scott-jon-siegel
Latest
Social game devs rail against divisiveness, armchair designers, and s*** crayons
As a response to frequent use of social games as punching bags by the rest of the industry, a group of Facebook, mobile, and otherwise social game-identified creators took part in a series of short "rants" during GDC. During this event, a social game was happening in real time: coins were handed out, and attendees were encouraged to collect coins from each other, with the person who was able to get the most invited up for a mini-rant. The winner's rant turned out to be about the positive mental and developmental effects of games. Longtime game designer and Loot Drop founder Brenda Brathwaite opened with an impassioned refutation of the division of social gamers from other gamers. People told her she was "ruining games" back when she was working on Wizardry, for making an RPG that could be played alone, implying that this attitude was as harmful as the dismissal of social games now. "We stood together," she said, when games like Mortal Kombat came under attack from government and other groups, and when "hot coffee" came to be known not as a "steaming hot beverage but a steaming pile of shit". She urged that game fans stand together now "because we love games." A transcript of Brathwaite's rant has since been posted on her blog.
Meet the Team: Scott Jon Siegel
In the world of professional game blogging, the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups: the bloggers who investigate the stories and readers who make silly comments. These are the first group's stories. Name: Scott Jon Siegel Job Position: Blogger / Columnist Past Experience/Education: Four years as a Literature and Integrated Arts major at Bard College; Game Politics correspondent from way back in the day. Live Outside of the 'Stiq: Just moved to San Francisco, following a six-month stint living it up in the South of France (Bonjour! Où est la bibliothèque?). When I'm not blogging, I'm designing games, and blogging some more. I'm also engaged to an awesome blogger. Imagine that! Why I'm blogging: I like writing, I like video games, and I like paying my rent on time, so it made sense. I started as a columnist (Off the Grid's coming back soon, I swear), and graduated into a full-time blogging position once I got out of college. First game experience: I really can't remember. Must've been so awesome it erased itself from my consciousness, lest I become incapacitated by its glory. Obviously. Favorite games: Rez, Metroid II, Chrono Trigger, and basically everything in this photo. What do you really look like? This, plus 16 years or so. There's more to come every Tuesday and Thursday.
