Slashdot Mirror

Due to the fact that elements are uniformly distributed throughout the universe, only luxury goods will be of any value in interstellar trade. http://www.costik.com/inttrade... This means that no company or government will ever see any point in interstellar travel.

Agreed. Picking something soley on popularity is a bad way to go about picking entries. Entries should be about "being first" and quality.

WoW is a toy* not a game. i.e. There is no way to win at WoW. Some might joke the only way is not to play, but hey, Will Wright didn't consider SimCity to be a game either.

* "I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games" --

I was under the impression that this is part of the wargame project that put SPI out of business.

(SPI?!? see http://www.costik.com/spisins.html )

I'm not going to argue that it's bad because the Columbine massacre was horrible, and any game based on it is inherently in bad taste; you're right that this is a straw horse, and in fact, I'd agree with you that any game that was about the massacre but also "insightful, somber, and respectful of its material" would have merit. But to claim that Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is "insightful, somber, and respectful" is either ingenuous or stupid.

In fact, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! seems to have been created specificially to glamorize the murderers, sensationalize and trivialize the tragedy, and create a controversy to promote the designer. In versions of his website that are now available only through web.archive.org, he earlier said:

"CONTENTS: A FREE Role Playing Game (RPG) for your PC devoid of malware, spyware or other junk not related to 'killing as many fuckheads as possible!'"

Somber and respectful, yes? And later:

"FINALLY, remember Reb's ['Reb' was Harris's online handle] words: 'Don't follow your dreams or goals or any of that shit, follow your fucking animal instincts: if it moves kill it, if it doesn't, burn it. Kein Mitleid!'

In other words, it's pretty obvious that the designer is among the sick crew who do indeed view Harris and Klebold as martyrs, in some twisted sense, rather than the psychopathic slaughterers of innnocents that they obviously were. [further content snipped]

This game aspires to be art, and art is fundamentally an act of communication. Therefore, my primary interest in playing it was to experience what it had to communicate. To my disappointment, I quickly found that the little communication contained in this piece is sparingly interspersed between long periods of gameplay.... [snip]

On the one hand, this is hardly a trivializing or exploitative treatment of the subject matter - the accusations to that effect, and the actions which they have instigated, are two inches short of bigotry. On the other hand, it appears to me to be as simplistic as those other interpretations of the Columbine Massacre which the game itself showers with scorn. "The System" is the easiest of targets, being unable to speak for itself, and hated by all because it affords complete freedom to none. This game under-emphasizes the fact that the "system-less" life its protagonists desire has been lived through by countless generations. Nowhere does it mention that this life amounted to one Columbine Massacre after another, and that our system, for all its hideous flaws, is our only protection against that kind of life.

We might claim that this game has been successful as an act of communication, simply because it has stirred so much discussion. Then again, as Costik rightly asserts, the main reason for the commotion was that it is a game that tackles a serious subject, regardless of how successfully it does so. But even if it is a successful act of communication, it is certainly not a successful game, because none of its communication is done through gameplay. If a film critic were able to transcend the controversy and give this game a fair try, he'd probably say: "that's an interesting satirical cartoon you got there, but why are there so many long, irrelevant breaks in the story, and why do I have to keep pressing keys in order to watch it?" If this is really the flagship of art-oriented gaming, we are in deep artistic trouble. But we already knew that.

As analyzed here:

http://www.costik.com/weblog/2006_01_01_blogchive. html#113760404896764843

If you factor in online sales and MMO subscription fees, it's possible PC revenues have actually gone up.

It's been a long time. Thanks for the memories. That'll give me something to do while waiting for... wait a sec...

/me removes gold pin with red eye, swaps it for a green pin with red eye

Ah, much better. That'll be a great way to pass the time waiting for the next bit of Paranoia XP, and between turns of Paranoia Live. (I'm happy! Are you happy?)

I believe this is the link you're looking for.

Not that I don't agree with a lot that he has to say (as a gamer and a consumer), but I have a hard time taking this guy as some sort of "industry insider" when the list of games he's worked on is, well... lacking.

I'd be more inclined to buy into the polemic if he could back it up with a decent resume of successful AND entertaining games. Otherwise this just reads like a pitch for his "consultancy".

When will this guy shut up and actually put his money where his mouth is? All he seems to do these days is whine. Has he made a game in the last 10 years?

He is apparently the Chief Creative Officer (according to his website at http://www.costik.com/ of http://www.unplugged-inc.com/ whose latest project appears to be some piece of junk mobile game based on a piece of junk teen girl movie called "Mean Girls." Yeah. Way to put your money where your mouth is, Greg.

