Reading List (November 2018) (Patreon)

Hello everybody! Got some more articles and videos for you to check out! As ever, feel free to send me fun stuff on Twitter, Discord, Patreon comments, or wherever. Always looking to boost the ranks!

I Wrote This

[Read] Nintendo’s New Games Are Miserable for People with Disabilities - Medium asked me to write about how Nintendo’s push for innovative motion controls have left certain players behind. A couple weeks later, Pokemon Lets Go launched with mandatory motion controls when playing on the TV…

Getting Games Made

[Watch | CC] Getting into the games industry - People Make Games follows the story of one man’s tumultuous journey into the games industry - and what can happen when you get there.

[Watch] The Story of Luigi’s Mansion’s Development - A new channel to subscribe to! This chap does lovely fact-hunting stories about games getting made. Start with Luigi, then watch the rest.

[Read] There Are Not “Too Many Games”: What The Indiepocalypse Panic Ignores - A new perspective on the indiepocalypse, and how profit isn’t everything in game dev.

[Watch] Level Design Workshop: Blockmesh and Lighting Tips - Enjoyed this indepth GDC talk on making the bare bones of levels for games like Uncharted. 

[Read] YouTuber hated my game - and I love it! - Every cloud has a silver lining, or so they say. And in this case, an indie dev found that a negative video review of their game was a feedback goldmine. 

[Read] How to survive as an indie developer in mobile games - Belgian indie Barte Bonte has been making games forever so you should probably listen to his advice.

Art and Aesthetics

[Watch | CC] For Better of Worse: Uncharted 4’s Best Minute - Matt goes all in on leitmotifs, to show us how the central story of Uncharted 4 (Nate and Elena’s relationship) is told through music.

[Read] Deconstructing Game Narrative - Part 1: Spider-Man - An interesting blog to follow, about stories in games. In this one, Spider-Man’s three act structure is laid bare. 

[Watch] Spider-Man: The Zip to Point Animation - Dan takes a look at one animation in intense depth. Here, it’s the zip-to-point animation in Spider-Man.

[Watch] Spider-Man and the Effective Use of Musical Cliches - More Spidey! This time, music! 

[Watch] Is Red Dead Redemption 2’s Animation Too Slow? - Dan’s back, and taking on the Red Dead debate with plenty of counter points and counter arguments. 

[Read] 20 years on, Half-Life’s opening tram ride is still an audacious bit of theatre - Can’t believe Half-Life turned 20. That tram ride was massively influential. Bioshock wouldn’t open the way it did without Half-Life. 

[Watch | CC] Creating the Sound for Two Point Hospital - Foley is fun!

[Watch | CC] Are There Benefits to the Absence of Animation? - If there are, Dan (the other Dan) is gonna tell us about them!

Critical Hit

[Read] Red Dead Redemption 2’s Puppet-Like NPCs Clash With Its Meticulous World - I’ve been more interested in the negative takes on Red Dead, rather than the breathless praise. Like this article from Kotaku. 

[Read] The Tin Man of Far Cry 2 - 10 years on from the release of Far Cry 2, designer Clint Hocking has put together a collection of his favourite articles on the game. 

[Read] We got the creator of Deus Ex to review Dishonored, Zelda, and Fallout 4 - Warren Spector’s on the press tour for his new game, Ultima Ascendant (which is getting trashed right now, sadly). As part of that, he’s talked about his views on some immersive sim style games.

[Read] Hampering the search for real criticism: the algoritualism of YouTube culture - Some harsh truths on YouTube game crit. 

Design Speak

[Watch] Why Horror Games Don’t Scare Me - Joseph Anderson talks about the issues surrounding scary games. For me, scary games freak me out more than any other medium. But that’s just me.

[Read] The first person shooter is a dad in mid-life crisis - Robert Yang is the man to read when it comes to FPS design.

[Read] Chatting immersive sims, Underworld Ascendant, and communicating options - More Warren Spector. More immersive sims. 

Culture Club

[Watch] Should Your Boyfriend Play Red Dead Redemption 2? - A funny video about the outsider perspective of Red Dead. 

[Read] How Players Used Shotguns to Tear Open the Fabric of Reality in Spelunky - I have no idea what’s going on and I think I need an adult.

[Watch | CC] Motion Control and the Difficult Path of Progress - This video actually defends motion controls, and separates the careful pointing from the goofy waggling.

[Read] How To Play Long Video Games When You Have No Time - Oh boy do I need this. My secret: the mornings! No one’s awake! It’s perfect! 

Beyond Games

[Watch] Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor - I love this. So much of YouTube film criticism is about the utterly surface level stuff. Plot and easter eggs and stupid made up theories. Dan knows what’s up.

[Watch | CC] Remember When Pixar Accidentally Deleted Toy Story 2? - I didn’t, but I do now!

[Watch | CC] Shaun of the Dead - Why Comedy Needs Character - This movie is just chef kiss emoji all over the place.