Games

Polygon.com have an excellent article here on the making of the recent strategy game (and my top game of 2012) XCOM . Lead designer Jake Solomon and head of Firaxis Sid Meier talk extensively about the game's nine-year development process, the multiple false starts on the project and how it only came together when they brainstormed ideas for a week whilst playing a board game version of the title. Lots of great stuff there and confirmation at the end that an XCOM sequel is being looked at.

2015. The Earth is under attack by waves of UFOs. Alien infiltrators are kidnapping humans to unknown ends, or simply going on the rampage to spread fear and terror. To fight back, the nations of the world have established XCOM, an elite force designed to combat the alien menace. With a fleet of interceptor aircraft and well-trained soldiers at their disposal, the forces of XCOM must discover the enemy's purpose, turn their own weapons against them and win the war...or risk the extinction of humanity. XCOM: Enemy Unkown is a remake and update of the classic 1994 strategy game, UFO: Enemy Unknown (aka X-COM: UFO Defense in the USA), which in turn was heavily inspired by the 1970 Gerry Anderson TV series UFO . It's a turn-based strategy game in which you command the defence of Earth against an encroaching alien menace. The original game is still held as one of the best strategy games of all time (if not one of the best games of all time) and remaking it is a brave move...