27 October, 2009 (11:50) | Uncategorized | By: StephenJ
Roberts, Paul F., “Havok Finds Haven for Game Codes,” eWeek 22, no. 40 (2005): C1-C11.
In my previous post about incremental innovation, I noted that intellectual property becomes particularly important within a stagnant industry. Rather than continue to develop new technologies for each game, studios often rely on one or two of the most consistently successful [...]
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27 October, 2009 (10:46) | Uncategorized | By: StephenJ
Tschang, F. Ted, “Balancing the Tensions Between Rationalization and Creativity in the Video Games Industry,” Organization Science 18, no. 6 (2007): 989-1005.
In this 2007 article, F. Ted Tschang argues that increased financial success within an industry often results in an increased hesitancy toward creativity, using the U.S. video game industry as an example. As he notes, “product [...]
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23 October, 2009 (08:55) | Uncategorized | By: TimA
Mark Methenitis is a practicing lawyer in Dallas and he rights a blog called Law of the Game in which he talks about various legal issues as they relate to videogames and the gaming industry in general. Not surprisingly, he writes extensively about the complex nature of copyright law as applied to videogames and other [...]
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22 October, 2009 (21:40) | Uncategorized | By: walker
Y. Aoyama and H. Izushi, “Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry,” Research Policy 32, no. 3 (2003): 423–444.
This 2002 article (written 2001) looks at the success of the Japanese video game industry and attempts to illuminate the unique factors behind its success. Japan’s video [...]
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19 October, 2009 (20:48) | Uncategorized | By: walker
Fábio Petrillo et al., “What went wrong? A survey of problems in game development,” Computers in Entertainment 7, no. 1 (2, 2009): 1-22.
This February 2009 article from the Computer in Entertainment magazine of ACM takes a look at the game industry and compares its difficulties to the larger software industry. Specifically the [...]
Tags: complexity, creation process, creative limitations, difficulty, industry, videogame
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2 June, 2009 (11:01) | Uncategorized | By: walker
Space Invaders is iconic. You need only look at UT’s own Videogame Archive logo to get a feel for the pervasiveness of its visuals and the sort of shorthand it’s become for videogames in general. Back in 1977 game developer Toshihiro Nishikado began work on Space Invaders, creating by hand the hardware necessary to programming the [...]
Tags: arcadeGame, emulation, review, ROM, spaceInvaders, videogame
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6 April, 2009 (13:41) | Uncategorized | By: TimA
John Lancaster recently published an essay in “The London Review of Books” titled “Is it Art?”. The essay considers the position of videogames in global culture and asks the question: should videogames, which have surpassed music and video sales in the United Kingdom, be considered a form of art? This is a huge and difficult [...]
Tags: art, videogame
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6 April, 2009 (12:06) | Uncategorized | By: StephenJ
In his article “Toward a Virtual Reenactment of History: Video Games and the Recreation of the Past,” Brian Rejack discusses the game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and its “extras.” As the player progresses through the game, he or she can unlock bonus features that can be accessed from the main menu. Similar [...]
Tags: archive, creation process, preservation
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5 April, 2009 (20:25) | Uncategorized | By: walker
When I think of mobile gaming, whether it’s on a laptop, iPhone or other device, I think of games sensitive to the processing constraints of those platforms: web-based items like Bejeweled or Tower Defense, a retro-graphics piece like Battle for Wesnoth, etc. The latest games on the PS3, 360 or Wii do not come to [...]
Tags: consoleGames, mobileGaming, preservation
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23 February, 2009 (12:43) | Uncategorized | By: StephenJ
My experiences playing Warcraft reminded me of a time when games were simpler, and I enjoyed reliving those memories. Sensible World of Soccer, on the other hand, reminded me that, when it comes to sports games, added complexity is a necessity that is sometimes taken for granted by younger players like myself. To get right [...]
Tags: complexity, dos, playability, review, videogame
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