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It’s Not So Bad: Cognitive Dissonance and Cheap Games 21 Aug 2013 | 06:56 pm
All else being equal, do you enjoy the games you pay full price for as much as the ones you buy on sale for cheap? While it of course first depends on the game, a certain well known theory in psycholo...
A Blind Gorilla with a Fez Walks Up to a Border Checkpoint… 22 Jul 2013 | 08:06 pm
Here, I’ve got a quick task for you. Assuming aces are worth 11, quickly double the value of each card below and add them up. The answer is 50, right? Well, yes but that’s not the point. The point is...
The Psychology Behind Steam’s Summer Sale 15 Jul 2013 | 05:27 pm
Summer is here! Time to pump up your video game backlog until it’s bloated, gurgling, and making vaguely taunting motions from over in the corner. In other words, the Steam Summer Sale has begun. I ju...
Can The Xbox One’s Kinect Read Your Mind? 8 Jul 2013 | 05:32 pm
Well, no. Of course not. That’s a silly question. Why would you even ask it? That said, the updated supercamera on the Kinect 2.0 is capable of some pretty amazing things. Microsoft demonstrated how ...
I’m Writing a Book. You Can Help. 28 Jun 2013 | 07:19 pm
When I started this blog over three years ago, I did it because the topic interested me and I thought it would be fun. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of reception, but it was actually pretty go...
The Left-Digit Effect: Why Game Prices End in .99 3 Jun 2013 | 10:54 pm
Why, when you saunter into a game store or navigate your favorite e-tailer, is everything priced $59.99, $29.99, or $19.99? More specifically, why do all those prices end in “.99?” Why not just be hon...
Articles for Edge Magazine Online 20 May 2013 | 10:19 pm
Last year I wrote several articles for Edge Magazine about the psychology of various video game topics. Somehow I missed that Edge put these online for viewing, so in case you didn’t catch the print e...
A Tale of Two Talent Trees 8 May 2013 | 06:37 pm
Can the presentation of choices on an upgrade screen or talent tree affect how we feel about those choices? Consider the two screenshots of talent trees below. No, look, don’t ask why just yet. Just c...
The Uncanny Valley and Character Design 1 May 2013 | 09:24 pm
Attention, Internet: I have a new article on the psychology of the uncanny valley up on gamesindustry.biz. You know what the uncanny valley is, right? It’s that theory originally from the field of rob...
The Availability Heuristic is Always On 15 Apr 2013 | 05:01 am
One of the stories that’s making the rounds right now concerns Adam Orth, a (former) Creative Director at Microsoft who caused a ruckus by cramming his foot in his Twittermouth. He did so while weighi...
