T w e n t y S i d e d
I’ve joined the Great Games Experiment. It’s like a MySpace* for gamers meets a Wiki dedicated to videogames, with some flash games, YouTube videos, and game demos mixed in. What I find interesting is that developers and gamers are encouraged to contribute, and it seems to be creating a dynamic similar to the way bands and fans connect on MySpace.
It’s interesting. The database of games is maintained by users, which means it isn’t just what’s hot right now. Many users have gone in and added very old or obcsure favorites to the list. For example, the list contained Excite Bike (1984), but not Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. They don’t list a game you like? No problem. Add it yourself.
(I added RCT 3 myself. It really is an incredible game and I do mean to write about it here eventually.)
I have many nitpicks with the interface, but the idea of connecting gamers with developers is pretty interesting. The site just went into open beta, so it’s a bit too soon to judge how well this will work. Anyone can join at this point, and a quick glance at the user lists reveals that developers are a very large portion of the population. They might even be the majority. I’m sure this will change as new users file in.
I do notice that lots of indie developers are using this as a chance to get their games in front of gamers. That makes a lot of sense. Without a gaming press and major publishers in the way, a small-time homebrew game is more or less on the same footing as Half-Life 2.
Pretty interesting site so far, and it will be more interesting to see where it goes. Feel free to friend me if you like.
* “MySpace” isn’t intended as an insult in this contex. You aren’t going to find pages with orange text on a floral background with a smattering of banal animated gifs. I just mean it has the ability for users to friend one another and leave messages.
Chainmail Bikini
A horrible, railroading, stupid, contrived, and painfully ill-conceived roleplaying campaign. All in good fun.
In Defense of Crunch
Crunch-mode game development isn't good, but sometimes it happens for good reasons.
Good to be the King?
Which would you rather be: A king in the middle ages, or a lower-income laborer in the 21st century?
The Best of 2013
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2013.
Bethesda’s Launcher is Everything You Expect
From the company that brought us Fallout 76 comes a storefront / Steam competitor. It's a work of perfect awfulness. This is a monument to un-usability and anti-features.
Just signed up, this is exciting!
Speaking of Flash games, a friend of mine is a fan of Bowmaster Prelude (defending a castle from attackers), thought it might be of interest to people here:
http://www.lostvectors.com/prelude/index.html
Actually, considering my friend, one Alden Bates, enjoys a few games himself (including RCT), and his latest post linked to DM, I’m just going to go ahead and post his blog link here. (I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know. ;) )
http://abates.tetrap.com/
I think it’s been developer-heavy because the closed beta originally invited developers of specific groups (GarageGames, GameDev.net, etc.) As most game developers are also rabid game fans (it sure ain’t the money that makes us do what we do…), that helped get things going, and got a nice cross-section of mainstream and weird niche titles in the list.
But we definitely need a lot more.
I’m the section editor for the RPG section, so if you got complaints or suggestions, send me a holler!
We also need more RPGs – especially the different, quirky, niche, or old-school games. And *FINISHED* indie RPGs — which are admittedly a fairly rare breed (I oughta know… *g*). I want to spotlight an indie RPG every month, which is usually pretty slim pickings. So if you have a candidate, let me know by email (jayb at rampantgames.com), or send me a message in GGE. I *wish* I had time to play them all…
Now let’s see if WordPress will let me post my gamer badge:
Heh, I guess not. Ah, well, my account is here:
Rampant Coyote at Great Games Experiment
Please feel free to contact me, add me to your friends list, whatevah! :)
Well, an interesting find, and an easy way to try and weasel a little more publicity for the Battle Grounds 2 mod :)
Well, I signed up, but it’s been about 48 hours and still no email for activation or password… Maybe if I just stare at it really hard…
Will: I had the same trouble. It wouldn’t send to my shamusyoung.com acct. and I had to use an alt. I don’t know what the problem is there.
Dude, do you even go to GGE anymore?
Thanks for the heads up. I forgot about GGE when I took the tag out of my sidebar.