http://www.digitalsailor.net Explorations in casual game development. Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:36:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Soft-sell no longer works in these competitive times The old shareware model used to be the apex of the small-time software market: Give away an episode, sell three. And that's no good anymore, and hasn't been for some time. But today, I'm not trying to convince you that the old ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/09/22/hard-sell-the-only-sell/ My computer blew up! I'm patiently waiting for replacement parts to arrive and a laptop to back me up in the future. Thanks for your patience! http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/07/11/sorry-for-the-downtime/ Nuclear Eagle - somewhat flawed kinetic interaction Take the kinetic action of the Wii, roll it into a beautifully presented Flash game, and you've got Nuclear Eagle. You take the role of a giant, mutant eagle terrorizing the suburbs. Swoop down to pick up humans and toss them into ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/07/05/you-should-play-nuclear-eagle/ How far does your money take you? Air New Zealand has a neat feature that displays how far you can fly for your dollar.  By intuitively adjusting the expense slider, you can tune your trip to see exactly what locations are available to you, within your budget. On the one hand, this ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/07/04/how-far-does-your-money-take-you/ Diner Dash once lacked the personable charm it’s known for today. In addition to launching a brand new website, casual innovators, gamelab, unveiled some exclusive, historical images from Diner Dash's development cycle. From concept sketches to mock screenshots, you can follow Diner Dash's production from conception to launch. (It's ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/07/03/the-early-days-of-diner-dash/ Hoping to leverage her "universal appeal", Nintendo has signed Nicole Kidman to promote their Brain Training casual games series In a move that will further thrust casual games into the mainstream, Nintendo has chosen Oscar-award winning actress Nicole Kidman as the official face of their newest Brain Training ad campaign. Casual games ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/07/01/nicole-kidman-spokeswoman-for-casual-games/ Death Worm - An intuitive mechanic that’s easy to learn While the content is not exactly casual game material, Death Worm exploits a very intuitive game mechanic that is easy to learn and enjoy.  Ecco the Dolphin meets Tremors, you control a meat-hungry Death Worm that tunnels its way through the ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/06/30/you-should-play-death-worm/ The fellow fanatics over at BinaryJoy have posted an in-depth interview with Reflexive Entertainment's James C. Smith. (Also of Game Sales Charts fame.) Reflexive, about to release another sequel to their brick-busting Ricochet series, is trying to leverage the benefits of the Social Web to its advantage: "The built ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/06/29/interview-james-c-smith-of-reflexive/ 60-minute trials, $19.99 demos, $7/mo game subscriptions, in-game advertising...and now, pay-as-you-play. Merscom, in partnership with Double Trump, recently announced they will be offering five of their games under a novel pricing structure: play as long as you want, for only $0.01 per minute. "...users can download and play any game they ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/06/29/play-small-with-playon/ Remember those girls in your 4th grade class that colored in the lines? I don't mean they merely stayed within the lines, I mean they covered every molecule of white within that virtual ink barrier with mechanical accuracy! That's bad. It's a waste of effort and energy. ... http://www.digitalsailor.net/2007/06/29/more-or-less/