Unwinnable

The subject of emotional fidelity has been on my mind a lot lately since I began working on Rad Dragon’s latest game. As my team works on our game’s story, we wrestle with the fidelity of the tools we have at our disposal to convey emotion. You see, Rad Dragon sits in a strange place in the industry. We’re far from Triple-A in our size and resources, so we’re not working on the level of a larger team making a big console title, but we’re not what I’d call Single-A either: we’re not making mobile games (anymore) and neither my design/writing partner Mike Sennott nor I are very minimalist in our tastes. (more…)

If the voting for this list is any indication, 2012 was an incredible year for games. Over 40 contributors nominated 91 games – a dizzying cross-section of games across all platforms from PC to console to mobile. Every top ten list a contributor submitted dramatically changed the standings. There were moments when games as different as Borderland 2, Hotline Miami and Dear Esther all occupied the top spot. Almost every contributor’s list had a game on it that I had never heard of before – Howling Dogs, Zaga-33, Dead Trigger and more. Mobile and downloadable games went toe to toe with the biggest AAA titles. Even more surprising, they won in a landslide.

There was a lot to love this year. The top standings wound up being so interesting that I could not limit it to a mere best ten games of 2012. A baker’s dozen seemed much more appropriate. So, without further ado, dive in to Unwinnable’s favorite games of 2012!  (more…)

Exactly six years ago I bought a Nintendo Wii – came home from Toys “R” Us, plugged it in. (The box is still there on the floor of my girlhood bedroom, right where I left it in another November.)

“Can you imagine, Al?” my mother asked my father. “In our lifetime?” She was standing around marveling as I – ahem – went bowling.

Then I saw the Wii’s “pacemaker” warning and now I was pushing my adoptive dad out of the room. “Out, out!” I commanded him. I was not going to be the one to murder my father, thank you. (more…)

Today is the birthday of Buddy Holly. He was a cool guy and not afraid of anything. What are you doing this weekend? (more…)