News & Views

10/22/16-10/28/16

Happy (almost) Halloween everyone!

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it all into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how voice actors aren’t told what games they are working on, a ten-year journey to release a pixel art indie game, and elaborate revenge scheme in EVE Online, and a nearly 350 hour long ‘speed run.’

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

The Biggest Video Games Don't Tell Voice Actors What Game They're Working On

Emanuel Maiberg, Motherboard

Worth Reading

Thoughts on Fighting Game Difficulty and Casual

Matthew DeLucas, Gamasutra

This Guy Spent 342 Hours Speedrunning a Card-Based JRPG

Patrick Klepek, Waypoint

EVE Online player fakes suicide attempt as part of an elaborate scheme for revenge and money

Steven Messner, PC Gamer

Dungeons of the mind: Tabletop RPGs as social therapy

Chris Berg, Kill Screen

Game Design Deep Dive: Creating an adaptive narrative in Reigns

Francois Alliot, Gamasutra

The Exhausting Ten-Year Journey to Release 'Owlboy'

Patrick Klepek, Waypoint

The Thing's video game sequel got everything right except the Thing

Anthony John Agnello, A.V. Club

News & Views

9/24/16-9/30/16

It’s almost October, my favorite month of the year! Fall arrives in full force, pumpkin spice is everywhere, and Halloween horror fills the air. I’m excited to jump into horror movies I have been putting off all year and play games off my growing backlog.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how Dead Space is one of the best horror games ever made, why Far Cry 2 is one of the best games ever made, and one gamer who has spent nearly 400 hours trying (and failing) to beat his own Super Mario Maker level.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Inside the Troubled Development of Star Citizen

Julia Benson, Kotaku.uk

Worth Reading

After One Year Away, I've Forgotten What Is Happening in 'Destiny'

Patrick Klepek, VICE

SOMA - One Year Later

Frictional Games, Blog

Dead Space is the best damn horror game Capcom never made

Dave Meikleham, Gamesradar

How Devolver Digital is redefining videogame publishing

Steven Messner, PC Gamer

Team 5 on the health of Hearthstone

Cam Shea, IGN

On Far Cry 2

Brendan Chung, Blendo

Game Genie declassified: That summer I played 230 Game Boy games

Keith Stuart, Eurogamer

After 385 Hours, One Player Still Hasn't Beaten Their Hardest 'Mario Maker' Creation

Patrick Klepek, VICE

News & Views

9/17/16-9/23/16

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts them into one convenient place. Check the links below for stories about the limited scale

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

"No One Criticized Bioshock Infinite Before!"

Cameron Kunzelman, This Cage is Worms

Worth Reading

Look through a Nintendo Game Counselor's guide, and image helping someone on the phone

Owen S. Good, Polygon

Better Than Black and White: One Man's Decade-Long Quest to Remake 'Metroid II'

David L. Craddock, VICE

Breaking With the Consensus (and Being OK With That)

Jeremy Parish, US Gamer

GG EZ: Blizzard's Sisyphean struggle to subdue the darkness within us all

Justin Groot, The Meta

In Defense Of Playing Bad Video Games

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Rogue co-creator: permadeath was never supposed to be 'about pain'

Bryant Francis, Gamasutra

The makers of No Man's Sky need to start talking again

Chistopher Livingston, PC Gamer

News & Views

9/10/16-9/16/16

In honor of the BioShock Remastered collection releasing this week, would you kindly check out this News & Views?

