Thursday, November 14, 2013

CoffeeScript is just Javascript that got into Ruby's Bedroom...

In Fixer Studios' early days we weren't sure what server infrastructure to use. Our new web developer just put everything in perspective by saying, "CoffeeScript is just Javascript that got into Ruby's bedroom and started to try on its clothes and makeup." As a non-technical guy, I appreciate descriptions that make these sorts of decisions easy.


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Saying Goodbye to Games on Life Support

Recently EA decided to pull the plug on The Sims Social and SimCity Social; a couple Facebook games I helped launch. I was at PopCap just after EA purchased the company, and we were happy to help get these games rolling by sending them a lot of great players from Bejeweled Blitz, Zuma Blitz, Solitaire Blitz, and so on. We also shut down a beta game called Pig Up and phased out Bejeweled 2 on iOS. From what I understand, these were really tough calls to make... but there's an emotional part of me that finds them tragic.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Game Design, and Beating Yourself Conscious

There's a lot about what we're doing with Sinister Dexter that makes me really
proud of our team, and I'd like to discuss one challenging angle. We're trying to deal with social issues of race and normativity in a game that technically needs neither graphics nor a story. We're trying to do that in a game with literally zero budget, a tight timeline, and - as chance would have it - a team made up mostly of white men*. Yeah, there's a lot of ways to mess this up.

*Note: Fixer Studios has no formal recruiting policies around race, age, gender, nor sexuality. We're small, and recruiting the most talented friends willing to donate time as independent contractors who may never get more than $10 each. We'd take any talented person of any demographics and haven't intentionally restricted our hiring in any way. I'd love to bring in more diversity and talent period, so please let me know if you can recommend someone that brings either or both!