Put yourself in someone else's shoes with Auti-sim

Can videogames help us understand the experience of others? A new first-person game from Canadian Taylan Kay is trying to answer that question.

Auti-sim (Photograph: Toughcellgames.com)

Videogames have come a long way. From shooting space invaders to experiencing the simulated life of a single mother fighting for custody of her daughter in Richard Hofmier's Cart Life. But a game that directly puts us in the shoes of someone else, seeing and feeling what another person sees and feels is something different.

Auti-Sim is a short first-person experience that tries to simulate auditory-hypersensitivity, which impacts the cognitive functions of some children with autism.

It's a terrifying experience, one well worth experiencing. You can play it in your browser and it will only take you a couple of minutes.

Find out more about the developer on his twitter account.
Play the game on GameJolt here. 

Watch it: Jonathan Blow on Truth in Game Design

Gamasutra are hosting this video of a talk on the creative process in game design by Jonathan Blow. The presentation was made at the European Game Developer's Conference back in 2011.

Blow is the developer behind the 2008 classic 2D puzzle-platformer Braid. The talk is interesting for two reasons. The first is the glimpse it gives into the mind of the man. Second, and more importantly, this is the first time I've heard a game designer talk about allowing design to be led by content, in the way a writer or musician might talk about their creative processes.

Blow talks about sitting back to observe the truth inherent to the systems he's created, and then refining, building and curating what comes from that.

Click here to watch the video

It's a fascinating talk if you have 45 minutes to spare.

Thoughts on 2013

The  new year carries the promise of new consoles, Steam-boxes and big name releases. But there's an interesting new trend that emerged in 2012 that hopefully won't get lost  - the rise of successful story-driven indie releases.

Source: Freebird Games

There's been a huge growth in the indie scene since the launch of the Xbox 360. Small releases are gaining acceptance and generating financial returns on platforms from Xbox Live Arcade and Steam to a slew of indie-focused marketplaces like Desura.

Retro aesthetics and arcade mechanics defined the space for years - relegating more thoughtful works to the shadows. But 2012 seemed to change that. Small teams of indies, with the specific goal of engendering a given emotional response, popped upduring the year. The style of simple, focused design is similar to what Team Ico achieved a decade ago.

These days indies and smaller studios are just as likely to experiment with story-telling as they are with mechanics, and long may it continue. The Walking Dead may have raised some questions about what constitutes a 'game,' but it still took numerous game-of-the-year awards. 

I've already written about Dear Esther at length. Here are some of the other games that stood out:

State of Play 2012 Round-Up

Growth in the Irish games industry is creating opportunities for artist, designers and programmers. Last night’s State of Play conference heard that the Irish industry has almost quadrupled in size in the last three years.

• The 'Hackett Out' live blog captured the evening: Read along with State of Play here. 
• Get the data: Jamie McCormick’s report on the state of the industry can be found here. 
• Who’s funding indie development in Ireland? See Wayra Ireland and NDRC
• Got some free time? @seriousgamesIRL live-streamed the whole event. Find it here.

Ku from Bit Smith Games
Source: Bit Smith Games

The call for new talent came again and again from speakers at the 2012 State of Play indie-game showcase in Dublin last night.

From artists to coders, new blood is in short supply in this growing industry. The number of companies working in video-games here has jumped from 21 in 2009 to over 83 this year.

Jamie McCormick, Marketing Systems Manager at Gala Networks Europe, published his report on the state of the industry in Ireland last week. He said video-games are now worth €210m to the Irish economy every year.

His study, “Games Industry Ireland 2012”, is available online on gamedevelopers.ie. McCormick said that the study highlighted skills shortages in in Ireland, especially in the area of animation.

And he proposed solutions. He’s trying to bring together the Irish Film Board and the game’s industry to pool their talents.

Super Hexagon article on ThePlayer.ie

Niamh Houston wasn't even born when the Game Boy launched in 1989. But that hasn't stopped her creating music with the aging hardware. Using the stage-name Chipzel her work recently featured in the iOS hit, Super Hexagon. The game sold over 10,000 copies in its first three days.

Read more over on theplayer.ie or listen to her awesome music below:
Super Boy of Little Powers by chipzel

Don't Cheer for Murder

For a long time I've wanted developers to contextualise videogame violence. Now along comes Naughty Dog (one of the worst offenders when it comes to casual in-game murder) with a title heavily influenced by Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It's kill or be killed in the post-apocalyptic world of 'The Last of Us'. The game's scenario demands violence and the developers don't hold back from representing it graphically.

Now that I'm finally getting what I wanted, I'm not sure how I feel about it. And I definitely don't know how to feel about the cheers and hoots of joy that accompanied every violent act on E3 stages this year. Am I the only one who found this gameplay walk-through a little disturbing?

Feeling disturbed is better than feeling nothing though right? If that's the case the above demo has already achieved more than most games. If Naughty Dog can sustain that discomfort throughout the game - can string together hours of consistently tense encounters that I'd rather avoid than get drawn into - then they may just be on to something with The Last of Us.