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it all into convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the quest to make new games run on very old computers, the crazy story how Microsoft sent out an Xbox One before it was even announced, and what UNDERTALE means one year later.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

BioShock's Jordan Thomas Discusses the Acclaimed Trilogy

Ed Smith, VICE

Worth Reading

The past, present and future of League of Legends studio Riot Games

Phil Kollar, Polygon

Maybe This Is Why Dragon Quest Never Took Off In The West

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

One Man's Quest to Let People Play Games on Their Crappy Computers

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Microsoft Accidentally Sent An Xbox One To A Random Customer Two Months Before It Was Announced

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

A short history of food in videogames

Bhernardo Viana, Kill Screen

Retrospective on UNDERTALE's Popularity

Toby Fox, Undertale.tumblr

Undertale, One Year Later

Peter Lido, Kill Screen

Why A Million People Still Play Multiplayer Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Every Month

Richard Moss, RockPaperShotgun

News & Views

8/27/16-9/2/16

Hey you! Yeah you. I hope you’re having a good day. If not, why not try hanging out here for a bit? I think you will feel a bit better after that. We love everyone here on The Impact Factor.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about Pokémon’s relationship with moral crises, how joy is more ‘adult’ than violence, gamedev in a world in which Super Mario Bros. exists, and an awesome story about how a group of dedicated gamers found (and unlocked) a super hidden secret boss.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Perverted Sentimentality: An Analysis of UNDERTALE

Hbomberguy, YouTube

Worth Reading

The World's Most Dangerous Game: Pokemon's Strange History with Moral Panics

Lana Polansky, VICE

Balancing accessibility against depth in game design

Santana Mishra and Tim Dawson, GDC Vault

How Blind Players Made a Text-Only RPG More Accessible

Ian Williams, VICE

How World of Warcraft players solved a wild puzzle to unlock Legion's rarest world boss

Phillip Kollar, Polygon

Can joy be more 'adult' than violence?

Leigh Alexander, Gamasutra

In defence of Bethesda's notorious videogame glitches

Maddi Chilton, Kill Screen

For the Old Neighborhoods, Both Physical and Digital

Amr Al-Aaser, Paste

The long shadow of Super Mario Bros.

Nathan Altice, Gamasutra

News & Views

8/13/16-8/19/16

So ends a damp, cool, and foggy week in San Francisco. I’ve been waiting since the first hour of Monday for this.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it all into one convenience place. Check out the links below for stories about how a developer’s hypoglycemia is represented in his games, how Super Mario 64 introduced the camera as a new character, and a look into a growing mystery that links 19 seemingly unrelated games together.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Magic and gender in Final Fantasy VI

Kathryn Hemmann, Kill Screen

Worth Reading

Death and Consequences in Game Design

Chris Solarski, Gamasutra

How SWERY's Reactive Hypoglycemia Manifests Itself In His Video Games

Laura Kate Dale, VICE

On Monsters, Role Playing, and Blackness

Gita Jackson, Giantbomb

Against Representation

Aevee Bee, Zeal

Super Mario 64 introduced the camera as friend and foe in video games

A.A. Dowd, Matt Geradi, John Teti, and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, A.V. Club

With Comments

How -Not What- To Think About New cards

Popsychblog, Reddit/r/hearthstone

This poster on Reddit offers an interesting insight into how to view new cards. Pros and amateurs alike are routinely wrong about the power level of new cards. There are so many factors, it’s hard to really know. Poppsychblog suggests a common rubric on how to value a new card’s merit that’s irrespective of meta context. Interesting thoughts!

No Man's Sky and the Joy of Being Stranded

Alex Newhouse, Gamespot

No Man’s Sky is a polarizing game. Some love it, some hate it. Like many of the ‘big’ games of our time, it has certainly fueled interesting writing. Alex Newhouse discusses the joy of being stranded alone in an unthinkably vast universe. I’m not sure that’s what I am looking for in games, but that No Man’s Sky can provide that feeling is something truly special.

These Mysterious Symbols Have Been in 19 Video Games and No One Knows Why

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Well, Frog Fractions 2 here we come! Jokes aside, this is a crazy story. 19 seemingly unrelated games have these symbols appearing. Symbols that, once decoded, seem to assemble into some kind of map (or electrical circuit?). With the Overwatch Sombra ARG in full force, I’ve been really into following the hard work of others in deciphering these cryptic messages. Here’s to hoping it builds to something really cool.

