The Final Fantasy franchise is certainly known for some “offbeat” character outfits. Between the excessive ornamental decoration and strange mishmashes of different styles and themes, fans have come to expect unique interpretations of style in every new edition. After years of some visually stunning and detailed but occasionally odd clothing […]
Miscellany
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This week the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) has decided that once a publisher stops supporting a game doing anything to restore it to functionality is the equivalent of hacking or piracy. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has responded by asking the U.S. Copyright Office to make special exceptions for museums, […]
In some ways my experience last week could have been the closing scene from a cheesy Disney movie: a girl enters the room and a hush falls across the crowd. The sudden arrival seemed to have fundamentally changed the character of the environment. Except, of course, it wasn’t a ball […]
I first wrote about Nevermind last year after reading about the developers’ goals for the game via their Kickstarter campaign. Nevermind was billed as a horror game with a twist: the more fear the player feels, the harder the game gets. The intention here is to help players learn to […]
I’m back! After a semester hiatus, I’m thrilled to be back in the mix. Dr. Craig Anderson, a Professor at Iowa State, has made his career on proving the negative effects of video games on youth. He is the figurehead for this movement, and he is the primary source and […]
A recent thread on GamerGate hub KotakuInAction outlines a plan to “game” Twitter to get viral traction for a tag about the ggautoblocker, the tool created by Randi Harper that allows for wholesale blocking of GG participants, and TheBlockBot, a similar, though more universal tool. The call asks supporters to […]
With the release of the upgraded State of Decay Year One Survival Edition just around the corner, it seemed a good time to revisit the original game, which I explored at length over the months after release in terms of realism and representation (as well as gameplay and mechanics). At […]
Vampires are fascinating in that they operate on the fringe of a culture and society. In some ways, they represent the ultimate outcast, often othered for their monsterness, and because of it, they needn’t adhere to what’s traditional or considered socially acceptable. In some instances, they’re almost auto-excluded from social […]
Get the new episode! (Right click and save as to download, or hit us up on iTunes or Stitcher) This week, we talked games and mental illness with Philippe A. Ménard, a scriptwriter at Ubisoft Montreal, among other things, who recently held forth on anxiety and depression in gamers at […]
I remember when Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures first launched. Pea was about 3 1/2 and really liked video games (still does for the record), but still spent most of her time demanding that I play the games that she wanted to watch. When she asked for Skylanders I was a little skeptical. […]
Patience is an essential component of farming and, as it turns out, is a value I wish I had used when I decided to purchase the most recent “official” Harvest Moon release, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley. As you might remember from my previous review on the title, I had […]
The first video in Sarkeesian’s new video series, Positive Female Characters in Video Games, launched yesterday. In this video she covers the Scythian from Sword & Sworcery. While there are bound to be some growing pains as she begins this new series, Sarkeesian does a solid analysis of the game’s […]
Earlier today, Twitter user Erika Imperial (@icequeenerika) posted a screenshot of Pillars of Eternity, calling creators Obsidian Entertainment out for the inclusion of a Kickstarter-backer’s paid message, a message about the “horror” of discovering a lover was in fact transgender. Erika pulled in noted critic Katherine Cross, and the screenshot […]
Earlier this month, Ian Bogost wrote an article eulogizing Maxis, the innovative studio behind SimCity and The Sims. It’s a thoughtful piece, definitely worth a read, especially if (like me) you have a soft spot for sandbox/system games. Saying goodbye to a loved studio wasn’t Bogost’s only focus, though. Amid […]
Envision yourself shut up in a security office. A flock of murderous animatronics stalk the corridors. Above, you hear the rattling of the vents. One may be inside. There’s no one around to help you. Is it a trick of the mind or are you in danger? What do you […]
One of the many things that we talked about in episode 97 of the podcast (it’s a good one and you should go back and listen to it right after you finish reading this post) was the incredible lack of diversity among the popular Twitch streamers and YouTubers. While there […]