Heard you’re an animator. I have to ask, what is some of the most impressive animation you have ever seen, whether it’s from a video game, anime, or just some Youtube video.

Redline. 7 years. All Hand Drawn. Continue reading →

What are your favorite stylish speedruns?
Continue reading →

What do you think of articles like this comparing videogames to drugs? http://nypost.com/2016/08/27/its-digital-heroin-how-screens-turn-kids-into-psychotic-junkies/

Not totally wrong. I think saying it’s like Cocaine is an exaggeration. If you’re familiar with Cocaine, it blocks dopamine receptors, meaning that dopamine gets stuck percolating in the brain. Videogames trigger strong dopamine reactions, so yeah, from brain scans you’re going to have similar results. It’s not literally a drug, but it can be addicting like one. Continue reading →

What are the most insane challenge runs anyone can do from different videogames?

I mean, I could think up a bunch, but that’s not so hard. Instead I think I’ll link to the craziest ones I’ve seen. Continue reading →

Videos are below: Continue reading →

Videos are below:
Continue reading →

Videos are below: Continue reading →

Do you think people overstate the educational value of games?

Depends which people. When violence in video games comes up I see a lot of people say, “Video games might make our children into violent killing machines but games do at least help hand-eye coordination,” which is a clear undersell, but then a lot of people reacting to that go, “blah blah, but they’re so interactive, they can engage kids on a level that books and lectures can’t. Video games are the future of education.”

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-video-games-are-the-future-of-education/

Why video games shouldn’t freak parents out

http://www.acsd.org/article/the-effect-of-videogames-on-student-achievement/

Video games clearly have an influence, some video games can certainly be considered educational, but video games categorically do not have all of these properties. Categorically there is a broad increase in ability to analyze and solve problems, to find solutions from what’s available, but more specific benefits are unknown, or rare. Continue reading →

What are your favorite unintentional advanced techniques in videogames?

Aw man, there’s a ton.

Kick Glitching has to be up there, it’s really beautiful. There’s just a ton you can do with it. You can influence it’s trajectory based on a ton of factors, and even do different jumps off it.

Rocket Jumping and damage boosting in general is a classic.

Skiing in Tribes was the perfect trick for a game with maps and weapons like it has. Too Perfect.

The butterfly cancel in Gunz was amazing. Totally opened up the movement system.

Toggle escape and the toggle fallbreak glitch were great in Dark Souls. Parrywalking and Binoboost were great in dark souls 2, especially binoboosting.

I like how you can save your jump in metroid prime hunters then jump in the air if you didn’t previously. Scandashing is also great in Prime 1 (NTSC).

Not unintentional, but shine sparking is just great. Walljumping is implemented in a pretty neat way in that game too.

The sky high cancel in MGR felt great to pull off, but it was kind of shitty in that it was the most damage efficient option.

The 2in1 cancel in SF2 started a revolution. It was the perfect thing.

The item underflow “Soft Gameshark” glitch in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Green is hilarious.

Strafejumping is a perpetual classic.

Accelerated Backhopping in the new source engine is a new-age classic.

Ori’s extended glides off bash if you release the control stick are great. Also like everything in that game. Infinite bash jumping is great too.

The ability to put away your sword in dishonored is small, but neat. (and makes you move faster) Also being able to abuse the vaulting mechanic to boost up certain walls.

Jump canceling is totally intentional in DMC, but whatever, it’s too cool. Sword Hangers are neat with vergil.

Backwards long jump in Mario 64 is great.

Bomb rodding in Link Between Worlds is neat.

Landing cancel in post-sotn castlevania games.

Snaking in Mario Kart DS and F-zero GX.

Frame 1 double jump during an airdash if you release a shot in MMX3.

cloning in starcraft, also patrolling with vultures to allow them to attack while moving.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Micro_Tips

Palm bomb jumping in Psychonauts.

LAM jumping in Deus Ex is cool as fuck, also pointless once you get the speed upgrade.

The MGR super jump is fun once you learn how to do it (and bind L3 + R3 to a single button)

The sword boost in Dark Messiah, coupled with bhopping, is cool as fuck.

all the icewall clips in rockman and forte

everything cool in Vanquish

And that’s all I got.

What’s your opinion on focus testing?

Here’s something I found recently on something like that: http://www.designer-notes.com/?p=1170

I think focus testing and test audiences in general are a tool, and like any other tool, they can be helpful, but also misused. Testing a product with actual people who are unfamiliar with the product is of incredible importance. Especially in the case of a game. Making a game is about creating a possibility space which extends far beyond what you can easily imagine just from looking at the code. You might set up the rules with one intention, then find people completely ignore it, or that your intended method of play is actually boring, or that it’s optimal, or the game suggests to play a different way entirely. Getting first impressions repeatedly is important throughout the development cycle. Getting experienced player impressions is important too.

The downside is that focus group testing is used as a type of insurance in the entertainment industry. When you invest a lot of money into something, you feel a greater pressure to make it a hit. Once you drop something, you can’t take it back. So focus testing is used to gauge whether something will be a hit with a general audience before it actually comes out.

The trouble is that first, a focus group is not a general audience. They might not be representative of the general public. Second, focus groups don’t always word their issues with developers the best. And third, executives have a tendency to take the word of the focus groups over the word of the designers. Working with focus groups effectively is something Valve has always been good at, for better or for worse. It requires watching their behaviors and sussing out troubles that they don’t necessarily vocalize. Take the example of point 5 from this blog post: https://www.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/1924

Of course, for an example of focus testing gone wrong, we have Fuse (formerly Overstrike)

Kids apparently complained that the game looked too kiddie and said they wouldn’t play it. End result is that we got something totally generic looking that nobody was interested in on launch.

Another arguably negative example might be Hideki Kamiya not listening to feedback on Viewtiful Joe. It wasn’t exactly a big success, but nothing from Clover was. I remember finding the game too hard as a kid. I think it’s a bit rough around the edges even now.

I remember Itagaki once said that when he got feedback from some game testers saying Ninja Gaiden was too hard, he made the game even harder? Would that also count as a focus testing negative?

I don’t really know. I’ve definitely heard that quote before, and at the time (even with the Kamiya quote) I was like, “Haha, yeah, show ’em!” but on reflection, it might not have been the best idea even if it’s clearly a creator showing authority over the uneducated masses.

Honestly, I’m not even sure about the Kamiya example, except that I remember my experiences as a kid, and replaying it, it’s annoying to slow down time right when enemies shoot at you. I wasn’t used to that arcade type of difficulty as a kid, especially the unforgiving lives system, so I just played other games. Now as an adult, this is all manageable. I was progressing fine through the game last I played it, but I’m an expert. I can quantify how the game works a lot better, so I might not be able to judge it as accurately as someone experiencing it for the first time. And this difficulty of adoption might have lead to its largely unsuccessful sales. Is this a result of focus testing? Who really knows?

As for Itagaki, I don’t really know. He certainly made the game harder, but look at this version comparison between Black and Sigma. Sigma was made easier in some ways, but harder in others, where black (presumably the game his quote was talking about, or more true to his original vision) has a lot more sections with awkward controls where you’re simultaneously assaulted by enemies, such as in the swimming/water walking sections or some areas where you need to wallrun. Also the tank and horse bosses that need to be killed with arrows that can only be shot in first person view in black.