Kotaku: Gamasutra

Rage Creators Were Unprepared for Tough Questions, Reporter Asserts

Kirk Hamilton — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:30:00 EDT

Rage Creators Were Unprepared for Tough Questions, Reporter Asserts" alt="Click here to read Rage Creators Were Unprepared for Tough Questions, Reporter Asserts" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2011/10/small_rage_03b.jpg"/>

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago, Gamasutra's Brandon Sheffield ran an interview with id Software's CEO Todd Hollenshead about Rage. In the interview, Sheffield expressed some doubts about the game, and wasn't convinced by many of Hollenshead's answers. It was a solid piece of journalism, and as our own Stephen Totilo pointed out, it's the kind of interview we could use more of. More »

Free Running Through Popular Culture

torif — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:20:46 EDT

In an article over at Gamasutra, Andy Robertson takes a look at the use of popular culture in video games, specifically Parkour (or Free Running). He takes an in-depth look at some of the games that have used Parkour, namely Crackdown and Assassin's Creed, and discusses what they did really well, and what leaves much to be desired for free-running fans. More »

Diagnosing Completion Anxiety Disorder

torif — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:00:15 EDT

Some of you may remember, way back in my blurb introducing myself to Kotaku, I mentioned I'm bad about not finishing games. I wasn't kidding. I have completed an embarrassingly low number of games, and I always though this made me a bit of a freak amongst my fellow gamers. But according to an opinion piece by Leigh Alexander of Gamesetwatch and Gamasutra, I may not be quite the abnormality I thought I was. She argues that gamers on the whole are completing fewer games now than they did in the past. There's a whole host of reasons she suggests as to why this is happening: Too long? Not engaging enough? Too challenging? No time to finish? Alexander's reason I identify with most with is inability to part with the experience. When you put hours and hours into character development, quests, and skill honing, it's hard to break away from that experience with the conclusion of a game. More »

Mag Announces Top 50 Developers

torif — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:00:50 EST

A new study from Gamasutra and sister divisions Game Developer magazine and Game Deveolper Research division has selected the top 50 developers in the gaming industry today. It was based on reputation and sales data, through anonymous surveys and assessments of sales charts in the US, the UK, and Japan, the number of games released each year, and the average metacritic rating. While the sales data is handy, the all-encompassing approach taken by the study to include reputation, as well, makes this study interesting. According to Gamasutra, "the resulting report is the only multi-input empirical ranking available for game development studios." More »

Gamasutra Catches Up With Alexey Pajitnov

fdemarco — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST

Gamasutra has a great article up right now in which they pay a call on gaming pioneer Alexey Pajitnov. For the uninformed, Pajitnov is the creator of a a little game called Tetris. They caught up with him at the GameCity conference in Nottingham, England before a viewing of the documentary Tetris: From Russia With Love to discuss his views on such subjects as the casual gaming scene (including Katamari Damacy), his new projects and the history of Tetris. It's some terrific weekend reading if you have some free time if only to hear the perspective of a true old school gamer on the modern gaming scene. Also, if you have never seen one of the several documentaries that follow the long arduous history of one of the most addicting games ever made, do yourself a favor and check one out. It's an amazing story filled with more drama and intrigue than most soap operas. More »

Gamasutra Lists Top 5 Trends of 2007

Mark Wilson — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:40:23 EST

We love Top [fill in number] [fill in noun] of [fill in year] lists around here. And Gamasutra's was no exception. They sum up this year's trends with just five points. More »

Game Design, From Bottom-Up to Top-Down

Maggie Greene — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:00:28 EST

I've been catching up on my backlog of unrelated-but-kinda-academic gaming articles from the past two weeks, and this one from Gamasutra caught my eye - the topic is game design, but a very nuts and bolts description of the two basic approaches to designing games (that usually get blended to some degree or another). From concept to core to verbs and back again, via mechanics and context (wheeee!), it's a nice explanation of the various stages of design and how the relate to each other. Despite liberal use of the prefix 'meta-,' it's really an interesting article on putting it all together that's not particularly inaccessible - I always like to see the theories behind (actual) game design and structure, since it usually bears an uncanny resemblance to things I'm much more familiar with: More »

