The Banana Peel Project

Check out MTV’s (yes, they’re still in business) excellent interview with game designer Jonathan Blow about his upcoming mind-bending side-scroller Braid, and I highly recommend downloading Raspberry–one of his new and highly addictive game prototypes which uses sound and music to create a powerful experience with minimal visuals–and listening to his notes in the tutorial.

I have a lot to say about the way Blow talks about communication and perspective in video games, and a lot to say about Ian Bogost’s concept of procedural rhetoric. The line between ludology and philosophy blurs more every day.

I may talk some more about this at some point after I return from my quick overnight trip to the desert. If you get a chance, find a dark place away from the city and check out the Perseid meteor shower during tonight’s new moon. It’ll be spectacular just before dawn.

(Credit: Fred Bruenjes)