It was 1982, I was in fourth grade, and at my school they had decided to teach us chess for a few months. So it turned out that every Wednesday after lunch a special teacher would come to teach us how to play and make interesting moves. Towards the end of this little chess course, we organized a mini tournament. My friend Ramiro was about a year younger than the whole class and exactly one year younger than me, since we had birthdays on the same day. ...

Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies, like any other novel element, are fertile ground for the development of pyramid schemes, also known as Ponzi schemes. Taking advantage of people’s desire to get rich, making use of ignorance and the trend surrounding cryptocurrencies, and speaking a “crypto” language, many scam models appear. To prevent this kind of thing, and additionally any other type of scheme to become a millionaire, I’m convinced that this tweet from Naval , which came to me through my friend Carlos , defines it all: ...

As I started developing a prototype for a mobile game, it occurred to me that we should have some kind of guide or manifesto to protect the user. So I wrote this first draft. It probably sounds very extremist… but I’m convinced this is the way forward. Suggestions are welcome towards more ethical software that takes the player into account and not software that wants to turn the player into an addict to extract all their money. ...

Jason Rohrer has just released a new videogame that took him three years to develop. Jason Rohrer For those who don’t know who Rohrer is, let me briefly tell you that he is an uncommon game designer. One of his most notable games is called Passage, and it’s about a metaphor of an entire life in five minutes. Don’t expect a triple A with 60fps in 4K from his games. It’s a more conceptual approach and in my opinion much more interesting. ...

Four years ago I was visiting Punta del Este for the last time. And I recorded this little video, which functions as a window to the past, to childhood, to all those summers of almost three months long, eternal. It’s an incredible place, difficult to explain what lies beneath the superficial layer of snobbery that almost everyone assigns to it. And it’s even harder to explain what it represents to me. ...

Teaching the Future of Gaming For a couple of years around 2011, I was a university instructor for a course called Evolution of Video Games. It was truly one of the most enjoyable jobs of my life. One of the most interesting parts was the practical assignment, which consisted of presenting a concept for a current video game trying to utilize different available technologies. Some students presented traditional things, but others showed more outlandish and cutting-edge ideas, and I remember that more than once they presented different game concepts where players would use their cell phones in real life and would have to catch Pokemon-like creatures, or fight with other players in this real/virtual world using GPS technology and augmented reality. ...

The Unfair Treatment of Critics I can’t believe the bad critics of Kick Off Revival. What’s going on with you critics? What are you thinking of? I’ve read a few reviews and I really can’t believe the rage and the anger behind the words. Some critics even try to make fun of Dini Dini’s name. Come on!!! What the hell are you doing? I’ve read terrible things, I’ve read critics saying that the game is hard to master, and their reaction is to leave something if they cannot master it… ok dude, then Kick Off, or any other challenge in your life is definitely too much for you. ...

There are small things, small phrases from the history of our country (Argentina), that deserve not to be forgotten. It turns out that the 1870s were running, and evidently communication was important in that era too. Dalmacio Vélez Sarfield, a notable Argentine politician and lawyer who at that time was Minister of the Interior under Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, had funds available to build roads, and foreseeing that the opposition would deny a special allocation of funds for other matters, he diverted part of those funds to build telegraphs. A device that was of vital importance for the development of communications during the 19th century. ...

Some time ago I saw this joke and it seemed as cruel as it was real: Dead Pixel Joke Last year, for some reason, I found myself playing Final Fantasy I on the PSP 3000 and the fact that I could see the pixels on that small 480x272 screen filled me with happiness. Final Fantasy I PSP Pixel art is that. It’s being able to see the pixel, being able to enjoy it, it’s part of the art. What was once a technical limitation today determines a wonderful aesthetic. More and more sophisticated games and media will continue to come out, but those that are left behind don’t disappear, they’re not discarded, they don’t die… they generate a specific aesthetic. ...

Apple’s Acquisition of Emotient Apple just bought a technology company dedicated to facial expression recognition called Emotient. I have to admit that this kind of thing gives me chills, or fear, or I don’t know. I’m not talking about the acquisition itself (which should scare us anyway because of the tremendous power that large companies possess and how they buy each other out), but about the recognition of human facial expressions. ...