Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Celebrities To Realism

Author: by Staff

Showcasing highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our weblog writers this week examine the need for industry celebrities, unfortunate business realities, controversy of realism, and more. Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. Our favorite blog post of the week will earn its author a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra's sister publication, Game Developer magazine. (All magazine recipients outside of the United States or Canada will receive lifetime electronic subscriptions.) We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top member blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Member Blogs - Realism and the Relation to Controversy (Robert Weidner) Why do similar depictions of violence in different games create such different reactions? Robert Weidner posits that it has a lot to do with context -- in particular, the level of surrounding realism. For his effort, Robert will receive a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine. - Sentiology? (Glenn Storm) In a short, straightforward post, Glenn Storm asserts that without a practical understanding of experience and how it responds to our designs, the craft of game design cannot evolve. Intentionally, it's the resulting comment thread that's the real point of the post. - Opinion: We Need "Celebrities" (Joshua Lin) Does the game industry have a celebrity deficiency relative to other entertainment forms, and is it harmful? Aspiring marketer Joshua Lin offers his take. - Business as Usual (Logan Dwight) Inspired by the recent financial troubles suffered by Edge of Twilight developer Fuzzyeyes Studio, Logan Dwight reflects on the structure of business relationships in the video game industry, wondering if our priorities aren't fundamentally skewed. - Video Games Writing: Where We Are and What We Need (Craig Stern) Video game writing isn't actually as bad as many claim, argues Craig Stern, but there's certainly room for improvement. One problem may be in our inconsistency of expectations.