What would you do with 4K?

...probably not as much as Notch, who has made seven games for the Java 4k Programming Contest. Most impressive is Left 4k Dead, a tense top-down shooter reminiscent of Tapan Kaikki that makes good use of light to constantly scare the player witless. Play it with the lights down and The Juan Maclean in the background.

Much can be achieved with very little code: Left 4k Dead works so well because it's balanced perfectly, with your weaponry and movement just enough for the number of zombies, your range of vision just enough to evade surprise attacks. The game does not, ever, use more than is required to convey information - for movement, visibility, gunfire. Games like this are the equivalent of blueprints: the structure required the make a given type of game work and no more.

Thanks to Margaret Robertson for the link, which includes more tiny, tiny games.

Race in Resident Evil 5

I don't normally re-post stuff without adding something myself, but in this instance I feel I should. At some point I intended to write about Resident Evil 5 and how it portrays race, but the internet is faster than us mere mortals and GameSetWatch has published an article finer than I can craft on the subject.

Thanks to Sexyvideogameland, who does write slightly more on the subject.

Dave Arneson

Dave Arneson, the other creator of D&D, the one that didn't guest star in Futurama, also passed away last week. Those who knew him have praised his kindness and humility: Warren Spector called him "one of the Good Guys". Dave, and the changes he brought to gaming, will never be forgotten.

Here's an interview that Gamasutra ran after his death. Nice to see that d20s were originally chosen because Dave was bad at maths. In Dave's eyes, the most important part of game design? "Game mechanics. Making a balanced game."