Plucky Pixels

Fat, Ugly or Slutty

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 12:55:00 +0000

There's a new blog out there called Fat, Ugly or Slutty where women post some of the experiences they have in the gaming world. It's sad. It's true.

Valve's new peer-to-peer marketplace a success!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:28:00 +0000

You really can't call it anything else when 5 contributors get hefty royalty checks for $39,000-$45,000 for 2 weeks of sales!

I'd love to see new marketplaces like this pop up. It keeps the players interested in the game because they can benefit directly from it and there's new content constantly being churned out! Amazing!

The sincerest form of flattery?

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:41:00 +0000

So me and my husband were playing this today and I had to stop for a second because it it every way reminded me of a video game version of this. My husband plays 40k, both the Blood Angel and Tyranid armies, so of course he owns the board game, just so that he could cannibalize it for his armies.

I knew that Blizzard has made a killing ripping off the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k universes, but I didn't know that Valve was getting in on that action too!

Regardless, it's free! And it has achievements! And it has co-op! Even with it being free, I hadn't downloaded it until a few of my friends told me it was worthwhile. And it's good to have games you can play with friends online. (Especially when free!) It's worth checking out, even if it is a complete rip off :P (Though I have to say that Valve picked a WAY better name. I mean, Space Hulk? Really?)

Fable 3 trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:25:00 +0000

What a great trailer! I feel guilty for all the chickens I've kicked :(

I enjoyed the first one... until I got to this crazy timed section I just couldn't make it past and rage quit.

The second one, I played entirely and loved it! I tried to play the first expansion... and rage quit. Those freaking targets are just NOT my idea of fun.

Despite the rage quits that Molyneux inspires (the fable franchise wasn't the only one to frustrate me so much), I'm looking forward to seeing how he's refined his ideas in the new game. To see what he felt worked and what he left aside.

Experiencing narrativity

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:50:00 +0000

There's a philosophical article that talks about the way that people experience their own lives, if they reflect on their lives as they live it, turning it into a story, or if they live day-to-day, not really connecting their present-self to their past- and future-selves. He he refers to them as diachronic and the familiar gaming term, episodic.

While the article focuses on the ethical impact those differing points of views can have, it's interesting to consider how these two types of people could approach gaming differently. Likely the narrativistic folks would enjoy role-playing games and first-person games with a story-focus as well as sim games that involve development and growth or strategy games like chess that involve thinking many moves ahead. Versus episodic folks who might prefer more abstract content who might lean towards in-the-moment fighters and shooters, games based more on twitch reflexes or puzzle-based games.

On the other hand, it could affect their play style if they did play the same games. I have friends who don't really enjoy RPG games because they can't play as characters other than the type of person they see themselves as. They don't like playing evil characters they can't separate themselves choosing an "evil" option from a character being evil. Maybe the people who play FPS shooters and prostitute-beating games need to be able to just play in the moment and separate that from their past- and future-selves.

I'd be interesting to see some studies in this area, I'm sure they exist...

10 years of Gameloft games

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:17:00 +0000

It's a pretty good example of exactly how much things have changed in mobile games over the years. I started here 5 years ago and the advances have been impressive, year after year!

Dungeon Hunter rules!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:20:00 +0000

Woohoo! Felicia Day loves the last game I worked on, Dungeon Hunter! The next day, unsurprisingly, the game shot up to #2 on iTune's app charts. Awesome.

Mass Romance

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:38:00 +0000

I loved playing Mass Effect 2, I had to convince my husband to let me have first crack at it when he brought it home and I barely put it down until I finished it. I loved the game, it was (nearly) the most perfect for me. (Really, probing planets? How was that fun or challenging? That was just grindy, not even gamey.)

Regardless, I really enjoyed playing a renegade with a heart of gold. I was a badass with the enemies, letting people who've done wrong meet their bloody fate with fear in their eyes. But I've also been kind and compassionate to those who have done well.

Back in the first game, I was super flirty, leading people on until I had to making a choice between them. In the end, I landed Liara (and the consort, but that's another story).

When the second one started, I began by hitting on Jacob, since he was the only option at the start. I LOVED watching him squirm as I chose options that obviously made him uncomfortable. I really was intrigued that wow, I start being sexy and someone turns me down! That's pretty unusual. I kept pursuing him until he finally thawed. I liked that he was a tough nut to crack and you had to work at him, it was a great fit for my aggressive character. Not long after, we became exclusive.

