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June 18, 2013





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Updates » Design
E3 and the start of an unprecedented generation Exclusive 11
by Leigh Alexander [05.28.13]
With E3 2013 only weeks away, Gamasutra editor-at-large Leigh Alexander talks to ESA senior VP Rich Taylor about the changes we can expect this year.
Console/PC, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing, Exclusive

Video: Improving AI in Assassin's Creed III, XCOM, Warframe  
by GDC Vault Staff [05.27.13]
AI developers behind Assassin's Creed III, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Warframe came together to discuss how they improved the AI in their games.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Programming, Design, Video

Making DayZ: An interview with its creator 2
by Staff [05.24.13]
Project lead Dean Hall takes Gamasutra from his initial inspirations through his design process and finally how the game is currently being built and will be delivered to fans in this eclectic interview.
Console/PC, Indie, Design, Production

Blog: Theme and craft, games and art 15
by Gamasutra Community [05.24.13]
Spelunky developer Derek Yu ruminates on crises and criticisms in game culture, exploring whether or not we really and truly understand the importance of how games are made.
Indie, Design

The problem with Persona's one-sided relationships 4
by Gamasutra Community [05.24.13]
People love the Persona games for their characters -- but isn't the player kind of a dick to the NPCs? This blog post exposes the issue of one-sided relationships in RPGs.
Console/PC, Design

Video: Player-driven stories - how do we get there? 2
by GDC Vault Staff [05.24.13]
Former Ion Storm, 2K, and LucasArts designer Kent Hudson encourages creating interactive, player-driven stories and urges to move past Hollywood-style linearity, in this free GDC video lecture.
Console/PC, Art, Design, Production, Video

The guy who created DayZ made it to the top of Mt. Everest 3
by Kris Graft [05.24.13]
Dean Hall is a soldier, a game developer, and now apparently an elite mountain climber, as he recently made it to the highest summit on planet Earth.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

Player progression: Understanding how players get through your game 1
by Gamasutra Community [05.24.13]
This detailed breakdown explores the dichotomy of how players move through games -- through learning how to play, or by powering up -- and what that means for your design.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

Video: Thief vs. Deus Ex - a design discussion 1
by GDC Vault Staff [05.23.13]
Deus Ex designer Warren Spector and Thief designer Doug Church grill each other on stage at GDC 2002 about their first-person stealth game design decisions.
Console/PC, Design, Video

This Week in Video Game Criticism: From Indie Networks to Wii U 3
by Kris Ligman [05.23.13]
This week, our partnership with game criticism site Critical Distance brings us picks on topics including the Wii U and indies helping indies.
Console/PC, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing

Making VR games: A primer 16
by Gamasutra Community [05.23.13]
With the Oculus Rift reawakening interest in VR games, serious games developer Sébastien Kuntz shares his decade-plus of experience in creating immersive virtual simulations.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

The power of imaginative world-building 8
by Gamasutra Community [05.23.13]
Even on the Super Nintendo, it was possible to build worlds that captured the imagination and provoked strong emotion -- or so writes indie Zack Wood, in his analysis of obscure RPG Lennus.
Console/PC, Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Art, Design

A Guacamelee! combat design analysis 3
by Gamasutra Community [05.23.13]
Combat designer Ben Ruiz gives the popular Metroidvania brawler a good thumping to see whether its mechanics live up to the potential its luchador protagonist promises.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

Video: How League of Legends handles rapid QA cycles  
by GDC Vault Staff [05.22.13]
TVs litter the walls of Riot Games, constantly streaming updates on the current League of Legends build to keep all staff informed and involved. QA senior lead Benjamin Seifert tells us more.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Programming, Design, Production, Video

How do we preserve our games if technology won't? GDMag Exclusive 12
by Ernest Adams [05.22.13]
In a 1999 edition of GD Mag, IGDA co-founder Ernest Adams laments the state of games preservation and calls for a more permanent record of the industry's accomplishments.
GD Mag, Design, GD Mag Exclusive

The quest for good platformer mechanics 3
by Gamasutra Community [05.22.13]
This post takes in the evolution of the platformer genre's mechanics and control -- arriving at an exploration of the "critical ideas" that make Super Mario Bros. so special.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

Making competitive games more fair, more fun 25
by Gamasutra Community [05.22.13]
Designer Keith Burgun argues that rubber band systems and randomness thrown in to level the playing field undermine the fun of competitive games. It's time to learn to love handicapping.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

Get a job: Be an Art Director for Unfinished Swan dev Giant Sparrow  
by Kris Ligman [05.21.13]
Unfinished Swan developer Giant Swan seeks an Art Director for "setting the visual direction, managing and giving feedback to our artist and animator, and working with our graphics programmer" on its upcoming title.
Console/PC, Indie, Art, Design, Recruitment

Opinion: Xbox One is a desperate prayer to stop time Exclusive 152
by Leigh Alexander [05.21.13]
Microsoft used words like "groundbreaking," "innovative" and "immersive" countless times as it unveiled the Xbox One, but Leigh Alexander argues that all we saw a disconnected prayer to stop time.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Programming, Design, Business/Marketing, Exclusive

Game devs ask: What will Xbox One do for indies? Exclusive 7
by Staff [05.21.13]
Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One today at its company headquarters in Redmond, Wash. We took to Twitter before, during and after the big unveiling.
Console/PC, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing, Exclusive