Well, to me commercial video games are American. Even if they are made in Sweden or Japan or wherever, they still are trying (desperately) to be American. To make a successful video game is to make it the American way.

So even if it's not American, it's still American. That's stupid. Sounds to me like you just want to hate on Americans.

To me, it seems like Mark Rein came with criticism (although not very good one, in my opinion) at a bad time, to which Harries responded with immature personal attacks.

I think his anger is justified. And sometimes a good "fuck you" is what is called for. Call it immature if you want but it is concise.

Sick violent fantasies? You don't play many first person shooters, do you?

Not really... are you expected to enjoy committing genocide if you do, or what?

I agree with part of what he says - that the ultimate and inevitable goal of immersive technology is the direct senses-computer-brain interface that could render virtual worlds indistiguishable from the real world. But I can't understand his conclusion that until we have that type of tech, those interfaces we came up with back in the 70's will continue to trump everything.

I really don't know what genocide or sick violent fantasies you mean. He mentions killing in FPS. I don't see anything about genocide.

Anyway, it's a bit like building a better mousetrap. The ones we have are efficient, inexpensive and work. It's difficult to improve on something that works very well already. Gamepads work quite well. They've gotten more ergonomic and more buttons but no one has come up with a better way to get maximum performance with as efficient of movement as a gamepad and/or mouse. They new movement-based interfaces are more complex, expensive and inefficient. I like technological progress too but just because it's new doesn't make it better.

This make me ill and angry: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180422. I mean... wow. What an asshole. If you think regular games have a hard time, notgames don't have a chance in an environment that produces such a horrible person.

Thanks! Yeah there were a bunch of Europeans there (+1 Canadian dude, Michael Todd). I think Finland, Denmark, Germany and Italy were also represented. I have also thought about how there is a slight European kinda feel to this forum.
For a couple of years I have seen part of my goal as a game creator to be a counter force to the American way of making video games, which is the same kind of "negativity" (as a creative force) that is behind notgames I think...

Is that a motivation that anyone else here recognizes? (And of course you could have that motivation even if you're actually American)

What is the American way of making games exactly?

It would have been great if Fallout 3 had an 80s theme instead of a 50s theme! 

Not 80s themed but I think Rage is going to be close enough. I'm really looking forward to that one as it's the first iD IP that isn't just another spin on the Doom formula. The world is supposed to large - lots to explore!

Same kind of argument that erroneously dooms iPad and other touch screens. "I'm a serious computer user/gamer and I do work/play games with a keyboard and mouse/buttoned controller, I couldn't possibly do serious work/play on this new interface". What they miss is that there are six billion people on this planet, the majority of whom aren't serious gamers or dependent on keyboard shortcuts.

I'm all for more natural interfaces, whether they're about direct manipulation or about natural movement. It's not a gimmick. The 1:1 translation of the users actions makes it so much easier to get into. That doesn't mean that there isn't a place for the current type of interfaces as well, they both serve their respective purpose well.

And what's up with his sick, violent fantasies? I hope they're jokes...

Sick violent fantasies? You don't play many first person shooters, do you?

Anyway, I agree with him. They are gimmicks. When I'm playing a game, I don't want to jump around like an idiot just because my avatar is.

Decent article but I think the whole "ninja apocalypse" idea is nonsense. You completely ignore the fact that anyone our age can clearly remember the last decade or two of the Cold War and that nuclear annihilation was a very real threat. And anyone older lived through most, if not all of the Cold War. I don't think it's a stretch to think this affected alot of people who spent any amount of time contemplating the possible outcome of such a catastrophic event. You don't need a hypothetical, invisible end-of-the-world when there is a very real one breathing down your neck.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw on immersion (or lack therof) and motion controls: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/7794-Extra-Punctuation-On-Kinect-and-PlayStation-Move

It all depends on what you want to do.

Well, as you pointed I will be coder, artist, musician, sound designer, writer and likely the beta tester so I can't afford to work on a big project. I think that excludes 3D and complex games as RPG's and so. To be honest I don't mind spending a lot of time studying a complex language if it will pay the price and gifts me with the skills to afford big things, but for my first works I think it's better to don't overdo it.

I'll give a look to pygame and gamemaker, I guess but making a mod for HL2 using source is not a bad idea, either.

I wouldn't rule out 3d. 3d games doesn't necessarily mean more complexity than a 2d games. Unity is worth taking a look at. Blender as well.

Understanding next-gen streaming game services

What happens when one of these servics goes out of business? You can't play the games anymore, d'oh!

Pygame isn't a bad choice. No compiling and Python is supposed to be easy to learn. There is a ton of example games, code and libraries on the Pygame website.

It all depends on what you want to do.

It's not a small task, especially if you're the only developer of a (not)game. You have to be the coder, artist, musician, sound designer, writer and likely the beta tester. And learn any software you may need and create a workflow. Basically, take any job you've ever done and multiply it half a dozen times or more.

Depending on what you want to do, it can be as complex or simple as you want it to be. It's not an easy thing to advise on because there are so many possible ways to make a game. Some people will give you insane advice like "learn c++." But you won't be making games for many years if you do that. The simple place to start is with something like Gamemaker or you could mod existing games like HL2 or Unreal. Learn as you go. You'll probably make a lot of mistakes and hit a ton of dead ends. But that's the only way to learn.

So:

1.) Starting a project is really hard.
2.) Learning is hard but can be very rewarding.
3.) But what is REALLY hard is to keep your momentum and finish a project.

I disliked the fight passages (...) and instead I just wished to keep exploring the world quietly.

So many people have this experience.
If we can figure out a way to make non-game exploration as engaging as a game, we'll all be millionaires!
Let's get to work! 

I tried the demo. The fighting was clumsy, the dialog was dumb and the character design ugly. I didn't get a chance to explore because it was a demo and I had no desire to anyway, it turned me off in so many ways.

That most computers can do streaming video is the basic assumption of this service, I guess. But fewer and fewer computers seem to be able to run high-end 3D graphics anymore, especially because of concerns regarding cost and power consumption. A service like Onlive could reduce the impact of this trend by allowing us to play high end games on low end platforms.

It feels a bit strange to me to move back towards the mainframe concept of networking, where most users simply have a limited terminal machine. But I guess this is the logical conclusion of Web 2.0. It feels very "anti-internet" (which was supposed to be decentralized and non-hierarchical).

I don't disagree. I'm not into conspiracies so don't take it this way. I do believe this sort of thing (including the iPad and iPhone) are part of a progression for companies to have more control. They can't control the internet so they are going to control the hardware you use to get there. I think it sucks but there's nothing I or anyone else here that can do anything about it.