In-Depth: The Guide To Rescuing A Troubled Project [2009-11-17 05:46:00] | (news)
The "utopian dev cycle" is a myth, says EA senior development director Jeff Charvat, speaking at the 2009 IGDA Leadership Forum about the most effective way to take charge of a troubled project.

Postmortem: Behind The Scenes Of Scribblenauts [2009-11-16 05:55:00] | (news)
Gamasutra presents postmortem notes from 5th Cell's ambitious Scribblenauts, revealing how game "broke away from habits in traditional level design", fighting localization and control issues along the way.

Postmortem: Wadjet Eye's The Blackwell Convergence [2009-11-12 07:35:00] | (news)
In an honest indie postmortem, Wadjet Eye Games' Dave Gilbert discusses the creation of adventure game sequel The Blackwell Convergence, looking at everything from promotion through art direction.

Postmortem: Wadjet Eye's The Blackwell Convergence [2009-11-12 06:45:00] | (feature)
In this honest indie postmortem, Wadjet Eye Games' Gilbert discusses the creation of adventure game sequel The Blackwell Convergence, looking at everything from promotion through art direction and engine to analyze what went right -- and wrong -- in the game's creation.

The Freelance Game Composer [2009-11-10 06:49:00] | (blog)
Tips, tricks and the many experiences of being a freelance video game composer in an ever-evolving industry.

Analysis: What The (Game) Papers Say - November 2009, Pt. 1 [2009-11-10 05:57:00] | (news)
Continuing his 'What The (Game) Papers Say' round-ups, Kevin 'Magweasel' Gifford looks at the month in major game magazines, John Davison's GamePro reboot, plus Game Informer to Play and beyond.

Game Developer November Issue Showcases Scribblenauts, The Game Developer 50 [2009-11-06 05:54:00] | (news)
The November 2009 issue of Game Developer magazine is now available, including an exclusive postmortem of 5th Cell's Scribblenauts and this year's top industry people featured in the Game Developer 50.

Analysis: What The (Game) Papers Say - October 2009, Pt. 2 [2009-10-30 05:30:00] | (news)
Game magazine veteran Kevin 'Magweasel' Gifford looks at the month in major game magazines, from Game Informer to OXM and beyond, checking out Epic Mickey covers and headache-inducing 3D ladies.

Editorial: Are Publishers A Necessary Evil? [2009-10-21 03:33:00] | (news)
In an editorial originally published in Game Developer magazine's October 2009 issue, editor-in-chief Brandon Sheffield considers whether the "evil" part of "necessary evil" really applies to game publishers.

Postmortem: Behind The Making Of Sucker Punch's Infamous [2009-10-15 03:33:00] | (news)
Gamasutra presents postmortem notes from Sucker Punch's Infamous, showing the electric-charged PS3 open-world game battling with early focus problems and the "difficult transition" from Sly Cooper to realism.

Game Developer October Issue Showcases Infamous Postmortem [2009-10-09 03:33:00] | (news)
The October 2009 issue of Game Developer magazine is now available, including an exclusive postmortem of Sucker Punch's Infamous and a host of notable columnists discussing pertinent code, art, audio and design issues.

Analysis: What The (Game) Papers Say - October 2009, Pt. 1 [2009-10-06 05:19:00] | (news)
Game magazine veteran Kevin 'Magweasel' Gifford continues his 'What The (Game) Papers Say' round-ups, looking at the major game magazines released this month, from Nintendo Power to OXM and beyond.

Exclusive: Behind The Scenes Of Atlus' Persona 4 [2009-10-06 05:14:00] | (news)
In this Gamasutra-exclusive postmortem, the Atlus team behind Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 discusses what went right and what went wrong in creating the acclaimed RPG, including design challenges and QA woes.

GDC Austin 2009: The Full Coverage [2009-09-21 16:25:00] | (news)
With GDC Austin 2009 complete, Gamasutra has collected its extensive coverage of the show, including session writeups and interviews drawn from the main conference as well as its iPhone, Indie, Audio, and Writers summits.

In-Depth: Inside The Making Of KingsIsle's Wizard101 [2009-09-17 05:08:00] | (news)
Extracting from a postmortem of KingsIsle Entertainment's Wizard101, Gamasutra looks at how the youth-oriented MMO's team battled with business models and iteration to stay on focus and ship the game.

