Game Design

By Felipe Lara, NYFA Game Design

How can you make your game more engaging and effective? In a nutshell, by making engagement stronger at the different levels ...
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By Felipe Lara, NYFA Los Angeles Game Design

We all want to make successful games: innovative, loved by players, and profitable.  The question is: Is there ...
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The video game industry has changed dramatically the last few decades, especially when it comes to getting your foot in the door. For the longest ...
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The Gaming industry is more competitive than ever, enough that finding success in just one market is a challenge. Of course, there’s nothing quite like ...
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Like in life, learning the hard way is never a pleasant experience. Instead of identifying your game design mistake beforehand and avoiding it, you get ...
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The Penny Arcade Expo, Game Developers Conference, and Gamescom are a few of the many huge trade fairs small developers dream of attending. Who wouldn’t ...
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Do you fancy yourself creating the virtual worlds where players explore and get lost in? The job of Game Artist is becoming more and more ...
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The game industry is more competitive than ever, enough that finding success in any one country is hugely challenging. Imagine then trying to create a ...
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Boss battles are arguably one of the most exciting things about video games. Ask the average gamer what their favorite boss battles are and they’ll ...
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More people are realizing just how powerful video games are as a storytelling tool. Movies are fine and books are great too, but there’s just ...
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If there’s one skill everyone thinks they have, it’s creative writing. The programmers coding the game and artists bringing ideas to life have no trouble ...
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Difficulty has always been an interesting subject when talking about video games. Some people have no problem playing a single-player campaign on Easy or Normal ...
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When Valve released Steam more than a decade ago, few could have imagined the impact it would have on the game industry. The online digital ...
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From having a successful interview to making sure your application doesn’t end up being ignored, there are plenty of tips out there to help you ...
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If there’s one thing a lot of indie game developers are learning the hard way, it’s that making a game is only the first step ...
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Strategy is one of those genres that has remained relevant throughout video game history, in one form or another. We say that because “strategy” is ...
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Of all the perks that come with being a video game developer, playing lots of video games is near the top of the list. While ...
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When asking experienced developers and game design professors what every aspiring designer should know, you’re bound to get a variety of tips. We’d expect no ...
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Of all the roles you can obtain while working in the video game industry, few are as rewarding and sought-after as “Game Designer”. Game designers ...
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If there’s one video game genre that can be difficult to explain in a nutshell, it’s action-adventure (AA). This genre is broad and often combines ...
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Most game developers do all they can to make their in-app purchases as enticing as possible. Whether it’s faster resources, more chapters, or powerful items, ...
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One of the most important yet often ignored parts of game development is prototyping. A prototype is your way of testing out concepts without putting ...
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If there’s one mechanic that has stood the test of time and transcended genres, it’s stealth. Stealth elements can be seen in today’s action-adventure titles ...
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It’s never a bad idea to examine a particular game studio and see how their process helps them create successful games. Of course, what works ...
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Like anything in life, learning mistakes the hard way as a game designer is anything but fun. Whether it be an unfair boss or boring ...
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During an interview for Japanese website, Nintendo Online Monthly, Shigeru Miyamoto offered a very interesting piece of advice to aspiring game developers:
“…Although you should of ...
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It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for a game developer to playtest their game. We have even provided some advice on how ...
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When you think about video game design, you can think of it in terms of a jigsaw puzzle. Not only does each piece need to ...
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One of the hardest things for a developer to balance out in their own game is difficulty. This is because developers are almost generally pretty ...
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While there are plenty of opinions floating around when it comes to crowdfunding, one thing’s for certain: plenty of great games have seen the light ...
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Any game designer who has been in the industry long enough can relate to the old saying: “if I knew then what I know now…”
Like ...
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When one thinks about the App Store or Wii gaming library, some pretty amazing games come to mind. From Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime ...
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The thought of showing off your game in a crowded setting, and actually interacting with people looking to catch a glimpse of your project, can ...
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For most developers, the thought of being the president of a video game company never really crosses our minds. Instead we’re thinking about how we’ll ...
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When creating a free-to-play (F2P) game, most developers focus on tracking the obvious: number of downloads, installs, and in-app purchases. While there’s nothing wrong with ...
