Game Theory 4: Early Arcade Games

Explicit content warning

07/26/12 • 56 min

Recorded on July 25th with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Tom talks about early arcade games, starting with Spacewar! and ending with Donkey Kong. Jim describes his present-day arcade experiences.

Brian asks the group about game development, and they briefly discuss game development frameworks.

World of Tanks,
38 Studios - Boston Magazine,
Scott Jennings - Broken Toys,
Copernicus - MMO,
Todd McFarlane,
R.A. Salvatore,
Portal 2 Book,
Bastion,
Penny Arcade Expo,
Fieldrunners 2,
Subatomic Studios,
Madfinger Zombie Game,
King of Dragon Pass,
Final Fantasy 3 - Google Play,
Space Pirates and Zombies,
Subspace,
Spec Ops: The Line,
Max Payne 3,
Fake Sponsor - Cardboard Council,
Metal Gear Solid,
Alien vs. Predator,
Midway Games,
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy,
Computer Space,
Electro-Mechanical Game,
Vertical Sync,
Gun Fight,
Space Invaders,
Battlezone,
Tempest,
Xybots,
Mortal Kombat,
Street Fighter,
3DFX,
Dance Dance Revolution,
Kinect,
Dance Maniax,
Guitar Hero Arcade,
Fruit Ninja,
Chuck E Cheese’s,
Big Buck Hunter,
Golden Tee,
Brady Bunch Movie,
Pong,
Galaga,
Galaxian,
Centipede,
Missile Command,
Atari,
The Sopranos,
Little Big Planet 2,
Pac-Man,
Asteroids,
Lunar Lander,

Recorded on July 25th with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg.

Tom talks about early arcade games, starting with Spacewar! and ending with Donkey Kong. Jim describes his present-day arcade experiences.

Brian asks the group about game development, and they briefly discuss game development frameworks.

Previous Episode

Game Theory 3: Quality and Value

Recorded on July 16th, 2012 with Brian Fife, James Fingal, and Thomas Westberg.

Tom, Brian and Jim talk about the Steam Summer Sale and how the Hunger games is similar to Special Ops: The Line.

Jim drove the main topic for discussion - Quality and Value in games. Is cost per hour of attention a valid way to talk about entertainment value? This doesn’t seem to be a factor with printed material, but it often comes up with video or video games.

Games as Art are great, but junk games and junk food both have their place (just ask the deep fried Twinkie guy at the county fair).

Links to Referenced Items:

Tribes: Ascend,
World of Tanks,
Majesty,
Evil Genius,
Steam Summer Sale,
Harvest: Massive Encounter,
Serious Sam,
Starcraft,
S.P.A.Z.,
Eve Online,
The Ur-Quan Masters,
Skyrim,
The Witcher 2,
From Dust,
Splice,
Scoregasm,
Dear Esther,
Offspring Fling,
Wine,
Cider,
Borderlands 2,
Special Ops 2: The Line,
White Phosphorus,
NHS - The Line,
Heart of Darkness,
Binding of Isaac,
Procedural Generation,
Zelda,
Max Payne 3,
Gladiator,
Hunger Games,
Fake: Sponsor: Tanooki Tailors,
Journey,
Ars - Diablo is a game that ends,
Hurricane Irene,
The Sopranos,
Starsky and Hutch,
Murphy Brown,
The Sims,
Halo,
Angry Birds: Seasons,
Harry Potter,
Words with Friends,
Twilight,
Marauder Map,
The Wire,
Road Rules,
Jersey Shore,
Saved by the Bell,
Modern Warfare,
Madden NFL,
Crytek,

Next Episode

Game Theory 5: Grind

Recorded on August 8th with Brian Fife, James Fingal, Thomas Westberg and the crickets in Brian’s basement.

Brian, Jim and Tom talk about grind. Grind is eventually defined as time or effort that isn’t enjoyable, that must be spent in a game reach an objective, gain an item, or an achievement.

Some may look fondly (in retrospect) on past labors that led to high achievement in a game - but often we look back at time we spend grinding and wish we had done something different.

Grind doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. It’s sometimes nice to be able to kill time with a game – just like junk television. Persistent/MMO games also allow you to upgrade your character status while you do this.

Links to referenced items:

Carrot-Stick Forum Article,
World of Warcraft,
Final Fantasy,
Halo Skulls,
Braid Stars,
Banjo-Kazooie,
Super Mario,
Beyond Skill - Tobolds,
Sonic,
Left 4 Dead,
Angband,
Akimbo Assassin Achievement,
World of Tanks,
Workification,
Runecloth,
Winterspring Furbolgs,
Chess,
Starcraft,
Counterstrike,
Borderlands,
Torchlight,
Angry Birds,
Comfort Grind,
Jetpack Joyride,
Call of Duty,
Captured Firefly,
Captuar - Final Fantasy 3,
Dawn of War,
God of War,
Turtling,
Diablo 3,
Civilization,
Grand Theft Auto 3,
Pigeon,
BFG,
Morrowind,
Umbra,
Half Life 2.