Dear Cthulhu, it took me a bit to finally say hi. I hope it is really like they say: better later than never.
I owe a lot to the notgames idea and people exploring it. The game we're making is a mix of old and new, and even though it does feature elements of the "old school" design, it is also heavily influenced by the work of some of the guys on this very forum. So thank you for that.
You can see my thought on game design (and what notgames have done to me) via this tag:
http://www.theastronauts.com/category/game-design/...but I think what might be of special interest to you are these, listed in chronological order:
REBOOT YOUR AAA BRAIN WITH INDIE GAMES
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/10/reboot-your-aaa-brain/TEN INDIE GAMES THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL THINGS
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/ten-indie-games-that-will-make-you-feel-things/WHY WE NEED TO KILL GAMEPLAY TO MAKE BETTER GAMES
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/why-we-need-to-kill-gameplay-to-make-better-games/KILLING THE GAMEPLAY …POSTMORTEM
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/killing-the-gameplay-postmortem/THE TRUTH ABOUT CHALLENGE IN GAMES
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/the-truth-about-challenge-in-games/WHY WE CAN’T FEEL AND PLAY AT THE SAME TIME
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/why-we-cant-feel-and-play-at-the-same-time/FIVE SURPRISING IMMERSION KILLERS IN GAMES
http://www.theastronauts.com/2012/11/five-surprising-immersion-killers-in-games/THE SHORT GAMES REVOLUTION
http://www.theastronauts.com/2013/01/short-games-revolution/Anyway... Hi!