However, I soon became bored with him since that's as far as you could go in a relationship until the suicide mission. So I dumped him. Hoo-boy! He was NOT happy with that. He was all snippy with me. I had to ask him if this was going to be a problem, after which we never spoke again. AWK-ward!

By then, I had picked up a few more crew members. Thane caught my eye. This wise killer. He was dying, but had found peace once he knew his son was safe. I loved talking to him, mostly about his dead wife. This guy has baggage and I couldn't imagine living through each instant so vividly. He had a pet name for me, not wanting to explain it at first. But finally he told me and I was touched. We shared our feelings, killers trying to cleanse the universe of evil.

But before the suicide mission, I balked. Liara's photo had been lying face down on the desk in my cabin, knowing that I was being unfaithful to her. I broke it off with Thane, told him I couldn't be with a dying man. He understood.

During this time, I had also spent an amazing evening with Kelly up in my cabin. All. Night. Long. Too bad we never made it in time to rescue her. I also tried to get on Jack's good side, but she told me she doesn't play for the girl's team, even though she had told me about her previous 3-somes. Bitch. No love for a lesbo in this universe!

As we headed into the Omega 4 relay, I looked at Liara's photo, hoping I'll make it through. Hoping I'll see more of her in the next game!

Road Safety as an MMO

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:45:00 +0000

GameSetWatch has written about a new road safety MMO for kids. I really hope it does well. It'd be great to see educational games become more viable. The concept sounds interesting and I'd love to see how it's implemented. Hopefully they'll post some statistics in coming years about its effectiveness.

6 degrees of AWESOME

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:31:00 +0000

Best achievement ever, Six Degrees of Schafer in Brutal Legend. To get the achievement you have to play with or against someone who already has it. And I'm guessing Tim Schafer's account is Patient Zero. I think that's bloody brilliant because they would have had to do some finagling with Microsoft to get that set up properly because I've never seen anything like that in a game before.

So far, I'm really loving the game.Yeah the game play is a bit unresponsive at time and I can't drive worth shit. But I can't remember ever laughing so much at a game before. Truly entertaining.

I was wowed by the demo because I got a complete flashback to my dad's old hard rock album covers from the 70s. The open world part hasn't wowed me quite nearly as much as the demo had, but the spider's den was gorgeous.

I've tried a few side missions but couldn't even last 30 seconds in them. And it's not too clear what I did wrong.

Despite its flaws, it's a must just for the soundtrack and cameos. Jack Black is perfect as Eddie Riggs!

Dungeon Hunter iPhone - The Gameplay Trailer!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:35:00 +0000

So this is the project I've been working on for the last...um...9 months I guess. We're super proud of it and we love playing it ourselves. It's a lot of fun. It should be out soon so keep your eyes open!

Silent Conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I am in love with this game, Silent Conversations. It is simple and beautiful. Gregory Weir (of Ludus Novus) always makes beautiful thoughtful and though-provoking games, but I think this is my favourite.

It could just be I'm in the headspace for it right now since my bookclub is currently reading Alice in Wonderland and the Annotated Martin Gardner has a lovely look into the Mouse's Tail poem along with all the other fantastic poetry.

I played through Lovecraft and the way he put in the moon, the sandstorm, the cave, the cliffs, you're playing the shape of the words but also the shape of the pictures that the words paint.

Check it out, it's really worth it.

EA fails at making gamers lust for Dante's Inferno

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:41:00 +0000

So during Comic-con EA ran a contest where they asked gamers to commit "acts of lust" in a photo with a booth babe and submit the photos to win prizes. Attendees and the interwebs cried out with a huge "WTF!?!!?!" And the even was dubbed #EAFail. To add to the already mind-boggling PR stunts for the game (remember their faux-Christian protest?) they also added in a photo to their finalists that wasn't even taken at Comic-con , just so that they could have a token gay included. His response is hilarious:)

Again, while I am grateful that you have chosen my submission as a runner-up, I feel I must decline your free t-shirt and $240 gift certificate to the EA Store. Instead of giving that $240 away, I would prefer the money to be used in the following ways:

1) A new sexual-harassment training video/seminar
2) Another PR team to try to spin this whole debacle of a contest into a positive light
3) A direct phone line to EA's legal depart to use before you try anymore PR stunts
4) Six copies of your game when it releases, since I know you've lost at least that many fans with this stunt
5) Or the next time you go to Hooters (for the wings, of course), leave a $240 tip for your waitress in a karmic way of balancing out what has been done to the booth babes of SDCC due to this contest

Well, at least EA is getting more column inches than they ever could have hoped for after this debacle. Let's hope that the old adage, any publicity is good publicity, holds true for EA.

