It’s unbelievably gratifying to fire up my Xbox, look at the dashboard, and find that they’re promoting my latest game. Not on sale or anything. Just because it sells, all on its own. Those promo spots are very few and very valuable and man, is it nice to get one just on merit.
Author: John Scott Tynes
Somebody’s been reading the job listings.
Microsoft opening new Kinect studios: set for “highly experimental gameplay” | 123 KINECT Games News
As more and more Kinect hacks surface, Microsoft wants to start experimenting as well as they took matters into their own hands and opened a game studio: MGS Family, close to their Redmond homes.
I’m pleased to learn that I’ll be speaking at the inaugural PAX Dev conference this August, preceding the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. Time to polish up my bomb-throwing invective!
The further adventures of Massively’s columnist as she dives into my game Pirates of the Burning Sea. Here’s some great stuff about why Pirates is so strong on systems design:
Choose My Adventure: High society | Massively
Joystiq
You know what’s more awesome than Tim Schafer? Finally realizing that one of the guys I’ve been talking with at NYU is the inventor of Perlin Noise. I can’t believe it took this long for me to realize who he is.
Hey, that guy over there is Tim Schafer.
spent much of the day prepping for a talk to my design colleagues at Microsoft. I’m covering design issues from the two-screens-and-the-cloud approach we used for Full House Poker’s Xbox and Windows Phone 7 versions, which automatically synchronize your gameplay progress across both platforms.
Fellow ex-Paganista Dennis Detwiller did this great iPhone game at Hothead. It’s fun, challenging, and gorgeous.
Bunny the Zombie Slayer™ for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store
Learn more, read reviews, and download Bunny the Zombie Slayer™ by Hothead Games Inc. on the iTunes App Store.
My friend Shane Hensley made this fun strategy game and it’s currently featured on Steam for fifteen bucks. Joe-Bob says check it out!
Help Smilin Jack O'Hurlihan, Esmeralda, and Dr. Theopolis defeat Gruesome George, an army of undead, giant monsters, and the mysterious Red Widow! Featuring nail-biting boss battles, swashbuckling adventure, and a horde of undead buccaneers, Zombie Pirates will send a shiver right down to yer timber
Joystiq writer Karen Bryan picks an MMO to play based on user votes, then does a poll in each column about what major choice she should make next in her gameplay. She’s currently playing my game Pirates of the Burning Sea and having fun with it. In this installment she spends a paragraph just riffing on the Auctioneer’s dialogue, which I wrote and voice-acted. I’m glad to see my silliness found a fan.
Choose My Adventure: Sink or swim! | Massively
Joystiq