This is David Sahlin's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following David Sahlin's activity
David Sahlin
Recent Activity
I was thinking about this talk last night as I finished Portal 2. Every other level I found myself thinking, "Wow, that was definitely a truth nugget!"
Little nuggets of truth
Jonathan Blow grapples with design like a philosopher wrestles with be verbs. He interrogates core principles and the values they convey. If you’re interested in how game design emerges from a series of purposeful choices, Mr. Blow is an uncommonly generous teacher. His most recent talk at Ind...
You absolutely nailed it, Michael. Richard's keynote was excellent and he was such a great person to hang around with. It was easy to see that he loves Indie games and what they stand for and wants to see them thrive.
Presumably so he can play more of them.
IndieCade keynote: Rich Lemarchand
Naughty Dog Lead Game Designer Rich Lemarchand kicked off IndieCade on Friday by delivering the keynote address. One might wonder why the organizers of IndieCade - a festival and conference devoted to showcasing the work of indie game designers - would choose a guy from a AAA studio (who admit...
Thank you for the heartwarming post, Michael.
Offer still stands, btw, for the headset. I know I'll never use it.
Crime of opportunity
Last week thieves broke into our house while we were sleeping, entering through an unlocked window in our living room. According to the detective assigned to our case, they knew what they wanted. They took my PS3 and Xbox 360 (and corresponding controllers), my Macbook computer, and approximat...
I haven't played Heavy Rain, but I did read your linked review and sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.
It seems to me that by making the writer 'God,' we open up a branch of weaknesses that a writer wouldn't know/care about.
I'm definitely in favor of giving writers more influence in game development, but there are designers for a reason.
Though it also makes me wonder what kind of questions they were asking their beta testers - more 'Is this working?' and less 'Is this working for you?' perhaps?
Rollercoaster bias
David Cage says Heavy Rain succeeds where other narrative games fail because it delivers an "emotional, story-driven, and meaningful experience for adults." Cage made his case in a talk at GDC entitled "Creating an Emotional Rollercoaster in Heavy Rain." Before I get to the substance of Cage's...
Awww~
Absolutely adorable!
Zoe on the skins
If I promise not to drag out the home videos too often, will you indulge me this time? :-) (Clearly, when dad's busy playing bass his vocabulary shrinks to "Yay!")
That's exactly what I thought. I'm now terrified of playing this game - I'd be such a wreck if that happened to me!
Why we Sim: my story
I believe it's time we paid more attention to The Sims. Despite its obvious success as the best-selling PC game in history, lots of us so-called core gamers have blissfully (arrogantly, perhaps?) ignored the franchise during the decade of its existence, and it's easy to understand why. From ...
I don't suffer from TCBAGS, I enjoy every minute of it.
Two years ago I was working for a door-to-door sales organization, and while I was out driving around with my partner for the day I ended up drawing out several pages of what the job would be like as a video game. It was actually one of the final straws for me quitting and going to do something else for awhile, as my brain was obviously not happy with the situation.
Your 'Father Game' suggestion immediately made me think of that one peanut butter commercial where the dad is making a tree-house for his daughter, and she brings him lunch. I think that scene would be absolutely darling in a video game.
TCBAGS
Confession time. I suffer from an odd disorder called This Could Be a Game Syndrome. Perhaps you can relate. I navigate through my daily routines - parenting, work, play, eating, sleeping - just like 'normal' people, but several times a day TCBAGS (pronounced 'Tee-See-Bags') strikes, and my co...
Personally, I just don't have a DS at the moment. Otherwise, I would have this game.
Though if I was given the option between a DSi/Pokemon Platinum bundle, and a DSi/Chinatown Wars bundle, I'd go with Pokemon.
I'd probably end up getting The World Ends With You before Chinatown Wars, but it's definitely on the to-get list.
My responses:
#1 I feel that the majority of DS owners are indifferent towards Liberty City.
#2. No, Yes, No. I'm inclined to blame tough economical times.
