Jonathan Blow
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Blow is an independent video game developer. His game Braid
won the "Game Design" award at the Independent Games Festival
in 2006. He is currently developing The Witness
, to be released in 2012.
For many years Blow wrote the Inner Product column for Game Developer Magazine
. He is the primary host of the Experimental Gameplay Workshop each March at the Game Developers Conference
, which has become a premier showcase for new ideas in video games. In addition, Blow is a regular participant in the Indie Game Jam
.
, which he labels "unethical", stating that such games exploit players by using a simple reward-for-suffering scheme to keep them in front of their computer. In his view, developers need to think about what reinforcement the games are providing players when they reward them for performing certain actions. He emphasized the need for developers to design inspiring new games using "innovative, ethical and personal art."
at the University of California, Berkeley
and was president
of the Computer Science Undergraduate Association for a semester; he left the university in 1993, a semester before his graduation.
Braid (video game)
Braid is a platform and puzzle video game developed by independent software developer Jonathan Blow. The game was released on August 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. A Microsoft Windows version was released on April 10, 2009. Hothead Games ported and released the game to Mac OS...
won the "Game Design" award at the Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
in 2006. He is currently developing The Witness
The Witness (2011 video game)
The Witness is an upcoming three-dimensional puzzle video game by Jonathan Blow, an independent developer and the creator of Braid...
, to be released in 2012.
For many years Blow wrote the Inner Product column for Game Developer Magazine
Game Developer Magazine
Game Developer magazine is the premier publication for working video game creators, and reaches over 35,000 industry professionals monthly. Each month, industry leaders and experts share technical solutions, review new game development tools, and discuss strategies for creating innovative,...
. He is the primary host of the Experimental Gameplay Workshop each March at the Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, which has become a premier showcase for new ideas in video games. In addition, Blow is a regular participant in the Indie Game Jam
Indie Game Jam
The Indie Game Jam is an effort to rapidly prototype video game designs and inject new ideas into the game industry. Started in 2002 by a group of game designer-programmers, the event features a shared game engine technology worked on by other designer-programmers for a single long weekend...
.
Ethics
In a speech at the Free Play conference in Australia in September 2007, Blow suggested games were approaching the level of societal influence of other forms of art, such as films and novels. One example that Blow cites is World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
, which he labels "unethical", stating that such games exploit players by using a simple reward-for-suffering scheme to keep them in front of their computer. In his view, developers need to think about what reinforcement the games are providing players when they reward them for performing certain actions. He emphasized the need for developers to design inspiring new games using "innovative, ethical and personal art."
Education
Blow studied computer scienceComputer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and was president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Computer Science Undergraduate Association for a semester; he left the university in 1993, a semester before his graduation.