Author Archives: Tom Auxier

Angry Birds – An Informed Review

Angry Birds is a game about insane birds that I have never played. Why are the birds angry? I don’t know. Maybe they’ve had a bit too much to drink. Maybe they’ve been sexually deprived for a few weeks, leading

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Angry Birds – An Informed Review

Angry Birds is a game about insane birds that I have never played. Why are the birds angry? I don’t know. Maybe they’ve had a bit too much to drink. Maybe they’ve been sexually deprived for a few weeks, leading

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August Omnitopic: Simplicity

August is the most venerable month, the wisest of months. The wisest among us are often the simplest, so simplicity will be our omnitopic for the coming twenty odd days. Okay, that was bullshit. We picked it because it’s important.

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August Omnitopic: Simplicity

August is the most venerable month, the wisest of months. The wisest among us are often the simplest, so simplicity will be our omnitopic for the coming twenty odd days. Okay, that was bullshit. We picked it because it’s important.

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Omnitopic July 2011 Roundup – Weakness

Where did July go? Oh July, you siren of months. You harlot of twelfths of a year. Where have you gone? Yes, July is over and gone, and with it we must mourn the passing of another omnitopic. This one,

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Omnitopic July 2011 Roundup – Weakness

Where did July go? Oh July, you siren of months. You harlot of twelfths of a year. Where have you gone? Yes, July is over and gone, and with it we must mourn the passing of another omnitopic. This one,

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Indie Games Summer Uprising hotter than the sun

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Indie Games service has been much maligned since its inception, with good reason. It’s the equivalent of a dingy, shoddy restaurant with mediocre food and a waiter that seems like he’ll try to stab you and take

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Indie Games Summer Uprising hotter than the sun

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Indie Games service has been much maligned since its inception, with good reason. It’s the equivalent of a dingy, shoddy restaurant with mediocre food and a waiter that seems like he’ll try to stab you and take

/ One Comment

The cat follows the coup

The history of education in games is conflicted. It’s hard enough to convince gamers intent on murder or tending farms that an educational game isn’t woefully beneath them. Even if you’re convinced to play them, the games are rarely good

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The cat follows the coup

The history of education in games is conflicted. It’s hard enough to convince gamers intent on murder or tending farms that an educational game isn’t woefully beneath them. Even if you’re convinced to play them, the games are rarely good

/ 2 Comments

Review – Bastion

Remember my Outland review? Of course you don’t. But everything I say there goes triple for Bastion. In a year of pretty incredible independent games, Bastion is the best of the year so far. It is a legitimately great game

/ 6 Comments

Review – Bastion

Remember my Outland review? Of course you don’t. But everything I say there goes triple for Bastion. In a year of pretty incredible independent games, Bastion is the best of the year so far. It is a legitimately great game

/ 6 Comments

Review – Avadon: The Black Fortress

One of writer Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writing engaging fiction was thus: Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. He had a

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Review – Avadon: The Black Fortress

One of writer Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writing engaging fiction was thus: Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. He had a

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The Cold Season: Iron Grip: Warlord

The Cold Season is an exploration of independent video game Iron Grip: Warlord, a FPS/Tower Defense hybrid available via Steam et al. It’s quite good, and worth checking out, especially if you have friends to play it with. This is

/ 2 Comments

The Cold Season: Iron Grip: Warlord

The Cold Season is an exploration of independent video game Iron Grip: Warlord, a FPS/Tower Defense hybrid available via Steam et al. It’s quite good, and worth checking out, especially if you have friends to play it with. This is

/ 2 Comments

Spoiled Novelty: Mechanical Spoilers

Games aren’t new anymore. They don’t surprise us. The common thesis around the internet is that there’s nothing new in games because developers are creatively bankrupt. There are no new ideas because no one has any except for independent developers;

/ 7 Comments

Spoiled Novelty: Mechanical Spoilers

Games aren’t new anymore. They don’t surprise us. The common thesis around the internet is that there’s nothing new in games because developers are creatively bankrupt. There are no new ideas because no one has any except for independent developers;

/ 7 Comments

Never Say Never: Xenoblade and The Last Story

Anyone who’s ever cared about Japanese games featuring effeminate men with ludicrously oversized swords has been following the saga of Xenoblade and The Last Story. Nintendo has had an on-again, off-again affair with localizing these two titles from prominent studios

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Never Say Never: Xenoblade and The Last Story

Anyone who’s ever cared about Japanese games featuring effeminate men with ludicrously oversized swords has been following the saga of Xenoblade and The Last Story. Nintendo has had an on-again, off-again affair with localizing these two titles from prominent studios

/ One Comment