Dyad

Dyad http://www.dyadgame.com.com Indie abstract racing game for PlayStation 3 Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:57:26 -0700 en hourly 1 http://www.dyadgame.com Dyad Previews from GDC GDC events press http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:56:52 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath During GDC 2012, I showed Dyad on the expo floor in Sony's booth all week and at GDC Play on Thursday. Perhaps more exciting was the private demos which I gave to selected journalists on my hotel room. I invited many of the most respected game journalists and critics to come to my hotel room and play Dyad alone for an hour. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Here's a list of all known previews from GDC, (if there's more please tell me!)
[...]]]> During GDC 2012, I showed Dyad on the expo floor in Sony's booth all week and at GDC Play on Thursday. Perhaps more exciting was the private demos which I gave to selected journalists on my hotel room. I invited many of the most respected game journalists and critics to come to my hotel room and play Dyad alone for an hour. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Here's a list of all known previews from GDC, (if there's more please tell me!)

http://killscreendaily.com/headlines/music-game-dyad-new-high-videogames/

"...McGrath has brought the life-affirming sensation of looking at a great painting, watching an incredible film, witnessing a rare performance; having your understanding of the world violently reinvented..."

- Ryan Kuo, Kill Screen

http://revision3.com/trs/gdc2012wrapup (13 minutes)

"I don't even know if the English language is going to be sufficient... [for describing Dyad]"

- Jeff Cannata, Totally Rad Show

http://kotaku.com/5894035/dyad-is-part-mind+bending-racer-part-soaring-video-game-drug+trip

"Dyad is less a game to play while high than it is a game that makes you feel high."

- Kirk Hamilton, Kotaku

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/3/5/2847818/dyad-chasing-the-anxiety-of-influence-at-100bpm

"the abilities and complexity of Dyad seems endlessly expansive"

- Brian Crecente, Vox Games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ldBkI7C4Fw (5:45)

"the good feeling where you're almost out of control... it's a really fine line, and Dyad just rides it, rides it all the way through"

- Anthony Carboni, Rev3 Games

http://www.destructoid.com/gdc-i-have-seen-into-the-eye-of-the-duck-223567.phtml

"If you couldn't tell already, I had a fantastic time with this game"

- Daniel Starkey, Destructoid

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/dyad-is-a-mind-altering-substance/

"...meaning that I'd heard the visual effects. My senses had become tangled."

- JC Fletcher, Joystiq

http://www.shacknews.com/article/72903/weekend-confirmed-104-mass-effect-3-diablo-3-gdc-remainders (80:20)

"A very difficult game to convey with just words..."

"It's an Audio visual mind fuck... it is insane. It's Tempest or Space Giraffe turned to 11... it's nutty"

"an audio-visual experience unlike anything else"

- Jeff Cannata, Weekend Confirmed

http://www.1up.com/previews/dyad-underdog-gdc

"So you're thinking your way through these levels with more strategy and less of a focus on reflexes than in most racing games."

- Matt Leone, 1UP

http://www.gamezone.com/products/dyad/previews/dyad-preview

"Dyad's gameplay carefully walks the line between music/rhythm composing and straight up action."

- Robert Workman, Game Zone

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/03/08/playstation-blogcast-015-gdc-blowout-david-cage-talks-kara-psns-next-wave/ (26:00)

The PlayStation blog team interviews me where I talk about the LHC and searching for god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fpiKtUmKoQ

Me answering Anthony Carboni's questions about Dyad

]]> Dyad @ GDC THE MACHINE events press http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:59:29 -0800 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Just a quick update for all those attending GDC. Dyad will be playable on the Expo floor in Sony's booth. Come by and check it out!
[...]]]> Just a quick update for all those attending GDC. Dyad will be playable on the Expo floor in Sony's booth. Come by and check it out!

]]> Dyad on Daily Planet THE MACHINE events press http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:01:38 -0800 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath I was invited to show Dyad and THE MACHINE on Daily Planet, a Discovery Channel show in Canada. Here's the ~3 minute clip from the show I was on:

Dyad on Daily Planet
[...]]]> I was invited to show Dyad and THE MACHINE on Daily Planet, a Discovery Channel show in Canada. Here's the ~3 minute clip from the show I was on:

Dyad on Daily Planet

]]> Dyad and Interactive Music PSN http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:28:16 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath David Kanaga and I have been hard at work for the past 4 months on Dyad's interactive music system.

