Game Design Advance

I guess I don’t really want to be in the habit of just linking off to my own blog, but here we go…

One of the projects at the Eyebeam Mixer last Saturday got me thinking (and rambling) about a topic which has interested me for a while: Applying “game-like” design to creative tools, especially to musical creative tools. The post is a bit long-winded and almost certainly full of misguided opinions, but it seems apropos to this venue, so maybe you’ll get something out of it.

“Game Design & Musical Play” @ Auscillate

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Unless you were living in New York City this past Spring it’s unlikely that you were able to attend any of the series of lectures by game industry luminaries hosted at NYU’s new Game Center and moderated by the Center’s Director Frank Lantz. Well now each of the lectures are available as a podcast through iTunes, which you can find by simply searching ‘NYU Game Center’.

The lecture series included:

• Dr. Ian Bogost, author of Persuasive Games
• Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid
• Warren Spector, creator of Ultima: Underworld, the Thief series, and Deus Ex
• Marc LeBlanc, creator of the MDA framework
• Eric Zimmerman + Katie Salen, co-authors of Rules of Play

 
Highlights from the series include Ian Bogost literally speaking Greek (which is hilarious when you think about it), Jon Blow confessing that he doesn’t really play test his games, and Warren Spector saying that the most important story in a game is the player’s and then saying that he’s more interested in making games with authored stories. Also, if you want to know what I sound like, I’m the guy that asks a question in almost every Q&A session (and isn’t Eric Zimmerman).

The lecture series will be returning in the Fall and those will also be made available in podcast form!

Update: You can also download all the podcasts at the Game Center’s website here.

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