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Posted in Keeping it Simple 
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kevin
Recently I bought Madden ’09 for Xbox 360. I enjoy the game well enough (though seeing how I finished 11-5 with the Detroit Lions I now question its authenticity…) but can’t profess to have nearly as much fun with Madden as I did with 1991’s Tecmo Super Bowl
for the original Nintendo. The reason is a matter of simplicity.
Madden encourages the player to take the reigns of an NFL franchise or player, and often gets lost in the details by requiring too many off-the-field decisions and too complicated in-game button combinations. Of course the graphics are amazing, and online league play opens up a world of possibility never-before-seen in sports gaming, but when it comes down to actually gameplay, an element of pick-up-and-play gets lost in the complexity.
Tecmo is fun, plain and simple. No trades, no draft combines, no adaptive A.I., no bobbled catches, no user activated celebrations, no booth commentary or virtual trainers.
Just two buttons on the controller, eight plays to choose from on offense and one formation on defense, a trick move that’s unstoppable if executed correctly, and perhaps the most addictive gameplay this side of Tetris.
The contrasts between the two games remind me of something that’s often forgotten while developing software – the end goal. It’s easy to get wrapped up in feature-itis, in making applications too complex for their own good. But software that’s easy to use and sticks to its principle function is almost always the most productive.
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CBQ
We’ve made a few slight changes to the Highgroove Studios site. Here’s the lowdown:
An emphasis on experience. We’ve been building Ruby on Rails applications since the framework existed. Along the way, we’ve published books, and contributed to a few, too. In short, we’re extremely proud of our time with Rails and want the world to know about it.
Updates to the Highgroove Team. We have some real experts on our team. From Ruby core developers, to former Big-5 Consultants—we’ve been around the block and we’re very proud of our accomplishments. Be sure to check out the updates bios and the new members.
A showcase of our work. We have been involved in a lot of successful projects. We’ve been in the trenches at lots of companies, working with lots of smart people, and it shows.
In true Highgroove fashion, we’ve launched it already, so we can tweak it as we go.
highgroove.com
Posted in Speaking, Community, Presentations, Ruby on Rails Comments
CBQ
Many critics are hailing Little Big Planet as the video game of the year. Its “flexible, fun, and powerful” level creator and sharing system has created an interactive platform never before seen in gaming.
But you don’t need to tell our James Edward Gray II about it – in March, at the MountainWest Ruby Conference” in Salt Lake City, he’ll be giving a featured speech on how Ruby programmers can learn from Little Big Planet’s creative problem solving and code reading. He’ll also be discussing some of the most creative Ruby projects out there, showing how their developers build servers, optimize code, and more.
A Playstation 3 and advanced knowledge of Super Mario Brothers Level 1-1 is optional but encouraged for attendees of this talk.
Posted in Ruby on Rails, Atlanta, Speaking Comments
CBQ
Come see Matt talk about the Rack project, a minimal interface between webservers supporting Ruby and Ruby frameworks that’s behind the new Rails Metal functionality.
He’ll be going over Rack, and showing an example of a quick and dirty framework. He may even show how we use Rack handler’s to help handle Scout’s load.
Other topics include:
- Weather Stuff from a developer at the Weather Channel
- Rails Metal!
Check out the Atlanta Ruby Meetup Group and the January Meeting Event Details for more information.