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One of the most beloved genres in gaming continues to be the role-playing game (RPG). It’s in these games that we often truly feel like ...
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Last on our “Learning From The Best” series is a genre that only recently began making a comeback after a few years of seeing little ...
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The first-person shooter (FPS) is without a doubt one of the most popular genres today. Between the annual Call of Duty, completely new titles like ...
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Although they’re certainly not for everyone, puzzle games offer a unique joy that few other genres can provide. There’s just something about confronting a problem ...
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If there’s one type of game that is currently seeing an incredible revival, it’s the platformer. Whether you’re talking 2D or 3D, gamers have proven ...
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Making sure your game is fun should be your first priority, but getting people to actually notice it is important too. One of the best ...
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Although it has only been around since 2012, the Steam Greenlight process has changed a lot since its launch just a few years ago. In its ...
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There are indie game teams out there who think creating a design document would be a waste of their precious and limited time. This idea ...
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Whether you’re developing a free-to-play game, or one that will launch with a price tag, the end-goal as professional game designers should always be to ...
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A few months back we showed you three quotes spoken by some of the most influential game designers of all time. From standing up for ...
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For game developers to attract players to their game and keep their attention, more than a fun and captivating main quest is needed. Gamers do ...
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Creating an indie game is something many game developers dream of doing at some point in their career. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing your own ...
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Being a game designer is not only about coming up with cool ideas, far from it. The truth is, being a good game designer requires ...
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As the annual Game Developers Conference comes to an end, it’s never too early to start looking ahead  and planning for the next one. Attending ...
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Most people look back at games from a decade or two ago and shake their head at the outdated visuals and simple gameplay. Of course, ...
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Testing your game may sound as easy as handing someone an early build and asking them to tell you if they hate something or encounter ...
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It’s amazing how many games these days offer both a vast single player campaign and some form of multiplayer. As online capabilities for both console ...
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Gaming tie-ins for movie franchises have existed for nearly as long as people have been playing video games. When done well, these media can blend ...
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This is the third part of our series covering common interview questions that you might encounter during an interview for a game design job. If ...
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If there’s one area of the job searching process that many people find nerve-wracking, it’s the part where you actually talk to a person. More ...
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In part 1 we revealed three of the most common questions you are likely to face when heading in to a game design job interview. Here ...
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If you ask most developers how many unforeseen challenges they have come across during a single game project, they’ll most likely have a good number ...
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It isn’t difficult to find articles providing tips for creating a fun game. You will see  advice like be creative, prototype new ideas, and have ...
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Whether you’re new to game development or a veteran with plenty of years already under your belt, it never hurts to hear what other designers ...
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So your game is finally ready to launch and you want as many people as possible to know about it. By the time your game ...
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Having dreamt of creating your own games ever since you were a kid, you’re brimming with passion and excitement now that it’s finally becoming a ...
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So you’ve finally graduated from college with that coveted piece of paper you’ve worked so hard to obtain. Whether you went through a game design ...
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It’s amazing just how far the gaming industry has come in terms of who can actually make a living creating games. For the longest time, ...
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If you have recently completed the storyline or single-player campaign of a big-budget game, chances are you didn’t sit there trying to read every name ...
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Although there are sure to be exceptions, most games end up having some form of game design document. Whether it is completed before the game ...
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If you’re an aspiring game developer or professional looking to work in the industry, you have probably heard of the annual Game Developer’s Conference that ...
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When asking a game designer what you should be doing to make good games, they will more often than not tell you to “play a ...
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It’s no secret that making a computer game usually requires a solid understanding of computer programming—they are “computer games,” after all. Unfortunately not all of us ...
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Although the role of ‘game designer’ is one of the most sought after careers in the industry, it’s safe to say that “game writer” is ...
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It wasn’t long ago that having an online game design portfolio was unheard of. In fact, when most people think about an online portfolio that ...
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Considering how many applications developers and studios receive these days whenever they post a ‘Game Designer’ position, it’s easy for a hiring team to completely ...
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So you finally think you’ve got what it takes to land that fabled ‘Game Designer’ job you’ve dreamed of.