News & Views

8/6/16-8/12/16

We’re living in plentiful times, folks. Everyone expects summer gaming to be slow and boring, but I’ve had an experience quite the opposite. Summer 2016 has been a fantastic time for indies & other smaller games. I recently finished I Am Setsuna, a nice throwback to the JRPGs of yesteryear. Early this week I finished and platinumed Double Fine’s Headlander. And now I’m deep into Hyper Light Drifter (which is freakin’ fantastic so far.) Once that’s done, I still have ABZU, Bound, and Batman: A Telltale Series to get to. It’s a good time to be playing video games.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games. Check out the links below for stories about how food can evoke a particular brand of fantasy, why putting a score on your video game review is useless, and the galaxy-wide quest to find No Man’s Sky’s giant sand serpent.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Patch the Process

Rami Ismail, Ramiismail.com

Worth Reading

The More You Know: Making Decisions Interesting In Games

Jon Shafer, Gamasutra

Furi is Difficulty Done Right

Matt Sayer, Unwinnable

Food Is the Secret Ingredient in Vanillaware's Games

Todd Harper, VICE

Sonic boom: Ellie Gibson on nostalgia, novelty, and that 9/10

Ellie Gibson, Eurogamer

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is Too Similar to Hearthstone

Holly Green, Paste

Why Video Game Scores are Useless

Josh Bycer, Gamasutra

With Comments

The Game Germany Deemed 'Harmful to Minors'

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Klepek’s investigative reporting gives us insight into something we almost never see: the reasoning behind why a game gets its content rating. This article takes a look at the German video game review board and their decision to not rate the controversial Criminal Girls 2. If nothing else, this is worth reading for insights into the previously only speculated.

The Hunt For No Man's Sky's Mysterious Giant Snake

Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku

I love stories like this. No Man’s Sky had a lot of trailers, but even I remember the giant sand snake that slithered its way into the hearts & minds of fans around the world. The procedural generation in the game means that it is unlikely for a giant snake to spawn that perfectly resembles the one in the trailer, but that hasn’t stopped the hunt. Fans across the world are scouring No Man’s Sky’s billions of worlds in search for the elusive creature. I hope they find it!

News & Views

7/9/16-7/15/16

As a surprise to absolutely no one, it turns out a full Ph.D. student lab workweek after a tropical vacation feels absolutely awful. But I made it through. I guess? Anyway, onto the goods.

News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing and puts it all into one convenient place. Check out the links below for tons of Pokemon GO think pieces, what creators need to think about when designing narrative in VR, and a spotlight on one of the world’s earliest MMOs.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Studio 360

Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker

Worth Reading

Videogames and the art of deception

Matt Sayer, Kill Screen

The perverse beauty of streaming the Democratic National Convention on Twitch

Justin Groot, Kill Screen

I hate Wizard Quest - finishing a simple game in 4 years

Andrzej Mazur, Gamsutra

Lucasfilm Games' forgotten 1986 online game is making a surprising return

Colin Lecher, The Verge

Gotta Catch 'Em All, Or At Least A Few: A Pokemon Neophyte Tries 'Pokemon GO'

Glen Weldon, NPR

With Comments

Pokemon Go Isn't Very Good but It Will Be Huge Anyway

Austin Walker, VICE

Walker puts into words a lot of what I’ve been thinking. Pokemon GO isn’t very good. That’s not to say it is a bad game, but it certainly isn’t a good one. Nor the game I think it could have been. But that’s all irrelevant. Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm in a way I never thought possible. As a game, Pokemon GO falls flat. As a cultural phenomenon, it’s deeply fascinating.

Pokemon Go shows that Nintendo's franchises are way bigger than its hardware

Andrew Webster, The Verge

A “no duh” article, but one that was worth writing. If you listen to the podcast, you’ll already know how I feel about Nintendo – they should stop making hardware and just release their games on other platforms. Pokemon GO shows that this would be more than financially viable for the company. People clearly don’t care about Nintendo hardware anymore (see the New 3DS or the Wii U), but people are absolutely crazy about their IP. It’s time to move on, Nintendo.

