Google has a proud tradition of shutting down services that become cult classics rather than smash hits. Examples include Google Reader, the Orkut social network and (to a much lesser extent) Google Plus. The latest addition to this hall of fame is Inbox, the app that revolutionised email (but only for those who knew about it), which will be shut down at the beginning of next month. Already its load time has been artificially lengthened and every page view blighted with an exhortation to switch back to Gmail.
I’ve put...
The point-and-click adventure is often maligned for poor story-gameplay integration. This hidebound genre, with gameplay that varies little between titles, can make the most exciting stories and settings feel like a chore. At their worst, adventure games are like movies that pause at intervals and make you solve a Rubik’s cube to continue watching. But at their best, adventure games can be both cerebrally and narratively satisfying experiences, perfect for players less interested in tests of their reaction times and more interested in tests of their problem solving abilities.
Wadjet Eye,...
This article is not intended as an example of good programming or prudent life decisions.
The other day I needed to pull a full HTML page into the middle of another page at set intervals. This second page had JavaScript that needed to execute on load, and I didn’t want to use an iframe or object because of the gross scrollbars. I more-or-less succeeded through a couple of filthy hacks in which I take inordinate pride.
It was one of those situations where you think it’s going to be an...
In this modern age where every brand, corporation and small business has a Twitter profile and Facebook page (sometimes in lieu of a website) which it leverages to engage one-to-one with customers, it was inevitable that someone would seize on the humble internet meme for marketing purposes – what better bang for your marketing buck than to “go viral” from an intern’s tweet, right? And how better to keep your brand relevant to the cultural conversation than participating in meme culture?
Mostly, this sort of thing provides little more than karma...
Shardlight is a 2D point-and-click adventure game from Wadjet Eye Games, the creators of the Blackwell series and publishers of Technobabylon. Like the rest of Wadjet’s output, it was developed using a tool made in the late 90s to make games that look like they’re from the early 90s. It features Ben Chandler on pixels and Francisco González on writing, with both collaborating on design and programming.
Shardlight is named for the shards of uranium glass scattered around its environment, hung from trees and lampposts,...
