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Started gaming during the Colecovision & Commodore 64 era.
Stopped gaming about halfway through the PS2 generation.
Am currently active in the interactive fiction community.
Worked briefly in the game dev industry in 1998 in Los Angeles.
He can be reached at pscion (at) yahoo (dot) com.
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Member Blogs
Four More Tasks for the Paragraph  |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:19:00 EST in
Game Design
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| Writers know that paragraphs have jobs to do -- develop characters, reinforce theme, etc. But for interactive environments, are there more? |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
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A Role for Could, Would, and Should in Game Input |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:06:00 EST in
Game Design
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| Games controlled by a language interface -- interactive fiction, "Maniac Mansion", "Shadowgate" and many other adventure games -- traditionally choose imperatives as the only form of input. But this is button-centric thinking. |
| Read More... | 6 Comments |
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Gameplay Rules Must Feed Plot Devices |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:34:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming
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| Ruleset design doesn't end with gameplay. Without certain needs met, some techniques of interactive plot become very difficult. Case in point: integrating psionics with the second edition of Dungeons and Dragons. |
| Read More... | 8 Comments |
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Sequels Are Better. For Now. |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:25:00 EDT in
Game Design,
Programming,
Production
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| Technological constraints temporarily defined a "gamer" to mean a solitary individual, in defiance of the traditional norm. In the same fashion, another unique characteristic of the videogame medium, "sequels are better", is destined to fall. |
| Read More... | 3 Comments |
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Usage of the Rules of Fiction Versus That of Games |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:13:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| An understanding of how the rules of gameplay differ from the rules of narrative -- and acknowledging that the latter exists -- may help us close the disconnect between the two. |
| Read More... | 3 Comments |
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PAX09 Special Report: A Console Love-in |
| Posted by Ron Newcomb on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:44:00 EDT in
Audio,
Game Design,
Programming,
Production,
Visual Art
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| The Penny Arcade Expo was held last weekend in Seattle. What's a washed-up gamer with no reflexes do? Watch the gamers, and consider the past and future. |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
[More Ron Newcomb Blogs]
Ron Newcomb's Comments
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Comment In: Truth in Game Design [Feature - 02/02/2010 - 04:40]
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the designer's perspective is revealed ... the designer's perspective is revealed through the way he crafts the rules. Like Bart, I thought this assertion stood out, but perhaps for different reasons. I find the activity of designing coherent and enjoyable rulesets almost at odds with a designer stating a message regarding his personal understanding of the ... |
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Comment In: Capcom To Work With Western Devs Only On Existing Brands [News - 02/01/2010 - 01:02]
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I kinda disagree Mathieu, after ... I kinda disagree Mathieu, after what happened with Tenchu. The 2nd game was given to a Western dev, who did a shoddy job. I don't think the series ever truly recovered after that. But yeah, that sounds like what Capcom will do: Here, make a 4 in a very recent ... |
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Comment In: A Game Analysis: Super Ghouls'n Ghosts - Or The Double-jump Done Right. [Blog - 01/29/2010 - 12:20]
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I enjoyed this in-depth article, ... I enjoyed this in-depth article, even though I sadly believe your insight on just how much the double-jump gives to such a game will be wasted. SGnG, as well as the original Castlevania and any other game with uncontrollable jumps, are inherently hard games. Not many of those are being ... |
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Comment In: The Uneasy Merging of Narrative and Gameplay [Feature - 01/26/2010 - 04:35]
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Meh. Personally, I found the ... Meh. Personally, I found the article myopic, and the first two pages re-stated the obvious. Not that there's anything wrong per se with writing down what we all know, but, spatial relationships are only important in action and tactical videogames. You could do all sorts of weird camera things in ... |
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Comment In: Playing By The Rules [Blog - 01/21/2010 - 12:24]
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I find it interesting that ... I find it interesting that ... we are actually playing from a very small deck Ditto. Though knowing the base games I still don't find terribly helpful in the day-to-day of creating an actual videogame, with all its interrelated complexities. For example, while rock-paper-scissors is known by everyone and their ... |
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Comment In: Retro Game of the Day! Zaxxon [Blog - 01/21/2010 - 05:07]
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OMG, I played the heck ... OMG, I played the heck of this game on my Colecovision. Your screenshot of the opening, as the ship approaches the floating castle Yeah. orthographic mock-3D perspective I think you mean isometric perspective. By way of as featured in videogames , the Wikipedia article on isometric links to Zaxxon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video ... |
[More Ron Newcomb Comments]
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