Game Theory 19: Streamlining

Explicit content warning

05/22/13 • 53 min

Recorded on May 21, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Streamlining - the way the sequels of a game, or games in a genre are re-worked to be simpler, easier - sometimes even with a dramatically transformed core mechanic - is covered in this live episode.

Brian also adds nostalgia to the discussion list. The group talks about the way we hold old, complicated games in reverence (as well as the resurgence of kickstartered ‘homage’ games). They also discuss what makes a sequel good or bad, and whether, as a rule, you should play the latest game in a series.

Referenced items:

World of Warcraft,
Nerf,
Community Building - Tobold,
How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play - Wired,
Eve Online,
XCom UFO Defense,
Isometric Game,
Bioshock 2,
Defender,
Stargate,
Halo,
Jaws 2,
Assassin’s Creed,
Grand Theft Auto,
Jason Statham,
Steve McQueen,
Mass Effect,
Desert Bus,
Fallout,
Elder Scrolls,
Madden NFL,
Tiger Woods Golf,
Tony Hawk Pro Skater,
SSX Snowboarding,
San Francisco Rush,
The Walking Dead,
Sam and Max,
Monkey Island,
Harry Potter,
Hunger Games,
Star Wars: Episode 1,
The Matrix: Reloaded,
King’s Quest V,
Space Quest,
Maniac Mansion,
Larry David,
National Public Radio,
Portal,
Killzone,
Gears of War,
Legend of Zelda,
Fallout,
Everquest,
Super Meat Boy,
World of Tanks,
Social Fabric - Tobold,
Red Dead Redemption,
Half Life,
Goldeneye,
Super Mario Bros.,

Recorded on May 21, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Streamlining - the way the sequels of a game, or games in a genre are re-worked to be simpler, easier - sometimes even with a dramatically transformed core mechanic - is covered in this live episode.

Referenced items:

Previous Episode

Game Theory 18: Marketing

Recorded on March 26th, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Now that video games are big business - perhaps bigger than movies - they have advertising and promotional budgets to match. It is common to see video games promoted in a way similar to other mass media - billboards and television ads.

The group talks about the way they learn about games, keep up on game news (or at least used to) and the way game reviews and metacritic scores are handled.

They also discuss their game buying strategy, when (if ever) to preorder, and how they track game sales.

Referenced items:

PAX East 2013,
Borderlands Two,
Simcity (new),
A Question of Competence - Tobold,
Square Enix CEO Stepping Down,
Indie Game: The Movie,
Super Meat Boy,
X-Com Enemy Unknown,
Bioshock: Infinite,
Diablo Three,
Guild Wars Two,
World of Warcraft,
Spaceteam,
Rogue WiFi at Super Bowl - Ars,
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim,
Fez,
Minecraft,
The Castle Doctrine,
Steam Greenlight,
Spy Party,
Kickstarter,
Planetary Annihilation,
FTL,
Planescape Torment,
God of War,
Gears of War,
Jerry Bruckheimer,
How Early Reviews Hurt Sales - Ars,
Kill Screen Daily,
GameSpy,
IGN,
Why We Avoid Metacraitic - Ars,
The Verge,
Engadget,
Gizmodo,
Tom Bissell - Grantland,
Catherine,
Daring Fireball,
Joystiq,
Kotaku,
1up,
I’m sorry, Marcus - Quarter to Three,
Steam Mobile,
Humble Indie Bundle,
When TED Lost Control - HBR,
EFF,
Child’s Play,
Gabe Newell Left 4 Dead Sale- Shack News,
Kingdoms of Amalur,

Next Episode

Game Theory 20: Hiatus

Recorded on May 21, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Brian, Jim, and Tom discuss their plans to put the show on hold for a while. Jim is taking a road trip (follow that here) and Brian’s got a new baby in the house.

We intended to publish this right after Episode 19, but the reasons above contributed to extra delay.

We’ll let you know via this website or the podcast feed when we start up again, but we don’t expect to record any episodes this summer.