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Hi

does anyone know good websites or books about the theory of computer games?
i´m not so much interested in the programming and graphics production but in the developement of concepts.

for example the R-Type games had the concept fucking hard levels which leads me to the conclusion that their concept was fun by repetition.

or then there are games which are long but fairily easy such as ICO. their concept would be "supply the player with new stuff permanently"

Your starting place is Trigger Happy, by Steven Poole; and his regular column in Edge.

The Art Of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford might be a decent starting point. It's canny old now but I'm led to believe that it's a decent read. Best bit is that it's freely available online. Here ya go