News & Views

6/25/16-7/1/16

Hey everyone, I’m vacationing this week so I’ll keep this brief. News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing and puts it into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the man behind the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter, how the fighting game community might handle top-down management, and why visibility is not enough for underrepresented grounds in video games.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

ON THE END OF ALL THINGS: Dark Souls on the GBA in 2003

Rafeal Montero, Mammon Machine

Worth Reading

Visibility is Not Enough

Heather Alexandra, Giantbomb

How Mother 3 Escaped Development Hell to Become a Modern Classic

Bob Mackey, US Gamer

Talking to the man behind Sonic the Hedgehog's incredible Twitter

Andrew Webster, The Verge

"N****r" and other words I learned while playing Overwatch

Marcus Garrett, Top Shelf Gaming

We eSports Now? Capcom's Sponsor Ban Introduces the FGC to Top-Down Governance

Luis Baez, Shoryuken

How WASD became the standard PC control scheme

Tyler Wilde, PC Gamer

'Its the age of the self': how Kim Kardarshian gamified her life and made $100 million doing it

Kwame Opman, The Verge

News & Views

6/18/16-6/24/16

I'm so excited for this week to be finally ending! It was my first full week back at lab after E3 and it felt like it. On top of all that, next week I'll be heading out to vacation so working on my experiments felt even longer! I know what you're thinking -- don't worry! The Impact Factor never skips a beat. We'll have TIF Plays on Monday, a new article on Tuesday, and a brand new episode of the podcast on Friday. Please be excited.

News & Views compiles the week's best video game writing into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how millennial gamers may be shaping Las Vegas, Konami's living death at E3 2016, and how DOTA2 eSports might be nearing its Moneyball moment.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

The World As We Know It Has Changed, But Let's Think About Video Games I Guess

Keza MacDonald, Kotaku UK

Worth Reading

How Gaming Millennials Are Forcing Las Vegas' Hand

Guest Post, Unwinnable

Animal Crossing's Strange, Unresolved Conflict

Ian Bogost, Gamasutra

You may never look at the Super Mario series the same way again

Allegra Frank, Polygon

The Reasons Behind God of War's Bold New Direction

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

What does Clash of Clans maker's $10 billion sale say about the future of gaming?

Kyle Orland, ars technica

Konami's state of living death at E3 2016

Jordan Minor, Geek

With Comments

Are 4K visuals really the best use for Project Scorpio and PlayStation Neo?

Richard Leadbetter, Eurogamer

E3 2016 brought about the first official announcement of this next (new?) console generation. Microsoft bragged about Project Scorpio and how it will deliver 4K visuals for both movies and games alike. Rumored specs for the PlayStation Neo suggest it too will be going into 4K. Richard Leadbetter of Eurogamer argues that maybe pushing for 4K isn’t the best use of the power in these machines. I know I don’t really care so much about 4K, especially if it is at the expense of running games at 60FPS. I guess we’ll see in the year to come.

DOTA 2 might be nearing its Moneyball moment

Will Partin, Kill Screen

I love this. I loved what Oakland did to make the A’s relevant all those years back, and it’s fascinating to see the same ideas take shape in DOTA eSports. The notion that you could assemble a statistically strong squad, just going by in-game performance and role filling, and have that team be exceptional? So cool. I’ll be keeping my eye on the DOTA scene, looking for that Moneyball moment.

Guns, games and violence: The real questions you should be asking

Brian Crecente, Polygon

Crecente’s piece must have taken courage to write. In it, he suggests guns' depictions in video games may not be as innocuous as we’ve been led to believe. The argument is a complex one with no real answer. Many studies have been done showing no link between playing video games and real life gun violence, but nothing de rigeur has been performed. I strongly believe there is no correlation, but the guns in games could have any number of other effects. For example, I can tell the difference between a FAMAS and a UMP-45 and a M4A1 just by looking, and that’s insane. Why should I know anything about these deadly weapons? As games continue to get bigger, maybe we’ll get a better view into the bigger picture. Until then, just game responsibly and be actively engaged in what your children are playing. It couldn’t hurt.