#3. We're not Pokemon'd out yet, are we?
#4. Possibly. I have no idea about this.
#5. I hope not, despite mounting evidence. Something needs to break the mold.
#6. I think they needed a wiser advertising campaign, since I didn't hear much of anything about the game.
Pint-sized bomb?
You've probably already heard that GTA: Chinatown Wars appears to be a flop. On the same day I praised the game as a "pint-sized champ," Ben Fritz broke the news that its NPD sales figures fell well below expectations: "a pathetic 89,000 units in its first two weeks on sale...despite stellar ...
Tony Jay, may he rest in peace, played an Elder God. How awesome is that?
Voicing concern
Voice acting in games is abysmal. It's amateur hour. It's embarrassing. It's the blind leading the blind. And nobody seems to care. With notable exceptions like Uncharted, Mass Effect and Fable II (and these are uneven at best), what goes for "acting" in video games rarely surpasses the level...
I can't help but urge people to play through Portal with the commentary on. About halfway through, if I remember correctly, Ellen McLain talks about doing the voice of GlaDOS. The praise she has for her experience at Valve goes a long way to explain the success of the game and its characters.
I also wanted to mention that the Legacy of Kain series also put a strong emphasis on good voice actors who can handle monologues with ease. It makes the games - especially Defiance - the great stories that they are.
Voicing concern
Voice acting in games is abysmal. It's amateur hour. It's embarrassing. It's the blind leading the blind. And nobody seems to care. With notable exceptions like Uncharted, Mass Effect and Fable II (and these are uneven at best), what goes for "acting" in video games rarely surpasses the level...
Going by the descriptions, I'd rather go see Hideo Kojima.
Pick the keynote
I've begun to arrange my schedule for next week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and it's quite a task. With dozens of sessions on game design, production, visual art, audio, and a myriad of other topics - in formats ranging from roundtables to lectures to panel discussions to tu...
Those hats are worth at least twice my monthly rent! They look amazing, but not that amazing.
Looks like quite an amazing place though. I'll have to visit sometime!
Portable gamer - Santa Fe
Note: We're vacationing in Santa Fe, New Mexico this week, and I'm spending part of my free time playing a slew of recent portable games on the iPhone, DS, and PSP. Please don't look for any hard analysis in these little missives. I'm doing them just for fun. :-) I'll get to the games in a se...
I found that people have that same response with something like Ruben & Lullaby. Only in that instance, they keep the iPod a little longer for a couple more tries.
Brainy Gamer Podcast - Episode 21
This edition of the Brainy Gamer Podcast features an interview with Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen, co-founders of thatgamecompany and creators of Flower. We discuss a variety of topics, including TGC's design philosophy, the road from Cloud to Flower, starting a game company from scratch, t...
I really should visit PopMatters more often.
The Art of the Video Game - review
One sure way to confirm the popular culture appeal of pretty much anything these days is the appearance of a coffee table book on the subject. Video games are no exception, and while many books do a terrific job of presenting the artwork of individual games - my favorite is the gorgeous Ōkami...
So say we all. *sage nod*
The spoiler ball and chain
I love reading and writing about games, and it's a privilege to be part of a maturing movement that continues to broaden its scope and sharpen its critical eye. It's no longer difficult to find intelligent writing about games. As Clint Hocking pointed out recently after perusing the blogospher...
Not that she isn't sexy in her own right, because she is. It's just not the 'point' of Jade.
Here's Jade
When Jade first appears in Beyond Good & Evil the camera sweeps down from the trees to discover her sitting in a lotus position on a large rock overlooking a lake. Next to her sits a small humanoid child. They are meditating. Our view cuts to a close-up of Jade's closed eyes and lingers there...
If Jade's breasts are oversized, then so is her head.
I personally think she's one of the most aesthetically pleasing heroines in gamedom, especially after you get to know her.
Hm. Jill Valentine is also up there, for me. Same with Carla Valenti - but I think parading around in her panties helped with that attraction.
