I spend a lot of time, much more time than I should, thinking about just what games are. Not what they mean to us, though also that, but what they are, where they begin and end, and what place we the players have in considerations of games. This is a […]
Miscellany
1078 posts
It’s hard for me not to get into the Halloween spirit. In addition to being a huge fan of dressing up in costumes and consuming vast quantities of sugar, Halloween is my birthday, and that adds a whole new dimension of fun and mayhem to the holiday. My sophomore year […]
Episode 139: When Horror Gets Real: The Halloween Episode (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we talk about what we are playing and watching as we all hold our own private Halloween celebrations. Thinking through horror games like Night Terrors (iOS) and television […]
When I first saw the “Coming Soon” link for Ginger: Beyond the Crystal (available on Steam, XBox One, and PS4) I have to admit that I may have squealed a bit. A puzzle platformer with an adorable little blue dragon-like character. It sounded like the perfect game to play with my […]
I discovered Thumper on Steam (also available on PS4) when my friend recommended it to me last week, figuring I’d be interested in the soundtrack more than the game itself. Thumper (Drool) is based around a simple premise: ‘classic rhythm-action, blistering speed, and brutal physicality’. You play as a space beetle careening […]
Some spoilers here for the second episode of the third season of Black Mirror, “Playtest.” The shift of Black Mirror to Netflix, with the release of the third season of the dire science-fiction show just in time for Halloween is making some waves. Black Mirror has got to be one of […]
I’m a year late, but I’m finally playing Until Dawn. I feel like I’m having an entirely different experience with the game this year than I would have last year because this year, I’m playing during the election. I imagine that had I played last year, I would have plowed […]
I’ve written about games and stories and the connection between game studies and literary studies in the past, but after continuing to watch Westworld, I find myself coming back to this network of relationships, this interplay between game and story. Because something that Westworld has brought to mind for me […]
This might sound blasphemous, but the women in Mafia III and Luke Cage fascinate me most. These women are simultaneously complex and maddeningly shallow. I say this to mean there is centuries of tears, laughter, abuse, and love tied up in each and every one of them, but at the same […]
The energy in my house was electric. I read through the directions, slowly, to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I had opened the package up on the drive home because I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like, what it felt like in my hands. There were so […]
I’ve written about Overwatch before, and my reasons for finally caving and playing Blizzard’s massive online battle arena (MOBA) game were deeply rooted in my experience with the fandom. As a gamer and a fan of two of Blizzard’s other major IPs, Diablo and Starcraft, the fact that I didn’t […]
One child grows up to be Somebody that just loves to learn And another child grows up to be Somebody you’d just love to burn -“Family Affair,” Sly and the Family Stone (1971) Family. It’s a big deal for me. I live and die for mine. I am a fierce […]
Episode 138: “Her Name is Moon-Moon!”: Remasters, Sequels, and A Tale of Games to Come (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we talk about what we are playing and looking forward to in the coming couple of months as we find […]
When I was little, I wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up. Okay, there was a short period in preschool during which I wanted to be a ballerina, but I soon realized that tights are itchy and, also, that I can’t dance. Being a cowboy seemed a much […]
For the marathon this past weekend (remember: you can still donate!), I played Hearthstone and then Left 4 Dead 2, and for the first time in the long hours I’ve put into the latter, I did not invert the controls. For years, I’ve been inverting Y axes in dozens of […]
You know how much I need you To have you, really feel you You don’t have to change a thing No one knows the love you bring Be real black for me – “Be Real Black For Me,” Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (1972) Over the course of the last week […]