News & Views

5/7/16-5/13/16

Hello and happy Friday! I know that I’m looking forward to the weekend, what about you? My last few have been relatively busy, so I can’t wait to just relax with the fiancée, watch some K Dramas, and play the heck out of Uncharted 4. It has been fantastic so far.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games. Check out the links below to stories about the best hand animations in first-person games, the artists and art that inspired Dark Souls, an argument for better systems in place to stop racist Twitch chat, and an opus on Lionhead studio from origin to closure.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Lionhead: The inside story

Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer

Worth Reading

The creator of Persona on life, Japanese culture, and the unconscious

Zack Kotzer, Kill Screen

Hero Shooters: Charting the (re)birth of a genre

Alex Wawro, Gamasutra

Visions of Hell: Dark Souls's Cultural Heritage

Gareth Damian Martin, Kill Screen

Uncharted 4 is the best (and possibly last) game of its kind

Chris Plante, The Verge

TheFallout 4 Survival Permadeath Run That Turned Preston Garvey Into A Monster

Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku

With Comments

The best hand animations in first-person games

Christopher Livingston, PC Gamer

What a fascinating spotlight article. Hand animations are an essential part of so many games today. In my experience I don’t tend to notice when they are bad, but holy cow do you notice when they are done well. One of 2016’s best games, Firewatch, features great hand animations. The article is worth reading for the gifs alone.

"Enough is enough": Confessions of a Twitch chat moderator

Carling Filewich, GosuGamers

I’ve had it with Twitch chat for large gaming tournaments. An unacceptable level of “trolling” i.e. racist, sexist, disgusting vitriol is allowed to happen. I was so excited to see TerrenceM play at Dreamhack this past weekend – and he was playing great. To see what was happening in the chat every time he was spotlighted made me sick to my stomach, though. Enough is enough. If Twitch users can’t responsibly chat, there shouldn’t be chat at all.

8 Reasons Why Final Fantasy XII is the Most Underrated Game in the Series

Alex Gilyadov, Paste

Alex Gilyadov presents some compelling arguments as to why you shouldn’t immediately write off the much-maligned Final Fantasy XII. I enjoyed playing XII contemporary to its release, but the game never really clicked with me. Do I think it is the most underrated game in the series? Actually? Maybe. There are several overrated Final Fantasy titles (VIII comes to mind), but not too many that are underrated. So congrats, Final Fantasy XII. At least you have that going for you. (P.S. The Zodiark fight is still bullcrap)

Dark Souls Is A Metaphor For These Things ONLY

Philippa Warr, RockPaperShotgun

Philippa Warr’s piece on RPS is the Dark Souls of articles. Haha, joking. I, too, am guilty of describing things as the “Dark Souls of ____.” Warr’s comedic take on this now common gaming jargon is great and well worth reading. Not that I agree with all her points, of course. But I supposed I couldn’t fully agree, since The Impact Factor is the Dark Souls of gaming blogs. Ok, sorry. That’s the last one I promise.

News & Views

4/9/16-4/15/16

News & Views collects the week’s best gaming writing. Check out below for stories about the environmental storytelling of corpses, when is the right time to show off your eSport strategy, how Final Fantasy XV has a good message about toxic masculinity, and how Spelunky makes perfect maps. Apologies for not having comments this week- today is a whirlwind!

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

The Minecraft Generation

Clive Thompson, The New York Times Magazine

Worth Reading

'Final Fantasy XV' Sends an Important Message About Toxic Masculinity

Natalie Rachel, FemHype

Learn how Spelunky creates a 'perfect' map every time you play

Ben Kuchera, Polygon

Final Fantasy VII's Legacy Gets Everything About Final Fantasy VII Wrong

Harry Mackin, Paste

That Time A Publisher Turns A Teenage Fantasy Into Their Entire Marketing Campaign

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

Attempting to master Hearthstone in 30 days

Richard Procter, Polygon

Should You Save It For Nationals?

