How do you make game development something anyone can do? SXSW ScreenBurn Panelist Michael Agustin is attempting to do just that with GameSalad. He discusses his company and his panel Anyone Can Make a Video Game.

Dear readers, I’ve not forgotten about y’all… it’s just that nothing was really worth writing about. Until now….

But first, I want to tell y’all what I did over the holidays. I made my first visit to the San Diego Zoo. OMG, I loved it! The animals, the park, the air…everything was great. So, I’ve been thinking, “why isn’t there a zoo game on Facebook?” It turns out, there is one (and a few others that are really poorly developed). Apparently, I was just a little behind the craze. Zoo World, developed by RockYou!, has reached over 13 million monthly active users in just six months. Well, I’ve been playing Zoo World for a few weeks now. So far, Zoo World has been an okay game… but the game is a little too simple so it lacks excitements… I mean, nothing really stands out.

In this day and age, emergent gameplay and narrative are two of the hottest things in games. Today we’ll look in-depth at each of these two terms and explore both how a player can experience them and how a designer can create these two experiences.

Sony’s Original Gaming Venture Turns 15 today – an anniversary of a day that also changed gaming forever

Paul Benjamin gives us a peak behind the curtain and talks to us about writing video games.

The anticipated release of Super Street Fighter 4 has been baffling. First Yoshinori Ono says Super Street Fighter 4 isn’t coming to arcades. Then another Capcom producer says not to give up hope on an arcade version of the game. An arcade version of the other upcoming fighter update, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, is already being tested in Japan. What gives? In order to get answers I asked Ryan Harvey, EVO tournament finalist and the co-owner of Austin’s Arcade UFO.
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My avatar—a lanky, bald, black man in a professional grey suit and tie—stands upon a remote island next to Riley Triggs, a University of Texas Lecturer. He’s just teleported me here to meet with a Professor of Marine Science, Tracy Villareal, who is currently holding lectures and class projects on this plot of Second Life land.

A short, fat orange man walks onto my screen. His green hair juts out like handle bars on either side of his balding head. He wears a poofy, hot-pink-on-black shirt and bulbous-blue bellbottoms.

Well, I think to myself, at least Villareal has a good sense of fashion.

Norman talks with the producer of Scratch the Ultimate DJ, Fred Galpern, about DJ Hero and what makes Scratch unique.

One fine sweltering day here in Texas, Tim and I got to visit The University of Texas Videogame archive, a magical place full of the most delightful and historic games ever created!

The archive, which officially launched in September 2007, features ancient hardware, design documents, meeting agendas, and composition tapes. Anything and everything that goes into making games is piled, boxed, and/or crammed into this small room of academic endeavor.

Hi! Welcome to Ms. Cindy Play Facebook. Join me bi-weekly, as I introduce and take you through some of the hottest and (not so hot) social games on Facebook!

One of the things I do daily, beside brushing my teeth, thinking about food, and telling myself to go on a diet, is playing Restaurant City. Developed by Playfish, Restaurant City has been my favorite game for the past two months (which means I’ve replaced Wii-time with computer/online-time! Sorry, Wii.)