Incentives are a commonplace to game designers and developers. They are a means of designing activity to support goals and to motivate users. They are not events, which are those things that happen during game play and to which which users must react. We tend to think of incentives as those design elements that draw out, or appeal to a user’s interests, reasons, and motives. Design aspects that the user can anticipate, expect, and organize his or her activities around. We think of incentives as designed into a game, site, or service. But they are really, actually, in the user. They work because they incent (incentivize) the user’s incentives. … »

Emotion is one of the most powerful elements of an experience, and also the most difficult to design.  Yet games regularly inspire intense emotions, drawing players into the experience they offer, and making these experiences enjoyable and memorable. … »

During the E3 2009 expo, which was held from the 2nd to the 5th of June, Microsoft presented Project Natal. The project brings human-computer interaction without an electronic input device to the masses. By capturing your full body movement and your voice (and being able of doing this for several people at the same time) it brings gameplay to an entirely new level. … »

The only thing gamers can complain about these days is the mere 24 hours that are in a day… There are so many new games coming out, exploring new ways of interaction, that you just can’t keep up. One of the more interesting games for the iPhone and iPod is Rolando. Here you play a platform game while using your skills wilt tilting, tapping and multi-touch controls. … »

You’re probably thinking ‘What does a drop of water have to do with Johnny Holland?’ We couldn’t imagine a reason ourselves, until somebody came up with the idea to create a game in which you can play a drop of water. And games are interactive, so that’s a signal for us. … »

What’s the best way to teach the laws of physics? In the past students would have thrown objects from a roof and count the number of seconds it takes to get down. But with Crayon Physics Deluxe they can learn the laws in a really creative way; by drawing doodles. … »

Indie developer Ian Dallas presented a tech demo of his latest project “The Unfinished Swam” to the world about a month ago.

The Unfinished Swan is a first-person painting game set in an entirely white world. Players can splatter paint to help them find their way through an unusual garden.

A lot has been said about this demo but what kind of game this is going to be remains a mystery. Whatever it will be; the demo for one shows us a great new way of exploring his virtual world. Like a blind man using a paintball like gun to feel around. I bet this will be one scary game. … »

We used to be happy with a small keychain holding a tamagotchi, but that won’t happen again. From now on we can own a virtual pet that actually looks and moves like a pet. Sony is currently developing EyePet, an augmented reality virtual pet. I can explain what I want, but just watch the video and be amazed. … »