http://www.owengrieve.com Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:20:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Reading through my previous entries, I realised I had made 10 posts in the last 12 months. I've been pretty busy recently, but I don't want to let this blog drop off my radar altogether. My friend (and Darkzero contributor) Sean recently began a daily blogging project, which has spurred ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2010/01/05/happy-mew-year/ When I was 11, there was a computer in our school library that pupils could book in 15 minute time slots on at lunch time. My friends and I were just starting to sit up and pay serious attention to PCs, and we would often stop by during morning break ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/08/31/qbasic-and-me/ This year's E3 will probably be remembered as the year that Microsoft and Sony launched their big counter-offensives against the Wii. Despite spending a great deal of money on developing and promoting both the 360 and PS3 as the hardcore gamer's consoles of choice, both companies have now announced very ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/08/02/natal-attraction/ Browsing my RSS feed earlier this week, a story from Kotaku caught my eye - Faith Fighter Pulled By Creators After "Manufactured Controversy". I first encountered Faith Fighter about 18 months ago, when my friend Judith showed me the creators' website while preparing an essay on one of their other ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/05/02/games-seriously/ Today's issue of The Escapist features an article about the illusion of videogame interactivity. To quickly summarise it, the author begins by saying that games are differentiated from other art forms by their interactive nature, but then discusses how many emotionally moving games (the examples used are Half-Life 2: Episode ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/03/31/games-as-an-art-form/ When pushed, I usually say that my specialist field of game design lies in systems of interaction. One of the few subjects I found really interesting during my Economics degree was game theory, covering topics like contract design, social bargaining, signalling games, strategies for imperfect information, and so on. To ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/02/06/the-cyborg-umpire/ Towards the end of my dissertation period, one of the forums I'm on had a big discussion about hardcore and casual gaming. I kept meaning to write up my thoughts on the matter, but looming deadlines meant I never really had the time. More recently, I was asked to define ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/01/26/the-hardcore-vs-casual-game-debate/ Sad news this week, as Consolevania releases what is apparently its final episode. It's been a bit hit and miss over the years, but the last episode managed to capture a lot of what was good about the series - heartfelt discussion about games, and a bit of informed parody ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/01/19/do-you-know-how-many-kids-youve-punched/ It's been far too long since my last update. I've spent most of my time looking for work, and I usually just feel too burned-out by the end of the day to say anything intelligent. I wrote a few half-finished articles, and came up with a load of Weekly Game ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2009/01/19/rise-from-your-grave/ I think this one could be revealing a bit too much about my psyche. During a recent episode of River Cottage Autumn, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gave a fleeting reference to lovage – a plant I have been gleefully looking for excuses to talk about since I first heard of it ... http://www.owengrieve.com/2008/10/17/weekly-game-idea-6-full-spectrum-window-box/