Did something crazy over the weekend; Steam were offering all of Paradox's published games (which includes Magicka which I already owned) for a ridiculous price - £74.99 for all the games and all their DLC.
Several of them I'd already looked at and made a note for later that I'd get them, but instead I took the plunge.[1] There is a side benefit to this approach, there are games in there I wouldn't have encountered at all otherwise, and I'm finding it's a nice change of pace to try games out that I wouldn't necessarily have tried.
More than that, it does provide a nice source of inspiration, because it means that I'm seeing how different games handle different things, and while it might not seem obvious at all, I find I do get inspired by how different games approach different concepts, and in the most unlikely of ways.
I mean, I've often considered games[2] to have had the benefit of better UI designers than most application authors,[3] simply because they have to do something more imaginative than simply throwing a load of buttons on the screen, and most of the games I've played have relatively sane UIs to them, and I find that quite inspirational.
I guess it's just nice to do something different to what I'd normally do. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life.[4]
I don't think the offer is running any more, and to be honest I'd be surprised if most people here would bother, since I suspect most people here know what they like and like most people, often don't venture beyond it. I don't, generally, but it's nice to man up and try it occasionally...
Several of them I'd already looked at and made a note for later that I'd get them, but instead I took the plunge.[1] There is a side benefit to this approach, there are games in there I wouldn't have encountered at all otherwise, and I'm finding it's a nice change of pace to try games out that I wouldn't necessarily have tried.
More than that, it does provide a nice source of inspiration, because it means that I'm seeing how different games handle different things, and while it might not seem obvious at all, I find I do get inspired by how different games approach different concepts, and in the most unlikely of ways.
I mean, I've often considered games[2] to have had the benefit of better UI designers than most application authors,[3] simply because they have to do something more imaginative than simply throwing a load of buttons on the screen, and most of the games I've played have relatively sane UIs to them, and I find that quite inspirational.
I guess it's just nice to do something different to what I'd normally do. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life.[4]
I don't think the offer is running any more, and to be honest I'd be surprised if most people here would bother, since I suspect most people here know what they like and like most people, often don't venture beyond it. I don't, generally, but it's nice to man up and try it occasionally...
| 1. | Had I bought the games I was interested in, I'd have paid virtually the same anyway. |
| 2. | Well, *good* games. I've seen my fair share of hard-to-play games just because the UI sucks. |
| 3. | As opposed to, say, artists just throwing pixels at the screen. |
| 4. | When it isn't melange, at least. |
<br /><br />cough, cough.
