This week, I had intended to write about “Why School is Boring and How Games Can Fix it”. I had intended to link to Sir Ken Robinson’s TED-talks about our out-dated school paradigms, how school was built for an industrial world while we today live in an increasingly computerized, creative world with loads for distractions. I had intended to suggest something along the lines of what Robinson suggests, perhaps more detailed (his suggestion is really broad but vague). I also wanted to make the arguement why we need more of the creative fields (painting, sculpturing, game design) as well as rethorics, private economy and programming from day 1. Then put some more arguments why programming would be a super-good idea as a school subject. Alas, I got cold feet. Politics tends to be controversial (there’s no better way to have disagreements than to discuss politics and religion), and could distract the reader from what currently needs to be the core topic (Video Games). I’ll probably return to this in the future, one way or another. But rather than be quiet, and have one of those long, creepy pauses again, I decided to at least write what I wanted to write […]
Blog-note
After the last update, I suddenly felt like starting this again. So, after going through the layout, the blog name (it was really cheesy), fixing a good category system that should include most of the stuff I want to write about and categorizing all archived post, I’m ready for another run. And I so want to begin with Why Politics is Game Design. Before I do that, I’ll just reflect on two things: First, I’ve already said this very same thing on this very same blog at least three times the last four years. It usually hasn’t worked. Will it now? I don’t know! I guess it’ll keep up as long as I find this fun (rather than something “I should do”, get bad conscience about, and then avoid). Secondly, this blog name has been used before. Despite it being called “a flood of thoughts”, that flood has often dried out before I’ve even opened the mind dam. It probably connects to the “feeling bad about not updating”-thing. So I won’t promise I will actually keep that title’s trueness this time.
(Another) blog revision
This is kind of embarrassing. I started this blog back in… 2007, I think, in an attempt to post once every week and show the world how much I knew in time to have been running for a bit when I would need to find a job. It didn’t really turn out that way. The last post is from early 2011 – in other words, I haven’t written anything for a whole year! So I’m not even near one post per week. However, I have no wish to try – I’ve been doing a lot of useful things since then. I made myself a job, as CEO (and producer and designer) at the start-up Coilworks. For a 2011 summary, you could just as well read the Coilworks 2011 retrospective. There are some episodes I’m not adding there, which I may or may not wish to write about in the future. However, leaving this blog behind wouldn’t be that smart of me. Now I’ve got several brands to build (my own, my company’s and the company’s game’s), so that mean I should use this more rather than less. It also mean I should have what I use cause some effect. For […]
Revision to the blog
Initially just a “I’m still alive”-post, I got a bit mad and wanted to do a short re-cap of my 2009. The blog hasn’t been active, and as such can’t really reflect what I’ve done this year (the fact that I want it detached from my life just strengthens it), but some – if not most – of it is related to games, game design and “hey, employers, look at this blog – ain’t I awesome?”. The year of 2009 began with January, snow and a dawning game developing project. My first with a team, actually, and a first where a complete team intending to finishing a game within a time-limit. Only been doing stuff like writing down ideas, try to build maps (only to give up half-way through because there was neither plan nor vision behind it) and throwing together some not-so-good WoW GUI:s, it was an exciting period – at times. Obviously, game development is not all fun and games all the time. It can actually be rather dull, tiresome and draining at times. Such as when you enter the “office” in time and, when your meeting time passes by, needs to call everyone who’s late, only to […]
Looking back at 2009
I haven’t really updated this as often as I would like me to since I resurrected the blog. I think I just haven’t gotten into the flow of posting stuff yet. And that’s why I haven’t spread the word about it yet, either – there’s not much to show yet. But as soon as I put the time and effort this will need into it, this will be more alive. 🙂
Today… nothing
The blog has been down a long time, and a lot has happened since then. I’ve entered the University of Skövdes program for game development with focus on game design, and as the saying goes – the more I learn the more I know how little I do know. The know-it-all from earlier posts is, if not gone, at least less vocal then before (I’m sure I still think I know more then I do). Why I’m reviving this is to give it a new purpose. I’m intending to do a lot of small things to upload as well as link to good stuff to read (oh, how much I read!) and perhaps a few game links. And I’m going to be less picky about my spelling – I have a feeling my old super-high self-expectation sort of strangled my interest in going on, with not that much in the way of lingustic quality.
