In this Fives article, Quinton Bronkhorst looks not at games as art, but the art in games. He is assisted by critic Todger Camembert.
May 142011
To prototype and get early feedback is great for getting rid of bugs, get ideas, test the fun factor, and keep yourself motivated. Use these tips get more players to play your game when it is not finished.
We all know that good old stereotype: the one which dictates that all computer-bound people are highly introverted and extremely antisocial individuals who wouldn’t know how to start a conversation even if they were slapped in the face with their grandmother’s knickers.
I’ll waste no time in dropping the hammer: I really don’t like World of Warcraft. The grinding bores me, the mentality upsets me and the game world just doesn’t engage me enough to warrant the odd five gazillion hours that you need to pour in just to get… well, anywhere. I’ve tried it out, honestly!
There are close to 7 Billion people in the world (or at least that is the figure that smart people who come up with these figures predicted it would be by 2011) – that’s not a small number by any measure; and it’s difficult to think that almost certainly, each individual one of those people [...]
Disclaimer: This article covers the hyperbolic ranting of an entirely fictional (and very foul-tempered) stick figure thing. As such, we reserve the right to label this article as satire and advise you to take any of Angry Joe’s advice in good humour and high spirits. Whether or not he happens to make any valid points [...]
Aug 012009
Games are all about challenge; presenting the player with some or other obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to progress. Not everything has to be about fighting though. Aside from the blood, guts, gore and general brutality involved in most games, some games take a, how to say, finer edge to things. Some [...]
Jul 272009
They say that art imitates life, which is something that for all intents and purposes we can pretty much agree with. And of course, depending who you ask, games are a form of art, so the saying must be applicable here. Now I was going to go on about how every work of art is [...]
We’ve all been there: you’re alone, walking down a dark passage, firmly gripping an axe in your hands. You can hear your heart pounding in your ears because you’re surrounded by complete silence…except for the mysterious sounds coming from behind the door at the end of the passage. As you draw nearer you stand in [...]
Sometimes, one just has to wonder: is history chock-full of great game developers that were never able to realise their full potential? Would Julius Caesar have invented Pac-Man if he was given a computer instead of the Roman Empire? Could Aristotle use his Greek superpowers of reasoning and insight to create an experience that rivals [...]
Jun 242009
If there’s one pet hate that I have concerning games (aside from those obnoxious troglodytes that plague multiplayer servers for just about any title you care to mention) it’s the idea of making things competitive. Now, I know that this statement alone will cause a lot of people to froth at the mouth and go [...]
May 222009
The other day (and by that, I mean “some undetermined date a really, really long time ago”) I was having a typical gamer’s discussion inside a typical gamer’s forum. The topic: piracy and all the pain, chaos, death and homeless devs that it brings about.
Disclaimer: Please try not to be scared of Angry Joe – he’s only a stick figure. In fact, he doesn’t even really exist. Steel yourself, read on and ride the storm. It’ll all be over soon. There seems to be a lot of ideas held by new developers which, quite frankly, are leading them in [...]
