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	May 19, 2013

		Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC Sr. Network Systems Engineer

		Amazon Game Studios Sr. Game Designer

		Treyarch / Activision Technical Animator

		Amazon Game Studios Quality Assurance Manager

		Amazon Game Studios Lead 3D Environment Artist

		Amazon Game Studios Game Graphics Engineer

Josh Bycer's Blog Expert Blogs

Over the last seven years, I have been researching and contributing to the field of game design. These contributions range from QA for professional game productions to writing articles for sites like Gamasutra and Quarter To Three. My goal as a game theorist is to analyze past and present game design trends to better understand and forecast the future development of the industry

With my new site Game-Wisdom our goal is to create a centralized source of critical thinking about the game industry for everyone from enthusiasts, game makers and casual fans. To hopefully continue improving our industry and provide an easy to understand explanation on the concept of game design.

Expert Blogs

The Contemporariness of Game Design
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 15 May 2013 03:31:00 EDT in Design
Today's post examines how game design and appeal has evolved over the last twenty plus years and the tug of war between games that are considered timeless and those that are collectible.
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The DRM Distinction of Steam's Success
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 08 May 2013 02:37:00 EDT in
This year marks the ten year anniversary of Steam and today's post looks at some of the reasons why it has become #1 for many gamers.
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Putting the "Game" in Gameplay
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 01 May 2013 02:32:00 EDT in Design
The balance between narrative and game design is a tricky one and today's post examines one game that failed that test.
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Antagonistic Horror Design
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:45:00 EDT in Design
Horror design has been called out by mainstream designers in the past for not being marketable. Today's post examines a common horror movie narrative and how it can impact horror design.
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Micro Transaction Mania
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:40:00 EDT in Design
The use of micro transactions and DLC have become major debates. But today's post talks about the challenge of differentiating these two terms.
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Design Debate: Risky Rewards or Rewarding Risk?
Posted by Josh Bycer on Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:05:00 EDT in Design
Today's post looks at difficulty and the subject of if games should reward people for continuing to play, or if the game itself should be its own reward.
Read More... \| 26 Comments

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Josh Bycer's Comments

Comment In: Valve rolls out Steam Trading Cards [News - 05/15/2013 - 03:17]
I was having a conversation ... I was having a conversation with a friend about this last week and he said just about the same thing. I already have some friends who have bought games in the past specifically for TF 2 items above anything else. This development will probably drive a few of them crazy ...

Comment In: The Contemporariness of Game Design [Blog - 05/15/2013 - 03:31]
I played the PS1 version ... I played the PS1 version of FFT and the localization had the kind of mistakes you wouldn 't see today VS has a complex and unfriendly menu system and doesn 't ease you into the game at all. But they weren 't by any means unplayable. You just had to ...

Comment In: Identity [Blog - 05/03/2013 - 04:20]
I particularly despise how, primarily ... I particularly despise how, primarily over the course of this console generation, gamer has had its definition narrowed, revised, and and, truthfully, fucking mutilated into a very specific and offensive marketing category. r n r nI was thinking about this yesterday, looking at the ads that would be considered common ...

Comment In: Putting the "Game" in Gameplay [Blog - 05/01/2013 - 02:32]
The mermaid boss wasn 't ... The mermaid boss wasn 't as bad if I recall. But the first boss of the guy with the rulers, it seemed like you couldn 't get a hit in without him hitting you for several times more damage. r n r nThe part that almost broke me was the ...

Comment In: BioShock Infinite: On the Importance of the Authorial Contract [Blog - 04/30/2013 - 08:00]
I also found the ending ... I also found the ending of Infinite lacking due to the same reasons. What 's worse for me was that I 've been watching a lot of Doctor Who that deals with time travel and has it 's own rules for how that works. And I think that the show ...

Comment In: Antagonistic Horror Design [Blog - 04/24/2013 - 02:45]
I haven 't played it ... I haven 't played it yet, but one thing I thought was neat about ZombiU is what they did with the character system. Each time you start a new game you become one of the random survivors and when that person dies you have to become another survivor. r n ...

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