Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Major Setbacks To Gaming Culture

In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics including difficulty curves, major setbacks, gaming culture, story-driven design, and more. In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information about the blogs, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs - In Defense of Major Setbacks (Shay Pierce) If a game doesn't make you cry, it's a baby game, and if you like it, you're a baby. And I'm not talking about making you cry like the Citizen Kane of Games makes you cry, I'm talking about making you cry when Kane & Lynch punch you in the face. - The Importance of Gaming Culture (Christopher Totten) You might be saying "What's so important about screaming racial obscenities at strangers from thousands of miles away while pantomiming dipping your balls into their mouths?" but there is also other gaming culture. - Story-Driven vs. Gameplay-Driven Game Design (Gabriel Lievano) They're different! And for different people. A bunch of different people used this post as a springboard for a lengthy comment-driven thread. - Difficulty Curves (Jimmy Larsen) I've never seen so many wacky graphs! And I know my graphs. After all, I recently completed the Game Developer Salary Survey 2005-2010(TM), available exclusively at Game Developer Research. This exhaustive 110-page report can be yours for the low price of $1,495! - INplay 2010 recap. (Radek Koncewicz) INplay is a Canadian media event. You know, for kids! (Seriously, it is apparently actually for kids.) Glean glean glean glean glean.