Losing the tax breaks was huge. Why would a company operate here when they can start up in Canada for a fraction of the cost and receive regular grants from the government. Bizarre were not the first and they wont be the last.
To quote the cover of this month's DEVELOP magazine; "Will the last developer to leave Britain please turn out the lights"
@Emilio: I am studying Computer Game Technology, it is all about how technology is applied to video games, it is not really a video game school, it is software engineering where everything is taught in the context of how it would be applied to a game. The design portions of the course are merely there to give context and can be described more as video game history than design. Game design is not really something that can really be taught in a formal setting, it is all about looking at what has come before and experimenting.
I agree that video games should be fun. Making a fun experience for the user is always one of the top priorities, I probably phrased it poorly when I said that video games don't have to be fun, it was really because this blog is trying to define the core things that make a game a game in a slightly more objective way and fun is not something that can be analysed like that. I think we can all agree that games are fun, why would we play them if they were not?
@Icil: The focus of my course is the technology behind games, programming and modelling stuff. The game design part is only a small part, as it is quite subjective and therefore hard to assess from a grading point of view.
I think we had one lecture on simulations once, but the unit tends to stay more general than that, it does however prevent us from becoming too focused on this stuff and becoming stuck in convention.
@Icil: I understand that opinion, and maybe trying to define the process of game design has mad it slightly more conservative. But looking at existing games and trying to find patterns to the design to improve your own is perfectly legitimate, and you can always say you wont follow any of this stuff and still make something amazing. It is the beauty of the medium.
@davidwitten22: But what makes a good game fun? What is fun?
@Jeust: Yes, there are a set of "rules" you could apply to game design. But there will always be an intangible factor to what makes a game good and that allows for experimentation that then grows the list of rules. It is what makes the field of game design so fast moving and exciting to be a part of.
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