The 'Secret Ingredient' of Game Design - Game Feel

Maggie Greene — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:00:48 EST

While the rest of us were lounging off our Thanksgiving dinners, the people over at Gamasutra were busy putting up some interesting articles - including one on the 'secret ingredient' of games - the feel of a game. It's an attempt at quantifying that part of game play that is harder to put your finger on than flashy graphics or a killer soundtrack, or even a great control scheme. It's a nice change from a lot of the game design chatter that goes on - it's to the point, a breezy read, and is grounded in more than 'wouldn't it be neat if ...' thinking: More »

'The History of Zork'

Maggie Greene — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:30:31 EDT

Gamasutra has published the second installment of its series that "present[s] in-depth histories of the first ten games voted into the Digital Game Canon," and the subject this time is Zork. It's a fun look back, and perhaps forward - at least according to the author, who says flat out that "My goal is to persuade you that the text adventure is still a viable genre for modern gamers, even in an age when software and hardware developers are making breakthrough after breakthrough in graphics and animation." More »

PSP, Success Or Failure?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:20:33 EDT

Gamasutra's latest Analyze This column asks videogame analysts about their current impressions of Sony's PlayStation Portable and how the PSP can be improved. More »

Gamestop: Nintendo Holding Back Wiis

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:40:11 EDT

Still having a hard time finding a Wii? Blame Nintendo. Gamasutra reports that Gamestop COO Dan Matteo touched on Wii scarcity in a recent investor conference call: More »

Nintendo, Sony Hitting E for All Expo

Brian Crecente — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:00:27 EDT

Gamasutra is reporting that both Nintendo and Sony have signed up to make some showing at the upcoming E For All Expo. More »

Phil Harrison Vs. Gamasutra

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:00:24 EST

Oh, the internet drama. Phil Harrison's said many stupid things, but he claims he's been misquoted by a game site. Just listen to what he tells Newsweek's N'Gai Croal: More »

Analyst: PS3 First, Wii Third By 2010

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:40:39 EST

It might not have been the best day for Sony in terms of news and reception from gamers, but at least one research firms backs them up. Gamasutra spoke with research group Screen Digest's Ed Barton to get the skinny on why even though Barton thinks PS2-level success won't be seen in this generation, the PS3 will still come out on top. More »

Capcom Clears Up Clover Closing

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:30:08 EST

When darling developer Clover was shut down by Capcom corporate, following a string of gorgeous and fun to play games that failed to perform at retail, it smacked of giant corporate entity unjustly squashing its arthouse underdog. In the Gamasutra interview published today, Capcom's Charles Bellfield helps to add clarity to the situation, giving a helpful peek at the structure of the Japanese company that published Viewtiful Joe and Okami. More »

Gamasutra Presents The Quantum Leap Awards

fdemarco — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 11:00:00 EST

No, we're not talking about the absolutely genius show starring Scott Bakula, we're talking about games, of course! In particular, multiplayer games. Gamasutra has put together a list of the most important, groundbreaking multiplayer games of all time compiled from comments by readers and industry professionals. The list of games was so varied, that they decided just to list the best comments that they received for certain games. The esteemed list includes titles like Wii Sports, Double Dragon, Battlefield 1942, Bomberman and Golden Eye. More »

Harmonix Speaks On Future Music Games

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:40:14 EST

In light of the news that Neversoft would be taking over development duties for future Guitar Hero games, many wondered what original creator Harmonix would take on next. Now, we know just a bit more about the company's upcoming development plans, with Harmonix producer Daniel Sussman telling Gamasutra: More »

Wii Sports: The Most Important Game of 2006?

