“Human sperm cells were seen with the earliest microscopes in the seventeenth century. The human egg is several thousand times larger, but — despite earlier postulates — it was not visualized until 1827. […] For something to be found, it must first be imagined and sought.” (Duffin, Jacalyn. A History of Medicine, (Toronto, ON: Toronto … Continue reading It’s a Man’s World: The Implications of Makeup in Mass Effect
Most games give their player an avatar. The avatar is the player’s body inside the fiction. Obviously, games move because of their audience: players don’t follow a protagonist, the story progresses only in response to the actions of the player’s virtual body. In essence the player’s body, the avatar, becomes the fiction’s narrator in that … Continue reading The Narration and Abstraction of Bodies in Games
[Originally posted on PopMatters] 2011 wasn’t a bad year for games. There were some disappointments,1 some unsung gems,2 and some outstanding successes.3 One game that struck audiences as being all three is Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham City. “Sure,” the universal criticism begins, “it’s tightly designed, it has fluid controls and the world—while having a somewhat silly … Continue reading Opening Arkham: A Defense of Arkham City
[Originally posted on Joystick Division] The stealth game is something that often works much better in theory than in practice. The tense atmosphere and clever strategy can be dashed to the ground by a glitching spotlight or a guard’s inability to see past fifteen feet. There are very few games that can thread that needle successfully. … Continue reading Voyeurism in Stealth Games
[Originally posted on Joystick Division] As games have been opening up to a wider audience, one of the challenges is providing content that several different people can enjoy. A crude line in the sand is usually drawn between “casual” and “hardcore” games but the most effective way appealing to everyone is by adding extra content … Continue reading The Lost Art of the Sidequest
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