I was recently sent an email by another indie gamedev wanting to know more about how we marketed The Signal State. I wrote a detailed response that I thought might be useful to others, so here it is in full: Hi XXXX, Thanks for your email. The marketing manager who handled our marketing efforts is…
This post contains massive spoilers for the plot and ending of Civil War (2024), which you should watch! In the lead up to the release of Alex Garland’s Civil War, producer and distributor A24, as part of their marketing plan, released a map of the United States showcasing the political divisions within the film’s eponymous…
(Spoilers for the ending of The Invincible and a late-game scene from Cyberpunk 2077) As I played through The Invincible, I couldn’t help but feel that the developers were fixated on telling a particular story, but weren’t concerned with the medium by which to tell it, and only ended up making a videogame because that…
(Other than some very brief details, there are no plot spoilers for Alan Wake 2 or for any other game in this post, though gameplay mechanics of Alan Wake 2, Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, Condemned 2: Bloodshot and A Hand with Many Fingers are discussed) In my last post, full of praise…
(Plot spoilers for Alan Wake 2, which if it isn’t obvious from the article title, you should go play) I don’t think there’s any other game I’ve played in recent memory that is as confident and bold in its presentation and conveying of tone and atmosphere than Alan Wake 2. It deftly blends and moves…
(Spoiler Alert for the ending/s of Cyberpunk 2077 and the expansion Phantom Liberty) The expansion to Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty, intrigued me even more than it already did when I learned that the expansion would introduce a new ending to the base game. Upon first starting the expansion, Songbird, a new character introduced in Phantom…
This is the transcript for a video essay I made a while back. The video itself was not very good so it’s now delisted, but the words are not too bad I think. Here it is in full with accompanying images from the video. This is the McNally Campus of Lasalle, College of the Arts,…
[Warning: major plot spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3] Baldur’s Gate 3 has an impressive cast of characters, all of whom have their own army of fans ready to bat for them at the drop of a hat. There is however one character who doesn’t really have such a fanbase, but nevertheless seems to provoke more…
In the previous blog post I discussed why dismissing AI Art completely (rather than critiquing the structural economics) is a misguided perspective. There is, however, a more fundamental reason why I believe this: I think this is a fight that artists will inevitably lose. (I know, finally, a REAL hot take.) Assume, as I think…
(You probably have inferred what this whole blog post is about by now!) Arguments against AI Art are plenty. Here’s some: Argument 1 is an argument against AI Art at this point in its technological development. Yes, a lot of it is quite ugly, but an argument against the now is not an argument against…