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A graduate of the philosophy programme at McGill University, Simon now applies his analytical skills to the games industry. A continuing contributor to GameSHOUT.com and former show host for GameSHOUT Radio, Simon's primary focus is MMOs and their various game systems.
Simon is more than happy to receive emails sent to soulrift@gmail.com
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Member Blogs
A Dash of Gank Spoils the Stew?  |
| Posted by Simon Ludgate on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:20:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| Demon's Souls is, by all accounts, a heartlessly difficult game, yet also possesses some of the most interesting and innovative multi-player features in an otherwise "single-player" experience. But does the Black Phantom mechanic cross the line? |
| Read More... | 11 Comments |
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When Are Subscriptions Cheaper Than Free? |
| Posted by Simon Ludgate on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:00:00 EDT in
Production
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| Are you better off paying a monthly subscription than buying microtransaction purchases from a free to play MMO? As I look at Turbine's new changes to Dungeons and Dragons Online, I suggest that you might be, but only if you ravenously devour content. |
| Read More... | 10 Comments |
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Sell Your Money! |
| Posted by Simon Ludgate on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:45:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| In part two of my analysis of MMOs vs RMT: if you can't ban 'em, outbid 'em!. |
| Read More... | 19 Comments |
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EVE's Self-UNcontained Economy |
| Posted by Simon Ludgate on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:30:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| Real Money Trade, or RMT, can have a significant impact on a game, often to the detriment of players. This blog entry examines CCP's PLEX-based solution to RMT in their space MMO, EVE Online. |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
Simon Ludgate's Comments
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Comment In: IGDA Forum: Asking 'Why' Will Keep Games Out Of The Ghetto, Says Hecker [News - 11/13/2009 - 01:10]
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I think a large problem ... I think a large problem is that Chris Heckler compares games to movies, which are 100 story but 100 non-interactive, rather than some other human activity, such as sport, which is 100 interactive but 100 non-story. Games fall somewhere in-between. Some games, like Left 4 Dead, feature a lot more ... |
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Comment In: A Dash of Gank Spoils the Stew? [Blog - 10/16/2009 - 03:20]
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@Jebediah, I think that's exactly ... @Jebediah, I think that's exactly the term I was looking for: Guest Containment I must have taken the wrong route to argue my point, because a lot of those who have commented seem to have the false impression that I don't enjoy Demon's Souls. Quite the contrary, I not only ... |
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Comment In: WoW Bucks Aussie Norms, Gets M Rating [News - 10/14/2009 - 07:22]
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Isn't WoW a T for ... Isn't WoW a T for Teen game in the ESRB ratings Why couldn't it get a similar rating in Australia |
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Comment In: World Of Warcraft Audience Grows In The Face Of Increased Competition [Blog - 09/24/2009 - 10:21]
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It's difficult to draw any ... It's difficult to draw any conclusions about a one-month increase in subscriptions. There could be many extraneous reasons for this increase that go beyond anything that has to do with the market or the economy. For example, July - August also represents the end of summer and the start of ... |
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Comment In: TGS: Sony Announces PS3 Motion-Control Launch Titles [News - 09/24/2009 - 01:32]
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I wonder if they'll offer ... I wonder if they'll offer motion control functionality for the existing RE5 via a downloadable patch, or possibly an inexpensive add-on from the PSN Store Having to buy another copy of the whole game would suck for anyone who bought RE5 on the PS3 but wanted to expand their experience ... |
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Comment In: World Of Warcraft Restarts Commercial Operation In China [News - 09/21/2009 - 05:29]
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Gaming Steve went through The9's ... Gaming Steve went through The9's license agreement with Blizzard and explains how WoW runs in China in 2005 : http://www.gamingsteve.com/archives/2005/11/with all the ta.php 22 royalties, so you can see why Blizzard wanted to switch. Also, this post from a WoW player who lived in China explains how the system works: ... |
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