Writing

Writing Sections

Most stuff is under these links:

The "notable blog posts" link shows posts to my old blog, Games * Art * Design * Culture, which is here, but no longer updated.

Pieces I'm Particularly Proud of

Randomness: Blight or Bane?: Gamers tend to think that randomness is games is bad, as they like to feel they win or advance on the basis of their own skills rather than by luck. However, I examine the many ways in which randomness is used in games, and argue that in some cases, it has value, or is even essential. This was a presentation at GDC Austin in 2009.
Games, Storytelling, and Breaking the String: Why I don't think games are inherently a story-telling medium, how people have tried to reconcile the incompatible demands of game and story, and some thoughts for escaping the "beads on a string" approach that characterizes so many narrative-driven games. (Second Person, MIT University Press, 2007.)
Death to the Games Industry: Long Live Games: Long screed on what I see as the central creative challenge facing the game industry as a whole--and how we may be able to solve it. Part Two is here. (The Escapist, 2005.)
"I Have No Words & I Must Design": Revised version of my 1994 article, reflecting thoughts I've had since then. (Conference publication, 2002 University of Tempere game studies conference.)
Games Don't Kill People--Do They?: What role does violence play in gaming? Are modern computer games obsessed with violence? Does violence in gaming breed violence in the streets? Do critics who maintain that game violence spurred the massacre at Littleton have a point? (Salon, 1999)
Don't Be a Vidiot: What computer game designers can learn from non-electronic games. (Game Developer's Conference, 1999)
Dani Bunten Berry: A tribute to the computer gaming pioneer, who died in 1998. (Happy Puppy, 1998)

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