Science Fiction
What Makes a Playing-Oriented Game? Last time we discussed Cyberpunk 2077 and how Role-oriented games are easier to make good, but harder to make interesting. Much like big-budget Hollywood movies, Role-oriented RPGs seem incapable of surprising me and in typical megalomaniacal fashion it’s all about
Video Games
What Makes a Role-Oriented Game? Halfway through this series and we can safely say I’ve spent a lot of time pontificating on ideas which are probably either wholly self-evident or completely incoherent. Thus I’ve decided to provide examples which allow me to deploy some of this
Science Fiction
The Incident We spent Parts I and II of this deranged manifesto with my sketch of Role-oriented games and Playing-oriented games, supported by my classification of CRPG choices as either expressive or effective. At the end of Part II I posited that the increasing divide we’ve seen
Video Games
More Definitions Last week, we discussed a growing dichotomy in CRPG design modes: AAA games with high production values which have surprisingly limited narrative reactivity, and cheaply-made indie games with shockingly deep levels of narrative flexibility. I’m calling the first category “Role-oriented games” to reflect their emphasis
Video Games
Towards a New Dichotomy of Role and Playing In January I promised I would deliver a detailed review of Avowed in the near future. I then proceeded to…not play it again. Instead, I picked up Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader to play with a friend of mine. Owlcat’s
Video Games
In a storm, find a shelter. Every year after every last year, we hear about more corporate buyouts, more layoffs, more studio closures. Everyone’s lost their job at least once, if they ever had one. Nobody’s going to GDC this year because it’s too scary to cross
Fantasy
The Other Guys Bioware no longer possesses a monopoly on CRPG romance. In recent years, many studios have left their mark upon the pantheon of video game beefcakes. Outside the Bioware frame, designers have found the opportunity to get a bit weirder with the beef, sprinkle a little variety onto
Fantasy
The Bioware Edition I am once again hitting the listicle well, and this time we clamber over an even lower bar. Have you ever wondered why the hot guys of video games, especially the ones that are narratively sexually available to the player, make so many straight male gamers piss
Book Review
RIP Mr. Sheckley, You Would Have Loved GTA Online I found a copy of The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley on my shelf. I don’t remember how it got there. Though I’d like to say my friend sent it to me, I cannot pretend to certainty in this
Cinema
Today was supposed to be the premiere of Season Two of my XOXO, Puppet Girl Farscape reviews, but unfortunately my evil hand took the wheel instead. Look for Puppet Girl to return this Thursday. Fuck you to fuck me, Markiplier On Sunday my friend persuaded me to see Markiplier’s
Video Games
It has been another hideous year for the game industry, and tech in general. And the world. It’s difficult to muster much enthusiasm for a shambling zombie industry, its priority product the sludge dribbling from its rotting, slackened lips. Did I Play Any Games This Year? I spent too
Guest Post
A Guest Post by Daisy Lupa Introduction Soon I will graduate with what is essentially a Masters degree in climate change and pollution studies. I graduate into a world filled with climate change, pollution, and people desperately wanting to do something about it, who have been dispossessed of the tools