Perceived Simultaneity Threshold: 100 milliseconds Let me tell you how I got my nickname, Jaime “Three Frames” Griesemer. We were working on the melee animations for Halo 3, trying to get the timing right. There were already fast. Like, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it speed. The animators were having trouble because there wasn’t enough time to add a sense … Continue reading
“We practice iterative design” You hear it in virtually every studio profile, every GDC design lecture, and it’s a buzzword game journalists equate with exceptional game design and a high level of polish. Apparently there is a magic formula for making good games, and it goes something like this. Start with a fun game Make … Continue reading
Betting Against the Bank A dizzying array of factors fed into the current global financial meltdown. Sub-prime mortgages, anti-market regulation, credit default swaps, a real estate bubble, global conspiracy, global warming, alien sabotage… the list is endless. But when it comes to the collapse of specific commercial institutions like Bear Sterns, it is pretty clear that short-selling accelerated … Continue reading
Tuned (See also: Polished, Tweaked) A game mechanic can be considered tuned when it correctly constrains the player experience to have the desired effect The opening four bars of “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple are perhaps the best example of the power chord. Nothing screams sex, drugs and rock & roll like these … Continue reading