David Graham, Redbull

Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! still has secrets to share, 29 years later

Owen S. Good, Polygon

A Garden of Bodies

Bruno Dias, Giantbomb

So you want to write a trans character

Katherine Cross, Gamasutra

A Tragic Story Of Two Best Friends Who Loved Dark Souls

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

News & Views

3/12/16-3/18/16

Happy Friday everyone! This week has been an interesting one. I’m thankful to be heading into the weekend though, especially considering that all of Daredevil S2 just posted this morning. How many will I watch? Only time will tell. The excellent Salt & Sanctuary might dampen my binge watching a bit. The game is so good!

News & Views is your weekly dose of excellent gaming writing. Opinion pieces, editorial, uncovered stories and more! Check out the links below for great articles about the brilliance of Downwell’s gunboots, why an increasing number of women are choosing virtual boyfriends over the real deal, and how Supercell has one of the most ruthless production dogmas in the business.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Subverting Player Expectation

Pete Ellis, Gamasutra

Worth Reading

Mega Man, In Love and Death

Zack Kotzer, Kill Screen

The Tricky Brilliance of Downwell's Gunboots

Caty McCarthy, Kill Screen

Branching dialogue trees poorly serve narrative games, says GDC panel

Colin Campbell, Polygon

How Fragments of Him tells a tough, tearjerking story -- and why Destiny should, too

Allegra Frank, Polygon

Why Women Are Choosing Virtual Boyfriends Over Real Ones

Pip Usher, Vogue

With Comments

This Is Your Brain on Esports

Patrick Miller, Giantbomb

I’ve held the belief that Street Fighter II did more than eat my quarters. It taught me how to adapt on the fly, to master a strategy, and to better myself. Fighting games have long been part of my gaming wheelhouse and for a good reason—the same reason that Patrick Miller writes about. Fighting games can teach you how to learn. There aren’t many better vehicles for self-improvement than eSports, and for me specifically, fighting games. Give them a shot.

Quality is worth killing for: Supercell's ruthless approach to production

Kris Graft, Gamasutra

Following widespread talk about the game online, I downloaded my first Supercell game ever last week: Clash Royale. I bemoaned the unbelievable success of what felt like the disingenuous and debatably terrible Clash of Clans. I hated what it represented. But Clash Royale is actually quite fun. It got me thinking. How does Supercell make such huge hits? Turns out the answer is quite simple: ruthless production. The company is unafraid to kill projects left and right if they don’t meet the right level of quality. Graft spotlights Supercell’s fascinating approach to game development. Well worth reading.

The game design philosophy that explains why HOTS players are so nice

Sharang Biswas, Zam

I’ve always wondered why Heroes of the Storm has a tolerable online community. I would even go so far to say that it’s an exceptional one, considering that the game is a MOBA. I’ve had my own theories, most of which align with the points raised by Sharan Biswas in this excellent piece. It all comes down to smart game design. Biswas and others suspect that much of the MOBA hostility comes from fighting over shared resources & responsibilities. Heroes alleviates some of this tension (and subsequent toxicity) by offering players fewer choices (less ways to ‘screw up’ on a macro-level), no gold economy (simplicity), team experience points (feeling of unification, focuses fight on enemy and less between members of the same team). All of these design decisions reduce inherent intra-team hostility. No wonder Heroes is by far my favorite MOBA.

Why is Danganronpa so viciously appealing?

Cassandra Khaw, Eurogamer

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc is an awesome game. It really is. But why? Why do we have so much fun playing as a group of teenagers trapped in a school who are forced to kill each other? Cassandra Khaw shares some insight as to why. To summarize her article briefly: children are monsters. They lack the full grasp on what it means to operate in a civil society, and therefore their interactions can be fascinating. Further, Danganronpa plays with our deep-seated mistrust of others, since we can never know someone’s true intentions. And finally, kids are our future. So it is extra unsettling when we see harm coming their way. You should read the article and you should play Danganronpa. Which reminds me, I have the sequel sitting untouched on my Vita. That needs to be fixed.