Sex and Viloence in Games

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:53:00 +0000

Video Games from MUSCLEBEAVER on Vimeo.

[via Bruce On Games]

Yes, the wedding is over, but hey just to keep things interesting and at a certain level of stress, we bought a house! We move in 2 weeks:) He's especially excited for the basement because he's got all sorts of terrain ideas for his Warhammer 40k game that he plays with his buddies.

Also, crazy time at work. They bumped up a deadline by a few weeks so we've been crunching hard. Game is looking AMAZING though. Will post info on it when it's announced:)

Left 4 Dead 2!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Video Games | Left 4 Dead 2 | E3 09: Teaser

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

squee! Can't wait! Chainsaws and frying pans:) RPS has a great article previewing everything, from the new special infected to the new characters.

PuzzleQuest Galactrix

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:17:00 +0000

Wow, I'm impressed by just how much more difficult the new version of PuzzleQuest is. Not always in a good, challenging kind of way wither. There are a few questionable design choices that make the game just plain frustrating at times too (at least on the DS version).

The buttons have a really small area to hit. Miss the button by just a few pixels and you're floating off into space, waiting to make the round trip to get back to your original location once again. It wouldn't have been that difficult to widen the buttons by that much. Or, my second major peeve with the game, allow the player to navigate using the buttons, it doesn't have to be 100% touchscreen. Menus especially. There's no reason that up, down and A to confirm shouldn't work...just like it does for almost every other game out there.

Thankfully, you don't require a lot of speed/accuracy to play the game, so while these points are endlessly frustrating, the game still remains addictively fun. And it's really nice to be able to play it in bite-sized pieces while travelling back-and-forth to work on the metro. All in all, I can foresee myself playing it just as long as I've played the original (still playing the expansion currently:)

Legends of Zork

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:59:00 +0000

(March was INSANE! But I'm back, tanned and married, ready for gaming once again.)

This morning, I started playing Legends of Zork, which, while taking place in the Zork universe is a whole lot more like ye ol'BBS door game, Legend of the Red Dragon. That's not a strike against it, mind you. I LOVED that game and beat it several times.

I can see myself enjoying it, when I remember to play it. It's easy enough to bang out a turn in about 15 mins. Not enough of a Zork experience for you? Then you can buy credits for more Action Points (turns) with their microtransaction/sponsor-based system. I think that getting additional turns is a bit more motivation for purchasing than buying special clothes like you can in some other free-to-play games. At least you get something worthwhile rather than just superficial.

I hope LoZ has the lasting power that LotR did. It looks like they've added some neat systems, like with the cards which I don't fully understand yet, though I did find one in my adventuring this morning already.

Want to friend me in the lands of Zork? I'm NilPixelCount, as always.

Blogging Around

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:03:00 +0000

While I haven't had much time to write my own rants and essays lately, I have still been busy posting on the interwebs. You can find me posting niche-news to 3 different IGDA sites.

IGDA Montreal Chapter - Here I post the reports (which I write on ocassion too) along with local industry news. I also serve on the Advisory Board for the chapter, which has been a great experience so far.
Women In Games SIG - Given that the focus of the Special Interest Group (SIG) is pretty obvious, guess what kind of news items I share here?
Game Design SIG - This SIG just launched recently, so if you're a Designer or are interested in game design, join in! You don't need to be a member of the IGDA to participate. You can check the blog for regular game design news that I post.

So check in on those sites if you're interested in the topics! :)

When life takes over

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:43:00 +0000

It's not that I've forgotten that I have a blog or something. I mean, there's all this stuff that I want to post about! Like the awesomely reactive AI in F.E.A.R. 2 or finishing Chrono Trigger DS or reading The Design of Everyday Things. There's tons going on that's worth talking about! It more a matter of finding the time to actually do these things!

Currently, time not spent at work is time spent on the upcoming wedding. The one that's in 12 days! With family coming in from out of town and details to finalize, it's been a bit hectic coordinating every thing.

It's not a terribly traditional wedding and with both of us being game designers there's a bunch of gaming geekiness worked into the whole thing, some of it subtly, some of it blatantly.

