Game Developer November Issue Showcases Scribblenauts, The Game Developer 50

Author: by Staff

The November 2009 issue of Game Developer magazine, the sister print publication to Gamasutra and the leading U.S. trade publication for the video game industry, has shipped to print and digital subscribers and is available from the Game Developer Digital service in both subscription and single-issue formats. The cover feature for the issue is an exclusive postmortem of 5th Cell's word-centric emergent puzzle-platformer Scribblenauts. The article, crafted by general manager Joseph M. Tringali, offers insight on the challenges and successes experienced by the independent studio. It is introduced as follows: "Scribblenauts is a pie-in-the-sky concept come to life, and there's a lot for developer for 5th Cell to be proud of. Plus, in a game where the object is to write anything and have it come to life on the screen, what could go wrong? A whole lot, of course -- from QA to localization to controls, all facts are laid bare." Also featured in the issue is the Game Developer 50, a roundup of some of the most important members of the game development community across the disciplines of art, design, programming, business, and game evangelism: "In concert with our advisory board, we've highlighted 50 important achievements of the last year or so, and associated them with specific persons in order to acknowledge individual work. It's no easy feat to distill the work of many into a few names, but we attempted it here." In addition, Pandemic programmer Jake Cannell points a critical eye to the increasingly talked-about world of cloud computing: "Companies like OnLive and Gakai are promising the gaming world on a platter with cloud computer-supported game services. But how viable is it, really? Programmer Jake Cannell takes a look at the technical and financial logistics behind this emerging space." This month's interview is a discussion with Naoto Ohshima, the character designer for Sega classics Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights Into Dreams, in which Ohshima shares his motivations, thoughts, and fascination with time. And as usual, our regular columnists contribute detailed and important pieces on numerous areas of game development -- this issue, we include Bungie's Steve Theodore on spline IK, Mick West on the mathematics of jumping, BioWare's Damion Schubert on the art of fun, LucasArts' Jesse Harlin on working around audio engine limitations, and Matthew Wasteland with his monthly humor column. Worldwide paper-based subscriptions to Game Developer magazine are currently available at the official magazine website, and the Game Developer Digital version of the issue is also now available, with the site offering six months' and a year's subscriptions, alongside access to back issues and PDF downloads of all issues, all for a reduced price. There is now also an opportunity to buy the digital version of November 2009's magazine as a single issue.