Carnival of Gamers #15: Hard Times Besiege the Midway

Carnival of Gamers #15:

Hard Times Besiege the Midway

I tells ya, ladies and gents, it's hard times for us carnies. The hard work of scratching out a livin' barely puts food on the table and liquor into the bearded lady as it is, let alone when there's competition.

And competition there was this month, ya see! A gen-U-wine *CIRCUS* done come to town, and as much as our little dog'n'pony show has to offer, it's hard to compete with an honest-to-goodness three-ring bigtop circus show. Tho'if ya ask me, Eee-three ain't much of a name for a circus. They'd clean up with a better name like "Uncle Miyamoto's Travelling Articulation and Gesticulation Extravaganza and Medicine Show" or sumthin less simple!

But the show must go on! Circus or no, our little carnival can give folks a show they'll not soon forget!

Ladies and Gents! Children of All Ages! Step right up and get yer tickets, for we're about to get this carnival underway, and you don't want to miss out!

Reports from the Circus

What's that, kid? You'd rather be at the Circus? Bah! Dimples over here has been himself, and he can tell ya it's hardly worth goin' to. Ain't that right Dimples?

That's right! But don't take my word for it, just as Geeks on Stun, who'll tell you why they think E3 sucked!

I done seen it myself in the center ring - two eight hunnert pound gorillas beatin each other to death while a small chimp waving one o'them bones like that ‘2001’ space movie danced around them laughin'.

Before the fight kicked off, Shane at Aeropause measured up the competition - as in physically measured it.

Matt at Curmudgeon Gamer thinks the chimp won! He also thinks the gorilla with the big S on it's back lost a pet duck. Want to judge for yourself? No problem, ladies and gents, Matt once again comes through and will be happy to give you a demonstration of his handy Console-Price-Time-Machine-Compare-o-Matic, or his sure-to-please-the-wife Console-Profit-Calculatron. Both are yours to keep for a small fee on your way out at the concession stand.

It's wasn't all bad though! Clint at Click Nothing points us to the best thing to come out of E3: A movin' picture show with 4 wizards of game design!

And finally, Kurt at SiliconEra cleaned up after the elephants, gorillas and bears, and reminds us what we might have missed while we were riveted on the center ring.

But enough about the Circus! You came here to see OUR carnival, so let's get on with it!

Fightin' Words

First up, we've got fights of our own: head on over to the mud wrestlin pit, where Gianfranco at GBGames is giving Roger Ebert work over.

Just beyond that, a Rampant Coyote beleives that Warren Spector wants him and other indie game devs to "Forget it!". Personally, I think he's being a little harsh, but this carny doesn't get paid enough to go near a rampant coyote, so judge for yourself.

Step Right up, win a prize

Meanwhile, on the Marketing Midway, there's plenty of things to gander at:

There's Corvus at the Midway entrance, yelling at the marketeers about how they are screwin' up games.

Matt (that guy sure gets around for a Curmudgeon Gamer!) chimes in on why the games may not be as expensive as you might think.

Everybody’s Favorite: The Freak Show!

Josh from Multiple Mentality points us to… the horrible offspring of two media: DDR comes to TV.

The Girlie Show!

No carnival would be complete without one! And to show that we really can span the spectrum, we have everything from Richard’s Online Journal, who, with tongue firmly in check, encourages press and bloggers to "be a warrior for righteousness", and keep writing those "girls in games" articles; all the way to Josh at Multiple Mentality, who, as though to add balance to the force, discusses Boob Physics .

There’s even Politics!

For you high-falutin’, thinkin’ types, there’s even more political fare to ponder at the carnival.

Kotaku points out a controversial Iranian-developed, Anti-US, nuclear defense game. It’s the other side of the coin to an “America’s Army”.

And speaking of America’s Army, Alice at Wonderland points out another controversial piece: An anti-war, in-game protest in Americas Army.

Designing and Running your own Games

As if all of that weren’t enough, we’re also giving a series of lectures here at the carnival, all talking about how to build your own rides and games:

Raph, Theorist of Fun, points us to a Sodoku design parody and questions whether it's actually good design.
Heartless Gamer discusses Character Creation on MMORPGs. Amy, amongst her Musings of a Social Architect, muses about social interaction, and it trumping pretty screenshots.Jamie at GameDevBlog (how can you not visit a blog with a name like that?) takes the law into his own hands, by naming it that is. Josh at Multiple Mentality expresses thoughts on boss battles, as does Tobolds, in a different kind of way.

Philip at Crimson Crux posts thoughts on the best gaming engine ever, and while you may agree or disagree, you’ll at least give some thought as to what constitutes “best”.

Not to leave any section of the carnival unattended, Matt at Curmudgeon Gamer is back, this time asking “Is GoldFarming really so bad?”. Note, however, that most of his commentary centers around WoW. Joi Ito, in the meantime, blogs about a conversation with Rob Pardo (Wow's Lead Designer) about WoW's design and how among other things, it was design to minimize impact of farmers.
Finally, Jason at Unfettered Blather, reminds us that of course, Design is the Easy Part.

Back at the Ticket Office

At the end of the day, there’s a lot to be seen and heard in the carnival, and a lot of things to help earn our wages, but someone’s got to pay up so that we can keep the rides running and the bearded lady well groomed. Along those lines, Raph has an interesting take on the “should game rentals be banned" argument that resurfaces in the industry. And from the player’s perspective, Mark at Intelligent Drone weighs in on the whole time-vs-money investment of players

That’s it folks! Carnival’s over. Please visit the concession stands on your way out, and buy something for the folks at home.

Next month’s carnival host will be announced soon. Be sure to visit carnival headquarters to find out, and make your submissions!