Hell, even if you did play it sober, it would make you feel drunk.

Touche.

I love that game. Try playing it shit-faced.

The church is like AA. It's a bunch of "morality" tales written by straight white men who couldn't conceive of the idea that women, gays, non-whites, or otherwise deviants were actual humans. There is no "God", and the idea that there's still a hierarchy in this world that relies on made-up bullshit is the most…

The biggest disappointment for me in gaming this year was that GTAV finally had interchangeable characters none of which were women. The game has so many great things design-wise going for it, but can't be bothered to do even this. It's basically like saying "we have to please the shareholders rather than progress."

They should definitely adorn their portfolios with the skills they possess. "Pushed pause a shitload."

Don't Starve is great, but I can definitely see it being less intuitive with a controller. Will the PS4 version support mods?

It's hard for me to say. I dealt with alcoholism, pills, PTSD, and anemia in "rehab". Some centers attempt (in vain) to treat every psychological disorder you have, and succeeding at none of them. The only center I was at was definitely a "jack-of-all trades and master of none scenario. If the reason that you use is…

Not only that, but substance abuse centers are called such because they deal with the myriad of things that can be considered substances. The VA sent me to substance abuse treatment twice, and there were definitely people there who considered that they also had eating disorders. Addiction can also cause bigger medical…

"making a video game is the culmination of books, music, video, and psychology"

I think it's on sale now too.

Another thing to consider which isn't essential (but very helpful) is to have a working knowledge of things like architecture and mythology. Some of the greatest games have systems that draw heavily from creation myths. Another good book is Into The Silence, which is about Everest. Books like that teach about systems…

That is such a great resource and I can't say enough good things about it. He really knows what he's talking about, so much so that even his opinions sound like absolute fact. I thought I knew everything about JRPGs until I watched the three-parter about it. Fascinating stuff and everyone even remotely interested in…

I completely agree. The GDD is a great way to identify loops and dead ends, along with Microsoft Visio, which I'm obsessed with. There are programs just like it that do the same thing for free though.

I used to hear this early on, from many experienced developers: "just make games." It is true if a bit simplified. I started by making card games using index cards, a well-written GDD, and Microsoft Visio. I just kept tweaking them until they were fun to play. After making a few analogue games I was comfortable enough…

I didn't attempt to point out a contradiction directly. I was just trying to understand those two ideas together. I've never played Yakuza, so I can't really say he's been hypocritical. But reading everyone's opinions has made me respect what he's saying a little more.

It was the "content-wise" that had me puzzled. The content is the ultra-violence. Or is he talking about some other aspect? I do agree with what you say about GTA and the respect it deserves as a game. I was hesitant to play it, but when I did, I saw so many great things.

I respect his opinion, it just seemed odd for a second. It really is a lot to think about. There's a book called Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games that addresses the issue of morality vs. functionality, in which the author (Castranova) poses the question, "should we respect something for…

What a bizarre reason to like a game. He essentially hates its core mechanics, but he likes it because it made a lot of money.

"Privilege"? Surely you don't mean talent?