I. New Production, New Technique? *** On April 23rd, 1934, Walter Benjamin gave an address to the Institute for the Study of Fascism, Paris, titled "The Author as Producer." In it, Benjamin gives a singular summation of the issue he is most known for addressing, what would later become the foundation of his famous "The … Continue reading Recreation as a Subject of Production: Video Games & Material Analysis
Having talked about The Beginner's Guide and The Magic Circle individually, I want to talk about them in conjunction. In many ways these games are synchronous, but also quite disparate. I don't really like being so harsh on The Beginner's Guide, partly because it did move me when I played it. I don't want to criticize games … Continue reading Deconstruction, the Player, and the Played pt. 3: Comparisons
[SPOILERS FOR THE MAGIC CIRCLE MAY BE FOUND BELOW!] Last time in this pseudo-series I talked about The Beginner's Guide and how I felt it's personal nature and sincerity worked against it on the whole; it's narration trapping the player into an ambiguity that robs them of a real connection to the game. After playing … Continue reading Deconstruction, the Player, and the Played Pt. 2: “The Magic Circle”
[Warning: Spoilers for The Beginner's Guide may be found below] It seems we have entered into a golden age of deconstuctive, postmodern, indie games within the last three or four years. In 2013 we were given The Stanley Parable and the first act of Kentucky Route Zero, each eschewing traditional gameplay for quirky narrative exploration … Continue reading Deconstruction, the Player, and the Played, Part One: “The Beginner’s Guide”
I just replayed Call of Duty: Black Ops for the first time in years this week. Actually, it's technically my first time really playing it - I grew up in a home where I didn't have Call of Duty (or really any FPS games for a long time) so I had to eagerly await going … Continue reading Control in “Black Ops”
I knew when I started these reviews that I was going to end with videogames. The thing was, I had just beat two Telltale series (Tales From the Borderlands, and The Wolf Among Us) and thought that I would have one other game finished by the time I wrote this last section. Things were … Continue reading Some Quick Reviews Part 3: Games
I've been playing Red Hook Studios' Darkest Dungeon for a little over three months now, and while its far from a perfect game, I have come to love playing it. From its gothic visuals, to its growling narrator, to its brutal mechanics, the game masterfully weaves a tone of despair and darkness, while still giving … Continue reading Subtle Characterization in Games
Over my Spring Break I decided to create an interactive fiction. I used Inform 7 to create it, and I wrote it in a period of about one week. This is the first chapter in a longer story. If you play it and find any bugs, problems, find that a puzzle is too difficult to … Continue reading The Magpie – Chapter 1
Recently I started playing Arkham City (yes, I know, its been out for quite a while) and, while I enjoy the game, I've been having a hard time figuring out exactly what makes it good. The plot, though fitting for a Batman/Comic-book-inspired game, isn't particularly amazing or original. Many of the characters are well-written, drawing … Continue reading Arkham City: Building Design to Appreciate Design
[If you haven't played Undertale yet - which you should - then I highly suggest you ignore this post until you have. It is a game to be experienced for yourself. Don't watch a letsplay, don't read the wiki, just play the game] I just beat my first play through of Undertale yesterday (technically this morning, but who … Continue reading Save Yourself: Undertale, the Save Mechanic, and Choice
Pen and Screen 