I remember my cousin Richard Kuiper explaining the idea to me. I thought it was weird to say the least, but at the same time it made sense: using plastic baubles to recreate a classical still life.

When that idea became reality the result was rather striking. It seems I was not alone in that thought, as he won first prize at the International Photography Awards in the category Fine Art: Still Life Pro.

You can view the complete entry at his IPA gallery page. And yes, it’s still weird, but it’s also still brilliant. Congratulations Richard!

To me at least.

On the PlayStation (or PS One if you are up to date with Sony’s trademarks) there was this beautifully simple yet mind-bending puzzle game called Kula World. It never received a sequel. So initially, I was kind of offended to find ‘some idiot copying Kula World,’ under the guise of Puzzle Dimension.

(more…)

At one point during TCOS development we created the Discipline Masters, a set of the Enclave’s greatest heroes and prime examples of what to expect from the Disciplines, our class system. While they were put in the game, they never got the attention I wanted them to have, nor were all assets used. I envisioned them as a band of contemporary heroes the players could fight alongside to in specific scenes.

Marlon Kromodikoro, Dennis Zoetebier and yours truly created a bio for each of the Discipline Masters and this series is meant to showcase each of them. The game itself only contained minor bits and pieces.

Master Adept

• Name: Seregrin Carnyxian
• Race: Daevi
• Gender: Male
• Age (998 AC): 35 (approximately 963 AC)
• Previous Faction: n/a

History:

Seregrin is an orphan; where he hails from is unknown. He was found as a newborn baby on a derelict shardship near Carnyx (hence his surname) in 963 AC. He was was taken to Orchard Ring, Mount of Heroes where a reinvigorated Forge of Wisdom took him in. Having no family, Seregrin was attracted to travelling at an early age, expressing the wish to one day find his parents. As such, he taught himself some rudimentary combat techniques thinking quite rightly that he would one day need them.

(more…)

image © Nesperado.com

Some time ago a friend of mine mentioned how he still at times breaks out the Super Nintendo to play the game Hook, a platform game based on the movie by the same name. That actually ignited a pang of nostalgia; I myself immediately associated that with the Ocean range of platform games and as such with their (IMHO) greatest achievement, McDonaldland.

Known across the Atlantic as M.C. Kids curiously, it was one of the few games I rented at the local video rental store more than once. Not because like every kid back then you revered McDonald’s and you needed the Happy Meal toys as your life depended upon them, but rather because the game was actually good. Proper good. And now that I’m looking back on it, probably the best licensed game of its time. Which is rather amazing when you think about it (especially taking the NES’s games library into account).

(more…)

Back when I was content lead at Spellborn Works, I created multiple ‘mood pieces’ to reflect upon the universe of “The Chronicles of Spellborn”. These texts were written at a conceptual level, to provide artists and fellow designers with an idea of how the game world behaved on its own. This rough text was meant for post-release content. We needed to show that the threat of the Arionites was already present within the Enclave, while wrapping up a loose end that House Rune initiates might remember.

He had little to fear from the Enclave. After all this time, the Enclave still held the notion that the Arionites had been beaten. Their last stand together with Tykaru Reywing had lulled the Enclave into a false sense of security.

So here he was walking the streets of Quarterstone, the very heart of the Enclave, with nary a soul taking notice of him. Though he could have walked here in his own clothing and full Arionite armour, he was wearing the clothes of a commoner. The Enclave might not recognize the colours and symbols now, but the day would come those marks would be burned into their eyes once more.

(more…)

Back when I was content lead at Spellborn Works, I created multiple ‘mood pieces’ to reflect upon the universe of “The Chronicles of Spellborn”. These texts were written at a conceptual level, to provide artists and fellow designers with an idea of how the game world behaved on its own. This rough text was meant for post-release content. There was the notion to give the Enclave a more suitable opponent and the Arionites were chosen for that purpose. However, as the Arionites were already all over the game, we needed to introduce a stronger version.

“How many have we wasted so far?” To Eridin the question did sound offensive. By order of Shadow’s Hammer or not, these were still their fellows. That woman didn’t seem to understand that.
“So far, seven have *died*, Sharan. Three immediately after the cauldronization, four after ‘successful’ cauldronization.”
“Good.” The word mark clawed itself into Eridin’s mind. “That means we are well within the limits of the procedure.” She picked up one of the red crystals on the altar in front of here and walked to one of the dead bodies. “It also gives us… opportunities.”
“Opportunities? They’re dead! Finding a suitable weapon to fight the Enclave is one thing, but outright *killing* our own to get… these undead monstrosities… is-…” Sharan flatly held her hand up to signal silence. Eridin obeyed.

(more…)

(Some very light spoilers.)

© 2010 Warner Bros.

It’s bloody obvious ain’t it? Inception is just perfect as a role-playing game.

Wandering around dreamscapes trying to rob the target of an idea or trying to put an idea in him is great quest material. And it becomes a great group-effort if you try to ‘go deeper’. The film’s premise alone is a good match for a pen and paper role-playing game with dice.

(more…)