GameblurgKids Talking About the Future

Dear Electronic Arts,

I’ve recently come across news that Electronic Arts is in search for new breeding grounds to create new gaming product and that among choices like Louisiana and Florida, Georgia appears to be in contention.

Whether you need a development center to make your new fancy Facebook games or work on more Madden builds, Atlanta is a premiere place to do so. We offer economical incentives, our landmarks are better and we’re not New Orleans. As a caring resident of Atlanta, I have offered my assistance to make your decision much easier.

You’ve got your eyes set on Savannah? Well, luckily for you, we’ve got our eyes set on Atlanta. What’s easier, EA? Convincing gaming personnel to move out of the comfort of their own states into old, hot and steamy Savannah or a luscious, booming city like Atlanta? A smarter man would take the latter.

Spanish moss is overrated, EA and to Savannah, so are morals. According to Urvaksh Karkaria of the Atlanta Business Chronicle “Georgia is apparently offering EA a downtown Savannah warehouse equipped with fiber optic and other infrastructure to support a game development center that would focus on product testing.” Really cute, Savannah. “The state is believed to have offered EA a free lease on the warehouse.”

There is no comment from Georgia economic development department spokeswoman Alison Tyrer, but if this is true, this move is clearly foul (unless the building is to be relocated into Metro Atlanta, which would then turn in a savvy business maneuver instead of desperation).

Among some of your other choices are Louisiana and Florida? May I ask why? Do they have the CNN center there? No. Our sports teams’ colors are obviously better than both of these states in question (Savannah doesn’t have any of these “professional sports teams” in question. Big surprise). New Orleans is obviously infested with zombies. Are you really ready for that hostile work environment? I didn’t think so. And Florida? Luckily, there are no zombies in Florida: just old people.

Although you might be a few years too late (Freaknik is long and gone and the phrase “Hot-lanta” is now taboo), there is still positive incentive to create your development center in Atlanta.

Atlanta has a world class transit system to meet your transportation necessities.

Does the sound of “Cartoon Network” bring smiles to your collective faces? I know it does. You can get used to that, you know?

Coca-cola, anyone? We have plenty. Stay caffeinated/paranoid throughout those long 12+ hour code crunching sessions by just waltzing down the street to your favorite cocai…er caffeine dealer.

I’m confident you’ll make the obvious and smart decision and choose Atlanta as the homeland to create some of your new, exciting intellectual properties.

So how about a free tour for Georgia residents? No? That’s fine. We understand. That would be way too many people. Just for Gameblurg staff then? Right. Here’s our contact information whenever you guys want to hook that up.

Sincerely,

Mauricio Bowers

The good people at Epic Games have decided to release the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) for a reasonable price: free. The Unreal Engine 3 is used by videogame development teams worldwide and is considered a standard tool by many veterans inside of the videogaming universe. This gift is a dream come true for modders, students and developers who couldn’t afford the UDK before. So download and enjoy and thank you Epic.

It’s a little strange that the Joker chose to take over our site, but as you can see, we had no say so in the matter. We just do what we’re told. It doesn’t really help when people are threatening you with butter knives and explosive teddy bears.

Just in case you’re assuming we’re just sitting on our hands, complaining about video games, we’re here to remind you about our dedication to creating a dynamic blog that visually celebrates our culture.

It’s a little strange that the Joker chose to take over our site, but as you can see, we had no say so in the matter. We just do what we’re told. It doesn’t really help when people are threatening you with butter knives and explosive teddy bears.

Enjoy the deranged takeover. We hope we put a smile on your face.

After a major face lift, the site is back. We’ve worked hard to create a convenient site that doesn’t flood readers with a confusing interface and an overwhelming array of 1000+ articles. It’s simple and easy to digest and we’ll be working hard on a daily basis to create a comfortable reading experience for our visitors.

The changes:

• On the sidebar, we now highlight the one important thing that drives our work: the games.
• Less jumble: simplistic layout=easy reading.
• As you will come to witness, the site will endure design changes sporadically, but the main framework will always remain the same to retain familiarity with our returning readers.
• Did we mention the whole swag thing?

