Modesty Studios

Assuming things about your audience can definitely make an ass out of you (and me). And sometimes, it feels like some games designs are built on this foundation of assumptions about its players that might be excluding a large market. So what inspired this was something I noticed in my email. Several months ago, I had joined Lord of the Rings Online so I could keep in touch with my boyfriend who enjoyed WoW. It was a free MMO (since I was not quite willing to pay a subscription fee). And quite seriously a little gem in the MMO scene. Today I had received notice that their game guides had been updated and the message was very new player friendly. It had a colorful list of new player and beginner MMO guides to the game. When I had first heard about this MMO it was at GDC. A developer was explaining to me how LOTR Online was aimed for a more mature group of people and that it was not as 'immature' as WoW. Now my research on MMOs had pointed out that these games attract the mos...

Another bit of a rant about games, or really one game. Angry effing Birds. As an iPhone game developer, I can assure you that the easiest way to piss us off is to ask us about Angry Birds. In casual conversation when I bring up my profession, guaranteed 100% of the time the person will ask something along the lines of: Oh iPhone games, you mean like Angry Birds. Or my personal favorite: "Oh you know my son/daughter plays this one game alot...what was it?" Me: Angry Birds. (There is no intonation of a question in this response. It's a factual response.) "Yes that's the one." What. The. Duck. Seriously, has Angry Birds become the FACE of the App Store? It really feels like it has. Yay for that company...they have made it into infamy. And I get so pissed off seeing their fisking merchandise at the mall. Jealous? Perhaps a bit, but on the other hand I'm REALLY glad that an iPhone game has gotten that huge. That makes the platform meaningful for a wi...

So I spent some time catching up on all the buzz about E3. Well some of the buzz really. And while some may be excited, I've found nothing on the horizon that lifts my spirits. I'm starting to worry about the game development industry. Nintendo Not Cool Anymore? You know, I grew up with Nintendo. Its the company that got me back into gaming and was the only console we ever owned. I'm nervous about what this company is doing. The WiiU seems like a smart step as it is well...an iPad in disguise. Although I like the 3DS, I don't see any interesting or fun release titles. I bought a 3DS in part because of the new Zelda and Kid Icarus but mostly because I wanted a new DS that actually connects to my wireless and I can download games on. (Because its a platform my company is considering in the future). Perhaps Nintendo is banking on their portable devices since their gimmick devices are not doing so great anymore. However, the series that got me back into gaming, Legen...

Controversy and gaming can almost be synonymous. Reasons why or subject matters will offend differ between parties. However, most of this thought bubble was actually inspired by an anime series I started watching and feel confused about my feelings towards it. I feel like I have accepted the 'offense' no longer or never really offended me. Rooms with Elephants The series that sparked these thought bubbles is called " Hetalia: Axis Powers " which is an anime series where the episodes are 5 minutes of loose history about the relations of countries during WW2 and other points in history. All countries are 'personified' as characters with certain stereotypical traits. While the stereotypes are funny generalizations, they are generalizations made by a Japanese perspective. I've only gotten through season 2 but I keep waiting for that 'elephant in the room' to be acknowledged. The Axis powers did some pretty terrible things. Also America did something te...

Another thought bubble about narrative and games. I've touched on the topic of meta-game elements several times but now we meet it head on. (apply directly to the forehead.) First what do I mean by meta-game elements and stories? Where will this post go? Meta-Game I remember when I first ran into the term "meta-game" while studying table-top RPG games. For example, rolling the dice and points were meta-game elements. It could also mean elements that pertain to the game world but not the main focus of game play. In table top role play, the dice rolls and charts are necessary for the game but that is not the main focus of the game. That is to say that a person doesn't play D&D to roll dice...that's what Yahtzee is for. The goals of the game are to explore, complete tasks, and refine your character. For a digital translation, this would be interface or the repeated actions in a game. In a game with random encounters (like a J-RPG), the main focus of the game is n...

Straight up opinion this round, but I have recently started watching Glee after the encouragement from my sister. I've been making my way through the first season somehow but it's becoming harder and harder to continue to like the show. It brought up for me a couple of other things people have mentioned about romantic comedies and high school dramas. Now for me, the only thing that keeps me interested in Glee is the music. I love musicals and having a TV show that is essentially a musical has some appeal to me. And it should come as no surprise that I was actually part of my school's "Glee Club" although we called it "Swing Choir", but it was basically the same thing. Wear a costume, choreograph a dance and sing at the same time. It was a mixed-bag experience for me because I love to sing and dance but felt bad that there was a lot of rivalry and politics between the teacher and students. Let's talk about romantic comedies. One of my fellow podca...

Thanks to a friend, I'm getting some 3D models for buildings for my backgrounds. I will probably paint them myself otherwise. Characters are pretty much designed, except for the main character. I still can't seem to draw her right. :P