bigtallwords

Dec 16, 2014Dec 22, 2014

Rail Ways, Crop Rows and Line Mates: Masculine Isolation in Jeff Lemire’s “Ghost Stories”

Jeff Lemire’s Essex County explores numerous aspects of rural Ontario life, but perhaps none more than the ways that masculinity separates men from one another and prevents them from experiencing healthy relationships with one another. The examination of masculinity is particularly important to book 2 of Essex County, “Ghost Stories” which follows the diverging lines … Continue reading Rail Ways, Crop Rows and Line Mates: Masculine Isolation in Jeff Lemire’s “Ghost Stories”

Nov 17, 2014Mar 1, 2015

Thoughts on Representations of Space

[This piece was written as a part of Critical Distance‘s November 2014 Blogs of the Round Table feature] I’ve been considering how space makes meaning in games. I’ve been considering this not only in response to my past writings, but also to some amazing responses from some of my favourite games writers. Earlier this year … Continue reading Thoughts on Representations of Space

Oct 30, 2014Apr 18, 2015

Masks Upon Masks: Layers of Identity in Persona 3

[This piece was written as a part of Critical Distance‘s February 2015 Blogs of the Round Table feature] One of the submissions for Critical Distance‘s October 2014 Blogs of the Round Table feature comes from The Rev 3.0. The article is one of my favourite kinds of criticism; that is, it really digs into a deep … Continue reading Masks Upon Masks: Layers of Identity in Persona 3

Oct 22, 2014May 6, 2015

Review: Cosmochoria

[Originally posted on PopMatters] There’s a traceable pattern in some indie game movements, particularly those inspired by so-called retro, 8- and 16-bit aesthetics. Starting (arbitrarily) with Terraria‘s platform adaptation of Minecraft, we can see Starbound take the same concept into space, Spelunky replaces construction with exploration, Bro Force focuses on destruction. In every case, the formula … Continue reading Review: Cosmochoria

Sep 24, 2014Sep 26, 2015

The Serotonin Machine: On Grinding

[Originally posted on The Ontological Geek] For several years now it’s been semi-standard practice for games to record the amount of time played. When I look at the number of hours I’ve spent playing a game I try to keep in mind a short article by Kat Chastain about the way games consume time. To summarize … Continue reading The Serotonin Machine: On Grinding