Golf and godhood
There is a God and He is in a golf game. You won’t find Him at first, though. Much like the various religions that portray Him, His existence transcends human understanding. He is behind every drive, chip, and putt in
Golf and godhood
There is a God and He is in a golf game. You won’t find Him at first, though. Much like the various religions that portray Him, His existence transcends human understanding. He is behind every drive, chip, and putt in
A lot of videogames really are dumb, but not all of them have to be
Taylor Clark doesn’t think there are many intelligent videogames. Or, as he put it in his recent profile of Jonathan Blow, “Video games, with very few exceptions, are dumb.” Here we go again. Another “respected” media outlet taking shots at
A lot of videogames really are dumb, but not all of them have to be
Taylor Clark doesn’t think there are many intelligent videogames. Or, as he put it in his recent profile of Jonathan Blow, “Video games, with very few exceptions, are dumb.” Here we go again. Another “respected” media outlet taking shots at
Saturday Morning RPG is Traditionalist Retro Gaming Done Right
Meet Martin “Marty” Michael Hall, a ordinary high school kid with a remarkable ability to turn the mundane into magic. Marty’s story begins much in the same way many of our own teenage fantasies start — in our dreams. As Marty falls asleep, his dream is shaped by a TV show featuring the villain Commander Hood. Marty’s mind intercepts the stimulation from the show, casting him the protagonist in battle with Commander Hood: kidnapper of Samantha – the girl literally of Marty’s dreams – and proponent of shotgun-styled weddings. After getting his ass kicked, a witty wizard sporting an ultra hip demeanor bestows Marty with an “ancient artifact” that can take down Commander Hood – a ’80s styled Trapper Keeper.
Saturday Morning RPG’s emphasis on the old-school Trapper Keeper as Marty’s – and therefore the player’s – source of power mimics the mobile industry’s values in spite of the AAA console market. The Trapper Keeper represents tradition, a return to form, as power. The use of pixel animation makes SMRPG traditionalist. If you want, think neo-noir, only as Tom Auxier pointed out, the lines of influence are clearer for us videogame folk to see than for audiences to see in a movie like Brick, for example. And as Christopher Nolan, a traditionalist in his own right has proven through use of film over digital, utilizing an outdated form can be an effective tool toward innovation and creativity if done well and without a total neglect of modern benefits.
Saturday Morning RPG is Traditionalist Retro Gaming Done Right
Meet Martin “Marty” Michael Hall, a ordinary high school kid with a remarkable ability to turn the mundane into magic. Marty’s story begins much in the same way many of our own teenage fantasies start — in our dreams. As Marty falls asleep, his dream is shaped by a TV show featuring the villain Commander Hood. Marty’s mind intercepts the stimulation from the show, casting him the protagonist in battle with Commander Hood: kidnapper of Samantha – the girl literally of Marty’s dreams – and proponent of shotgun-styled weddings. After getting his ass kicked, a witty wizard sporting an ultra hip demeanor bestows Marty with an “ancient artifact” that can take down Commander Hood – a ’80s styled Trapper Keeper.
Saturday Morning RPG’s emphasis on the old-school Trapper Keeper as Marty’s – and therefore the player’s – source of power mimics the mobile industry’s values in spite of the AAA console market. The Trapper Keeper represents tradition, a return to form, as power. The use of pixel animation makes SMRPG traditionalist. If you want, think neo-noir, only as Tom Auxier pointed out, the lines of influence are clearer for us videogame folk to see than for audiences to see in a movie like Brick, for example. And as Christopher Nolan, a traditionalist in his own right has proven through use of film over digital, utilizing an outdated form can be an effective tool toward innovation and creativity if done well and without a total neglect of modern benefits.
The Grind: An MMORPG Tragedy
This is a story about a girl. No, not in the way you’re thinking. Not really, anyway. I’m not talking about the girl next door or the redhead behind the counter at the coffee shop. The girl this story is
The Grind: An MMORPG Tragedy
This is a story about a girl. No, not in the way you’re thinking. Not really, anyway. I’m not talking about the girl next door or the redhead behind the counter at the coffee shop. The girl this story is
ZIGGURAT and the end of the world during coffee break
A wise man once wrote what I believe to be one of the core tenets anyone who calls himself a game reviewer should have in mind: if you want to know if a game design works, imagine that game with an endless mode. It’s one of those advices so simple and obvious only a genius could have thought of.
And now that genius went off to make his own endless game, ZIGGURAT.
