Author Archives: Jack McNamee

About Jack McNamee

In the third year of a game design course in Queensland, Australia. Thinking a whole lot about games. Scrabbling desperately against the oncoming future.

I am making a game

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Jack McNamee

It’s true! It’s called “Everything is Jake!”, and I’m making it with my good friend Matt Rundle. Here are rough-drafts of some of the kooky characters who will be starring in it: It’s due on the Fourth of November, so I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Actually making something, Everything Is Jake | 14 Comments

What Majora’s Mask does right

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Jack McNamee

The final boss is the moon. It’s not rocket science. The game spends all it’s time hyping up this single villain/goal that acts as the centerpiece of everything in the game. You first see it about five minutes in; It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in More games should do these things | 11 Comments

What Human Revolution does right

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Jack McNamee

The internet’s already covered what Human Revolution does wrong in great detail. To wit, locks you in a room with a guy who can take multiple rockets to the head. Despite that, Human Revolution has one boss encounter that it … Continue reading →

Posted in More games should do these things | Leave a comment

What Psychonauts does right

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Jack McNamee

I’m not going to say “Write more like Tim Schafer and Eric Wolpaw,” because that’s useless. What I’m planning to look at in this series is simple and clever thematic tricks that more games should use. So you complete the … Continue reading →

Posted in More games should do these things | 13 Comments

What The Binding of Isaac does right.

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Jack McNamee

You’ve fallen into your mum’s basement, and it’s obvious that the only way out is down. Standing in your way are enemies, treasures, bombs and secrets. Here’s the clever bit: -There are flies and maggots and other annoyances, but every … Continue reading →

Posted in More games should do these things | Leave a comment

Human Revolution taught me something

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Jack McNamee

RPG’s are no strangers to moral choice. Would you abort a puppy, or kill its mum? These are important issues for the educated super-soldier to consider, and they’re given the respectful treatment they deserve: thrown at you in-between killing aliens, … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Reviews | 13 Comments

Play Dice with the Universe

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Jack McNamee

Say there, Jim, you’re looking mighty down! What’s that? No world? Well I’ve got just the thing. I’ve been on a massive D&D blog binge lately, and as a result I have just fallen in love with random thing-generating tables. … Continue reading →

Posted in Game Design | 6 Comments

What, with your bare hands?

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Jack McNamee

The following was originally for an assignment, and so could get a bit dry. Moist hand-towels will be available upon completion. Interactive narration is a classic storytelling technique for games, used to lend context and meaning to space that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Rapture Reminder

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Jack McNamee

Well, now that every form of artistic expression known to man has been lifted up to heaven in a wondrous cataclysm of celestial fire, games have got some big shoes to fill. For a start, we’ll have to stand in … Continue reading →

Posted in Indignant paradigm shifts, Ramblings | 3 Comments

Michaël Sawyn vs. the Rule-Based Game: Why mechanics matter.

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Jack McNamee

If we want to actually create art through games, instead of despite them, we need to embrace all the medium’s mechanical origins. Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | 9 Comments