February 2010
9 posts
7 tags
Low-fi Lowdown
Platformers with blocky, pixelated graphics have been on a big comeback recently, especially in the form of downloadable indie titles. We’ll leave an analysis of how the low pixel count makes it easier for individual developers to draw each frame of animation themselves and simplifies collision detection to the Gamasutra member blogs, though, and instead just link those of you who want to...
3 tags
It's dangerous to go alone take Church-Rosser...
I was at work the other night, getting my feet wet for the first time with a tool that’s known an automated proof assistant. Now there’s no need to go into all of the details of an automated proof assistant (or of Coq, the specific tool I was using. Incidentally, none of this is really specific to Coq. I just wanted a reason to include a picture of a French rooster in a white...
6 tags
Pantene Paragon
I can’t be the first person to notice this. The “Paragon” icon from Mass Effect looks suspiciously similar to the Pantene logo:
Maybe this is subtle symbolism. The concept of hair here is clearly being equated with the concept of virtue. It’s telling that in the Mass Effect universe, humans seem to be the only sentient race with hair of any kind:
Turians, asaris,...
2 tags
About Warp Skip! →
In case you were wondering who we are, there is now an “About” page accessible via the sidebar of the blog. Not that it contains any actual useful information. But hey, faux Game Boy Camera pictures! Retro-chic!
7 tags
Achievements, Foursquare, and Donald Norman
In a recent article at Gamasutra, Ian Bogost declares his distaste for Foursquare. In the article he groups Foursquare badges and mayorships with Xbox Live gamerscore and achievements, saying that both are essentially customer loyalty programs—along the lines of frequent flyer miles. The main argument in the article is that Foursquare, in particular, is a lousy customer loyalty program, as it...
9 tags
Shut Up And Play This Game: "Record Tripping"
“Shut Up And Play This Game” is a recurring feature here at Warp Skip! The deal: you read the blog post, then you play the game that we link you to. No questions asked. See the first “Shut Up” post for a full description, or view all of the “Shut Up and Play This Game” games!
If you asked me how you could create a video game that was relevant to my interests, I’d...
6 tags
Double Buffered: A Timeline of Western MMO... →
Longtime friend of the Warp Skip! staff and game developer Ben Zeigler put together a really awesome diagram showing the often-convoluted development process of MMORPGs in the Western game design world. There’s a lot of information there and it’s pretty cool to see how much migration there is of high-profile talent from company to company while staying within the MMORPG genre. Go check...
5 tags
Side-Quest Side Effects
Welcome. We’re here today to compare the way side-quests work in two popular role-playing games: Mass Effect and Persona 3. (A warning: there may be mild, mild spoilers for both games.)
This is a screenshot of Mass Effect’s “Assignments” menu, which amounts to a list of side-quests. As the game progresses, the list gets longer: it seems like every character you talk to...
6 tags
Anonymous asked: I'm getting awful tired of Counter-Strike remakes (CoD, AA and the rest). Are there any fun-based FPS games coming out soon, or should I just stick to TF2? I'd love for solid multiplayer over a singleplayer only game, but both is obviously better