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Hello!
Right, now we've got some articles. There's also a list of some
that are on their way, real soon now! Honest!
Well the titles are:
The
Making of...Grand Theft Auto - Edge #164. Extra special
six whole pages on the creation of one of the most influential,
polished and fun games of, um, ever. Ended up with comments
from six people involved in this one, which was a lot of interviewing,
so I must remember to stick to 8-bit games in future. Unfortunately
this one's a special bonus mystery appearance, as due to an
oversight I didn't get listed as a contributor. Doh.
The
Making of...3D Monster Maze - Edge #161. Hurrah! The world's
most futurophilic magazine covers a silent, black and white
ZX81 game, albeit one that richly deserves the remembering.
The
Making of...Alter Ego - Edge #158, the result of a fascinating
chat with the game's author Dr Peter Favaro. A unique, timeless
classic that combines the flexibility of textual descriptions
without forcing the user to type. Should be compulsory for all
new parents, to see life again through the eyes of a baby. You
can play an Intenettified version right here.
Edge's ABCs are once again, ahem, 'edging' higher. Glad to see
I'm fighting the ever-downward spiral of games magazine readership.
The
Making of...Zarch - Three
further lovely pages published in Edge #155, November 2005 about
this highly regarded, but now almost forgotten, David Braben
arcade classic. Currently has a grand total of zero Internet
fan pages, which must be a first for any game at all.
The
Making of...Mercenary - Three lovely looking pages, published
in Edge #153, September 2005. Freshly published ABC figures
place Edge as one of the very few computer games magazines to
have increased its circulation. COINCIDENCE? Anyway, will post
it up when the joint copyright with Future expires. I wouldn't
hold your breath. Well, unless you can hold your breath until
next March, anyway.
Retrovision
Report - Two page article on Retrovision 5, published in
Retro Gamer #14, March 2005.
Exciting Trivia
Fact #1 : I didn't actually go to the show, due to a bad case
of Winter Vomiting disease. I cunningly stitched the report
together by sub-contracting the leg work to Mat 'Mayhem' Allen
and Andrew 'Merman' Fisher, then blended the results into my
background research (regular curries with organiser Mark Rayson).
The result was then spat back onto the editorial table as a
delicious blend of words and images. With stitches.
Exciting Trivia
Fact #2 : This was the last issue of Retro Gamer that any Freelances,
including me, actually got paid for. Which was a damn good job,
and makes me exceptionally relieved as I had paid off my co-authors
before receiving my own cheque.
I may post this
when I get around to clearing it with my collaborators.
Clearly Minter
- Cover article for Retro Gamer #12 January 2005. A
history of Llamasoft, which is a tricky thing to write or say
anything new about as its a subject so exhaustively covered
elsewhere. This was designed as part history, part introduction
to the modern world of Llamasoft.
BASIC Instinct
- Published in Retro Gamer #5 June 2004. Back in 'the
day' we were all quite, quite, mad. That's the only reason I
can think why we'd spend days typing in listings from
magazines. This article chronicles some of those heady times,
and mourns the lack of online coverage of Our Games Heritage.
Features the BASIC game 'Sticky', for Spectrum emulators.
Not Spectrums, unless you really, really like 'bullet time'.
Get On Board - Article
published in Develop, October 2003. Encourages
computer game designers to think about board
games, what they should consider and why they're
a good idea.
How Computer Games are Really
Played - Describes from observation how
actual game players differ from game designers
idea of the ideal player. Essentially became the
notes for...
I am the Designer,
You are the Player. I Outrank You! - Appeared in April 2003
issue of Develop under the title 'Player Power'.
Fire! Fire! - What
the fire button is for, and where designs go
wrong when they don't realise this. The basis for
the game 'Sticky' that went with BASIC Instinct,
above.
Lying for Fun and Profit -
Creative uses of Cognitive Dissonance -
Unbelievably pretentious title for an article
describing the design philosophy behind our card
games Elementary, my dear Watson and Spin
Doctor
If you've got an appetite for
articles, that may even now be slightly whet,
then can I suggest the following:
World Of
Stuart - Archive of freelance games
journalist Stuart Campbell's work. Superb stuff.
If I needed an article writing I'd give him a
job. But I don't. So I shalln't.
House of Nash - Archive of freelance games journalist Jonathan
Nash's work. Superb stuff. If I needed an article writing I'd
give him a job. But I still don't. So I still shalln't. He'd
have to fight Stuart. Probably bare knuckle. Update! Now superbly
featuring no pages! He's a sly one.
Costik.com - Greg
Costikyan's article archive is well worth a look.
This man co-wrote the Paranoia RPG so clearly has
a deep understanding of the strengths of
different genres.
Seanbaby.com - Not
updated since about 1806, but still good.
Seanbaby is one of the funniest people on the
NetWeb. Just a warning though, Don't read these
articles at work. Not because they're
particularly rude or offensive (most were in
magazines) but because all your colleagues will
come rushing round to see what you're laughing
at, and won't believe you when you pretend to be
filling in timesheets.
I, Cringely - Very
occasionally to do with games, but Bob always has
a novel and thought-provoking column about new
technology. Mmm, worthy
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