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Blogs

Craig Ellsworth's Blog

I'm a game designer that focuses on convergence - the convergence between mechanics, level design, and story; and the convergance between casual and hardcore gaming.

I write my own blog at http://scattergamed.blogspot.com/ and I'm always working on game projects, from flash games to card games.  I also has a portfolio website, at http://craigellsworth.com/ 

I'm currently looking for industry work, be it level design, writing, concepts, or even technical work, in either casual or core gaming, so if you like what you see, feel free to contact me at craig@craigellsworth.com

You can also follow me on Twitter, @CraigEllsworth

Member Blogs

Lifelong Development (ex: Dwarf Fortress)  Featured Blogs
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:24:00 EDT in Console/PC, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing
Is there a way for a bigger company to use the same business model as the ultra-small indie Bay 12 Games (Dwarf Fortress devs)? Can games be lifelong development endeavors, or does the nature of large companies make such a concept economical impossible?
Read More... | 9 Comments

Games as a Storytelling and Storymaking medium
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:33:00 EST in Design
Games tell traditional stories like other media, but they also uniquely let players create their own stories. How do we effectively combine these two forms of story to allow for the most effective game story experience?
Read More... | 0 Comments

Augmented Reality Games, and Their Genres  Featured Blogs
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:11:00 EDT in Design
What will games on augmented reality glasses be like? What genres will stay, which won't work, and what new genres need to be invented?
Read More... | 6 Comments

Crossing Media  Featured Blogs
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:44:00 EDT in Business/Marketing
If an IP wants to cross media (making movies, videogames, etc.), it is more than welcome to do so. However, copying the story from one to the other inevitably leads to trouble (and poor sales). Creating separate stories in the same universe fixes this.
Read More... | 2 Comments

Three Types of Protagonists
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:08:00 EST in Design
Explores the strengths and weakness of the three types of protagonists found in games, starting with the Traditional Protagonist (found in traditional stories), then moving to the Blank Slate and the Customizable Protagonist (both invented for games).
Read More... | 1 Comments

On Violence  Featured Blogs
Posted by Craig Ellsworth on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:53:00 EST in Design, Art, Console/PC
Remembering what it's like to play games as an 8-year-old. This is kind of an open letter to those who believe violence in games is a problem. At the end, it also hypothesizes an alternative to why some kids who play videogames get aggressive.
Read More... | 11 Comments

[More Craig Ellsworth Blogs]   

Craig Ellsworth's Comments

Comment In: Augmented Reality Games, and Their Genres [Blog - 09/25/2012 - 02:11]

I remember AR Quake. It ...

I remember AR Quake. It was, of course, very early tech so it wasn 't terribly accurate, but I remember that being one of the biggest selling points to me for AR games. Unfortunately, I believe the game was limited to a courtyard or a similar specific locale , so ...

Comment In: The Six Most Infamous Puzzles In Adventure Game History [Blog - 03/02/2012 - 06:19]

@Raigan The name was written ...

@Raigan The name was written so the word bat was painted ABOVE the word vomit, not adjacent to it, so it looked like r n r nbAT r nVOMIT r n r nwhich backwards reads r n r nTAd r nTIMOV r n r nEven with this, they were really ...

Comment In: Questioning Our Moral Boundaries [Blog - 02/22/2012 - 02:07]

In my experience, the moral ...

In my experience, the moral line is very clear: is the death/gore real, or fake I have no trouble mowing down millions of photo-realistic people in a game, but if someone loses a tip of a finger in real life, I have to resist the urge to puke. Even when ...

Comment In: Press X to... [Blog - 02/15/2012 - 01:41]

I think much of it ...

I think much of it boils down to the fact that controllers were created first to cater to one specific game in an arcade cabinet Pong, etc. , and when home consoles came out, the controllers emulated what was in arcades. When cartridge-based consoles came out, they had to address ...

Comment In: Crafting a Massively Single-Player Online Experience [Blog - 02/14/2012 - 01:02]

Absolutely calling it an MSOG ...

Absolutely calling it an MSOG was more of a catchy title than anything it really was more simply ways to offer solo-friendly content and options, which in turn should improve the experience for everyone.

Comment In: A Non-Gamer Plays Halo: Reach [Blog - 02/10/2012 - 05:32]

Professional sports:Professional gaming::Amateur sports:Amateur gaming. ...

Professional sports:Professional gaming::Amateur sports:Amateur gaming. Your analogy breaks down because you have compared professional sports to amateur gaming. Your analogy would work fine if my friend wanted to become a professional gamer and play in tournaments and make money off of it. But instead he would like to play the ...

   

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