put to the stack, this time we plunge into the meat and bones of making games. We'll look at the fascinating yet far too brief windows we've been provided into the game making process through the … Continue reading How Do You Make a Game? Part 2: Development Tools
I sent out my first request for an interview for a person in the games industry in March of 2015. Since then I have collected the stories of over 100 people, some well known names and others scarcely mentioned in any source. It has been a very fulfilling enterprise and it's the first step in … Continue reading Historical Methods: Interviews
[This piece is dedicated to the engineers, the idea men, and the business people behind the Nintendo 64 project, first revealed as Project Reality. I am planning to continually update the article as I find new information to paint a greater picture of Nintendo’s most interesting console. If you were involved with Project Reality, please … Continue reading The Nintendo 64 Was the Culmination of 90s Virtual Reality
The ideas for a game from anywhere, but at some point before production there should be a plan laid out for all involved to see. Throughout history, game creators have left valuable insights into their inspiration through these pieces that we collectively call 'design documents'. From visualizations to project planning, from code to creativity, these … Continue reading How Do You Make a Game?: A Look at Design Documents Throughout History
(This post is the first in a series covering writings on video games. It will be exploring matters of perception, context, and facts in early writings about electronic amusements as well as critically examining their worth beyond historical interest.) It's strange to think that video games may be the last major new phenomenon whose relevance … Continue reading The Historiography of Video Games: Part 1
All images can be boiled down to it's fundamental elements of detail. In painting this is the permeable surface of a canvas, in printing this manifests in dots stamped onto the page, and in computer graphics these are pixels ("picture elements"). Pixels and the consideration of their aesthetics have driven much of video game history, … Continue reading Pixel Pushing
Sometimes it's illustrative to look back at the origins of a phenomenon to get a good perspective on public reaction. There are many news articles about the video game explosion in the early 80s, but the 1970s tends not to get much coverage beyond the press storm of Death Race. Since I had the opportunity … Continue reading Selects #3: Fancy Electronic Games