I wrote a post on the official PlayStation blog explaining how it works and why I think it's cool, check it out: Dyad and Interactive Music

Dyad's *NOT* a "music" game. It uses music uniquely to augment the gameplay. Here's a video showing off the music system in a later level in Dyad... it's confusing, but once you play the game you'll understand it.

[...]]]> David Kanaga and I have been hard at work for the past 4 months on Dyad's interactive music system.

I wrote a post on the official PlayStation blog explaining how it works and why I think it's cool, check it out: Dyad and Interactive Music

Dyad's *NOT* a "music" game. It uses music uniquely to augment the gameplay. Here's a video showing off the music system in a later level in Dyad... it's confusing, but once you play the game you'll understand it.

]]> John Carmack's "snooty" Response offtopic commentary http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Wed, 20 Jul 2011 10:58:45 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Disclaimer: These opinions are my own, and do not reflect the indie game community in any way, but I personally believe that there are many others who have similar opinions. I also think there's been plenty of innovative FPS games; I've spent countless hours playing Quake 3 Area/Quake Live, Counterstrike, Tribes and Team Fortres 2. This isn't a defence of the critiques that John Carmack calls "snooty" but rather a challenge to Mr. Carmack's corporate institutional position.

John Carmack recently talked about how he feels that people who criticize a lack of creativity in games, particularly first person shooters, are "snooty". I believe he has an extremely narrow viewpoint of how game makers operate and doesn't understand indie games. The interview can be read here: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/doom-creator-fires-back-at-devs-with-snooty-attitude/ [...]]]> Disclaimer: These opinions are my own, and do not reflect the indie game community in any way, but I personally believe that there are many others who have similar opinions. I also think there's been plenty of innovative FPS games; I've spent countless hours playing Quake 3 Area/Quake Live, Counterstrike, Tribes and Team Fortres 2. This isn't a defence of the critiques that John Carmack calls "snooty" but rather a challenge to Mr. Carmack's corporate institutional position.

John Carmack recently talked about how he feels that people who criticize a lack of creativity in games, particularly first person shooters, are "snooty". I believe he has an extremely narrow viewpoint of how game makers operate and doesn't understand indie games. The interview can be read here: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/doom-creator-fires-back-at-devs-with-snooty-attitude/

The quote that seems most central to the flaws in his argument is "But we're creating value for people - that's our job!" That may be his job, but it's not everyone's job, ("value" here could be debated too, but that's for another article). I am, just as well as Mr. Carmack is, in a position to define what our job is. As stated by Mr. Carmack, his job is to make products for consumption; that's not my job. If your primary goal when creating something is to have people like it then, by definition, you're creating a product for consumption. This is no different than making Pepsi or other consumer products. This is an institutional constraint when you're required to answer to the traditional corporate system of shareholder profit. I'm not a big fan of corporate consumer culture, and I choose not to dedicate my life's work to it, but I recognize that it exists, and it serves a purpose; so I'm not knocking it -- just merely pointing out that there are other perspectives. Mr. Carmack on the other hand is either oblivious to other motivations when making games, or simply doesn't respect them.

Alan Moore said "It's not the job of the artist to give the audience what the audience wants. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn't be the audience. They would be the artists. It is the job of artists to give the audience what they need." and I believe this is true, and essentially sums up my perspective for game making. I set out to make something that I wish existed, and I think other people need, and let people decide if they need it or not. This is a very different goal from creating a product for people to like. You can hear the consumable product bias in other things he says. When talking about his games he often uses terms like "franchise" or "brand" or "intellectual property." These are deeply rooted corporate institutional terms that rarely, if ever, come up in indie game discourse.

Mr. Carmack and myself have very different perspectives regarding game making. I think it's important and beneficial for games as a whole to have both schools of thought, as well as many others; academics for example often have wildly different perspectives and motivations. The more variety from game makers the better. Calling criticism from one school "snooty" is actually "snooty" in itself and I think that Mr. Carmack needs to understand that not everyone is creating games for corporate institutional reasons.