Perhaps you’re fresh out of college with ...
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It’s impossible to ignore just how successful Kickstarter has become in only 5 short years. From Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune’s new Mighty No 9 to ...
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While most game developers have a passion for gaming, at the end of the day it is still a business. That means that attracting players ...
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Back at the genesis of the video game industry, games used to be made by lone (and usually hobbyist) programmers at home in their spare ...
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While not all games employ a narrative structure to provide their plot, for a lot of gamers, story is vital for getting your teeth into ...
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Author: Chris Swain, Chair, Game Design Department, New York Film Academy

First, the good news: the game industry continues to grow as more and more people ...
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by NYFA Instructor Andy Ashcraft
So, as some of you may have noticed, table-top games — board-games and card games — are really popular right now. ...
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By Andrew Ashcraft, NYFA Game Design
One of the biggest benefits of playing games, whether we’re playing for fun or to learn how to design, is ...
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By Scott Rogers, NYFA Game Design
Developers of new games constantly reference existing games when collaborating with their teammates. There is nothing worse than seeing the ...
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CGI and video games: computer generated images (or, at least, computer interpreted images) are, by definition, the visual recipe for every video game we play ...
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Wondering where all of the diversity is in the video game industry? Don’t worry — it’s not all guys. Of course, it’s not surprising that ...
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The beauty of video games is that they can take you to any point in space and time you can possibly dream up. Want to ...
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As the biggest pop culture event on the East Coast, New York Comic Con (NYCC 2016) is always on the radar of every comic fan ...
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Two decades ago, the video game market got its first taste of virtual reality thanks to the Virtual Boy. The device promised “true 3D graphics” ...
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No Man’s Sky: a game with 18 quintillion planets, all of which are unique and fully explorable.
It’s quite the tagline, and thanks to some extremely impressive ...
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If you went back in time, even just by twenty years, and told the first person you met that one day millions of people would ...
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At this point, you may have heard of a little mobile game called Pokémon GO. It’s doing rather well and is gaining a bit of ...
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For those watching The Game Awards 2015, it was very disappointing when Geoff Keighley gave the news that Hideo Kojima would not be stepping up to ...
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There’s been plenty of discussion over downloadable content ever since it became the norm during the last console generation. Older gamers didn’t like the idea ...
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It’s been a rough generation for Nintendo. Plenty of amazing titles have graced the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but the latter has definitely left ...
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Whenever E3 comes around, most gamers have their attention on the corner of the game world they identify with. Die-hard PlayStation fans will have their ...
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Another year, another opportunity for the biggest names in the industry to show us what they’ve got cooking for us. E3 is more than just ...
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Compared to the history of film and television, video games are still pretty much in their infancy. One can also argue that games are advancing ...
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Almost anywhere you look, statistics will show that the number of people who identify themselves as gamers is growing. From small mobile and indie titles ...
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Like Christmas and birthdays, gamers begin counting down the days until the next E3 the day after the show closes its doors. While there are ...
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We have more games to enjoy than ever before thanks to the indie renaissance that our industry is currently experiencing. This is especially true in ...
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While many of us learned about episodic games by playing Telltale Games from the mid-late 2000s, this format has been around in various forms since ...
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It’s amazing to think that the Game Developers Conference started out in a small living room back in the 1980s. The annual event now takes ...
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One of the most important decisions every development team has to make is what platform their game will be made for. Unlike a decade or ...
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Recently, the upcoming Assassin’s Creed film, based on Ubisoft’s annual game series, finished filming. While those who remember 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ...
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Fallout 4, Star Wars Battlefront, Halo 5: Guardian, Call of Duty: Black Ops III—these are only a few of the many well-received titles gamers all ...
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Gamers are a blessed bunch. Each year, countless titles on numerous platforms release to help us have fun and escape from reality for a while. ...
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If there’s one thing that the internet and social media have shown us, it’s that people really like expressing their feelings and opinions. Take a ...
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2015 marked the second time that Sony put on their own showcase live event—the PlayStation Experience. From upcoming independent games and big-budget titles to tech ...
