How to NOT Ask for Help

27Feb12

I know, I know, I owe you the second part of my usability-aperture-science-inspired-gameplay-user-test-session-blog-entry. And I will provie you with more insights on how to pick the right test players, what to keep in mind and the equipment used for our test sessions (and the tricky parts that comes with the software).

I need to vent, though. Today was an extraordinarily frustrating day when it comes to the communication side of my job.

Filed under: Game Related, Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: customer, customer service, gamer, happy, service, update

The sound of silence

10Sep10

You may have (or have not) wondered about this extremely long period of silence on my blog. I surely haven’t abandoned this place, nor have I decided to start a new one. The excuse is as simple, as it is true – I have been busy! To prove to you that I really was, here a short list of all the things I’ve started, finished or…

Filed under: Cthulhu, Design, game, Game Design, Game Related, Level Design, MMO, Photography, Private   |  1 Comment
Tags: bootstrapping, children's game, Cthulhu, dutch, educational, entrepreneurs, freckle, free, honeymoon, intelligent artifice, language, Level Design, marketing, marriage, membership corporation, MMO, naturhistorisches museum, nederlandistik, paris game ai conference 2010, registered association, schnitzelconf, serious game, sin city, thesis, time tracking tool, verein, vienna

Game Forum Germany 2010

01Feb10

“Pleasing 21st century game players” was the title and the motto of this year’s GFG (Game Forum Germany). Sharing know-how with and transferring knowledge to fellow developers as well as students who are trying to climb the developer-ladder to success was the main focus of the event. Excellent speakers were invited to share their knowledge and expertise in various areas, which resulted in…

Filed under: Consoles, game, Game Development, Game Related   |  3 Comments
Tags: conference, Game Development, game forum germany, games, gfg

Artistic Merits of Violence in Games

28Nov09

Today at the MQ/Raum D in Vienna/Austria at around 7 pm a talk will be held on the artistic merits of violence in games. You heard me right – the artistic merits of violence.

Filed under: Design, game, Game Design, Game Development, Game Related   |  2 Comments
Tags: artistic, computer, console, games, horneman, jurie, merit, rockstar, subotron, talk, vienna, violence

Being a Woman and Dealing with Press and Media

28May09

A few weeks ago I was asked to give an interview for a German online gaming portal that wanted to take a closer look at the company I am doing level design for and the product we are currently working on. Since it is a casual MMO that comes from an Austrian team the game and the team working on it has become…

Filed under: Fairy Tales, game, Game Design, Game Related, Gamer Girls, Level Design, MMO, Private, target audience   |  9 Comments
Tags: austria, development, female, game, Game Design, interview, IT, Level Design, media, misinformation, MMO, press, unprofessional, vienna, woman

Female Target Audience

26Apr09

While discussing different kinds of sports today with friends following observation was shared: the male athletes tried to beat their own score each time they engaged in their chosen sport, while the female athletes focused on…

Filed under: game, Game Related, Gamer Girls, target audience   |  4 Comments
Tags: female, Gamer Girls, gamers, games, genre, target audience

A Woman’s Secret

13Apr09

Every Sunday it has become a ritual to check Postsecret for new secrets that have been sent in. For those of you who do not know the concept of Postsecret – people can send in a postcard they have created or altered themselves and share…

Filed under: Game Related   |  8 Comments
Tags: amok, female, guns, killer, postsecret, secret, share

Women in Technical Jobs

24Mar09

A myth? Impossible? Highly improbable? Can’t work? A bad joke? Or not as unusual as people might think.

Filed under: game, Game Related   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: discouraging, female, Game Design, game developers, IT, job, male colleagues, society, women in IT, work environment

Star Wars:Force Unleashed

15Mar09

About five minutes ago I had the pleasure to play into the demo of Star Wars: Force Unleashed on the Xbox 360 (by far the loudest console I have encountered so far).

I had seen several demo videos for the Wii and was quite amazed at how the controls were so closely connected to the character movements in the game. Even though the Xbox controller…

Filed under: game, Game Related, Xbox 360   |  2 Comments
Tags: bard, chaos, controls, fables II, force unleashed, possibilities, star wars, stormtrooper, wii, wii mote, Xbox 360

I Dress in Black

12Mar09

I dress in black most of the time. I enjoy watching crappy and not so crappy horror movies. The music I listen to is often hard, heavy, or dark. My boots are high and heavy. My literature is dark and heavy. I read comics. I collect comics. I play video games. Violent video games…

Filed under: Comics, Game Related, Horror, Movie, Private, RPG   |  9 Comments
Tags: black, Comics, computer games, games, Graphic Novels, gun, music, RPG, school shooting, video games, violent, weapon