Although we wanted an attractive, distinctive site, we didn’t want to detract attention from the discussion of the games anymore. Content is king, not pretty background pictures.

Drop some feedback (mbowers@gameblurg.com, or the comments below) and tell us what you think. We’re glad to be talking to you all again and look forward to hearing from you all soon.

P.S. Say hello to our mascot at the top of the page. Respect his gangsta.

I’ve expressed my feelings on critiquing videogames before. The self-induced caveat in posting about reviews this lies within crying about antiquated problems about the dire need for intense interpretations in videogames, but that’s fine. Hopefully, you’ll understand how strongly I feel about the dismissal of the core experience that flutters amongst dry videogame examinations and realize that this isn’t just another rant. To put it quite clearly, I don’t personally enjoy stereotypical reviews because now that I have an understanding of the elements of videogames, I don’t need to rely on an external source to enlighten me about the monotonous elements that cohesively create the experience: game controls, graphics, longevity, etc. These elements are the easy part that lies with creating a game, as well as the easy part that lie within creating a review/analysis.

Naturally, from a developer’s standpoint, in order to create a functional game it must contain concise controls, appealing graphics and technological housekeeping (steady frame rate, lack of graphical malfunctions, etc.). The underlying challenge lies within generating a desire in the player to discover an artificial universe and mold it into his/her personal playground. Not necessarily promoting “freedom” and interactivity, but promoting the feeling of embracing a role with the identical passion that rivals that of its creators. The latter is what I want to discover as I read about games that I’ve expressed interest in playing: a logical, comprehensible and precise discovery of an experience through another’s eyes. The effects that the game will have on the player’s psyche, the discovery of why adopting certain roles is rewarding, and other things beneath the radar should be addressed in order to assess situations such as why it’s so appealing to murder aliens, play the bad guy or why the gamers enjoy chilling, scary experiences.

I personally haven’t been able to discover a consistent source for introducing personal experiences that one has felt while playing the game. Questions such as: “If you know enough about the game, then why don’t you just play it for yourself, instead of relying on someone else’s opinion?” are valid, but I don’t believe reviews and critiques have one simple goal of merely explaining how good or bad a game is.

Much like movie critics, videogame journalists have the inherited objective of preserving videogame history. Being that I am fairly young, I am dawned with the fact that I could not have played older acclaimed titles such as Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998) or Vagrant Story (2000) when I was younger and use reliable information to judge videogames with influences other than the “cool” box art. Critiques should have the distinctive goal to explain why the entire experience is either a timeless, engaging tale of glory or a rotting pile of cringing embarrassment. From reading the text, critiques should evoke an emotional response, cultivate interest and lead to the direct discovery of the videogame.

I am not upset about the current state of reviews, I am just in the mood for something different that holds my attention as a growing “gamer”. My ideal critique (reading, or writing) would just encompass the ability to clench readers and allow that reader to adequately understand the critic’s train of thought as they transgress throughout the complexities of specific stages of the game. However, there are a few bumps in the road to the transfer of these experiences from one to another. The global vernacular, or lack thereof, that enables journalists to educate and inform videogame industry veterans and passive games alike is the partial blame for thea absence of penetrating views of videogames. Another attributing portion of our problem could be that some games are on such a minuscule scale that some believe that the lack of substance doesn’t warrant a profound analysis. Possibly the “vultures” of our community of online users who swarm from source to source in search of quick material that can be digested within minutes could be the cause of the disregard of long & thoughtful summaries.

In the end, it’s merely my curious appetite that greedily lurks about the endless resources that the internet and publications provide, searching for more than just the graphical capabilities and controls in a game. There has always been speculation, and attempts, but the concept hasn’t gained an audience, or a performer for that matter. Partially this path is abandoned, out of fear, and partially out of an obscure road that hasn’t proven to become successful enough to accompany (or rival) the platitudinal review system that comfortably resides without a physical threat to suggest change. Maybe “we” should just…try? That is, afterall, what these platforms of unsupervised expression are for: to let go and express new intriguing ideas. So we’ve decided to do so, and give our opinions on what you all truly care about: videogames. In due time, we’d like to think that GameBlurg will become a source for intelligent analysis. Surely, there are people with experience in our field that eclipses that of our own, and there are those who are more than capable of delivering comprehensible experiences, but instead of continuing the wave of countless whining (except for what’s above!) and speculation, we’re just going to give it a shot. The road will probably be shaky, but if you’re not making a mess, then you’re probably approaching your problems a little too carefully. Look for more information soon and wish us luck!

