Gannon Kendrick
Bio
Studying game developer and artist. Writes occasionally.
Stories (7/0)
Five Improvements 'Minecraft' Needs
When people offer ways to make this game better, some common solutions include more building blocks, more ores, vertical slabs, more mobs, and so forth. It is true that more ores might make mining more interesting, and more blocks might make building more versatile. The problem with adding more building blocks is you don't know when to stop adding them—there are a nearly infinite number of textures and colors Mojang could add; similarly, before adding a new type of ore, Mojang would have to stop and consider what purpose said ore would serve in the game. Moreover, you could argue that many of these types of changes feel tacked on and only deepen or improve the game temporarily. Newer players don't notice them, and once they've outlived their novelty, the game only feels more stale. Piling on more features doesn't necessarily deepen the game.There are several things I've often felt this game needs, and I just want to relay some of those ideas to you today, dear reader. Note that I don't work at Mojang, (although I'd love to) so I can't really implement any of these ideas. Also, since I'm only an amateur game developer/hobbyist, I don't have the experience many of the people working at Mojang already have. But I hope my perspective helps somebody either way.
By Gannon Kendrick5 years ago in Gamers
The Status of DC Entertainment: What's Coming Soon to Theaters
After Justice League under-performed in the box office, DC and Warner Bros. began shifting direction, and soon the fate of DC's cinematic universe was on the mind of every blogger in the galaxy. At that point though, we didn't know much, so the actions that DC would take moving forward were really anybody's guess.
By Gannon Kendrick5 years ago in Geeks
How to Be a Better Artist
I like to draw, aspire to be better, because through art, I'm able to create entirely new worlds and characters. There are a lot of people who are much better artists than I'll ever be, even if I study their work and try to emulate it. For these people, and the painful inferiority complex they've created in me, my solution is usually more liquor. But liquor is expensive, and the family interventions are starting to wear on me.
By Gannon Kendrick5 years ago in Lifehack
5 Pokemon Gimmicks That Didn't Stick
A lot of people don't realize, but the Pokemon franchise was actually revolutionary when it first made waves in the gaming industry, not necessarily in sales (though those were pretty good, I suppose), but in the way it used technology and developed the mechanics of RPGs. Through the ways that players could exchange Pokemon across link cable, the link cable, and multiplayer in general, saw new uses as more than a way to experience co-op gameplay. Also, the sheer number of playable characters that players had at their disposal, in the form of Pokemon, set Pokemon apart from many other RPG franchises of its era.
By Gannon Kendrick5 years ago in Gamers
Should You Learn French?
When I started learning French in high school, many people around me thought I had caught some cultural fascination with the French, with their baguettes and their berets, funny mustaches, and immediate urge to surrender (their thoughts, not mine).
By Gannon Kendrick6 years ago in Education
5 Tips for Learning a New Language
Language learning is incredibly easy to start with the right mindset, but it's not easy to keep that learning going, because motivations change—people evolve. I think we have a bit of an all-or-nothing mentality too, and that gets in our way—or it gets in mine—because languages take years to learn skillfully, especially if it's only your second language.
By Gannon Kendrick6 years ago in Education
'Battle for Azeroth's' Cutscene Problem
Blizzard's cinematics are some of the best in the industry, from the hype-inducing animations released before the start of every World of Warcraft expansion to the new story and character cinematics regularly released for Overwatch. Since Warcraft 3, Blizzard has carefully scrutinized its cinematics and been ahead of the industry in its desire to faithfully recreate its world in ten minutes or less. And with its latest, "Old Soldier," being hailed as one of its best, this is no less true today than ever; these cinematics put the player into the story in a way that almost nothing else in the game can.
By Gannon Kendrick6 years ago in Gamers