Random links and musings

Here are some random notes of interest:

• Ballistic Wars: The good folks over at Easy Only! Games put together a delightful little tactics game using concepts similar to those found in SpaceCute. My hope is to see an entire genre based off this mechanic popping up. As we saw from the prototyping challenge, there are a huge number of different variants that are possible.
  http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/12/ballistic_wars.php


• Call for Participation for the Experimental Gameplay Sessions 2008: Johnathan Blow is out shaking the bushes to round up a few experimental games. I suspect there are likely a few folks that read this blog working on something intriguing in their spare time. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
  http://experimental-gameplay.org
  
  
• March of commodification: Raph chats about how R&D on chat turns into commodity off the shelf software over a period of only a decade. What once needed to be built from scratch is now a simple option that can be toggled on if desired. It made me think that perhaps technology is not a company's long term competitive advantage. Instead, it is the unique (and fragile!) community that a service fosters. http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/12/12/the-march-of-commodification/
  
  
• What we are missing: Another Raph presentation. Worth reading if you have somehow missed the joyous discussion about where online games are going.
  http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/12/06/gdc-prime-2007-what-we-are-missing/


• Asynchronous games: The ever delightful Ian Bogost has a detailed discussion about the history of asynchronous multiplayer games. I love his use of personalized scores in Asteroids as an example for turning a single player experience into a highly social multiplayer experience. If you are a casual game developer who isn't thinking about asynchronous multiplayer experiences, you are missing out on some amazing opportunities.
  http://www.bogost.com/downloads/I.%20Bogost%20-%20Asynchronous%20Multiplay.pdf


• Flash developers?: Do you know anyone with mad Flash/Flex skills who is interested in innovative casual games and social networking? I've got a good friend who is looking into prototyping some concepts in hopes of creating a startup. It would be ideal if they were in the Seattle/Puget Sound area. Drop me a note at danc [at] lostgarden [dot] com and I'll forward on the info.
  

take care
Danc.