1. AGW Meetup last Sunday

Our last AGW meetup for the year was on Sunday. RvB were kind enough to allow us use of their TV screens, which made playtesting the game far easier then it would be if we had to do the usual thing and crowd around a laptop (!). We had a new attendee, a guy who works for Virtual Spectator, the company that developed the broadcasted 3D Sailing simulators for the America's Cup. The highlight of the Meetup for me was BlitzBasic creator Mark Sibly gracing us with his presence, it was really good to see him giving his approval for the game. I also had a quick word with him regarding his future plans, which are all very hush-hush at the moment, but they're very exciting to say the least.

2. Competition update

Only 36 hours to go until the Retro Remakes 2008 competition is at an end! The guys and I will be meeting tomorrow to finalise the competition build and post it to the judges. Expect to see a copy of the competition build hosted here in the next day or so. After the competition ends, I intend on reviewing each and every competition entry in my blog, though I'll do this over several weeks.

3. The Escapist on 'Falling, Failing, Feeling'

I came to the Escapist for Zero Punctuation, but find myself coming back again and again for the interesting articles! This recent one is definitely worth a read. I haven't actually played either of the games it discusses (Prince of Persia and Mirrors Edge) but it's suggestion that the perceived difficulty of games can be more to do with the storytelling of the game rather then the required effort, time and skill, I found to be extremely fascinating. I finally understand why gamers don't find modern games to be too ridiculously easy, even though in most cases they are!