Here's Jade
When Jade first appears in Beyond Good & Evil the camera sweeps down from the trees to discover her sitting in a lotus position on a large rock overlooking a lake. Next to her sits a small humanoid child. They are meditating. Our view cuts to a close-up of Jade's closed eyes and lingers there...
I think I may like it more than Nethack. At least in this, you feel like you're accomplishing something. Nethack is just so damn brutal it's a bit depressing after awhile.
Forgotten fingers
We typically measure the success or failure of game controls by their effectiveness at facilitating the player's interactions with a game. We describe them with words that convey their tactile nature: smooth, fluid, tight, floaty; and we tend to value systems that make immediate sense to us, l...
I'm going to start asking myself, when thinking about a game I've just played, if I recall thinking about telling my fingers to do stuff.
I know I'm running into that with spelunky, at the moment. No, don't want bombs, want ropes. No, don't arm bomb! DON'T DROP BOMB AT FEET AHH!
Forgotten fingers
We typically measure the success or failure of game controls by their effectiveness at facilitating the player's interactions with a game. We describe them with words that convey their tactile nature: smooth, fluid, tight, floaty; and we tend to value systems that make immediate sense to us, l...
There's a definite mentality, at least on the forums I've seen, to talk for the sake of talking. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, it makes intelligent conversation a bit of a chore. Not only do you have to re-teach the same lessons to different people who don't understand the previous threads, but you also have the posters who 'tl;dr' your explanations and keep on going.
It's a shame, because this kind of discussion can go a long way to teach people really important things. For instance, I doubt I would know as much about the Rroma as I do now, were it not for Gaia Online. Though I suppose that was, as most forums are, a feat of serendipity. Keep talking, and maybe someone will listen.
The invalidation game
I don't know about you, but I find myself increasingly drawn to the online conversation that inevitably arises in response to new game releases. Whereas I used to hit the standard assortment of review sites to get a sense of the critical reception to certain games, lately I'm more likely to lu...
You just wanted an excuse to show off your kid.
But, bravo nonetheless.
Nunchuck jockey
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children younger than 2 be restricted from television viewing. My wife and I decided to heed that advice when our baby Zoe arrived 13 months ago. I expected such a restriction would feel like a big sacrifice, but it really hasn't. We don't wat...
OBJECTION!
Do you mean ceiling? Because running on roofs isn't that impressive.
Prince of noobs?
As a gamer, the holidays nearly always provide a reality check for me. We typically entertain a house full of guests, eat ourselves silly, trade gifts, and play lots of games. The reality check arrives as I watch these casual and "midcore" gamers plow through my treasure-trove of games, inevi...
The good 'ole Gamepro "Fun Factor" comes to mind.
A game may not necessarily be genre-expanding, but Fun really is the bottom line.
Well, Profitable Fun, at least.
Prince of noobs?
As a gamer, the holidays nearly always provide a reality check for me. We typically entertain a house full of guests, eat ourselves silly, trade gifts, and play lots of games. The reality check arrives as I watch these casual and "midcore" gamers plow through my treasure-trove of games, inevi...
Doh. Forgot to sign in to TypePad.
Brainy Gamer Podcast - Holiday edition
This edition of the Brainy Gamer Podcast features a holiday extravaganza of Gamers Confab goodness: a 3-volume confection featuring a sleigh full of games bloggers all discussing our favorite games of 2008! Volume 1: Segment 1: Leigh Alexander from Sexy Videogameland; Kirk Battle (aka L.B. Jef...
Some friends and I buy/sell each other's newly purchased games for half price. For instance, I bought Fallout 3 from my friend for $30, and I'll sell it to another friend for $15.
A crimp in my evening
Annie Hall: Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that? Alvy Singer: I can't enjoy anything unless everybody is. If one guy is starving someplace, that puts a crimp in my evening. Have you noticed how often we discuss video games, assuming all of us are able to purchase and play a...
More...
Subscribe to David Sahlin’s Recent Activity