Feature
No Exit: How Games Can Change Us
Rule 1: Get a group of three or more people. I was sitting in the second row, listening to Eric Zimmerman talk at IndieCade. I had arrived late as a result of drinking too much the night before and ended
No Exit: How Games Can Change Us
Rule 1: Get a group of three or more people. I was sitting in the second row, listening to Eric Zimmerman talk at IndieCade. I had arrived late as a result of drinking too much the night before and ended
How our perception of space in games changes depending on our maps
The first thing I loved about games was exploration. I remember the layout of The Legend of Zelda’s Hyrule better than that of my elementary school. I spent considerable time trying to reconcile it with the map of Zelda 2
How our perception of space in games changes depending on our maps
The first thing I loved about games was exploration. I remember the layout of The Legend of Zelda’s Hyrule better than that of my elementary school. I spent considerable time trying to reconcile it with the map of Zelda 2
Sometimes games want you to think they're critiquing violence, but instead they legitimize it
There is a cost for everything. Video games, I worry, carry this unknowing. We agree to things that would be utterly horrific in the actual fictions of a game. I want to distinguish between the anti-violence, anti-“manshooter” rhetoric that most
Sometimes games want you to think they're critiquing violence, but instead they legitimize it
There is a cost for everything. Video games, I worry, carry this unknowing. We agree to things that would be utterly horrific in the actual fictions of a game. I want to distinguish between the anti-violence, anti-“manshooter” rhetoric that most
Planting Seeds: A mobile game that supports Kenyan women
The first iteration of Seeds to hit the iTunes store doesn’t look like a game at all. Its name is Microlending, and true to its name it enables U.S. smartphone users to make one-to-one financial loans to Kenyan businesswomen in
Planting Seeds: A mobile game that supports Kenyan women
The first iteration of Seeds to hit the iTunes store doesn’t look like a game at all. Its name is Microlending, and true to its name it enables U.S. smartphone users to make one-to-one financial loans to Kenyan businesswomen in
Borderlands 2 might be funny, but it's not a comedy
The more I play Borderlands 2, the more I like it. But the more I think it’s not really a comedy. Borderlands 2 tries to be a comedy, but all it is a funny action movie. There are many facets
Borderlands 2 might be funny, but it's not a comedy
The more I play Borderlands 2, the more I like it. But the more I think it’s not really a comedy. Borderlands 2 tries to be a comedy, but all it is a funny action movie. There are many facets
Someone to watch over me: social spectatorship in games
New parents spend a lot of their free time exhausted, wondering if they will ever sleep again. Following my daughter’s birth, I started playing Oblivion. I began the game by myself, but my wife Anna eventually came to watch me
Someone to watch over me: social spectatorship in games
New parents spend a lot of their free time exhausted, wondering if they will ever sleep again. Following my daughter’s birth, I started playing Oblivion. I began the game by myself, but my wife Anna eventually came to watch me
The cold science of Pokémon
On the fifth of July, 1996, Dolly was born–the world’s first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. While Dolly was not the first cloned animal in the world, she quickly became a media darling and a cultural
The cold science of Pokémon
On the fifth of July, 1996, Dolly was born–the world’s first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. While Dolly was not the first cloned animal in the world, she quickly became a media darling and a cultural
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
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
Universal consistency in Thirty Flights of Loving
I’m one of the Wednesday Warriors, the kind of people who go to their comics shops every Wednesday to pick up newly released serial titles. When others question why I read four X-Men books a month, not understanding the allure
Universal consistency in Thirty Flights of Loving
I’m one of the Wednesday Warriors, the kind of people who go to their comics shops every Wednesday to pick up newly released serial titles. When others question why I read four X-Men books a month, not understanding the allure
Post Tenebras Lux: The Jump from Majora's Mask to Wind Waker
Compared to the more earthy visuals of Ocarina of Time and the dark nuances of Majora’s Mask (recently discussed by Nightmare Mode’s own Daryl Heard) Wind Waker can seem an ocean away from its predecessors. The length and breadth of
Post Tenebras Lux: The Jump from Majora's Mask to Wind Waker
Compared to the more earthy visuals of Ocarina of Time and the dark nuances of Majora’s Mask (recently discussed by Nightmare Mode’s own Daryl Heard) Wind Waker can seem an ocean away from its predecessors. The length and breadth of