Chris Suellentrop's discussions

It’s an expansion pack that doesn’t come in the base $1 game on iPhone. Read more

How about a nice game of chess? Read more

Madden already had a draft in its season and franchise modes. So no, it’s not like a sports draft. It’s like Arena Mode in Hearthstone! Last I checked, NFL franchises were not given only three options for their first-round selections, and the players they do not choose are not eliminated from the draft entirely.… Read more

When I interviewed Brandon Stokley (then a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos) for that Wired story on Madden NFL, he mentioned how the one thing that Madden doesn’t simulate is player tendencies, which for him was the need to know what it means when a particular cornerback stands a certain way on the field. There… Read more

I am clearly making this up as I go along, but each player could play two ways, and maybe you could automate kicking. Being a special-teams specialist would be pretty dull. Read more

This is a fantastic idea. Reward me for ignoring them! Make it two genuine choices, rather than “do” or “don’t do.” It could be “do this thing” or “do this other thing.” Read more

If only that were true. Instead, Max says things like, “That dog has led me right so far. Gotta find it.” Read more

We must strike Lord Scrotus with the Thunderpoon. Read more

Yes, but it might also be more fun to play lethally, and the game does respond to you for doing it—and anytime a game responds to players, the rats are going to press the lever for the cocaine pellets. Jenova Chen gave a good GDC talk about that once: If you don’t want players to do something, the best design is to… Read more

We talk about that tension on the podcast, how the game says it will reward you for playing stealthily but then tries to reward you for being wicked by giving you all these cool ways to kill people. Read more

Maybe they are! Read more

He admits that MGS is a huge influence, and that he wanted to bring back the feeling of the first game. Read more

He is the main villain, and he is fine if a bit cartoonish. He’s not given all that much to do, beyond a few scenes. On the whole, the game is well acted. Read more

Oh, we’re in deep Robin Hood territory, no question. Jim Sterling plays a character named Tuck. Read more

The Vita version has been modestly delayed, but should be coming out soon. And I think it’s a cross-buy, if you get it on PS4. Read more

That’s a different story: “Are the 71 percent of teenage boys who play online and use voice chat ruining online games for everyone, not merely for the 72 percent of teenage girls who play online and don’t use voice chat?” :) Read more

My first stab at this post was “I Play Games Like a Teenage Girl.” Read more

I share this astute reader’s outrage! :) Read more

Yes, and it’s pretty modest, if memory serves. Closer to a “handful” than a “slew.” :) Read more

It doesn’t, but it takes that sort of obsession as a jumping-off point for examining why games are appealing—even to the detriment of some of their players. Read more