Game Design 101

It's far to easy to critique, than it is to create. Tyler and I may bitch about 'why this or that wasn't implemented within the game's design', when you find out in the end that maybe it just wasn't possible. The people who make games, politics and finances aside know what the hell they're doing. A great game is still a great game. A shitty one is still shit as well. There is no excuse for that however the creation and fusion of technology and art drives the video game industry and engages my imagination like no other medium. To all you who work out there, we salute you.

Today's technology is simply stunning. Take a quick look at Resistance 2 running on a 1080p monitor. Pretty sweet, eh? It plays pretty good too. It amazes me still how "back in the day", the talent and wizardry artists possessed to created such magic on the Odyssey 2, Colecovision and Atari 2600.

Wired has a wonderful article about Atari 2600 development, highlighting the release of a new book that describes it all. I'm still impressed with how far commercial released software for the system pushed the limits. We're talking about a video game console whose reach was to only bring home a decent version of Space Invaders. Later we got Pitfall II, Space Shuttle, Ghostbusters, Xenophobia, Commando, Kung Fu Master, Ikari Warriors... The list goes on and on. Awesome stuff indeed.

Enjoy the read!