Changed Priorities Ahead

When I started this blog it was with the intention of becoming a games designer. I wanted to show that I thought about games, took them seriously and understood the reasons for the decisions taken in their construction. It was started at a strange time for me, as I had only recently moved to London and felt somewhat ambivalent about gaming in general. Put simply, I felt compelled to play games but didn't really enjoy them, hence the title.

I don't think the blog has been an unqualified success, in the sense that it didn't lead directly to good designs of my own. My writing is better, but not good: my designs improved, but still inchoate. What has changed is the strength of my opinions about games in general.

Broadly, gaming is moving into the mainstream. On one side a series of simple and accessible games, often using specific and novel peripherals, has broken new ground and made gamers of us all. It turns out the ever-evolving joypad was holding us back all along. On the other, the traditional gaming industry and press is focussed ever tighter upon a small section of games, themes and mechanics. An endless stream of space marines, grim futures and prattling weaponry has dominated the schedules.

I am bored of all this, and yet the door for creative designs and ideas is wider than ever. Xbox Marketplace, PSN Store and WiiWare; iPhone App Store and Android Market; Flash aggregate sites like Kongregate and Newgrounds; services such as Steam and sites like Manifesto games. The opportunities for indie developers are tremendous. Concepts such as artgames and the slowly-germinating concept of a "Not Fun" game offer promise of progress. The nature of discourse has moved from the purely theoretical and post-modern to the practical and applicable. Many people are taking games seriously, in a way not seen before.

I am a different person from two years ago. I will be starting a new blog soon, with a tighter focus on music, games and the areas where these two forms intersect. I'm excited again. Nobody else is really covering it, except in a vague "Oh the indie folks love that jazz but it doesn't matter": read the Destructoid review of Groov for a perfect example. We can do better than this.

There will be a few more posts from here, but I'll let you all know when the new blog goes live. In the meantime, thanks if you ever read this, or commented.