Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Art of VideoGame Design

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With the new technologies in the realm of videogames it is becoming common place to see more and more innovations in terms of gameplay.

Today I Die

You need only play such games as Prince of Persia (with it’s completely unique battle engine and a screen lacking indicators) to realize the concept of  ”what a video game is” is being redefined.

But there are not only those big games by big companies that challenge what we already know. There are also little studios (such as That Game Company with Flower which, we must agree, is nothing like any other game before it) and even individuals (Braid by Jonathan Blow with it’s dramatic, beautiful design and it’s innovative gameplay being a great example) who are also experimenting with the videogame conventions.

“Today I Die” is a little, impressively well done videogame. The gameplay is incredibly fresh and the simple, artistic look of it makes it one of my very favourite videogames to date.

The one thing that makes it all the special is it’s gameplay, though, but I am afraid that if I were to tell you how it is played I’d take away the surprise factor that is so important to the game itself.

So instead of telling you how it is played, I will only give you a link to this marvel of human ingenuity and artistic talent.

The “Today I Die” website

Daniel Benmergui (The creator of the game)

Go ahead and try it, it won’t take you more than five minutes to complete and you won’t regret it.

First Meeting of "Animadores GDL"

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Animadores GDL is a little project of mine.

Since the animation scene is relatively new in Mexico and my city Guadalajara (GDL), I set to the task of getting as many animators and animation enthusiasts in one place at one time.

There was a far better response than I initially expected, In the end 30+ people attended and almost filled the 1rst floor of the Starbucks we used for the meeting.

There were lots of topics of discussion, Lots of people showing their work and projects and a lot more, enthusiastically, gathered around those who had something interesting to show to the crowd.

We had the presence of such studios and projects as:

In the end, the meeting was a complete success. We attracted the attention of some people on the industry and got to make the animation community a little more close.

There’s, thanks to Es-Hospedaje, a web page for the project now. If you can understand Spanish, I’d really recommend checking it out!

http://AnimadoresGDL.com

The rest of the photos can be found here.

Moleskine: Joining the Sub-Culture

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It was only a few days ago that I found out about Moleskine and I have to say, I am really impressed by the creative movement and devotion around this specific brand of notebooks.

Moleskine Pocket Sketchbook

Now, I’ve always been a “notebook person” myself. I had a passion for carrying a notebook with me and make sketches and notes of any idea I had, it is that way some of my most loved character designs came to be.

But I always had a problem that eventually drove me away from notebooks a few years ago, and that problem was that They Always tore apart. This problem always kept me from completely filling my notebooks and I had to eventually let go of the habit of having one.

But when I found out about Moleskine I had to give them a try and, I gotta say, I really am happy. And it isn’t only because of the high quality of the manufacture but, also, the big artistic movement around the whole thing really makes me inspired when sketching in my new Moleskine.


(the good part starts at 1:28)

Finally I leave you with a little character design I’m working on in my Moleskine:

Traceur_Sketch

And a really interesting gallery of creative Moleskine Covers.

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