Sine Mora – XBLA Review

Shoot ‘em ups—in my mind—have always been games about sex. It’s not the phallic imagery. Nor is it the screenfuls of bullet-semen. And while the pacing is often frantic, frenzied, down and dirty even, I can’t say that it’s more

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Sine Mora – XBLA Review

Shoot ‘em ups—in my mind—have always been games about sex. It’s not the phallic imagery. Nor is it the screenfuls of bullet-semen. And while the pacing is often frantic, frenzied, down and dirty even, I can’t say that it’s more

/ Comments Off on Sine Mora – XBLA Review

Getting lost in Proteus: An interview with Ed Key

One of the remarkable things a game can offer is the ability to get lost in a world–to go on journeys, to explore. Few games can truly capture the idyllic, child-like magic of a good saunter–most of the time, traveling

/ 2 Comments

Getting lost in Proteus: An interview with Ed Key

One of the remarkable things a game can offer is the ability to get lost in a world–to go on journeys, to explore. Few games can truly capture the idyllic, child-like magic of a good saunter–most of the time, traveling

/ 2 Comments

Soundscapes – Why Mass Effect 3 might be the best sounding game of all time

Mass Effect 3 might just be the best sounding game of all time. This is quite an achievement for Bioware when you consider how the series started out. The audio in Mass Effect 1 was barely passable and in some

/ 19 Comments

Soundscapes – Why Mass Effect 3 might be the best sounding game of all time

Mass Effect 3 might just be the best sounding game of all time. This is quite an achievement for Bioware when you consider how the series started out. The audio in Mass Effect 1 was barely passable and in some

/ 19 Comments

After Pressing Start: Marathon Infinity

Marathon was a trilogy of FPS games made in the ’90s by Bungie, the developer who went on to make Halo. The Marathon games are classics, known for their fast paced gameplay, brutal difficulty level, intricate level design, and complex

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After Pressing Start: Marathon Infinity

Marathon was a trilogy of FPS games made in the ’90s by Bungie, the developer who went on to make Halo. The Marathon games are classics, known for their fast paced gameplay, brutal difficulty level, intricate level design, and complex

/ Comments Off on After Pressing Start: Marathon Infinity

Confronting violence in Nier

I’ve killed a lot of people in video games. There weren’t many games that chastised me for killing until Nier, though. Shadow of the Colossus certainly tried, but it’s difficult to feel guilty when you can unlock power ups via

/ 3 Comments

Confronting violence in Nier

I’ve killed a lot of people in video games. There weren’t many games that chastised me for killing until Nier, though. Shadow of the Colossus certainly tried, but it’s difficult to feel guilty when you can unlock power ups via

/ 3 Comments

Do we need Metacritic?

No. No we don’t. It’s more complicated that that, of course. Before today, Metacritic was a good concept gone insane, a website for vengeful gamers to post zero out of ten reviews on games they haven’t played as much as

/ 18 Comments

Do we need Metacritic?

No. No we don’t. It’s more complicated that that, of course. Before today, Metacritic was a good concept gone insane, a website for vengeful gamers to post zero out of ten reviews on games they haven’t played as much as

/ 18 Comments

Darwinian Difficulty in Metal Gear Solid 3

It’s your responsibility as a gamer to be as sadistic as possible. If you want to know what a character is made of, he must suffer intolerable cruelties. Don’t worry, he can take it; he’s designed to take it. But

/ One Comment

Darwinian Difficulty in Metal Gear Solid 3

It’s your responsibility as a gamer to be as sadistic as possible. If you want to know what a character is made of, he must suffer intolerable cruelties. Don’t worry, he can take it; he’s designed to take it. But

/ One Comment

Being the Enemy: The Darkspawn Chronicles

Do what I say. As I cut their throats, I never thought of them in pain. The Darkspawn were an ever-constant threat to my team and I slew them by the hundreds. Throughout Dragon Age: Origins, they were just the

/ 3 Comments

Being the Enemy: The Darkspawn Chronicles

Do what I say. As I cut their throats, I never thought of them in pain. The Darkspawn were an ever-constant threat to my team and I slew them by the hundreds. Throughout Dragon Age: Origins, they were just the

/ 3 Comments

Into the Lion's Den: An Outsider's Look into the Fighting Game Community

I am imagining Final Round XV to be like something out of Hollywood dystopia, replete with roving bands of unkempt men glaring at me in open and violent animosity, perhaps even menacingly swinging industrial-grade chains, pointing at me, and then

/ 18 Comments

Into the Lion's Den: An Outsider's Look into the Fighting Game Community

I am imagining Final Round XV to be like something out of Hollywood dystopia, replete with roving bands of unkempt men glaring at me in open and violent animosity, perhaps even menacingly swinging industrial-grade chains, pointing at me, and then

/ 18 Comments

Big Brother is watching: how developers use game analytics

Information is a high-value commodity in the digital age. Retailers like Target and companies like Google are regularly on the lookout for information they can mine and analyze to produce effective, highly personalized products. The gaming industry is no different:

/ 2 Comments

Big Brother is watching: how developers use game analytics

Information is a high-value commodity in the digital age. Retailers like Target and companies like Google are regularly on the lookout for information they can mine and analyze to produce effective, highly personalized products. The gaming industry is no different:

/ 2 Comments