Revival
It’s been two months, almost three, since my last comment, and there’s probably no need in saying the Blog has died awhile. I’ll use this last post to explain the reasoning behind not writing anymore, and give the blog an ending for that future writer I’ve always been referring to. The primary reason I stopped writing was that I pretty much relized I wrote like some know-it-all, something I am clearly not. And perhaps the second most important reason was that I lost interest in writing the blog – I ran out of interesting topics, and – feeling like I thought I knew about something I did not – stopped enjoying the topics I wrote about, especially “reviews”. That’s perhaps a bit brief, but it very much sums up my reasons. So, let’s end the blog. I won’t shut it down or deactivate it (as I don’t know how to do either), but will leave it for future reference. Perhaps by that future reader I started it for, perhaps for myself when I want to look back to my opinions in 2008. I just hope that reader will see the good sides and not the not-as-good ones. // Johannes Smidelöv
Why the Blog Died
Ok, there’s actually one day left, but what’s over is all the hectic studies and multiple things to do. Which means I can start writing here again! Over the time I haven’t written anything, I have gotten a few things to write about, so perhaps I can be fairly active with this thing a few weeks. But, for now, it will have to do with this notification.
Blog-note: May’s over!
The weather’s great outside, summer is coming, school is about to end, everything should be great. But. That last point also means a flood of tests, exams, projects to finish and work to do. And we still only have 24 hours every day! In other words, barely any spare-time to find. Thankfully, there are games you can play just a few minutes and get into. Or the ones you can play scarcely and still feel you get somewhere each time. It’s in times like these I understand the idea of casual-gaming – you simply don’t have time to be as hard-core when there’s so many other more important things that has to be done.
Blog-note: I hate May
I’ve just updated the “about”-section with explanation about the different categories. They’re not masterpieces of any kind, but they make the “about”-stuff more interesting then a “about”-section tends to be. Post coming in soon, too – I’ve got stuff to write now!
Blog note: Activity!
Time flies! When all tests stop coming in, when you think you can get time to write here, you get a job you educate to and suddently that time went away. And then the high-school/university assignments open up, which takes the remaining evenings. And then you have to write an application for your first pick, taking even more time. But now I might get some time to post! Huzzah! Question is, about what? I thought I could write about menues earlier this week, when I saw how Buitiful Katamari had done it, which felt really cool. But I don’t really have that much more to add to that, very few games do menus that’s not just text on buttons on a row. I’ve been thinking of doing a review on World in Conflict, which I bought a month or so ago, but I dunno – there’s not that much to say. The teamwork-stuff depends on knowing people playing, which I don’t, so I can’t really do fair criticism about it. I could write about Warhammer Online or Starcraft 2, but I don’t want to turn my blog into a Hype-machine, so let’s not. Well, at least I can wish you […]
Blog/Life note: Void
Just wanted to post to sign I’m still active on this one. I do have a topic I’ll write about soon enough, but I’m currently thinking about arguments, suggestions and its point, so it won’t get written today. Also, the links on the right side isn’t really that well implemented, but it don’t feel that important to fix, either. This blog is intended as a temporary solution with the final goal of a site where I can upload what I’ll need to. And yes, I’m vague on purpose. I don’t have a set plan on that either as for now, and there are quite some school-work to be done.
Blog-note
So, this is the first post on my new Blog. It’s intended to be used as a possible portfolio the day I send applications to get into the industry. So what am I thinking of writing about? There’s a lot, but I’m thinking of three things (might get more some day): Theories on parts of Game Design (especially if there’s a debate going on about it), Reviews of older games (not shiny new anymore, but not yet classics) and notes of my own life. I hope to get into a school-program on Game Designing or just Game Development later this year, and hope to post stuff about what new things I learn then. So, that’s what I want to post. Edit: As it’s said in the Introduction, I’m Swedish. The reason I write in English is to not limit myself to a Swedish-speaking audience, and keep as many doors open as possible. Hey, even the Swedish devs wants to see good English, so using Swedish here would actually close all doors possible.