Shut up and go back to making pen and paper games.

Looks like the author, Greg Costikyan, is operator of a cell phone games company that made a movie license game called Mean Girls: Wannabe

He has - this is Greg Costikyan we're talking about - he's an A-list old-skool game designer.

Nice troll, though.

No, you don't need 40+ man teams or millions of dollars, unless you're trying to create a game to compete side by side with the big publishers/developers. Indie game development is alive and well, and producing some excellent games, but let's face it, it's a different league. Two people working part time on a project are just simply not going to be able to produce the same quantity and quality of content within a game compared to a full time, full size team.

Part of the problem is consumer expectation: if the game isn't crammed full-to-busting with highly detailed models and textures, and doesn't push every last cycle of performance out of their console, then it'll generally be overlooked or perceived as mediocre, whether it's a good game or not. This is one of the issues raised here (ppt presentation).

The only way for smaller developers to continue is to produce smaller, cheaper games, and hope they still get sufficient sales. This is a big gamble.

Somebody Bitchslap Rockstar

Basically, I get the impression that he is irritated not by the content, but by R*'s, "let's incite a moral panic as a publicity stunt" approach to marketing.

It's actually difficult to say how big a moral panic this is, whether it is TV Violence bad (I have to pay for a V-Chip) or Comic Book Bad (unless you were a big fan of Scrooge McDuck, and who isn't really, comics books sucked for years and have never really recovered).

This is still going to be relevant in a few years. http://www.costik.com/weblog/2005_03_01_blogchive. html#111069190589189590

We get a few games bending the genres, which in turn create new genres and the cycle continues.

I'm not saying new stuff isn't bad, innovation is good but you have to wonder how long it'll be before we get the "attack of the clones"?

The full rant can be found at his web page here. Scroll down to his post "But It's Over Now" in big blue letters, it's just beneath.

Good stuff.

- shadowmatter

"With EA "owning" football and Take Two baseball, that leaves a handful of important sports; FIFA soccer..., basketball, college football, NASCAR, and Formula One. I wouldn't be surprised to see deals made for some of these in the next year."

Anyone care to explain the color codes of security clearances?

The headline refers to the tabletop paper-and-pencil roleplaying game PARANOIA, originally published in 1984 by West End Games (New York City) and recently republished as PARANOIA XP by Mongoose Publishing (Swindon, UK).

PARANOIA is a satirical science fiction RPG set in an underground city, Alpha Complex, ruled by an insane Computer. The Computer has imposed an unbreakable system of security clearances that represent how much it trusts a given citizen. The security clearances are keyed to the colors of the spectrum. The lowest security clearance is INFRARED, meaning The Computer doesn't trust you at all; INFRARED citizens wear black. RED Clearances is the next highest, followed by ORANGE, YELLOW, and so on up to VIOLET. Above VIOLET Clerance are the illustrious High Programmers, the ULTRAVIOLETs, who can program The Computer itself. High Programmers wear white.

PARANOIA sold over 150,000 copies in its first couple of editions, and the new "XP" edition has been well received. You can find out a lot more about PARANOIA at the fan site Paranoia-Live.net, and follow the progress of the game on the PARANOIA development blog.

Computer game programmer pioneer Bunten should be on the list. She designed the first multiplayer pc games (among them M.U.L.E. and Global Conquest), and forsaw that multipler gaming and social interaction was the wave of the future. She died of cancer before the future could catch up to her.

Links for people too busy to google:

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/03/18/bunte n/index.html

http://www.costik.com/dani1.html

(Yes, I am HTML impaired....)

I find Paranoia XP's development process, namely the use of a Wiki to develop the rough draft, a lot more intriguing than "We used the following word processor.."

For free-as-in-beer games out there, Active Exploits is a good diceless game, and their more traditional Impresa system is good for people who are easily frightened by games that take away the dice.

Another GM in our RPG group is currently using JAGS, which I find to be a horrible system but it seems to appeal to GURPS masochists.

Try http://www.paranoia-live.net/

Report to the Sector Assignment Sector to find a group, or play it online with them via JParanoia. Allen Varney, the principle writer of PARANOIA XP [TM] browses their forums, by the way.

The Unfocused Anxiety Index is now at ELEVENTY BILLION! Playing is even more mandatory than usual, Citizen.

----
Disclaimer: I was a member of those forums and a contributor to PARANOIA XP. PARANOIA XP is a trademark of Mongoose Games (at least, I think it's them, I forget who owns what just now).

