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The Lost Tribes of New York City

Posted in General on March 30th, 2009

When executed well I have a soft spot for the personification of inanimate objects, or the “pathetic fallacy” concept. If you do also, then you will enjoy this!

Urban Anthropologists, Andy and Carolyn London interview some of New York City’s more overlooked citizens.


The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

Draldar of Gondor, St. Patrick’s Day

Posted in Draldar of Gondor, Game Related Blather on March 17th, 2009

A compilation of clips of my Lord of the Rings Online character Draldar of Gondor performing irish folk tunes in Bree and the Prancing Pony on St. Patrick’s Day.
There’s some clipping from Fraps not liking my computers power, or lack thereof so I kept the recording to the minimum and only recorded when I didn’t have many spectators for fear that it would clip the audio for them in real time as well.

Don Norman 03′ TED talk now online

Posted in Interaction Design on March 11th, 2009

I’ve been studying and following the field of Interaction Design as a personal interest for the last several years. Donald Norman’s books “The Design of Everyday Things” and “Emotional Design” are two of my favorite books on the topic. The following video is a presentation he gave at TED promoting his second book “Emotional Design”.

10 Game Designer Commandments

Posted in 10 Lists, Game Development, Philosophy on March 5th, 2009

The “10 Game Designer Commandments” is the first in a series of “10 lists” I am developing.
These commandments are listed in no particular order and in practice will broaden the way designers think about the medium they work in. While the individual commandments are simple and broad I have encountered few people in the industry that do not consistently break one or more of them.

10 Game Designer Commandments

Thou shalt not covet other mediums

Thou shalt not covet thy colleagues games

Thou shalt not place creators, genres, studios, projects, or players on a pedestal

Thou shalt not create selfish designs

Thou shalt not exhibit disregard or spite towards genres or markets

Thou shalt not take our histories, philosophies, and academia for granted

Thou shalt not conform without reason

Thou shalt not be insular to video games or games in general

Thou shalt acknowledge the full range of experiences the medium can deliver

Thou shalt design

In-game avatars cross-over into the real world in a Coke Ad

Posted in General on February 2nd, 2009

I didn’t watch the american footfall SuperBowl yesterday so I missed this rather cute add from Coke. The significance of this add is that it is delivered with the presumption that the viewer is already familiar with the concept of an “in-game avatar”.