GDC Austin 2009: Highlights From Day Two [2009-09-16 20:53:00] | (news)
Following first day highlights, the second day of GDC Austin 2009 includes details on Sony Online's keynote and major lectures from Valve (on writing), 2D Boy (on life after World Of Goo) and more -- summary within.

GDC Austin: Twisted Pixel Talks 'Splosion Man Postmortem [2009-09-16 14:40:00] | (news)
Mike Henry and Sean Riley from Austin-based indie Twisted Pixel used their Independent Games Summit talk to postmortem the six-month XBLA project and 'Summer Of Arcade' title 'Splosion Man.

Analysis: What The (Game) Papers Say - September 2009 [2009-09-11 02:41:00] | (news)
Game magazine veteran Kevin 'Magweasel' Gifford regularly reviews gaming print media for sister weblog GameSetWatch, and we'll be reprinting his round-ups here on Gamasutra, continuing with a look at early September's debuts.

Game Developer September Issue Showcases Wizard101 Postmortem [2009-09-10 05:08:00] | (news)
The September 2009 issue of Game Developer magazine is now available, including an exclusive postmortem of KingsIsle's MMO Wizard101 and a host of notable columnists discussing pertinent code, art, audio and design issues.

Bonus Feature: The Making Of Crackdown [2009-09-08 06:22:00] | (news)
In a special bonus feature from 2007, the creators of Crackdown examine the creation of the open-world title, with honest detailing of what went right and wrong in its construction.

Opinion: Time For A 'Hot Coffee' Postmortem [2009-09-08 05:39:00] | (news)
As the legal battle closes at last, 'Hot Coffee' ultimately cost Take-Two tens of millions of dollars -- but what was its cost to the rest of the game industry? Gamasutra's Leigh Alexander presses for answers.

Postmortem: Realtime Worlds' Crackdown [2009-09-07 03:00:00] | (feature)
In this Gamasutra bonus feature, published online for the first time in honor of Realtime Worlds' upcoming APB and spinoff studio Ruffian's Crackdown 2, we reprint Game Developer magazine's October 2007 postmortem of RTW's first project, the Xbox 360-exclusive open world action game Crackdown.

Postmortem: Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider: Underworld [2009-09-02 04:05:00] | (feature)
This in-depth postmortem from the creators of the latest Tomb Raider title, originally printed in Game Developer magazine earlier this year, explains exactly what went right and wrong during the making of the critically acclaimed franchise update.

In-Depth: Inside The Making Of High Voltage's The Conduit [2009-08-19 05:14:00] | (news)
Extracting from a postmortem of High Voltage Software's The Conduit, Gamasutra looks at how the Wii first-person shooter's team battled with scheduling and tech issues to stay on focus and ship the game.

Gamasutra Calls For Feature Submissions [2009-08-17 16:22:00] | (news)
Interested in contributing to Gamasutra's feature articles section? Gamasutra is now holding an open call for submissions from game professionals, from tech and design articles to postmortems and beyond.

Indie Games Summit @ GDC Austin Adds Lectures, Early Reg. Deadline Today [2009-08-13 07:33:00] | (news)
Organizers of this September's Independent Games Summit at GDC Austin have added speakers from NinjaBee (Kingdom For Keflings), Twisted Pixel ('Splosion Man) and Broken Rules (And Yet It Moves) ahead of today's registration deadline.

The Game Developer Archives: 'Postmortem: Ensemble's Age of Empires' [2009-08-12 05:47:00] | (news)
In this classic March 1998 postmortem reprinted from sister publication Game Developer magazine, Ensemble Studios reveals the story behind seminal PC real-time strategy game Age Of Empires.

Game Developer August Issue Showcases The Conduit Postmortem, Middleware Showdown [2009-08-12 05:13:00] | (news)
The August 2009 issue of Game Developer magazine is now available, including an exclusive postmortem of High Voltage Software's The Conduit and a special survey of middleware used by game studios.

Hothead's DeathSpank Given Canadian Grant [2009-08-07 05:19:00] | (news)
New Gamasutra-obtained stats from Telefilm, Canada's federal cultural industry agency, reveals a $530,000 funding to help developer Hothead Games' DeathSpank, as well as $70,000 to flesh out former IGF winner, Polytron's Fez.

Feature Postmortem: ngmoco/Demiurge Studios' WordFu [2009-08-05 06:40:00] | (news)
In an in-depth Gamasutra postmortem, the Demiurge team discusses what went right and what went wrong in the development of successful iPhone title WordFu.