My commendations on creating havoc. This pathetic discussion forum will now have four more years to gripe!

Perhaps you would like to check out the fine wares and warez at Villain Supply to further your future evil needs? If you've got the cash, we've got the evil! [TM]

* ( Posted anonymously to avoid those pesky agents who are after my WMDs! Silly federal agents, WMDs are for Evil Overlords! Offers void where legal, further restrictions may apply. See henchmen for details. WMDs may not be shipped to Iraq at this time. By purchasing one of our fine products, you agree to give us control of the world should you ever actually take control of it. This agreement is terminated whenever you are. )

Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

--
But this is the best part, this is when they... START RAPPING! Bwahahaha. "It's The Ledged Of Zelda and it's really rad. Those creatures from Gondorf are pretty bad." That is just a snippet from the rhyming prodigy's in this commercial. I don't really know what Nintendo was thinking when they thought up the idea for portraying their customers as hopeless dorks, but this is by far my favorite Nintendo commercial.

To put that in perspective:

Super Mario 64 - 5.94
Grand Theft Auto 3 - 5.35 (million copies sold)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - 2.63
Metal Gear Solid - 2.43
Enter the Matrix - 5 million(?)

Which one of these things...is not like the others? Admittedly these numbers are US sales, perhaps Enter the Matrix sold these ridiculous millions of copies in Europe and Asia. Again, though, that seems somewhat implausible.

Also, as anyone with any sort of business acumen will tell you, units sold speaks very little about net profit. And let's not forget that Shiny reportedly paid $10 million for the Matrix license. What's that smell? Ah...fresh books. Delish.

I guess my only real reason for writing this is that I find Bonell to be somewhat unsavory and feel somewhat unnerved by the possibility that anyone takes him or his company at their word. He strikes me as something of a con man. I don't like that he bought and is now wearing Atari's rough-sewn skin as a branding rain-slicker and I don't like his comments about the future of gaming what games are supposed to be:
http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.n ytimes.com/2003/12/21/magazine/21GAMES.html
For an excellent summation of why Bonnell's comments are a proverbial avalanche of bullshit:
http://www.costik.com/weblog/2003_12_01_blogchive. html

Anyhow, the only point of that rather shallow tirade was that I sincerely hope no burgeoning game designers are being led astray by the parade of delusion that is Infogrames' press releases.

By the way, the source on those statistics is http://www.the-magicbox.com/Chart-USPlatinum.shtml

Given that Lucas's THX-1138 was an obvious and pivotal influence on the paper roleplaying game PARANOIA, it is perhaps on-topic to mention that the game of a darkly humorous future is returning to print this August in a new edition from Mongoose Publishing, as previously covered on Slashdot.

The new PARANOIA XP edition emphasizes the Alpha Complex sort-of economy and a new consumerism very much in tune with THX-1138. You can follow the development of the game on the PARANOIA development blog.

Is there going to be a beta testing program? Where can I sign up? And are the modules going to be updated as well? What mods to the tech trees are you going to add considering "pre-whoops!" developments like the Internet?

My, citizen, you certainly do have a lot of questions! Such inquisitiveness suggests that your creche's teacherbots have been remiss in conveying Alpha Complex etiquette.

Mongoose will reissue a collection of classic Paranoia material, updated to match the new rules, within a few months after the main rulebook appears in August 2004.

We will certainly need playtesters (as beta testers are quaintly called in the backward paper-game business). No sign-up information yet, but keep checking Greg Costikyan's Paranoia blog for updates.

As for modifications to the "tech trees" -- that information is available only to Security Clearance ULTRAVIOLET. Thank you for your cooperation!

Costikyan has been around in the gaming world for a long time. From the original Paranoia RPG and some of the first online games for Prodigy, he's been involved in games and game design.

So much as the game design industry *has* authorities, he's one of them. Check out his regular home page to see his credentials at http://www.costik.com/.

That being said, I do agree that some reasonings tacked on to his list would certainly add to it a lot.

It's a tough time in the games industry, and anyone contemplating getting in should do the research thoroughly. While the risks are high, I believe game development could be refined into long term sustainable, profitable business by re-thinking the process of game creation.

Meanwhile, even government organizations like TEKES in Finland have started to seriously support the development of games and related technology and IGDA has already networked thousands of game developers together. Individual developers may fall, but game development is still a growing industry.

And we all heard about the return of shareware. PopCap's Bejeweled may not turn the heads of VCs with it's content, but a million copies sold is no peanuts.

