Monthly Archives: May 2007

Board Games vs. Video Games

Memorial weekend has slipped by. My folks were visiting from out of town. They asked the usual questions about what I do, and only time will tell if my answers were more satisfying than usual. (I’m think that analogies to retail businesses help.)

We did not play video games.

Given my occupation, why is that the case? Because I don’t currently own any video games that would do a better job of bringing us together (and creating time/space to chat) than old-fashioned, non-digital Scrabble or Blokus. So we played Blokus.

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Via C3, word that MSNBC has launched Newsbreaker — basically Breakout but with news headlines that appear when you destroy bricks. Initial gut reaction: seems like a gimmick of the less fruitful kind; comprehension of the news has too little … Continue reading

What XBLA Fans Want

Yesterday, the XBLA team posted on Microsoft’s Gamerscore blog for the first time. Our purpose: to ask the community what it wants (games, service features, etc.)

I’ve read about 500 comments, and I’m nowhere near the end of the list. :-)

The feedback is telling. If you’re very interested in XBLA, check it out. Of course, bear in mind that people commenting on Gamerscore are (generally) pretty hardcore. Nevertheless, their opinions definitely matter — they usually buy a lot of games and they generate plenty of buzz for us.

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The Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab is hiring postdocs and game development staff. Postdocs will be required to fulfill a combination of teaching, management, research and publishing roles. Applicants for staff positions should have at least three years of industry experience … Continue reading

Group Storytelling

I have an idea for a web 2.0 game (mmMMMmmm…. buzz words.) It came to me while I was struggling with writer’s block.

“Group storytelling” has been around for a while. The basic idea is: one person starts telling a story, then the next person continues the story in whatever manner they please, with or without regard for the intentions of the first storyteller. I remember telling chain stories in elementary school, and I remember participating in chain stories on message boards (back in the days of modems and BBSs.)

So, imagine Digg.com meets group storytelling. People submit the beginnings of stories. The community votes on the winner. Then people submit subsequent portions of the story, and the community votes on those. Mix, pour, repeat, until the story ends.

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