Jonathan Blow

My new (video game) hero is Jonathan Blow, the creator, designer, and programmer for the XBox 360 game Braid. Braid was created literally only by him and David Hellman, who did all the artwork. Unfortunately I haven't been able to play the game at all since I don't own a 360, but Jonathan is putting together a PC version that I will definitely buy the day it comes out. So far it has received literally the highest rating ever for a XBox Live Arcade game, and 10th highest ever for the console as a whole, and that says something.

What makes me so excited about this is that Jonathan is and always will be an independent game creator, doing nearly everything on his own. He does it not for the money, but for the love and the Art (yes, with a capital "A", more on that in another post I think), of video games. Video games can be a method of communicating an idea or concept rather than simply for entertainment - and this is something I've been looking for myself. Using video games to teach creates, I believe, a bright future for the medium.

Anyway, I've been reading an interview with Jonathan at gameculture.com, and I saw an incredible quote about video games and teaching that I wanted to save. Thus, the impetus for this blog post:

"...all games teach things and the way they teach is by guiding you toward the goal by giving you feedback about whether you are accomplishing your tasks successfully or not, and that entire guidance is a communications process."

This communications process is the essence of video games. Without effective communication between a video and a player, the player is lost and has no interest in continuing the game. I have a feeling Jonathan Blow and Braid will affect how Omnivore turns out in a deep and exciting way.