Uncertainty in Game Data

We do not know how useful most games analysis is. More developers and analysts are sharing their analysis publicly but regularly miss one measure that would make the results significantly more helpful. This measure is the variability of the estimate. It helps to think about what is being measured when applying statistics. Most of the …

Two Perspectives on Fairness in Game Pricing

Game pricing does not make a lot of sense. Most of us should be paying more for games, and at least some of them should get more expensive over time. The fact this doesn't happen may be strange, but the causes are not mysterious. Steam runs frequent sales events, and the practice of heavy discounting …

In Praise of Inefficient Searching

When things really matter, we would be better off using less efficient searches. Being able to find a website that confirms you're right in an internet argument is all well and good, but this is trivia. When knowledge is important, minor inconveniences come into their own and wind up giving us a broader perspective than …

Learning to Read Again

I think I count as a reader but sometimes it is difficult to tell. One frustration is that I spend a lot of time reading non-fiction now, but I read fiction when I was younger and first fell in love with reading. One complication is that non-fiction is terribly interesting while also being easier to …

We should probably chill out about spoilers

The idea of a spoiler is more of a drag than the reality of one. Such a view is heresy and will only serve to provoke a stream of anecdotes about how an individual story was ruined by a spoiler and what a terrible shame it was that the purity of the first experience was …

Whiplash doesn’t have a problem with jazz

Spoiler warning: This article contains a discussion of most of the plot of Whiplash and a suggestive reference to the end of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Richard Brody wrote an uncharitable review of the movie Whiplash, originally titled “’Whiplash’ Gets Jazz All Wrong” but later titled “Getting Jazz Right in the Movies”. The article offers little in …

The Wages of Cheap

Unity's CEO, John Riccitiello has some ideas about what it takes to succeed in games and chose to express them in a really careless way. General sentiment towards Unity was falling at least among some developers due to shifting priorities, and a recent round of layoffs. The latest outrage came not so much from an …

Bringing Your Whole Self to Patch Notes

On March 8th the developer of Domina (bignic) decided to moonlight as a health authority/life coach and suffered backlash as a result. The opinion expressed is stupid and uninteresting, but for reference, the note that sparked the response was: TAKE OFF THE FCKN MASKS - Next time you're at the grocery store, try showing a …

Why do I need to know which Activision Blizzard executives worked in the Trump administration?

Activision Blizzard's executives have been criticized for a series of progressively tone deaf responses to the lawsuit brought by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and the resulting labour action. The company has done nothing to earn any sympathy, and the most charitable reading of the executive response would be 'failed to rise …

Is the Man in the Arena stupid? (after reading two essays)

A senior manager at work recommended The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo Cipolla (economic historian at Berkley). Anyone familiar with a certain type of office already knows the punchline: the higher the position, the more likely the book is misconstrued as an instruction manual. Cipolla's essay is amusing and there is some benefit …