Maybe if I finally updated my Palm games (/shameless plug) I could get rich quick, too. :-)

Jouni

It's a tough time in the games industry, and anyone contemplating getting in should do the research thoroughly. While the risks are high, I believe game development could be refined into long term sustainable, profitable business by re-thinking the process of game creation.

Meanwhile, even government organizations like TEKES in Finland have started to seriously support the development of games and related technology and IGDA has already networked thousands of game developers together. Individual developers may fall, but game development is still a growing industry.

And we all heard about the return of shareware. PopCap's Bejeweled may not turn the heads of VCs with it's content, but a million copies sold is no peanuts.

Maybe if I finally updated my Palm games (/shameless plug) I could get rich quick, too. :-)

Jouni

It's a tough time in the games industry, and anyone contemplating getting in should do the research thoroughly. While the risks are high, I believe game development could be refined into long term sustainable, profitable business by re-thinking the process of game creation.

Meanwhile, even government organizations like TEKES in Finland have started to seriously support the development of games and related technology and IGDA has already networked thousands of game developers together. Individual developers may fall, but game development is still a growing industry.

And we all heard about the return of shareware. PopCap's Bejeweled may not turn the heads of VCs with it's content, but a million copies sold is no peanuts.

Maybe if I finally updated my Palm games (/shameless plug) I could get rich quick, too. :-)

Jouni

How sad, 600+ posts and you're the only one [that I can see] mentioning PS:T?

PS:T is a kick in the butt of the it's about non-linearity and Games aren't about story crowds.

The magic is where story and freedom meets.

a few other good sites include: games.ars, gamegirl advance, games.design.art.culture, got game?, how they got game, ludology, or for regular gaming news, the friendlier ones are bluesnews, gamespy, games are fun and shacknews. where do you go?

Jessica Mulligan does indeed have one of the longest and most respected resumes in online games. I was distantly acquainted with her back in 1989-91 when (as Richard Mulligan) s/he was product manager for GEnie's online games, and even then her knowledge of the field was extremely comprehensive.

Now she's involved in The Themis Group, an interesting venture that basically lets online game services outsource their customer support. (Another notable figure on the Themis team is the esteemed game designer Greg Costikyan.) Given the problems some online game companies seem to have with customer support, sometimes regarding it almost as an afterthought, I wish Themis well. They're good at conveying the important message that an online game company isn't selling the game, it's selling the service.

There is a growing number of other sites that have the same goals in mind. here are a few of the one's I visit pretty regularly:
Probably my favorite is Gonzalo Frasca's Ludology.org.
Also occasionally of interest is Lars Konzack's Ludologica
Greg Costikyan's Games * Design * Art * Culture has gotten a fairly good amount of press.
and to toot my own horn, there is my blog Popular Culture Gaming.

Reminds me of the "Snood Effect". Also, here. (Search: Why Snood Gets No Respect)

In other words, the real killer apps are simple, addictive, and easily integrate into our current technological life. Tetris did this, (though, admittedly, it was not simple). It does not often happen with non-game applications.

But consider how different the IM you use now is from the one you used 8 years ago. There have been no changes to the essential nature of the app, just additional fru-fru alterations (rich text, away messages).

Thus, the real world-sweeping apps (not viruses) are compact, have one or few purposes, and often fill a hole that was there but unknown. Reminds me vaguely of the free long-distance cell phone revolution.

A hilarious book about what happens when the aliens come to earth. The aliens have superior technology at affordable prices. Nothing Earth manufactures can compete with the imports, causing an economic depression, and the book's human protagonist to go from riches to rags.

Click here: http://www.costik.com/weblog/2003_01_01_blogchive. html

Here is a link to Costikyan's work. Most of you won't recognize the wargaming titles, but this man is one of the greats.

Bow you PC worms.

It's amazing to encounter so prescient, political and imaginative a worldview... as shown in Hogshead's Violence: the roleplaying game of egregious and repulsive bloodshed Written by Greg Costikyan under the name 'Designer X'. This'll let him spout pro-RPG sentiments while rehashing Hellmouth.

It's nice to see someone bringing up the important issue of abandonware. The game companies are way too anal about keeping a hold on their old games. Bravo to Id and Parallax for releasing old source code (Doom, Quake, Descent, etc).

Some people have suggested that Costikyan is biased against the DC because he says that Power Stone its only good game. This is not true, he is simply biased against the the types of games that are popular (and good) on the DC. Check out http://www.costik.com/ if you want to see where he is coming from. He is old-school "design is key", not new-school "appearance is key". I tend to agree with him (although Soul Kalibur is incredible!).