I'm Game: Most Discussed Posts

Talking Portal 2 With Valve Software’s Erik Wolpaw

imgame — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:39:33 -0700

When it comes to video games, Valve Software was one of the early game studios to emphasize the importance of interactive narrative in shooters like Half-Life. Storytelling remains an integral part of all of Valve’s games. And Erik Wolpaw is one of the top writers at the Seattle game studio. Gabe Newell hired Wolpaw at Valve, where he’s worked on the story and dialogue for games like Portal 1, Left 4 Dead and now Portal 2. Wolpaw talks about the creation of Valve’s much-anticipated Portal 2, which ships in April, in this exclusive interview.

Creating the Baseball Simulation in MLB 2K11: Part 1

imgame — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:37:26 -0700

There were over 2,000 games in the 2010 major league baseball season, and the creators of MLB 2K11 looked at video from almost every one of them while preparing the 2011 version of the baseball simulation game, according to game designer Sean Bailey. “These videos are the same broadcasts that fans at home watch,” says Bailey, a developer with 2K Sports. Bailey shares insights into the painstaking process of getting the simulations right, including bringing top baseball talent like the Philadelphia Phillie's star pitcher Roy Halladay into the studio.

The Future Battlefield Comes Alive in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

imgame — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:49:20 -0700

Of course, when it comes to video games, communication technology doesn’t play as large of a role as the fun factor of weapons and gadgets. To combine a true military feel with a great game, the Future Soldier development team in Paris had to blend real-world tactics with near-future technology, and then factor in fun and engaging gameplay to deliver the experience Ghost Recon fans expect.

Solitude and Zombies: Waking up to a New Gaming Industry

imgame — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:08:42 -0700

In a nutshell, it seems that the players, the games, the business models, the game delivery mechanisms, the platforms, the market size and the way players interact with games have all changed. And through it all, the PC -- the most open and innovative of all the gaming platforms -- is experiencing a renaissance.

What’s in the Future for Slates, Tablets and iPads?

imgame — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:48:43 -0700

I’ve been following slates, tablets and similar PC form factors for quite a while now. They’ve actually been around for a very long time when one comes to think of it -- at least a decade from what I can tell. There’s a ton of hype around them all of a sudden, since Apple released the iPad over a year ago. So where will they go next? Will consoles try to jump on the bandwagon? Will slates and tablets be able to displace laptops? What about netbooks?

Humble Opinions: From The Sims to Indie Games

imgame — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:09:36 -0800

As head of Electronic Arts’ The Sims division -- the best-selling PC franchise of all time -- Executive Vice President Rod Humble of Electronic Arts has reached the pinnacle of gaming success. He gets to call the shots on some of the highest-profile, biggest-revenue projects in the industry.

TRON: Evolution - Game Developers Go Hollywood

imgame — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:40:38 -0800

Walt Disney Pictures is bringing TRON: Legacy to the big screen, using the latest computer graphics technology to introduce a new wave of video game battles on the Grid. And Disney Interactive Studios has enlisted Propaganda Games to develop the TRON: Evolution game, which tells the story of what’s been going on within the TRON mythology over the past three decades.

Developing and Optimizing Games for Netbooks

imgame — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:31:49 -0800

Whether you’re developing a new game or have an existing game that you want to port to the netbook platform, it’s important to know how to optimize it. The netbook market is growing steadily and creating new opportunities for game developers on this mobile platform. The best way to show you how to optimize your game for netbooks is to describe what we did when creating a demo for Fireflies. It’s a great example of the easy optimizations and quick performance gains you can achieve when developing games for this fast-growing market.

Using Artificial Intelligence in Game Development

imgame — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:57:56 -0800

Kevin Dill is the latest developer in a series of interviews I’ve done with the authors of Game Programming Gems, 8th edition. He wrote a chapter on patterned approaches to modular artificial intelligence (AI) games. These are some excerpts from our interview.

Independent’s Day: The Reality of Indie Game Development

imgame — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:02:16 -0800

Interactive entertainment’s answer to art-house films is indie game development. Titles like Minecraft, Recettear and World of Goo have captured a legion of forward-thinking fans’ and bedroom coders’ imaginations alike. But despite consistently raising the bar for innovation and creativity, life left of the keyboard isn’t all fun and games. Dave Gilbert, founder of indie adventure-game studio Wadjet Eye Games (The Blackwell Legacy , Puzzle Bots ), explains the indie life to Scott Steinberg.