Nelson Minar's latest blog post has a nice bit about the continuing evolution of heart emoticon (<3) among gamers:
<3 is a little sideways heart, to express love. Usually used ironically in response to a bitchy joke, or in apology for making said bitchy joke. Variants include </3 for a broken heart, <$ to convey a financial motive for love, and <4 as the superlative of <3.
<4 is just brilliant.
Game giant Activision Blizzard is being sued by the state of California, whose lawsuit details a horrifying environment characterized by the constant harassment of women, rape jokes, threats, retaliation, racism and blatant discrimination. At one point Activision Blizzard is described as a "frat house", but that doesn't begin to capture the scale and gravity of… READ THE REST
Pippin Barr (previously at BB) makes bizarre and insightful art games that yet fun (though often frustrating) to play. We Make Money Not Art interviewed him about his work. Something I admire really in your work is that your first concern is not about the player laughing and having a particularly pleasant experience. For example,… READ THE REST
Rian Hunter's Super Midi Pak is a SNES cartridge that turns the console—remember those cleanly-sampled but harshly-looping string sections?—into a fully-featured synthesizer. Inside your SNES is a MIDI synthesizer waiting to be set free… with Super MIDI Pak the wait is over. Play music on your Super Nintendo! You can pre-order one for $99; the… READ THE REST
Who says you have to worry about creating a compelling narrative or realistic dialogue or any of those other storytelling conceits. Instead, people love watching other people play video games, which have all that other stuff already built right in. In case you thought that was just a fad, well, you haven't been paying attention… READ THE REST
While prohibition was originally undertaken to reduce crime and corruption among other social problems, clearly it had what could almost be viewed as an opposite effect. During the 13 "dry" years from 1920 to 1933, unlawful production and sales of liquor through bootlegging and speakeasies were rampant. Thankfully those days are long behind us and… READ THE REST
Sometimes, it isn't desire that keeps a project from happening. Everyone wants the end result. They just aren't entirely sure how to get there. That's especially true with something like building an indoor garden. While you can follow any number of step-by-step guides about what you should do to assemble just the right mix of… READ THE REST
