Skullgirls and the challenge of indie fighters

As mainstream games grow more expensive, indie games are gaining more of a presence. Indie games have always steered towards singleplayer experiences though with multiplayer rarely in mind. Even when playing with others in mind it’s usually not about being

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Skullgirls and the challenge of indie fighters

As mainstream games grow more expensive, indie games are gaining more of a presence. Indie games have always steered towards singleplayer experiences though with multiplayer rarely in mind. Even when playing with others in mind it’s usually not about being

/ One Comment

How You Got Videogames Wrong: It's All Consequential

    I have a friend who failed Journey. …Improbable, right? Thatgamecompany’s 2012 critical darling may be known for a lot of things, but failability ain’t one of ’em. Yet still this friend-o’mine–let’s call him Kevin, cuz that’s his name–did

/ 7 Comments

How You Got Videogames Wrong: It's All Consequential

    I have a friend who failed Journey. …Improbable, right? Thatgamecompany’s 2012 critical darling may be known for a lot of things, but failability ain’t one of ’em. Yet still this friend-o’mine–let’s call him Kevin, cuz that’s his name–did

/ 7 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

The least interesting video game characters make the best action figures.

Based on my reaction to today’s news of a fully poseable, well-made action figure of Link and a quick look at my personal collection of plastic miniature gaming heroes I have come realize. The more deep or developed a character is, the less likely they will make a great action figure. Master Chief, Sonic, Kratos, Dante, Cloud, Squall, Sora, Altair and many more are all hanging out on my shelf and look great together in glorious crossover fashion, but I can’t say I’ve really ever cared about these characters when I play their games. They’re just a lot of fun to look at and play as.

/ 3 Comments

The least interesting video game characters make the best action figures.

Based on my reaction to today’s news of a fully poseable, well-made action figure of Link and a quick look at my personal collection of plastic miniature gaming heroes I have come realize. The more deep or developed a character is, the less likely they will make a great action figure. Master Chief, Sonic, Kratos, Dante, Cloud, Squall, Sora, Altair and many more are all hanging out on my shelf and look great together in glorious crossover fashion, but I can’t say I’ve really ever cared about these characters when I play their games. They’re just a lot of fun to look at and play as.

/ 3 Comments

Tower defense evolved: The White Laboratory

Tower defense has faced every possible slander you can imagine. It’s “casual” strategy, a rich game like Warcraft 3 boiled down into enemies attacking, you defending. The genre as a whole leans on its tropes harder than anything besides perhaps

/ One Comment

Tower defense evolved: The White Laboratory

Tower defense has faced every possible slander you can imagine. It’s “casual” strategy, a rich game like Warcraft 3 boiled down into enemies attacking, you defending. The genre as a whole leans on its tropes harder than anything besides perhaps

/ One Comment

Rubin vs. The Saints

Polygon’s Brian Crecente interviewed Jason Rubin about his new job, running the show at THQ.  Couched as the primary directive of the Rubin era of THQ, he took aim at Saints Row: The Third as the sort of thing that

/ One Comment

Rubin vs. The Saints

Polygon’s Brian Crecente interviewed Jason Rubin about his new job, running the show at THQ.  Couched as the primary directive of the Rubin era of THQ, he took aim at Saints Row: The Third as the sort of thing that

/ One Comment

After Pressing Start: Dead Space

  Horror and terror sound like interchangeable words. If the marketing departments behind slasher films are to be asked, they both fill up a movie poster pretty well. But to Devandra Varma, a Himalayan-born expert scholar of gothic literature, the

/ One Comment

After Pressing Start: Dead Space

  Horror and terror sound like interchangeable words. If the marketing departments behind slasher films are to be asked, they both fill up a movie poster pretty well. But to Devandra Varma, a Himalayan-born expert scholar of gothic literature, the

/ One Comment

Shards Of Pretty, Broken Glass: Stained Impressions

Imagine yourself as an anonymous robed figure on an unknown, uninhabited planet. Maybe you look a hell of a lot like the Grim Reaper. Maybe you even wield a similar scythe. Now picture a mysterious castle,  haunted by the aftermath

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Shards Of Pretty, Broken Glass: Stained Impressions

Imagine yourself as an anonymous robed figure on an unknown, uninhabited planet. Maybe you look a hell of a lot like the Grim Reaper. Maybe you even wield a similar scythe. Now picture a mysterious castle,  haunted by the aftermath

/ 3 Comments

Feedback Loop: How Videogames Stole my Daydreams

When my brother and I were younger our parents used to force us to spend a certain amount of time outside every day. In the summer especially, when school was out and the days were lazy, we were cast out

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Feedback Loop: How Videogames Stole my Daydreams

When my brother and I were younger our parents used to force us to spend a certain amount of time outside every day. In the summer especially, when school was out and the days were lazy, we were cast out

/ 10 Comments

A Strange Tale in the Cracked-dirt Desert, Part II

This is part two of an ongoing look at A Tale in the Desert and its community. Part one can be found here. In the heyday of savannah life, a few good people – actually good, caring and empathic –

/ Comments Off on A Strange Tale in the Cracked-dirt Desert, Part II

A Strange Tale in the Cracked-dirt Desert, Part II

This is part two of an ongoing look at A Tale in the Desert and its community. Part one can be found here. In the heyday of savannah life, a few good people – actually good, caring and empathic –

/ Comments Off on A Strange Tale in the Cracked-dirt Desert, Part II