Sprint throws a punch at the iPhone and AT&T (link)

As an iPhone game producer I have to admit to being a little bias. But I also own a little stock in Palm and in Sprint so I hope both do well.

The boys at Engadget seem to think this is going to turn into the old SEGA vs. Nintendo type fight. I was at SEGA when we had the tag line: "SEGA does what Nintendon't", and we all thought it was pretty funny. We can only hope that as the future unfolds, that we get into that typ
e of competition. That kind of fight can make both companies try a little

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bit harder to make their products better and also different from each other.

Btw, its written as SEGA not Sega since its an abbreviation. Know what the letters stand for? If I get enough guesses in comments, I'll send out a free about(making)games t-shirt to some random person with the right answer.

Mac

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So Far, Iranian Censors Not Blocking Online Game Traffic (link)

I love this...

While I stay away from politics in this blog, I am happy to share when its gaming that wins out. I have to

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wonder who in the Iranian government decided this? My hunch is its a WOW fan who really is addicted.

"Look, 16 more gold and I can finally get my mount!"

C'mon, you know you've said that, no fooling me.

Mac

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America's Army Dev Studio Closes Doors

Well here's a non-shocker. The dev team was a great bunch of hard working guys, but there's just only so much a group can do against the tide of bad management. I have no doubt that the GAME dev guys from their producer on down will be able to find jobs quickly. If any of them are reading this, I know they do, I'll be glad to help in any way I can so shoot me an email.

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Above the producer level was a layer of folks who had no business working on a game. I'm sure without a doubt that they were talented folks, but their focus in life was not to make a great game. When the ultimate person in charge was/is the Chief Accountant for the Army, there has to be a problem. What they needed was a very strong buffer between him, and the team. I never met the man, but my understanding from the team was that he was the yelling screaming motivator type. All my years of experience tell me, that type of manager fails to bring out a teams creativity.

Once you have an anchor to creativity, the game has no place to go but down. Even with great effort from a great team.

I felt sorry for the team when I was there. But after talking to a couple of team members long after my 7 hour stint there, I'm glad that I did not become more involved. I walked away thinking: "Great job, but wow what a challenge. I feel so sorry for whats coming...".

Lets keep in mind, that due to government contracts... they couldn't get a coke machine in their office!

Good luck to you guys and keep in touch.

Mac

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The designer "line"

I'm not sure when it happens or even why. I just know that as a board game designer I stopped talking about the theme of a game and changed to talking first about the mechanics. I remember talking about auction games and then answering the types of games I like not based on their theme but on the mechanics.

This goes back to an earlier topic about hand waving, the theme becomes secondary to game at some point in the discussion. I think that most people when they talk about a game to a friend only talk about the theme to get them excited to play.

As a designer, to get other people excited I might say, "Its a fantasy game" or "Its a sci-fi game", just to set the tone. But when it comes right down to it, my focus is on the mechanic.

My latest board game is Dados, my latest video game is an iPhone game based on a game from AddicitingGames.com. This is how I would describe them:

Dados is a lite bidding strategy game that uses dice as its main random element with tile placement also adding to the randomness.

and the video game

(Title is still under wraps) is 3-alike matching game using objects that use ragdoll physics.

But if I was a player I would describe them much differently. Dados is a family dice game. And the other game, well, its an addiciting game of matching falling objects. See, I think I've lost the ability to be "just" a player. I no longer talk about games as pure fun, I always think of them from a designers eye.

Am I lost now? Do accountants add up the cost of everything in their basket before they go through the line at the grocery store?

Mac

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wow... just... wow

OK, this is as good as it gets.  I agree with the comment: "Amazing, but too bad the game doesn't look this good"

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Ahead of the tech curve

Many days ago, I was a part time programming contractor for Origin Systems. I worked on a couple of canceled Commode 64 titles and helped with the conversations in Ultima V. When that project was completed I spent some time with Rich Garriott mostly to try to continue to have work to do. He was working on Ultima VI technology and I asked him a newbie type question: "Why are you working on tools that will help you create a game when few in the public have the processing and graphics power to play it?".

The answer might be obvious: "By the time the game comes out, it will be more common". He was thinking two years ahead, when I was thinking of today. It was a great lesson that I have carried with me ever since.

The one genre that must always push the tech edge is First Person Shooters. I worked on a couple of these and if the schedule is pushed out at all, the ugly head of "XXX game looks better" rears! And its also hard to argue with.

I've only worked on a couple of console systems and I was surprised o find that although the hardware is set in stone, the programmers were still expected to make ghames that looked better or did more with each generation.

While I was at SEGA, one of my bosses was approached by the marketing department.  They needed something to put in their print ads that showed SEGA had something better than Nintendo. They both had the same processor speed, basically the same graphics power... s0o we had to have some edge.  He called a meeting... we all bounced ideas around and out of know where, he said: "How about Blast Processing".  We all laughed.  There was nothing in the Genesis that blasted anything, but it sounded fast.

I think I'll just say that he was ahead of the marketing tech curve, and let it go at that.

Comments?

Mac

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