News

JikGuard
Notes from the Infancy of Network Gaming (1990)
My blog captures my memories of writing some of the earliest 8-bit games (CRISIS MOUNTAIN, DINO EGGS, SHORT CIRCUIT) and earliest online games (for AOL). Check out my game revival DINO EGGS: REBIRTH which debuts on Steam Thursday, June 9, 2016.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
How Blizzard built the Overwatch hype train and rode it to success
A detailed look at how Blizzard crafted and executed a masterful PR campaign for Overwatch.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
Why having a Live Service team is important!
If you want to succeed in video games today with a multimillion dollar franchise, you need to have some type of Live Service that enables you to monitor and react to your customer’s behavior.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
The Making of Sonic Beat: Solving rhythm gaming for mobile devices
Making a music game for mobile was an immense challenge. Here I deep-dive into our development and design process, from working with a game engine for the first time and dealing with troublesome hardware, to failing to give away free cinnamon rolls.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
The Paid Mods Question
A look at the economics of the Paid Mods debate, and how damaging it could be to the industry depending on how it would be implemented on platforms like Steam if and when it next gets brought up.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
Playing with Shadows and Legos: an Interview with Chambara Lead Designer
Esteban Fajardo is the lead designer of Chambara, a stylish, split-screen fighting game that won the BAFTA Ones to Watch award in 2014. In this interview he delves into his approach and his lessons learned in level design.
June 6, 2016
JikGuard
Join Gamasutra at the InnoGames Jam at Gamescom!
Gamasutra is joining the inaugural InnoGames Jam at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany this August as a media partner, and you should come too!
June 3, 2016
JikGuard
Get a job: Infinity Ward is hiring a Technical Artist
The Call of Duty studio is looking for a technical artist to specialize in materials and lighting and work alongside the team at the company's Woodland Hills, CA offices.
June 3, 2016
JikGuard
Video: Game design and mind control in Superhot
At GDC 2016, game director Piotr Iwanicki detailed Superhot's design process and how its developers ultimately leaned in to the "mind control" elements of the game's narrative to build a better game.
June 3, 2016
JikGuard
Get cutting-edge tips on building great game backends at GDC Europe
Come out to GDC Europe in Germany this August and catch a lightning-hot Programming talk from backend developer Kevin Daniel Setiono on the design of cutting-edge video game backend architecture.
June 3, 2016
JikGuard
The small team behind Dangerous Golf's huge destructionfests
“We wanted to make a sports game and take the piss out of it,” explains Alex Ward of Three Fields Entertaianment. “It’s fun to see things break."
June 3, 2016
JikGuard
21 years later, Kenji Eno's 3DO cult hit D comes to PC
More than two decades after its 1995 release on 3DO, Kenji Eno's cult classic horror game D became widely available on PC, Mac and Linux this week via the game revivication efforts of Night Dive Studios.
June 3, 2016