Thursday, May 8, 2014

Post: Mobile Gaming Hall Of Fame!


Hall Of Fame: Scott Foe















Hopefully, winning a lifetime achievement award is no indication that my lifetime is over!

Thank you to my dear, old mother, who confiscated my Nintendo Entertainment System when I (always) misbehaved, who patiently typed "pick up the carrot" into King's Quest as I directed her, and who bought me an Intel 80486 computer to mollify my incessant begging. My mother is truly deserving of first-ballot induction into the Mom Hall Of Fame.

Thank you to Gerard Wiener, who believed in me, mentored me, and who never confiscated my Nintendo Entertainment System when I (always) misbehaved. Innovation simply cannot happen without full and unflappable organizational support, and, no matter how way-way-out-there my dreams and schemes, Gerard signed the checks without blinking.

Thank you to the amazing writers and publishers out there who have given me so much editorial love over the years: Anybody who thinks press doesn't matter isn't thinking at all.

Most-of-all: Thank you to all of the wonderful creative, technical, and business people who have led, followed, and marched alongside me over the years. Your ranks are legion and to name some would be a disservice to hundreds of others - each of you have been invaluable to my growth as a game developer.

And thank you in particular to the awesome people over at Pocket Gamer for inducting me into the Hall of Fame. You always hear at awards shows, "it's nice to be recognized," which is total codswallop: Unfortunately, there is no word in the English language to describe the indelibly positive rush of emotion that comes from having your life's work recognized by your industry. (Well, there is "alate," but, like most people, I don't know what that means, and I'm still kinda iffy on the definition of "codswallop.")

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Opinion: Computers Are Gay















The good folks over at Pocket Gamer asked for my opinion on homosexual characters in video games: Unluckily for them, I happened to have twelve hundred words-worth of opinion on the origin of computer science, how face-meltingly awesome I am, C3P0, and what is possibly the first same-sex marriage in the history of game narrative design.

It just so happens that Computers Are Gay.


Saturday, February 15, 2014

Video: Casual Connect Europe 2014

The first Evil Game Design Challenge is billed by the good people at Casual Connect as, "The most-popular session in Casual Connect history." (I don't know how they qualify that, but, The Evil Game Design Challenge was definitely the most-watched talk from Casual Connect USA 2013.)

This second Evil Game Design Challenge is much, much better ...

Within the below video, you will find three luminary free-to-play game designers - Ben Cousins of DeNA, Laralyn McWilliams of The Workshop, and Teut Weidemann of Ubisoft - each murdering the game of Minecraft in their own individually evil ways, turning Minecraft out for player acquisition, retention, engagement, and, of course, monetization.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the second Evil Game Design Challenge.