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Almost one year ago we talked about how Geoff Keighley’s first Game Awards show was a long-awaited taste of how an annual awards ceremony should ...
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Not long ago the idea of making games without a large team and serious publisher support was seen as a joke to many. Of course, ...
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One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding video games, especially among people unfamiliar with the industry, is that everyone involved in making them eventually gets rich. ...
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Virtual reality has been a hot topic in the video game industry for a while now. This contrasts greatly to the 90s when VR headsets, ...
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There have been a couple of huge acquisitions in the gaming industry within the last few years. Last September Microsoft bought Mojang, allowing them to ...
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In the last decade or so we have seen a renaissance of sorts when it comes to games that give players the ability to create ...
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Over the past few decades, the video game industry has really come into its own—not only is it the fastest growing entertainment medium in terms ...
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It only takes one look at the most popular games in recent years to see that story has become very important to us. Sure, some ...
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Anyone who says developing games is easy has obviously never done so. After all, there are more than a few common mistakes that even the ...
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Ever since L.A. Noire offered access to new missions, outfits, and modes via the “Rockstar Pass” in 2011 other developers have been tempting players to ...
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While most gamers can’t wait for the month of June to come around so they can see what’s coming at the next E3, there’s no ...
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It was a little more than a month ago that Microsoft impressed us with some unexpected announcements at Gamescom 2015. While the best reveals were ...
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As a game developer, it never hurts to look at what titles are selling like hotcakes, especially on a platform you’re considering releasing your own ...
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From bigger worlds and realistic graphics, to downloadable content and 1 Gigabyte games that can fit on your phone, there are plenty of obvious differences ...
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When you look back at any of the “Most Anticipated Games of 2015″ lists written up last year, you’ll usually find the same games repeating (such as Batman: ...
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If there’s one annual trade show that has every gamer counting down the days until it starts, it’s the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Here is ...
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Perhaps by the time you’re reading this it has finally started to sink in that Satoru Iwata, one of the most beloved figures in the ...
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E3, for a lot of us, is comparable to Christmas; an entire week when our favorite websites and social media pages serve as a floodgate ...
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Over the past few years we’ve seen many big name developers and publishers enter the mobile game market. From Sega and Blizzard Entertainment, to Epic Games ...
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When one looks at the relationships between video games and other forms of entertainment, few are as fascinating as that of games and toys. Today ...
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It was only about a month ago that Valve Corporation, one of the most recognizable video game companies in the world, was making headlines with ...
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During their 2005 E3 press conference, Sony showed off the power of the PlayStation 3 in a way that Square Enix regretted for many years ...
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When thinking about Nintendo this coming E3, many will only have one thing on their mind: the Wii U sure is struggling to sell, isn’t ...
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Of the three big video game companies battling it out this generation, only Sony will step into E3 2015 with bragging rights. While the Wii U ...
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It’s been quite a rough road so far for Microsoft. Although the Xbox 360 managed to fare better than the Playstation 3 throughout most of ...
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Any gamer who held a controller in their hands during the last half of the 90s knows how big 3D platformers were. From Super Mario ...
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If you grew up playing video games in the 90s, chances are you wanted a specific game console for one reason: it had one or ...
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Just like excellent reviews and high sales numbers, a good modding community is something every game creator dreams of having. In fact, many developers openly ...
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Easily one of the best things about the gaming industry is that it’s constantly changing. Who knew music video games like Rock Band and Guitar ...
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Zombies.
Zombies, zombies, zombies.
For the past decade, the undead blighters have been rising from their graves and spreading their viral appeal through pretty much every medium ...
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“A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”
– Shigeru Miyamoto
Chances are you’ve already read or heard this now-famous quote by ...
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Normally when a game company is trending on Twitter, the hope is that it’s because an anticipated game has just released to critical acclaim, or ...
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If there’s one thing that has been polarizing fans for a few years now, it’s the possibility of Nintendo entering the smartphone scene. Should the “Big ...
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2015 is another year where we’ll play a host of amazing games we didn’t know could provide us with so much joy and entertainment. At ...
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Few could have anticipated the level of success Hearthstone would achieve, even if trading card games like Magic The Gathering are as popular as ever. ...
