Don't Believe the Hype

What we believe and how we behave aren’t always in sync. In an ideal world people would act in ways supporting their beliefs and ideas, but the reality of it is that we live in a world of tangled webs

After pressing start: Unraveling Chrono Cross' chronological mysteries

Chrono Cross is the Led Zeppelin of video games. When it first arrived on scene, it was one of the highest rated games ever: I remember reading countless perfect score reviews, psyching myself up for launch. Of course, the hype

Ticket to Ride shows the future of board games may be digital

When people talk about entry-level board games, the kind designed to get your buddies over the hobby’s notoriously high barrier for entry, a few games are mentioned. Settlers of Catan gets first billing as a classic. Then you have modern

ROCKSMITH and the victory over gamification

Gamification is a sexy buzz word. It was born from the assumption that people value the things they struggle to obtain more than the things they freely receive. And so, the behaviorist wizard assigned points and levels to everything. His spell dictated that we would become more motivated if we became aware that every level passed or song beaten was a stepping stone, an achievement.

It was under the lure of this magic man that I purchased Rocksmith, a rhythm game you play with a real guitar and whose goal is to teach you how to play it. Perhaps now, with the ethereal motivation provided by gamification, I would be finally able to switch from the G chord to the C chord without having to stop and mentally command my fingers to do so. It was an impulse buy to be sure, but one that ended up being my most played game of 2011.

And here is the twist: gamification didn’t do a damn thing.

The Campfire: A nightmare in Hyrule

The Campfire is a column where we regale you with tales of our video game adventures. This is a tale of a young boy and an overclocked imagination…. The wonderful thing about childhood is that moments of fear, surprise, and

Waiting to Respawn: The Five Tenets of Most Excellent Co-Op

Friends and loved ones, we have gathered here today to celebrate the joining of Player 1 and Player 2 in the bonds of broly matrimony. In these days of online games and randomly assigned partners, this agreement to enter co-op

Feedback Loop: Long Live the Shooter, the Shooter is Dead

The dispatches from E3 seem to indicate that the shooter remains the same. How long can its dominance last? What comes next?

Is it High Noon for shooters? In his latest post on Brainy Gamer, Michael Abbott seems to think so. He compares the current generation of shooter games to Westerns in 1959, the last year before they started to disappear.

Caring for Polygons: NPC Bonding and Attachment

The post-apocalyptic Wasteland is a uncaring place. After leaving Vault 101, the Lone Wanderer is just that: alone in an unfamiliar and hostile environment. There is little friendship or love, especially that elusive, unconditional variety. In these desolate wastes, dogs

Steamroll: The Demo Run

Welcome to the 2nd entry in the Steamroll, your weekly look into the $10-or-less indie releases on Steam. Although the paid offerings this week are pretty slim (only one $10 game released), there was also a slew of demos released.

Don't Front. We All Love The Violence.

Violence is the name of the game. Well, not literally. And not for all games. There’s Nintendo and the indie scene and whatever new craze is lying in wait on the App Store. But the core of gaming right now remains unmistakably violent. As many people have noted,