game design — Games Related

The World is Born From Zero

To translate why a game is relevant to a broader theory or concept, you often have to break down more than its theming or do more than simply gloss the plot–the actual way a player interacts within the system has to be dissected. The language around this critique has yet to be fully standardized as there are no bedrock principles that stem full from game design, discussion, or dissection. Critical theory around video games still relies heavily on the concepts and conceits built in other media theories, so having an author that is experienced in film and film studies adds contrast. Powerfully, knowing film theory well means there is never an attempt to stuff the particularly oblique angles of video games into how people already talk about film—video games are given their due, are treated as unique artifacts rather than simply “movies where you can move.” The singular best part about The World is Born is that it never approaches the format of video games ready to wield the tools of another academic discipline.

David DinaburgJuly 3, 2025Video Games, game design

Game Sound

The opening half of Game Sound focuses on hardware breakdowns, similar in style to what I loved from I AM ERROR. It did everything I wanted it to: a detailed history of videogame generations–it even outscooped my living memory, as I confused the isometric proto-roguelite adventure game Toejam & Earl with its sequel, Panic on Funkotron, which the book correctly names a “music side-scrolling platform game”–and all the hardware is discussed chronologically in as discrete hardware cycles as can be made.

I’ve realized the Genesis’ FM synthesis is more interesting, to me, than the SNES wavetable synthesis. Game Sound gave me a way to not only interpret that hardware distinction, but internalize the difference.

David DinaburgJuly 19, 2023VGM, videogames, video game music, music theory, game design