Mathew Kumar’s Workblog

May 2, 2009

Peter Molyneux: The Essence of Interaction / Gamasutra

“At this year’s Game Developers Conference, Gamasutra once again had the chance to speak to Bullfrog and Lionhead co-founder, Populous, Black & White and Fable series designer, and iconoclast Peter Molyneux — on the eve of his presentation at the show.

With Fable II having been released via Lionhead parent company Microsoft late last year for Xbox 360 [NOTE: this interview contains some plot spoilers for the game], and no new project yet announced for his studio, Molyneux was chomping at the bit to discuss his next project — as the below text reveals.”

I helped Christian Nutt on a few more interviews at this year’s GDC (last year I worked with him on one with Ken Levine) and although my discussion in the interview is (unfortunately by its very nature) Fable II spoiler-packed, I think the whole interview is really great - Molyneux is a pleasure to interview.

May 2nd, 2009 : Gamasutra, Interviews
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May 1, 2009

Film Friday: “The Ghosts of Wolverine’s Past” / Torontoist

“This week’s most eagerly hyped is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which has famously been available as an illegal download for ages. So we could have seen it, if we weren’t completely uninterested in the idea of watching a work print of a film on our laptop… or really just the idea of a Wolverine film in general (though having said that, we do look forward to seeing how Ryan Reynolds manages as Deadpool).”

I’ve also begun coverage of Hot Docs on Torontoist this week.

May 1st, 2009 : Columns, Torontoist
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April 24, 2009

Film Friday: “He’s Got a Big Face” / Torontoist

“For most cinephiles not still captivated by the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, this week will simply serve as preparation for Hot Docs—NOW, in fact, used its movie section feature as an vague attempt to help you plan—but if you really can’t wait to see a documentary there’s always earth, the first film from Disney’s new, stomach-turning ‘Disneynature’ brand.”

My title is a reference to Harry Hill.

April 24th, 2009 : Columns, Torontoist
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April 17, 2009

Film Friday: “Bunjy Soup” / Torontoist

“It’s a strong week for festivals, as while the ReelWorld Film Festival closes this Sunday with closing night gala Aloo Chaat (6:30 p.m., Scotiabank Theatre), both the Sprockets Film Festival and Toronto Jewish Film Festival open this Saturday.”

Mostly coverage of upcoming film festivals this week.

April 17th, 2009 : Columns, Torontoist
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April 10, 2009

Film Friday: “Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever” / Torontoist

“Sometimes in life things happen and there isn’t a clear lesson to learn. Perhaps you’ll find yourself absolutely destroyed by a case of the flu for a couple of weeks and think [I should have had a flu shot] is the lesson, and then you’ll remember that you were on the other side of the country when you became sick, so the flu shot probably wouldn’t have helped. But because you’re human, and we humans like patterns, you’ll probably come up with something else—be it stress or not eating your vitamins—to blame, ‘learn from,’ and feel satisfied.”

If you can’t tell, I’ve had a horrible case of the flu for the past couple of weeks (since GDC, in fact.)

April 10th, 2009 : Columns, Torontoist
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March 27, 2009

GDC 2009: Inside The Experimental Gameplay Sessions 2009 / Gamasutra

“‘This is the eighth year in a row we’ve been doing this,’ opened moderator Jonathan Blow (Braid), introducing the Experimental Gameplay Sessions at Game Developers Conference 2009, before claiming that this was the ‘most interesting year yet.’

The reason? A ‘drastic, discontinuous change’ had occurred in the games industry in recent years - an explosion of creativity that had led to ‘the most consistent collection of designs that push the boundaries in the most interesting and thoughtful ways.’ After briefly introducing each, he allowed the designers to speak for themselves.”

In-depth coverage of the wonderful, Jon Blow-curated session that included such greats as a real-time strategy title that encourages you to abuse time travel and a platform game in four dimensions.

March 27th, 2009 : Gamasutra
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