2015-09-08

talk by Jonathan Blow

“I don’t play games to have my skills tested. Many do, and that’s fair. I play games to have experiences, to feel smart and creative and badass, of course, but not to be tested by an imaginary examiner. When choosing a difficulty mode for a game, that’s far more about the time investment I want to make (do I not have time for a slow run, or do I want to make it last?) or how I want to feel (Wolfenstein had to go to easy, because when playing a game like Wolfenstein, I want to feel unstoppable). It’s not about difficulty, it’s about the style of play I want to extract from the game’s mechanics.”

“In homage, I’ve made a series of extended edits that hold a microscope up to these jewel-like sounds. Six Windows startup tones, from 95 to Vista, are slowed to 4000% of their original speed, transforming each into an ambient piece of several minutes’ duration, and amplifying the internal structures of these iconic, dream-like sounds.”