Review: Rise of the Video Game Zinesters

This is the sort of review to begin with a description of myself, the reader: I am a 24-32 year old white, heterosexual male who comes from a very liberal background (I live in the Portland, Oregon of the East,

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

The choice is a lie

Photo by ppdigital There seems to be an opinion rolling around in the game community that games are about choice and about player agency, and that one core strength of games is their empowerment of audiences by putting the audience

Thoughts on Shorts: Elude

Aaron likes to procrastinate. What better way to do so than by playing countless free games online…especially ones that make you think about aspects of everyday life. Thoughts on Shorts is a series that documents these kinds of games, what

UK game retailers desire peace in online pass vs. used game conflict

Video game retailers in the UK have been suggesting ways to broker peace between them and publishers like EA and Warner Bros over the issue of online passes and used games. Among these retailers is Gordon Crawford of indie Gamespod:

“As a retail store we would happily share part of the sale from a used game if we get something in return. Perhaps new games at better prices and no more online codes.”

That’s…a pretty good idea! This constant battle between publishers and retailers seems so unnecessary. If publishers (and developers for that matter) were given a cut of used game sales, it seems perfectly possible that we could live in a world where every single game isn’t $60. It would be a world where you could just pop a game in and play it without having to register for some profile you’ll never use and enter a 25-digit code for content you already paid for. Other retailers offered their agreements as well.

HMV said: “We all know how the business model in the industry is changing. So if there is any merit in this idea then it may be worth looking into.”

Kinect for Windows coming February 1st

It was inevitable. Microsoft will be releasing a new version of the Kinect made especially for Windows. Considering the blistering amount of video demos we’ve seen including Kinect controls for Skyrim and turning invisible, it’s surprising that this announcement didn’t

Gobbowl Review: An expertly mixed cocktail of sports and strategy

Mixing video game genres is a lot like mixing drinks. You can work with a successfully established mixture like orange juice with vodka or RPG with shooter and likely come out with a hit, but you won’t surprise anyone. You’re

Kingdom Hearts 3D confirmed for U.S. release, keeping awful title

Dream Drop Distance? Really? The next spinoff for the Kingdom Hearts series will be arriving on our shores for 3DS in 2012. Although this isn’t as surprising as the localization of Xenoblade, it’s good news for less jaded Kingdom Hearts

Omnitopic December 2011: Faith

Faith and religion are difficult topics for gamers. It’s something some people don’t really want to talk about because it rarely involves shooting people (though it can involve assassination with hidden blades. Thanks Ubisoft), and because people have so many

When the lights go out

The Saturday before Halloween, 2011, Nighttime: When the world ends, it’s never as much fun as Fallout. It was around six PM and I was sitting in my room playing Dungeon Defenders for a review. It had been snowing for