By Cherie Thomason
It must not be a simple thing to design a video game to be inclusive (that is, appealing to a wide variety of potential players, not just to one narrow demographic). If it were so easy, we would have a flood of games that everyone played. As the video gaming industry grew older, budgets increased and the need for returns grew larger, leading to the tendency for developers to design something tried and true that caters to the same demographic that’s been buying video games over and over again from the beginning. But that’s a well-defined and crowded market. The economic benefit of inclusive game design is that the target demographic is defined as a broader category in which the current target is a subset, rather than a completely different one.
But how can developers increase the appeal of their games to that broader market? Naturally, the answer has a heavy dependence on what type of game we’re talking about, but there are some aspects that can span a number of game genres. If the game designer gets them right, it can make all the difference. (more…)
By Robyn Fleming
Jess Hartley contacted us shortly after the first issue of Cerise went live, wondering if we’d be interested in doing an interview with her. After I’d had the opportunity to check out her website and some of her writing, the answer was a resounding yes. Jess writes and edits as a freelancer in the tabletop gaming industry (frequently working with White Wolf), blogs regularly, and is an active convention-goer. I hope you all will enjoy reading this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it. (more…)
By Robyn Fleming
Robyn Bremner, a game tester for Capcom Interactive Canada (the North American mobile division of Capcom Inc.), is a regular on the Iris forums, where she goes by the name Twyst. She’s been a gamer since early childhood (at age seven, she was offered the choice of a birthday party and lots of little presents or one big present. Her choice, the big present, was a Nintendo entertainment system, and she’s been hooked ever since), and jumped at the chance to be a game tester when she saw a job posting advertising the position. I was pleased to have an opportunity to interview another Robyn-with-a-y (there aren’t that many of us out there!), and hope that you’ll find her answers to my questions as interesting and thought-provoking as I did. (more…)
By Latoya Peterson
In last month’s Gaming in the Media, the console wars were discussed, particularly in reference to the Wii and PS3 sales. This month, the trend has continued. The Play-Girlz Gaming Blog posted a sales chart (created by Infendo) showing the dominance of the Nintendo system after six months on the market. (more…)
By Robyn Fleming
Sun printing fabric paint is easy to use, and doesn’t require any skill with painting. All that’s necessary are a few easy-to-obtain supplies, a sunny day, a little time, and a willingness to give up some control of the creative process – working with water and sunlight as your major tools means that the composition will never be exactly what you were planning. T-shirts make a great canvas for sun printing fabric paint, and provide for a fun opportunity to make some wearable art. (more…)
As we enter our third month here at Cerise, we’re still going strong. The topic of inclusive game design – what it means, how to do it, and whether it’s worth doing – has inspired some great writing, and we’re pleased to be able to share it with our growing readership.
This month, we’re bringing you interviews with industry professionals Jess Hartley, a freelance writer who has written several gaming supplements for White Wolf, and Robyn Bremner, game tester for Capcom’s mobile division. We’ve got reviews of some current video games and one very old one. And in Gamer Stories, we have a tale about the irritation of dealing with stereotypes even while in pursuit of a truly gender-neutral piece of gaming equipment, alongside a self-reflective piece from one of our editors. And, of course, we have the articles and regular features that you’ve come to expect from our monthly issues.
Next month, we hope to bring you more of the same great content, and a few new surprises, as well. If you’d like your piece to be one of them, be sure to check out our submission guidelines. We’d love to hear from you.
