Posts Tagged book
Headspin Storybook Bits
Posted by The Management in games on April 17, 2009
Headspin Storybook is a basic matching game, except that the images on the left side of the screen need to be mirrored on the right. It’s very simple and approachable, and wrapped up in an undeniably “neat” package.
If you ask me, pop-up picture books are too rarely an inspiration for videogames.
The bits:
- The storybook theme is instantly recognizable, and it’s the perfect setup for the left/right duality that serves as the base of the gameplay.
- The backgrounds and moving people have the same cutout look as the interactive parts, which is a bit confusing. I realize that the confusion is the intended result, but I don’t think it’s necessary. The level timers are already fairly short, and the extra visuals are distracting enough by themselves without mimicking the interactive objects.
- The positions/object lists and their flipped values are randomized. This provides decent replay value and prevents levels from being too easy the second time around.
- The sliding timer indicator and the flipping animations are true to the game’s theme and provide inexpensive but fitting effects.
New Efforts on the Halo Novelization Front
Posted by The Management in writing on April 6, 2009
And the latest writer to take a stab at it is, somewhat surprisingly, Greg Bear.
The future face of Halo.
A famed speculative fiction author, Greg Bear earned his reputation with works heavily rooted in science. Blood Music and others catapulted him to the upper echelon of SF writers, and his wife seems to be following in similar footsteps. However, Mr. Bear’s prose doesn’t exactly flow like honey. His stories are often bursting at the seams with hard science, and that’s rarely an ideal foundation for a pulpy, nonthreatening book series.
Now I never read any of the Halo novels, but I’m assuming they’re aimed at a fairly broad audience. I’m also sure that many Halo fans are smart cookies that would love more actual science in their fiction, but the Halo universe is based on a game series, and, as such, its setting is ultimately shaped by game design. Human soldiers wear ridiculously coloured outfits because it makes them easier to identify in multiplayer matches, and high-pitched aliens spew comical one-liners because it makes them more entertaining cannon fodder. It’s all fun and good, but is it suitable subject matter for something more realistic?
Then again Greg Bear has already written a Star Wars book, so maybe he is the right guy for the job. Either way, I am suddenly a whole lot more interested in the future of the Halo novels.
About
Hi, my name’s Radek Koncewicz, and I'm the Creative Lead of Incubator Games, a small development studio I started with a few former coworkers.
I think a lot about videogames, and when I find the time, I post those thoughts here on this blog.