-Shawn McGrath.
]]> Introducing Dyad for PSN Make events THE MACHINE http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:10:33 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath
It's been a long time coming, but we officially annouced Dyad for PSN!
Dyad for PSN
[...]]]>
It's been a long time coming, but we officially annouced Dyad for PSN!
Dyad for PSN

]]> Dyad @ Maker Faire Mini Toronto Make events THE MACHINE http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Mon, 09 May 2011 19:34:53 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath

We setup Dyad on THE MACHINE at the Evergreen Brickworks for Maker Faire Mini Toronto. About 300 people got to play Dyad, hopefully you were one of them!
[...]]]>

We setup Dyad on THE MACHINE at the Evergreen Brickworks for Maker Faire Mini Toronto. About 300 people got to play Dyad, hopefully you were one of them!

]]> PAX East PAX events press http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:39:28 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Jason DeGroot, and I treked down to Boston from Toronto for PAX East. I drove with my wife for 14 hours, (5 hour border crossing included), with THE MACHINE in the trunk and backseat of a Chevy Impala. It took two 12 hour days to reassemble THE MACHINE, and only 3 hours to take it apart. [...]]]> Jason DeGroot, and I treked down to Boston from Toronto for PAX East. I drove with my wife for 14 hours, (5 hour border crossing included), with THE MACHINE in the trunk and backseat of a Chevy Impala. It took two 12 hour days to reassemble THE MACHINE, and only 3 hours to take it apart.

We received tons of great press, but most importantly thousands of gamers got to see and play Dyad and their response was overwhelmingly positive. If you weren't able to make it out to PAX East but still want to play Dyad on THE MACHINE, then follow us on twitter @DyadGame and/or facebook: DYADGame for updates as to when and where THE MACHINE will be. It will be shown at MakerFaire in Toronto in May 2011, and hopefully at PAX Prime in Seattle 2011.

We had THE MACHINE set up in half the booth, and the other half had 2 PCs running the PlayStation 3 version that people were required to play for 5 minutes before stepping onto THE MACHINE. The "licensing" idea worked out really well, it kept a steady stream of people on THE MACHINE and allowed people to play some of the later levels of Dyad.

AWESOME WEEKEND.

For those whom I promised the plans for THE MACHINE: hold tight! I'm working on them.

Here's a few links to some of our press from PAX East:
http://ca.kotaku.com/5781823/dyads-a-cool-game-but-the-dyad-diy-gaming-chair-is-cooler

http://www.unwinnable.com/2011/03/17/less-about-thinking-dyad-and-the-metaphysics-of-gaming

http://www.destructoid.com/pax-east-dyad-is-gyruss-for-aliens-196414.phtml

http://www.beantowngamer.com/index.php/ps3/ps3news/451-paxeasts-indie-alley-dyad

http://www.theweekender.com/games/A_new_spin_on_gaming_04-05-2011.html

Here's some photos of our booth setup at PAX.

]]> Welcome misc http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:42:05 -0700 shawn.mcgrath@gmail.com http://www.dyadgame.com/index.php?post=Shawn McGrath Welcome to the Dyad website.
I planned on launching this site properly in November 2010, then I was overwhelmed by work directly relating to finishing the game, so I postponed it. I promised many attendees at PAX that I would launch the site as soon as I got back, then I was overwhelmed by work directly relating to finishing the game, so I postponed it. Now a month removed from PAX, I've finally finished the website. [...]]]> Welcome to the Dyad website.
I planned on launching this site properly in November 2010, then I was overwhelmed by work directly relating to finishing the game, so I postponed it. I promised many attendees at PAX that I would launch the site as soon as I got back, then I was overwhelmed by work directly relating to finishing the game, so I postponed it. Now a month removed from PAX, I've finally finished the website.

I plan on writing something once every 2 weeks. Topics will cover Dyad news and development information, including articles on Dyad's design and technical information. I will, as promised, post the specifications for THE MACHINE as soon as I polish them up. Maker Faire Toronto is coming up soon, and I'll be showing THE MACHINE there, so I will do my best to have the specs ready by then.

I have about 100 articles partially written on a wide variety of topics covering game design, indie game stuff and other game projects I'm working on/interested in. I will polish up as many of these as possible and post them here.

Please be patient with the website. I am trying to finish Dyad as quickly as possible, and the website takes a backseat to it. I will, however, keep you posted on major Dyad happenings via the twitter: @DyadGame and the facebook: DYADGame. In the meantime, please check out the About Dyad section if you aren't already familiar with Dyad, (there's some screenshots in there too!) and check out THE MACHINE if you're interested in crazy DIY contraptions to play indie games.
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