GameblurgKids Talking About the Future

Some time ago, we celebrated Microsoft’s Jane Lynch. At the time, we hadn’t seen either Nintendo or Sony make a move to grab a spokesperson and create memorable ads to sell videogames, services, etc. Luckily, I was wrong, or too impatient. So impatient, that if I would have waited a few months, I would’ve seen this guy.

Any guy with a “the” in front of his Twitter name (@TheKevinButler) and the ability to humorously advertise something as useless as the PlayStation Move is welcome with open arms. Contrary to some of our previous words, Kevin Butler almost makes me want to invest in these thing. Almost.

Your turn, Nintendo. I’m sure Katt Williams is still open.

When an artist grabs a paintbrush, whatever hits the blank canvas afterward is his responsibility. If he is suddenly crippled in the middle of a project from a lack of inspiration and begins to “think instead of paint”, the painting may become a disaster.

An artist can’t let uncertainty and fear stifle him during in the middle of a project. An artist must continue to explore his mind and fill creative space with the results of his daydreaming.

Videogame designers go through a similar creative process. In fact, it’s an exact replica of what any designer in any medium goes through.

I think what I learned from Mr. Miyamoto is kind of the methodical, calm, creative approach. It’s not just willy-nilly ad-hoc creative approach – just closing your eyes and swirling the paintbrush.

He was very methodical in his approach to the process and highly iterative, and I think it was the secret to his success.

In the September 2009 edition of Game Informer, Howard Phillips recalls specific qualities that one must have during the creative process in order to create a successful product.

An important factor in creating art is losing fear. Don’t fear the results of a vague and blurry experiment. Stop being so afraid to daydream at work. Lose fear in blotching your paintings. If anything will benefit from just “swirling the paintbrush”, your work will. Give yourself to your dreams, calm down and start doing whatever the hell you want.

All I want is a pretty world to excite my imagination. Ideally, if I can dive into a game and forget what time of the day it is when I come back to reality, I’m a happy camper.

A lot of times, people think they want realism when what they really crave is internal consistency within a given universe.

In the January edition of Game Developer, Zen of Design author Damion Schubert subtly but swiftly dissects what gamers really want in their games.

A beautifully crafted game will envelope you in a culture of its own. Just as long as you aren’t peeking around the corners at work looking for zombies, you should be fine.

This month, Game Informer celebrates their top 200 games of all time in unique fashion. The lure to these covers is that they strip away the normal routine of displaying teasers to the inside content and instead, reveal a simplistic showcase of their main focus (In this case, the games that have inspired creativity in the videogaming universe).

There’s no colorful background to disctract readers. No font is plastered along the pictures to minimize its appeal. The only portion of the magazine cover that remains is the featured artwork.

An artist emphasizes minimal design on the cover of items that bears content in an attempt to allow the content (images/words) to impact viewers and the December covers of Game Informer embrace this approach, and succeed with elegant success.

Pretty pictures lie below. Enjoy!
(Via Game Informer)

Sure it feels like a recruitment call and a brainwashing tactic rolled into one gorgeous advertisement, but you’d have to admit that if Microsoft manufactured an army, you’d enroll faster than you could say Sony Entertainment.

Via IGN

The launch of a videogame doesn’t have to be just its date and a few late night TV ads. The event can spawn into colossal beginning for a successful franchise. With a few well executed risks, a successful launch can set it up for unprecedented success.

Imagine this:

The brisk morning light peeks through a gloomy Britain sky, awakening you from your dreary slumber.

The day is no longer exciting to look forward to as free reign as become a choice of the past, abducted by a totalitarian government who has become obsessed with the restriction of pedestrian movement.

On this morning, a knock rattles against your front door and in a moment of desperation to stray from the monotony of the normal morning routine in an autocratic Britain, you rush to answer the door.

As you pull the door ajar, a man in uniform stands in your doorway from the British Freight Company who requires your signature to receive your mysterious package.

You follow instructions and unveil the box’s contents: a Guy Fawkes mask. This mask is the very mask that appeared months before on national television, preaching revolution to an oppressed nation. The very oppressed nation that you live in.

As mysterious as the mask’s presence is, its message ignites a feeling of hope and faith, and suddenly, it begins to articulate into a goal: freedom.

Soon after, you peer down your street and witness similar countless instances occur in front of your very eyes. It takes one mask to engulf the lives and thoughts of hundreds of thousands across your world in Britain in order to create an atmosphere of drastic change.

Now, let’s keep the event that transpired, but leave the futuristic landscape that V For Vendetta (2005) has created for us, and return to reality.

What if those masks were something else? A plastic Master Chief helmet? Leisure Suit Larry hair gel?

Imagine being a fan of a franchise and being one of these recipients. To carry badge of allegiance and support, and generate excitement of your favorite game’s release at the sight of its symbol would entice enthusiasm through the many fans for the arrival of their game.

Publishers, instead of the normal Tuesday release date, the week before its release, when the UPS representative shows up to your customer’s door, and unveils the perfect reminder that he/she is about to be apart of one of the biggest events in their life is something to put thought into.

Think of more creative ways to involve the most important people, the customer, in your product’s lifeline.

Good games with a mediocre launch might flourish on its own worth, make decent return and survive the wave of competition, but a good game with a memorable launch will devour that wave of competition.