[Originally posted on PopMatters] If you’ve watched a superhero movie since Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, you probably know to sit through the credits. In the eight to 12 minutes that it takes to see a blockbuster’s bonus scene, it has probably dawned on you that it takes a heck of a lot of people to take … Continue reading Review: Always Sometimes Monsters
I want to talk about Always Sometimes Monsters. For one, it’s a quirky, homemade project made with RPGmaker, which is apparently a skeleton key for my heart (Filipowich, Mark. “Sturgeon’s Law, Taste and RPGmaker.” The Border House. Aug 12 2013.). For another, Monsters is very grounded in the real world. In the last few posts on … Continue reading Surviving Poverty in Always Sometimes Monsters
[Originally posted on PopMatters] One of the strengths of “low-art” popular fiction like the comic book, the summer blockbuster, and the video game is how openly they explore themes on a surface level. Mike Joffe discusses this in a recent series on comic book characters: I find super hero stories interesting because, at their core, they … Continue reading Through the Looking Glass: Games and Curiosity
A lot of what I have to say will be an addendum to my most recent piece on The Border House so I guess go read that now (Filipowich, Mark. “Welcome to the Machine: The ambivalent tone of The Last Story.” May 5 2014.). Oh, and there are spoilers. Spoilers are everywhere. The observation in that … Continue reading The Incomplete Revolution of The Last Story
[Originally posted on The Border House] After introducing her topic in an episode of “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games,” Anita Sarkeesian begins with some variation of the following: “It’s both possible—and even necessary—to simultaneously enjoy a piece of media while also being critical of its more pernicious aspects.” I sense the phrase is meant … Continue reading Welcome to the Machine: the ambivalent tone of The Last Story
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