Toys, Simulations and Stories III: Stories

It is 2011. We’re a stone’s throw from a hypothetical apocalypse, video games are virtually everywhere and most of them attempt to tell us stories. This approach has progressed much further than digital toys and has much broader appeal than

Toys, Simulations and Stories II. Toys

While most early computational devices were almost exclusively used for military and academic purposes, it is important to note Spacewar! became available in 1962 and Tennis For Two was developed in 1958 (for those unfamiliar, Tennis For Two was a

Toys, Simulations and Stories I. Simulations

  One of the most noticeable and surprising problems with the study of video games (and interactive media in general) is the difficulty to describe their place in society. In general, there are three broad approaches to this question. Some

Want Earthbound figures? Want a plush Mr. Saturn?

THEN WANT NO MORE! Banpresto, makers of fine Japanese toys and games, are releasing, over the next half year or so, a massive collection of figures and plushies based off of the Mother series of games. No Mother 3, alas,

Smugleaf & Aigis: Silly Things That We Want

Now that I finally beat Persona 3, my life feels empty. This is what happens when you play something non-stop for a month. One day you wake up, plug the system in, and then you remember that you’ve beat that