Skip to content

Tag: inspiration

One of the best GDC talks ever

Published by Paolo on 20/12/2025

I rewatched one of the most beautiful talks on the official GDC channel. It’s great because it evidences we need truly understanding and reach deep empathy with the players. I rewatched thanks to my bootcamp, I suggested this talk to my students.

We need to do the homework to improve as designers. We need to understand the games, especially the ones who are played by people that are different from us. It’s our job to understand players, and a necessary step for every game designer. Do your homeworks!

Consoles aren’t dead

Published by Paolo on 19/12/2025

According to the popular marketing insight service Circana, on November this year the 3rd most sold console has been NEX Playground. In case you don’t know what it is, here’s the console.

The console is small and cubic, and has no controller. You play videogames like you did on XBOX Kinect years ago. The target audience is clear, the same as WII, families. The business model is subscription. You buy the console for around $250 and then you pay a monthly fee to get access to all games. The power, according to a recent interview of its company founder, is similar to a PS3. No next gen, no controller, simplicity at its best.

Will this console beat next gen consoles like PS6? No, of course not. But to me, the fact that has oversold XBOX for instance is a sign that:

  1. Console market is not dead at all, as someone says
  2. The market needs something simpler

Europe needs something like this, for me. Especially now that we are researching more on making our own chips to not be dependent on China, it would be great making our own console, as an excuse and for the chance of building our own Nintendo. I would probably target 10-13 preteens in full “obsession age” and make cool games. I would probably also add a simple 2 buttons controller for having better kinesthetics for whoever who doesn’t want to move.

The main feature, to me, should be that the console should work like old consoles: you turn ON and the game appears. No connections, no loadings, no system checks before it’s truly needed. It would be so cool to participate in a project like that!

Uniqueness is a matter of taste and realism

Published by Paolo on 17/12/2025

As I am reading about another studio closure (I am sorry for the colleagues at SUPERVIVE), I am thinking on the distribution problem we have right now. I believe than on one hand you have to create a truly unique experience to have chances in this environment. Easier said than done, of course, because it’s a matter of taste and also realism. I worked on many derivative projects, and the leaders were absolutely sure of their uniqueness.

You need to put the right glasses on, and be extremely aware of your game unique selling points. A way to do that is by making business: if you’re not able to sell your game to publishers, if you don’t engage with players or other entities, you are on a dangerous track. We tend to look inside too much, when we should look outside and check if Players really have the same perception as us on the product. In this case, Players are also potential business partners.

I believe that videogames have still lots of margin for improvement, so we should stop repeating old formulas over and over and we should try to make a step forward.

Things that matter

Published by Paolo on 16/12/2025

Yesterday I wrote an introduction on LinkedIn because suddenly I got lots of new contacts due to my post on The Game Awards. I was taking care of things here at home and wrote that piece spontaneously, got much more traction than other times where I have the time of think and structure better my thoughts.

I got two new leads for clients, and the post shows nothing about my knowledge and skills, that is surprising. On the other side, the temptation to go always more personal and deep is strong.

I am sure that this is valid also for game making. If we create something that connects truly with us at a personal level, chances are we can achieve better results than making things just for the sake of business. It’s a delicate art, and it’s easy to believe to weak theories I am aware of that. But I am also aware that I have maybe 20 years of career in front of me and it would be better to spend them on something that truly matters.

Feelings for 2026

Published by Paolo on 13/12/2025

My feeling is that 2026 will be the year of people with the courage of creating new worlds and putting them out. We have not only tutorials, but plenty or resources to visualize and realize our dreams. To make them playable from people from all over the world. My feeling is that independent creators will benefit the most from recent technological advancements.

Of course, there are many factors that can influence the course of events so don’t take it as a prediction. I loved The Game Awards, I watched it with emotion, including some tears of joy and nostalgia. And the desire of helping build something memorable.

My takes on The Game Awards

Published by Paolo on 12/12/2025

Today my post came later because I wanted to watch the whole show of The Game Awards, so I took my time. I loved the show, in my opinion it is getting better and better. I liked it better than last year, because I found the new teasers less like a Tool video and with more hope.