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Even though it’s been growing for a few years now, it’s still amazing to think just how big the indie gaming scene has grown. Gone ...
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Whether you grew up in the “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” era, or your very first video game console was released in the last 10 years, ...
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It’s hard not to appreciate all the advancements we’ve seen the gaming industry go through over the past twenty or so years. From voice chat ...
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Want to make video games and break into the game design industry? One of the best ways to do that is to stand on the ...
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It’s always fun to see a new big-budget IP release that blows us away with new characters, unique ideas, and irresistible gameplay. In 2014 alone ...
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Even if you know your favorite titles aren’t anywhere near being the bestselling games of the year, it’s still fun to see which are. With ...
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2014 was yet another great year for gamers that showed. It showed us just how unlikely it is for the video game industry to slow ...
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Chances are you’ve come across someone that absolutely despises the idea of microtransactions in a game. To them it’s merely a greedy and absurd way ...
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It’s impossible to be a gamer and not get excited about 2015, a year that’s setting itself up to be one of the biggest software-wise ...
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When the topic of video game award shows comes up, most gamers can’t help but give a dissatisfied sigh. Unfortunately the gaming industry has never ...
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Another year, another awesome twelve months of gaming! From surprise hits like Broforce to Kickstarter titles like Broken Age, this past year saw yet another ...
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Few gaming mascots have seen the drastic transition that Sonic the Hedgehog has suffered in the past two decades. At one time he was the ...
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You’d think that being compared to one of the more successful game companies would be a good thing.
Not only has EA remained afloat in one ...
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If there’s one genre that has stood the test of time despite a long-lasting hiatus from the spotlight, it’s the 2D platformer.
From early 1980s games ...
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An ‘end of an era’ feeling swept across the gaming industry the day Nintendo announced that they would not be holding a live press conference ...
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It wasn’t too long ago when the point-and-click adventure genre stole hours upon hours of time from computer gamers everywhere. The mouse and keyboard were ...
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With the explosion of video gaming into the mainstream in recent years, it naturally follows that a greater number of people are looking to learn ...
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In late 2014 we’ll be getting a remake of a remake of the survival horror title that, for many of us, was the first time ...
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It’s incredible just how separated gamers have become when it comes to the subject of HD remakes and collections. It used to be that when ...
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It’s hard to believe that only thirty years ago we almost saw the complete demise of the video game industry in North America.
The now-infamous crash ...
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If marketing history has taught us anything, it’s that the gaming community is a mighty and fickle beast that shouldn’t be rubbed up the wrong ...
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When one tries thinking of a company that has been considered “doomed” by the masses every other year only to end up afloat, it’s hard ...
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Any gamer can look at the gaming experiences throughout their lifetime and realize one thing: the gaming industry changes faster than perhaps any other creative ...
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To the lament of many in the Minecraft community, the sale of Minecraft is a done deal. For a cool $2.5 billion, the game now ...
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Despite still being a relatively new entertainment medium, video games are evolving rapidly and in the past 20 years alone we’ve already seen many stages ...
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Every now and then, stories can be found of rare video games cartridges – usually from now defunct companies, or parts of a tiny production ...
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Author: Chris Swain, Chair, Game Design Department, New York Film Academy

There are literally hundreds of thousands of great games available via digital download to gamers ...
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Tomorrow sees the release of Wolfenstein the New Order, the latest iteration of the legendary Wolfenstein franchise. While many gamers of a certain age will ...
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David Fratto is a game executive who has worked as a developer and publisher for companies like Knowledge Adventure, Vivendi Games, Scholastic Media, and the ...
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Stephanie Barish is founder and CEO of IndieCade, what the Los Angeles Times has dubbed “The Sundance of Video Games.” IndieCade is dedicated to the ...
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As a game designer, Bryan Ma (@whoisbma) has worked for large production companies and independent studios. He has been a student of game design, and is now ...
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Robert Nashak teaches in the game design program at NYFA’s Los Angeles campus. He is currently chief operating officer of a virtual reality gaming startup ...
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Q: What is the first lesson to learn in becoming a successful game designer?
CS: Games are playable systems. Successful game designers understand how to prototype, ...
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