Yodo1 to launch robust social service for your smartphone games  
by Christian Nutt [04.12.13]
The Beijing-based startup has built a new end-to-end rewards and social layer called Kryptanium, and it's planning to launch it in the U.S. in June -- first details from the CEO inside.
Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing

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Blog: Monster Hunter - ugly, but popular 19
by Gamasutra Community [04.12.13]
"Monster Hunter is really becoming the emblem of those video gamers who are genuinely interested in the gameplay, more than any visual frill," says blogger Marco Magnani.
Console/PC, Art, Design, Business/Marketing

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On video games and cultural relevancy... 35
by Kris Graft [04.12.13]
"We are in the midst of the most important and influential movement in video games in a decade, if not ever." - Adam Saltsman, developer behind Canabalt and Hundreds.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Design

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How a trip to China made Hero Academy a better game 5
by Gamasutra Community [04.12.13]
How Robot's popular smartphone strategy series took on a new Chinese-themed army for its release in the territory, which made it back into the Western version of the game, too.
Smartphone/Tablet, Art, Design, Business/Marketing

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Can all games be judged the same way? 4
by Gamasutra Community [04.12.13]
Radiator developer Robert Yang responds to Koster's blog post, explaining why constructive criticism of games can easily misconstrued -- and is rightfully viewed as suspect by those who receive it.
Indie, Design

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Exploring the debate around what is, or isn't, a game 46
by Gamasutra Community [04.12.13]
"It's hard to say with absolute certainty what constitutes a game, and we shouldn't be too anxious to go to war over it," writes academic and developer Devin Wilson.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

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Playable: A look at how accomplished developers make games 1
by Mike Rose [04.12.13]
As part of a new indie game development initiative, a group of accomplished developers will create a series of experimental games aimed at showing exactly what goes into the development process.
Indie, Programming, Design, Production

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Postmortem: Game Oven's Fingle 6
by Gamasutra Community [04.12.13]
Developers Adriaan de Jongh and Bojan Endrovski tell the true story of the development of the sexy, awkward, and very popular iPad game that asks players to rub their hands together.
Smartphone/Tablet, Design, Production, Exclusive

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Putting the reward in 'risk vs. reward' 26
by Gamasutra Community [04.11.13]
A design debate: Should players be rewarded for playing on higher difficulties, or is the increased challenge itself the real reason to play?
Console/PC, Indie, Design

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Video: Bungie's world of Destiny, from concept to production 21
by GDC Vault Staff [04.11.13]
Hear the four pillars that guide the world design for Bungie's upcoming Destiny, from art director Christopher Barrett and design director Joe Staten in this free GDC 2013 video.
Console/PC, Programming, Art, Design, Video

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Player irrationality vs. game design 3
by Gamasutra Community [04.11.13]
We've observed that humans very often make irrational decisions. So how do you design a game, knowing that? Let's look at the research and find some answers.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Design

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Blog: A deep look at BioShock Infinite's story 5
by Gamasutra Community [04.11.13]
A look beneath the surface of the story of the recently-released shooter BioShock Infinite -- an attempt to find out what the narrative is really trying to do, and to say.
Console/PC, Design

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5 tips for making successful kids' games in 2013 11
by Mike Rose [04.11.13]
Some Disney veterans have founded a kids' games start-up which they will focus on creating experiences that will value compelling storytelling. Here, they discuss 5 tips for making successful children's games.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet, Audio, Design, Business/Marketing, Exclusive

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What about love? Inside a game jam revolution 5
by Leigh Alexander [04.10.13]
A recent community-led dating sim jam over social media yielded not only an explosion of touching, innovative and expressive experiences about love -- but possible lessons for the traditional community.
Indie, Design, Exclusive

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How random loot drops really feel to players 16
by Gamasutra Community [04.10.13]
Building from his post about the emotional effect of random loot drops, Chris Grey looks at games like World of Warcraft and Ni no Kuni to see how their patterns affect players.
Console/PC, Indie, Programming, Design

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HTML5 game development, from prototype to release 2
by Gamasutra Community [04.10.13]
A top-to-bottom look at the development of HTML5 puzzle game Animory, which takes in everything from prototyping to what platforms it was ultimately released for, and how.
Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Programming, Design, Production, Business/Marketing

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GDC China 2013 announced for Sept 15-17th: call for talks now open  
by GDC Staff [04.10.13]
The call for submissions in Mandarin and English to present talks is now open for the 2013 Game Developers Conference China, which has moved up to September this year.
Console/PC, Social/Online, Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Programming, Design, Production, Business/Marketing

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The yin and yang of game design 6
by Gamasutra Community [04.10.13]
This blog post talks about the creative dualities of game design -- and explains how to marry your creative and analytical sides to come up with and execute on a concept you love.
Console/PC, Indie, Design

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Sharing the GDC experience  
by Gamasutra Community [04.10.13]
DigiPen professor Neils Clark tries to give us a picture of his experience of GDC this year -- in a blog post formed from quotes and observations and experiences he had.
Console/PC, Indie, Design, Business/Marketing

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Video: The ethics and psychology of the 'freemium' model 1
by GDC Vault Staff [04.09.13]
GDC 2013 played host to a live recording of the popular mobile developer podcast Walled Garden Weekly, with Touch Arcade's Eli Hodapp and Temple Run's Keith Shepherd debating the merits of freemium for mobile games.
Smartphone/Tablet, Indie, Design, Production, Business/Marketing, Video

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