Author Archives: Dylan Holmes

The wonderful accessibility of Dear Esther

It’s the final year of college, and I’m writing a book on videogames. It’s one of the loneliest projects of my life. I don’t just mean the regular cycle of locking myself in my room to play a game and

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The wonderful accessibility of Dear Esther

It’s the final year of college, and I’m writing a book on videogames. It’s one of the loneliest projects of my life. I don’t just mean the regular cycle of locking myself in my room to play a game and

/ 13 Comments

We ride at dawn: A story of emergent gameplay in Planetside 2

We saw the Prowler before it saw us. Located on a ridge outside the Terran Republic headquarters, we were expecting to see a constant stream of enemy vehicles exit the base. The lone driver of the TR’s trademark tank, however,

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We ride at dawn: A story of emergent gameplay in Planetside 2

We saw the Prowler before it saw us. Located on a ridge outside the Terran Republic headquarters, we were expecting to see a constant stream of enemy vehicles exit the base. The lone driver of the TR’s trademark tank, however,

/ 2 Comments

Play is excavation: the search for game poetry

  In 2004, a little-known Nevadan writer published the first book of video game poetry. The collection – sporting the lengthy title Blue Wizard is About to Die: Prose, Poems, and Emoto-Versatronic Expressionist Pieces about Video Games (1980-2003) – contained

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Play is excavation: the search for game poetry

  In 2004, a little-known Nevadan writer published the first book of video game poetry. The collection – sporting the lengthy title Blue Wizard is About to Die: Prose, Poems, and Emoto-Versatronic Expressionist Pieces about Video Games (1980-2003) – contained

/ 7 Comments

Love in the Time of Shooters: A Conversation with Brendon Chung

  Brendon Chung is the man behind Blendo Games, which has produced a string of top-notch indie games since the studio’s founding in 2009, most recently Atom Zombie Smasher and Thirty Flights of Loving. Before PAX, I caught up with him to talk about

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Love in the Time of Shooters: A Conversation with Brendon Chung

  Brendon Chung is the man behind Blendo Games, which has produced a string of top-notch indie games since the studio’s founding in 2009, most recently Atom Zombie Smasher and Thirty Flights of Loving. Before PAX, I caught up with him to talk about

/ 5 Comments

Falling in Love: A Thirty Flights of Loving Review

  It was around the six minute mark when I realized my mouth was open. I wasn’t mouthbreathing, or mumbling to myself, or laughing (that came later); I was simply in awe. I cannot conjure up enough superlatives to describe

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Falling in Love: A Thirty Flights of Loving Review

  It was around the six minute mark when I realized my mouth was open. I wasn’t mouthbreathing, or mumbling to myself, or laughing (that came later); I was simply in awe. I cannot conjure up enough superlatives to describe

/ 2 Comments

A Life of Game Design: An Interview with The Real Texas' Calvin French

  With the release of The Real Texas, developer Calvin French—a.k.a. Kitty Lambda Games—has had his first real taste of commercial and critical success. The game garnered positive coverage on Destructoid and our very own site, and while it hasn’t

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A Life of Game Design: An Interview with The Real Texas' Calvin French

  With the release of The Real Texas, developer Calvin French—a.k.a. Kitty Lambda Games—has had his first real taste of commercial and critical success. The game garnered positive coverage on Destructoid and our very own site, and while it hasn’t

/ One Comment

Review: The Real Texas

  There’s something to be said for truth in advertising. One of the goals of marketing is  to try and sell a product to as many people as possible. This is all well and good when someone is hawking laundry

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Review: The Real Texas

  There’s something to be said for truth in advertising. One of the goals of marketing is  to try and sell a product to as many people as possible. This is all well and good when someone is hawking laundry

/ 3 Comments

Why I ignored E3

  “Watching any E3 coverage?” The question was inevitable. In this case, it was an IM from a co-worker, but anyone who knew my interest in video games would have asked the same rhetorical question. Of course I was. What

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Why I ignored E3

  “Watching any E3 coverage?” The question was inevitable. In this case, it was an IM from a co-worker, but anyone who knew my interest in video games would have asked the same rhetorical question. Of course I was. What

/ 5 Comments

How the greatest shooter in years failed to find an audience

Commercial video games are a hit-driven industry. The big publishers rely on a few games selling at least five million copies in order to offset numerous other games that fail to chart. And this imbalance extends to the media coverage.

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How the greatest shooter in years failed to find an audience

Commercial video games are a hit-driven industry. The big publishers rely on a few games selling at least five million copies in order to offset numerous other games that fail to chart. And this imbalance extends to the media coverage.

/ 17 Comments

"Unlocks" and the gamification of gaming

  “LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD INSTANTLY!” I blinked. I had just launched Battlefield 3, and for some reason there a pop-up promising me…fairness? “Tired of fighting an uphill battle against Battlefield veterans?” it continued.  “The Ultimate Shortcut Bundle unlocks 119

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"Unlocks" and the gamification of gaming

  “LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD INSTANTLY!” I blinked. I had just launched Battlefield 3, and for some reason there a pop-up promising me…fairness? “Tired of fighting an uphill battle against Battlefield veterans?” it continued.  “The Ultimate Shortcut Bundle unlocks 119

/ 18 Comments