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Chris
Outsider philosopher, game designer and author
Recent Activity
Hi Daniel, We have, of course, already spoken via another venue, but I thought I'd reply to this to once again express my admiration for the line of approach "I'm a real person, not a bot", which tickles me! It's also poor that it's taken me a month to spot this comment, but then, this particular corner of the internet is clearly entering its twilight years... Chris.
Toggle Commented 7 days ago on Wikipedia in Exile: Chris Bateman at Only a Game
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My last long-form essay for Only a Game this year has been drafted for quite a while, but I haven't had time to paste it up and run it owing to requests at other publications for submissions. The first of... Continue reading
Posted Nov 15, 2023 at Only a Game
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This year was the twentieth anniversary of the release of one of my proudest achievement as a game designer, Ghost Master. The celebrations started last Halloween with part one of this Origins of Ghost Master series, and continued on the... Continue reading
Posted Oct 27, 2023 at ihobo
Hey Njordy! It wasn't, I knew of this game but never played it. As I've discussed in Origins of Ghost Master, Part One, the main influence on the gameplay was more from Pokémon, and the haunting aspect came more from films than from games. Thanks for asking! Chris.
Toggle Commented Oct 20, 2023 on Ghost Master - Worth Waiting For at ihobo
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Award-winning game design and narrative consultancy International Hobo is doing the rounds at Gamescom again this year! We're looking for: INVESTORS/PUBLISHERS open to discussing future projects and bizdev opportunities for our developer clients PUBLISHERS who need 2-week design audit reports... Continue reading
Posted Jul 31, 2023 at ihobo
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Ten Player Motives was a twelve part serial examining the ten most commercially important reasons people enjoy playing games, and one non-commercial reason as well The serial ran from 22nd February 2023 to 19th July 2023 (with a short break... Continue reading
Posted Jul 31, 2023 at ihobo
It is quite remarkable that this piece didn't age - I could have been eating my words soon afterwards! Thanks for stopping by, Kermond!
Toggle Commented Jul 26, 2023 on Games Are Not Shoes at ihobo
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In the 1950s, movie audiences were wowed by monsters bursting out of the silver screens. All they had to do was put on a pair of paper glasses with a red gel over one eye and a blue gel over... Continue reading
Posted Jul 20, 2023 at Only a Game
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Ten Player Motives #11 Wait, eleven? You said there were ten player motives! Actually, although there are ten player motives that are commercially important, there are many other motives to play games - they're just not as important to the... Continue reading
Posted Jul 19, 2023 at ihobo
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Ten Player Motives #10 Discussing the narrative motive, we came up against an essential problem of using games as a storytelling medium: the player expects to have influence within the game world. This is the domain of the last of... Continue reading
Posted Jul 12, 2023 at ihobo
Thanks for your supportive comment, Don! I truly appreciate it.
Toggle Commented Jul 6, 2023 on Were You Born This Way? at Only a Game
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Ten Player Motives #9 When I talk about our motives for playing games, I am usually able to identify a clear set of emotions that show the psychological underpinnings of why we are drawn to play that way. This becomes... Continue reading
Posted Jul 5, 2023 at ihobo
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It is with a certain misplaced pride that I celebrate Only a Game turning eighteen today. The blog is now old enough to drink in the city of Manchester, United Kingdom, where I just left, but still not old enough... Continue reading
Posted Jul 1, 2023 at Only a Game
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Can you be 'born Christian'? 'Born gay'? 'Born trans'? This is a perilous question to ask, because frankly everyone reading will already have an answer to these questions. What's more, the more certain you are about how to resolve these... Continue reading
Posted Jun 22, 2023 at Only a Game
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Ten Player Motives #7 Why is playing with other players fun...? The simple truth of the matter is that no matter how introverted or antisocial you might be, humans are social animals as a matter of biological inheritance. Those with... Continue reading
Posted Jun 21, 2023 at ihobo
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Limbic and Bandai Namco's delightful theme park sim Park Beyond is out now! We've been working on this project for a few years, and it's been an incredible thrill ride! Especially enjoyable were the hilarious voice recording sessions - there's... Continue reading
Posted Jun 20, 2023 at ihobo
Thanks Ian! It is indeed a beautiful view here, with the only disappointment being the light pollution from nearby Nashville. But frankly, compared to the light pollution from living in Manchester, it would be churlish for me to complain!
Toggle Commented Jun 20, 2023 on I Am A Farmer Now at Only a Game
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PPS: I just reached this part of the book with my boys (my youngest hadn't read it with me before) and I now have much more sympathy with your position! I was thinking off the event I mention above, the attack on the secret door, but of course there is an encounter with Smaug - admittedly at long distance! - earlier in the same chapter, when they run and hide in the secret passageway. So I now think there is a case to be made for the dwarves 'encountering' the dragon, albeit never in close quarters - and certainly never in a fight with the Worm! Thanks for the opportunity to explore this issue! Chris.
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Dear Players of the Game, I have now completed my fifth international move, restoring the circumstances for the name of my company back at that very first move. I am not so much the 'International Hobo' these days, though, it... Continue reading
Posted Jun 15, 2023 at Only a Game
Hey Will, This one is a technicality - it's true that Smaug tries to attack them, but the dwarves do not see the dragon as they are on the other side of the secret door. The implication as I read it is that if they had directly encountered Smaug, they'd have been toast. So I guess this comes to the definition of 'encounter', doesn't it! Does having a dragon smash its body against a mountain you are inside really count as an encounter...? Perhaps I could have added the qualifier 'directly' as in 'the dwarves don't directly encounter the dragon'! 🤣 Thanks for commenting! Chris. PS: From the end of Chapter 12, Inside Information: Darkness grew deeper and he grew ever more uneasy. "Shut the door!" he begged them. "I fear that dragon in my marrow. I like this silence far less than the uproar of last night. Shut the door before it is too late!" Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly Thorin shook off his dreams and getting up he kicked away the stone that wedged the door. Then they thrust upon it, and it closed with a snap and a clang. No trace of a keyhole was there left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain! And not a moment too soon. They had hardly gone any distance down the tunnel when a blow smote the side of the Mountain like the crash of battering-rams made of forest oaks and swung by giants. The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads. What would have happened if the door had still been open I don't like to think.
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Ten Player Motives #6 Why do we love horror? It's a question that has provoked a great deal of debate, but the two most important things to understand about the horror motive are that it is about indulging in unpleasant... Continue reading
Posted Jun 14, 2023 at ihobo
An odd idea... I can't imagine saying 'white bread will win', and that seems to be a parallel kind of claim. If we insist on seeing matters as a fight between communism and capitalism, the one certain thing is that economics will win. Chris.
Toggle Commented Jun 5, 2023 on The Last Citizens at Only a Game
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This is a brilliant commentary, E - I quite agree. As I put it in Chaos Ethics, 'we are all nomads now'. I'm not sure this is a 'peculiar misfortune', however, so much as the inevitable trajectory of 'technology' such as it is. Many thanks for your thoughtful comment! Chris.
Toggle Commented Jun 5, 2023 on An Abundance of Useful Idiots at Only a Game
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Ten Player Motives #8 If you asked me which of the ten player motives was the most underrated, I would without hesitation reply: the curiosity motive. Not only do most game designers not appreciate the tremendous power of this aspect... Continue reading
Posted May 31, 2023 at ihobo
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Today is the twentieth anniversary of the release of Ghost Master. Of all my hundreds of game projects, this is still the title where I am most proud of the game design, the project where I beam with pride when... Continue reading
Posted May 23, 2023 at ihobo