It’s one of those things that leaves me both excited for the results and frustrated about my own inadequacies. Just like when Erik Wolpaw, who used to write hilariously astute reviews and commentary on games in his Old Man Murray website, went off to write arguably one of the best videogames ever made: Portal.
The result is that Tim Rogers, the number one defender of friction in games, made what is, together with Canabalt, the game with the most friction you can find on the iPhone. ZiGGURAT is a genre great game with so much friction I have the impression my iPhone is rumbling even though it lacks a rumble feature.
ZIGGURAT and the end of the world during coffee break
A wise man once wrote what I believe to be one of the core tenets anyone who calls himself a game reviewer should have in mind: if you want to know if a game design works, imagine that game with an endless mode. It’s one of those advices so simple and obvious only a genius could have thought of.
And now that genius went off to make his own endless game, ZIGGURAT.
It’s one of those things that leaves me both excited for the results and frustrated about my own inadequacies. Just like when Erik Wolpaw, who used to write hilariously astute reviews and commentary on games in his Old Man Murray website, went off to write arguably one of the best videogames ever made: Portal.
The result is that Tim Rogers, the number one defender of friction in games, made what is, together with Canabalt, the game with the most friction you can find on the iPhone. ZiGGURAT is a genre great game with so much friction I have the impression my iPhone is rumbling even though it lacks a rumble feature.
Journey's Parallels to the Mormon Temple Ceremony
You have probably played Journey, or at least read about it. Its atmosphere is hard to pin down, and a few people have compared running across sand dunes and floating among ruins as a religious experience. I agree with them,
Journey's Parallels to the Mormon Temple Ceremony
You have probably played Journey, or at least read about it. Its atmosphere is hard to pin down, and a few people have compared running across sand dunes and floating among ruins as a religious experience. I agree with them,
Archie Does It Better: The Top 10 Awful Sonic Characters (that rule in the comics)
You don’t need me to tell you that the strange homunculi cast of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series are about as developed and characterized as a pile of forgotten cartoon characters held together by a tapestry with a list of canned kid-friendly phrases written on it. In light of Sega’s recent layoffs it’s unlikely to expect a compelling story from them any time soon, but honestly it seems to be better that way since Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is looking fantastic.
Thankfully we have Archie to fill the surprisingly high demand for proper Sonic stories. Like most comic book worlds the plotlines can get a bit wonky at times, but a wonderful cast of well-written versions of the characters we know and loath from the games makes them more than worth reading.
Archie Does It Better: The Top 10 Awful Sonic Characters (that rule in the comics)
You don’t need me to tell you that the strange homunculi cast of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series are about as developed and characterized as a pile of forgotten cartoon characters held together by a tapestry with a list of canned kid-friendly phrases written on it. In light of Sega’s recent layoffs it’s unlikely to expect a compelling story from them any time soon, but honestly it seems to be better that way since Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is looking fantastic.
Thankfully we have Archie to fill the surprisingly high demand for proper Sonic stories. Like most comic book worlds the plotlines can get a bit wonky at times, but a wonderful cast of well-written versions of the characters we know and loath from the games makes them more than worth reading.
After Pressing Start: Myst
In the beginning of Myst you don’t know what’s going on. The intro cinematic explains nothing, and you won’t understand what the cinematic’s about until you’ve played the sequel, Riven. All you know at the start of Myst is that
After Pressing Start: Myst
In the beginning of Myst you don’t know what’s going on. The intro cinematic explains nothing, and you won’t understand what the cinematic’s about until you’ve played the sequel, Riven. All you know at the start of Myst is that
Dog walk, dog listen, dog lost
Ruins is a 2011 PC game developed by Cardboard Computer and can be downloaded here. Self-pity runs deep through the cerebellum, rots the spinal cord to a few strands of disintegrating rubber, destroys everything outside of mind – other people, other
Dog walk, dog listen, dog lost
Ruins is a 2011 PC game developed by Cardboard Computer and can be downloaded here. Self-pity runs deep through the cerebellum, rots the spinal cord to a few strands of disintegrating rubber, destroys everything outside of mind – other people, other
The Paragon Homunculus in ME
Over the course of seven days I fell in and out of love, only to find it again in the arms of another. I stopped a genocide, only to cause two others; I talked people off ledges, helped mend broken
The Paragon Homunculus in ME
Over the course of seven days I fell in and out of love, only to find it again in the arms of another. I stopped a genocide, only to cause two others; I talked people off ledges, helped mend broken