When we're back from the honeymoon (CANCUN!!!!) I'll be sure to post pictures and tell you how we kept it true to who we are:)

Steamed

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:11:00 +0000

For my birthday, one of my friends got me Left 4 Dead for the PC, which is cool since most of my friends seem to play the game on the PC and only a few play the Xbox version that I already have. So now I can play with everyone!

In other words, feel free to add me on Steam. My account is the same as on Xbox Live: NilPixelCount.

It's zombie killing time!

Breast is best... for video games, according to a study

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:59:00 +0000

The most brilliant video game study ever has concluded that playing video games is linked to... breast-feeding! Violence, anti-social behaviour, forget it! The newest information shows that people who were breast-fed as babies are most likely to grow up to play video games.

Hopefully this tongue-in-cheek study can be thrown around every time someone confuses correlation with causation.

Hanging with the cool crowd

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Once again, I do have to say that I love working in the video game industry. I just got from a wonderful meal that took several hours and extended into drinks post-meal at 2 very cool venues in trendy Old Montreal. So much amazing talk and brain-picking went on since I was in the company of many fascinating people, including the producer on Price of Persia and two people from LittleBigPlanet.

Such a great exchange of ideas and expressions of passion, it was really revitalizing to talk with them for so many hours about gaming. From gushing over each other's games to discussing how we plan to take our upcoming projects to the next level, it really dragged me out of the hum-drum day-to-day experience and reminded me WHY I want to be doing this.

This is something worth being passionate about.

I can't wait to hear them present at tomorrow's IGDA meeting!

Beware of liquidation sales!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Yes, Circuit City is going out of business and there could be some great deals...but maybe not as good as you might think! This video from Good Morning America shows just how you could get ripped off. It's pretty astonishing that these companies can get away with this.

Chrono Trigger!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:29:00 +0000

Chrono Trigger for DS makes an excellent stocking stuffer:) So when I'm in transit, that's my game of choice now.

At home, my honey decided he was bored with his level 74 warlock in WoW, so we've started from scratch again. He's having a blast with a new warrior and I'm trying out a priest. And since he's off work for the holidays, he's trailing my little Draenei along with him, power-levelling us up to level 38 already.

While I love my crazy feral druid, I'm having fun with the priest. I chose to start a priest for my alt since the reason I avoided MMOs was because of the whole multi-player aspect. Other people, especially a lot of gamers, are douchebags online. Peopl go online, get a bit of anonymity and become total idiots. At least that had been my experience previously.

So when we did our first playthrough, we did no PvP, no dungeons, no guilds. Just me and my honey roaming the country-side. When we got to a higher level, I started trying some of the multi-player stuff and had some awful experiences. But the good experiences with groups out-weighed the bad. So this time, I wanted to create a character that was completely dependant on being played with others. So I've got my holy priest, with all talent points put into healing and nothing in damage.

As is, I can't solo. If I do, it's super slow. But with my warrior by my side, we make quick progress through everything. And this time we're doing all the dungeons as we go. It's a different challenge to keep tabs on everyone, adapting myself to everyone else's playing styles, having to get to know them quick so I can be effective. Playing a healer has a lot to do with reading other people because you need to be able to anticipate what's going to happen next. Just reacting to things as they happen gets everyone into trouble fast.

Overall, I'm enjoying the experience. But I'm looking forward to getting back to my druid in Dalaran.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention! Another xmas gift my honey got for me was this set of prints from Etsy:

So awesome:)

Happy holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Rayna) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:22:00 +0000

No holiday time off for me! I have to save up my vacation days, so I'm only off on Friday. I'll be curled up with Hotel Dusk Room 215 on DS during those long family moments. I'm really getting into this game, though it's much more an interactive novel than an actual game. I love the art style and the story is just mysterious enough to keep me going without being too cliché that I get sick of it. Playing it in 15 minute chunks on metro rides is hard, it'll be nice to sit down and have a good, long session with it.

I'm also likely to be seen playing another DS game since there's one under the tree that's the shape of a DS game, which just so happened to be on my list. I can't wait to open my gifts!

Family time will also likely involve lots of Wii gaming, since my sister-in-law got one for Christmas. I'm bringing along my collection of games and extra controllers so that they can have the full family gaming experience that's best suited to the Wii. Hopefully she'll adore No More Heroes as much as I did.

And I'm so thrilled to see No More Heroes showing up on so many Best-of-2008 lists! It's not a game for everyone, certainly. And given that it came out in January last year, it's impressive that it's stuck in people's minds given the recent slew of blockbusters that were released.

Have a safe and happy holiday season everyone!!