© GameBlurg produces mind bedazzling and sexified content, delivering opinions of news and current affairs in the videogame industry: subscribe for more great content.

See what we’re up to in the gaming universe! We’re starting a videogame diary, and intend to keep it consistent and up-to-date. The main reason is that, we’re “responsibly” moving in and out throughout our “pile of shame” as well as new releases to gain resources and share similar experiences with our readers. Okay, okay…so we were looking for excuses to play more games.

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Thank you for visiting our website! The internet is comprised with an immeasurable amount of videogame resources available for gaming enthusiasts worldwide, and your discovery of this small gem buried beneath the avalanche of those general gaming websites, regardless of how you might have stumbled upon us, is deeply appreciated.

GameBlurg is dedicated towards supplying our readers with educative advice and information on the gaming industry’s current affairs and latest topics. We believe that our unmitigated love for videogames and the website that we boundlessly dedicate our time towards will translate throughout the gratifying content that we will exhibit on a weekly basis.

GameBlurg is a multi-authored blog ran primarily by Mauricio Bowers. Since the 8th grade, Mauricio was always intrigued by a videogame’s ability to captivate his attention with its engaging interactivity. As time passed, he began to appreciate the assembly of the objects that consumed his free time, and thus, his healthy obsession has landed him here: aggressively expressing his opinion and objectively analyzing our industry’s current affairs. Currently, Mauricio is an undergraduate student studying Interactive Design and Videogame Development at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Ga. Mauricio’s other favorite activities includes: Slipknot, coloring books and poker.

Gameblurg is also fortunate to have obtained the sensational designing talents of Ptah Dunbar. You may recognize him from his career blog at PtahDunbar.com where he writes about his journey to become the best in the web industry. To have a web developer who shares a similar vision by way of design and interest is truly a blessing, and a stress reliever. Long before Ptah began to devote his talents towards his career field, he was primed as a hardcore gamer. The likes of the Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero and Rock Band now consume his time when he isn’t sketching the visual architecture for his projects. Academically, Ptah is currently an undergraduate student studying Computer Science in Atlanta, Ga. In his spare time, Ptah likes traveling, working on his “multi-billion dollar” web startup and various other stuff those 20′ something year olds do.

The creation of such an ambitious project as a website is one where the mantra, ‘two heads are better than one’, establishes a breath of ease among the atmosphere during our constructing process. Nevertheless, at GameBlurg, we figured another mantra, ‘three heads beat the crap out of two heads any day of the week,’ would do wonders. Kenneth Florence’s supporting role within this venture provides an immediate sense of relief. Provides an excess of knowledge and passion for the industry, Kenneth’s insight supplies a much needed helping hand. Currently an undergrad studying game and simulation programming at DeVry, Kenneth enjoys Yugioh, writing, and of course video games.

With the possession of an omnipresent expertise throughout the various aspects of the videogame industry, GameBlurg is positive that you’ll enjoy the rich, diverse content we’ve got in store for you. Our contribution of unmerciful honesty, interpretive videogame analysis, and relentless objection to the videogame industry is created with the intent of generating an accumulative voice among avid gamers who share a similar agitation drawn from the monotonous adventures and unstimulating game mechanics that plague videogames from every rack at your local Gamestop to their unimaginative creators.

In short, continue to keep up and visit our blog, subscribe to our RSS feed, and if GameBlurg was to promise anything, it would be that you will always be free of dialog of the mundane, tedious, expendable content, and nauseating bias. From the collective assembly involved with GameBlurg’s genesis, we all hope you’ll enjoy all that we will lay out for you to digest, and know that it’s only the beginning, so stay tuned!