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Jonathan Blow: Game design: the medium is the message

CreativeMornings HQ · 119K views · 2013-11-03 · 48:27

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Overview

Jonathan Blow's CreativeMornings talk arguing that business models shape game design, drawing an analogy between 1970s TV and HBO and between free-to-play and premium games. He calls for games that inspire awe rather than chase constraints.

On Hacker News

HN cites it repeatedly in debates about in-app purchases and monetization corrupting games.

Recommended by 7 HN people across 7 months · HN mentions 2013–2020

Topics

Game designIndie game development
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jonathan blowfree-to-playmonetizationmobile gamesmedium is the message

What people said

DanielRibeiro · 2013-11 · Strong recommendation

Jonathan Blow (Braid and Indie Fund) recently gave an amazing presentation on the evolution of Television, and he made an interesting parallel to the evolution of games: [VIDEO]

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hnick · 2020-06 · Recommendation

There's an interesting talk about that by Jonathan Blow, using the common phrase 'The Medium is the Message'. The eventual topic is mobile game design but he starts off with TV and how commercial and other constraints influence show (and game) design. [VIDEO]

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emsy · 2017-05 · Recommendation

While I disagree with the word dumb and find "ignorant" more suitable, your Candy Crush comparison is bad. Jonathan Blow nailed it in this presentation: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by CreativeMornings HQ, played through YouTube.

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