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STATE OF THE UNION

Masters of Minimalism!

Tue, 3 October 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Bombs are scary. | thanks: Matthew Broderick for not blowing us all up.

So I've been playing DEFCON recently. It is hard to resist its simple gameplay, wonderful aesthetics and the sheer amount of fun that has been packed into every pixel. Introversion games are like that: basic gameplay hiding a wealth of options and depth. It is a feature that is reflected in their audio visual content as well. Introversion games are hardly going to be known for ground breaking graphics engines but smart graphic design and masterful audio design make their games some of the most artistically arresting of any on the PC.

STATE OF THE UNION

Off the Port Bow

Tue, 19 September 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Use your Xbox controller on your PC | thanks: Australian beer, oh how I have missed thee.

I think it is safe to say that for the majority of PC gamers the idea of a console to PC port is one often met with a fair degree of scepticism. For the most part we end up with extremely sloppy transfers where the code base is effectively ported across wholesale with no regard for the difference between a PC and console. I'm sure all of us have head-butted the desk when a PC port opens with the words 'Press Start to Continue'. There is one system where the transfer seems to go better than most and that is the Xbox. No one is surprised at this I'm sure; the system has a high degree of similarity in terms of hardware which makes the code transition easier and the fact that most of the developers involved in these ports have a development history in the PC arena is also a distinct advantage when compared to someone like Konami taking Silent Hill to the PC.

STATE OF THE UNION

I Can't Find the Free Clinic

Mon, 18 September 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: Finding Pizza in New York | thanks: Brian and Jeffery Eisenberg for being such wonderful hosts during my trip.

Give me a home among the gum trees... or at the very least among the tram lines and quiet, comfortable pubs of Melbourne's inner suburbs. I'm home and so extremely thankful for it that I had to resist the temptation to kiss tarmac the minute I landed at Tullamarine airport last night.

STATE OF THE UNION

I'm a Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Wed, 6 September 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: New York City Tourism | thanks: Sony, Nintendo, laptop manufacturers... I love you all.

Praise be to portable gaming. A very short blog today. Tomorrow I leave for New York City for a week and a half to participate in some marketing seminars (non-games related alas). The crazed lead up to being out of the office for such a time is the reason my blogs have been so sporadic of late and for that I apologise. When I am back you can expect to see them back to their regular daily (assuming you don't count weekends) roll out.

STATE OF THE UNION

Beam Me Uplink Steamy

Wed, 30 August 2006
by: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | vaguely related link: WAN gaming oldschool! | thanks: Pointblank BBS for introducing me to this game, Hoogs for letting me take on the Sysop role for real.

A nice simple blog today. No self-serving extrapolations of what I've been doing in the land of games as though it acts as some form of treatise on the state of the industry. No bitching about how company X is making my life difficult. I'm not even going to discuss a recent game. I just want to say I got Uplink working and damn I'm impressed.