The first take is that it is a great time for independent developers. The creative director of Sandfall told that he is thankful for youtubers for putting out tutorials because he had no idea on how to make a game. And the game he made with the team was the most appreciated in the history of TGA, so yeah… I guess it’s easier to make games nowadays. The important part is the creativity, now more than ever. And I believe that now it’s a moment where we can, and should, risk a little bit more in that sense. Avoid repeating formulas, find new recipes. Now the tech permit beat everybody else with less than $10M.

Another trend I am noticing is that horror and monsters is casualizing. Monsters are getting cool, I saw zombies dressed like rappers and cool things like that. Sci-fi, instead, is animalizing always more, with bears and dogs in tech armor. These are two new trends that have been started years ago (in my opinion, from Twilight and Guardians of the Galaxy, respectively) but that now are exploding.

During my view of the show there were tears in my eye. First reason is because the show is fantastic if you love videogames. There is music and stunning visuals, incredible people coming on the show. There is everything I love. But I cried also for a little bit of nostalgia/sadness: it’s because it’s very hard to participate into something like the games presented there. Most of the work in games is on very poor experiences, so I feel that maybe I am losing my time. Maybe I do need to really care about my own world, things I want to put out there, and leave the chase of the next client. I have to think about that.

Meaningful coincidences

Published by Paolo on 11/12/2025

I got a flu, so I had the chance to watch much more videos while on my bed, resting. I felt a big nostalgia when I found out interesting videos on “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”. I believe that I am a game designer also because of that game.

But I will probably never find any job to work on something like that, in my entire career. If I keep working for others, I will continue work on projects that can be more or less interesting to me, but not THAT, right? That’s an issue, to me. What am I doing with my time?

My little daughter is starting making drafts with her ballpen and I took one of them and recognize in its lines a map. So I draft a map on top of it:

In my dreams there is this game, this RPG fully inspired by Zelda, where you control a girl who moves with a skate and fights with a martial art heavily inspired by Capoeira, which is one of my passions outside of games.

The (known) world of Oridara is made out of 7 different biomes:

  1. Forest
  2. Volcano
  3. Mushroom
  4. Tecno
  5. Ice
  6. Desert
  7. Abyss

You have to imagine everything in a SOLARPUNK fashion, imagine a world where nature and technology found the perfect balance somehow. Pokemon, Studio Ghibly, worlds like that are solar punk.

Now I am starting to work on this world, I will post updates over here.

Let’s talk about Horses

Published by Paolo on 07/12/2025

The new game from Santa Ragione, Horses, has been banned from the main stores: Steam and Epic, at the moment I write this post. Humble just enabled the game again in their list, they delisted for a while.

I watched a gameplay and Horses is a game about cruelty. The experience is about helping a dark organization in torturing and abuse people. It is pornographic, as well. That’s why it was censored from the two main PC stores out there.

There is a lot of discussion online regarding censorship, capitalism, politics, and it’s not just something coming from young players. It comes from developers as well, and that shows the ingenuity (to say the least) of certain professionals. In fact, Steam warned the company Santa Ragione 2 years ago about the impossibility of publishing this game. They decided to go on and Steam maintained its promise. It is what it is.

I believe Santa Ragione was coherent in their choice to continue develop the game, but I also believe that putting your whole business at risk for a principle is not a good choice. I cannot manage to feel admiration for them, also if I empathize because I know they want to tell a unique story. And I saw that they did manage to deliver something unique. Lots of game design issues (in my humble opinion) but a clearly identifiable game with a unique voice. Let’s hope they manage to continue with their business, as they deserve. But they made a mistake.

Steam Sale Games in Italy

Published by Paolo on 06/12/2025

The fifth edition of the Steam Sale Games in Italy is underway, the initiative dedicated to Made in Italy video games powered by IIDEA!


From today until Tuesday, December 9th at 7:00 PM, discover over 400 Italian titles, including video games, DLC, and additional content: a vast selection that celebrates the creativity of our studios and offers numerous special offers on productions of all genres.

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by