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 18:40:39 EST

Industry rag Gamasutra has published its Quantum Leap awards for 2006, citing five video games from the past year that excelled in "innovation and advancing the state of the art of the industry." You already know number one. It's Wii Sports. More »

Analysts: PS2 Rules 06, Xbox 360 Disappointing

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:20:29 EST

Gamasutra asked video game market analysts to wrap up their thoughts on the year 2006, picking their brains on the health and performance of the industry. While most were positive on the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter went a bit more negative, namely on underperforming sales of the Xbox 360. More »

Perpetual Lays Off 35, Delays MMO

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:40:09 EST

The San Francisco-based developer, currently working on both Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising for Sony Online Entertainment and Star Trek Online, saw a large reduction in work staff this week. More »

GSW: My Cup Runneth Over

Brian Crecente — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:07:04 EST

Simon Carless, who is, I'm sure, even busier than I am, just announced that he's moving GameSetWatch from the daily post-a-thon model to the thoughtful post occasionally model. Not that the two can't ever meet, they do, I believe, meet quite a bit on Kotaku. But trying to maintain a daily site with a lot of quantity and quality can be overwhelming at times and knowing what Carless does in his non-existent free time, I understand the decision. More »

Game Industry Folk Sound Off On Wii vs. PS3 Purchase

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:30:21 EST

We outsiders will Nintard, Xbot, and Sony Defense Force each other to death, but what do people in the industry think of this year's newest consoles? With which next-gen system are they aligning themselves? Industry pub Gamasutra took the time to ask video game professionals across the industry what they'll be buying this holiday season. More »

The Anti Bullying Game

Brian Crecente — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:00:27 EDT

How many universities does it take to make a bad video game? It sounds like nine, according to Gamasutra. More »

Lawyers Attack Game Site For Academy Awards Comparison (It Didn't Make)

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 03:22:24 EDT

The Academy Awards. Hollywood's opportunity to bask in itself and spend loads of money on limos, parties and wooing Academy members to vote for "important" motion pictures. Last week, Gamasutra ran an article, which compared a planned Japanese game award show to the Oscars. The Academy's sue-happy lawyers jumped down Gamasutra's throat: More »

Simon Says: Read This

Brian Crecente — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:00:21 EDT

Simon's got a nice round-up on GameSetWatch of some of the interesting games-related stories you may have missed in the past day or so. And I don't just say that because he links both to Kotaku and one of my Rocky articles. More »

SCi Accused of Theft and Sabotage

Brian Crecente — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:00:02 EDT

There's a bit of a brouhaha brewing between SCi and Hungarian developers MGE and Mithis Entertainment. Over the weekend The Sunday Times reported that Eidos was being investigated by police in Hungary over allegations that the company stole software from them, including source code for Battlestations: Midway, and sabotaged their computers. More »

The Museum of Dissected Games

brownlee — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:00:10 EDT

If you're like me, whenever you read a Gamasutra postmortem, you just immediately scroll down to 'What Went Wrong'. Kotaku readers know as well as I do that the real fun of things is to be had when someone fucks up. It's as depressing to read a Gamasutra postmortem about a good game like System Shock 2 as it is riveting to read one about a bad game like Trespasser. That one in particular is great: what should have been a Gormenghast trilogy sized "What Went Wrong" bullet list actually has a sizable "What Went Right" portion that is just precious. Go read it. More »

Accordion Hero Post-Mortem

brownlee — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:40:59 EST

To coincide with the imaginary release of the best polka game ever made, Gamasutra has posted a hilarious postmortem of Accordion Hero, the game where you "polka your way up from Der Rathskeller to Oktoberfest in Munich!" More »

Sony Denies God of War 2, GT4 Online

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 16:21:13 EST

Gamasutra followed up with Sony regarding Eurogamer's leaked tidbits on updates to two ultra-popular PlayStation 2 franchises, God of War and Gran Turismo. You might remember the story from earlier this week, that saw Eurogamer posting details, and release dates, for a PS2 sequel to last year's action-adventure smash hit, and the long-promised online edition of Polyphony Digital's racing sim. The info was allegedly culled from marketing materials that someone wasn't supposed to see — at least outside of an NDA. More »

Read Game Set Watch

Brian Crecente — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 09:00:31 EST

Gamasutra has started its own blog. GameSetWatch is edited by Simon Carless and written by a laundry list of some of my favorite bloggers: GeenOnStun's Michael McWhertor, Wonderland's Alice Taylor, Edge Magazine's Brandon Boyer, LostLevel's Frank Cifaldi and Insert Credit's Brandon Sheffield. More »