One of the things I find most fascinating about the conversation about videogame violence is the nebulous threshold that separates “inappropriate” from “provocative” portrayals, “excessive” from “effective” ones. Reactions to Spec-Ops: The Line fluctuate widely, with some praising its harsh frankness and others ridiculing its shallow pretensions. People are either captivated or duped by it: it … Continue reading Everything Looks Like a Nail…
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Line of Defense Tactics is a spinoff game based on the Line of Defense MMO and follows the events of the DC comic series of the same name. Perhaps it is because the game is based on two disparate sources—one in beta, the other in issue #0—that it feels so aloof and … Continue reading Review: Line of Defense Tactics
[Originally posted on The Ontological Geek] A lot of what makes games special is their ability to produce spontaneous and sincere moments of narrative power. Games only move when a player does something, so it’s powerful when something unplanned and beautiful results from a player’s mundane button tapping. Even now videogame apologists are quick to use the … Continue reading Something from Nothing: Authored Emergence in Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
For those new to the series, plural protagonism is based on this article I wrote for PopMatters. Plural protagonism occurs in a game when there is no individual main protagonist leading a group: the group itself becomes the hero. Each individual maintains their identity while contributing to the narrative in equal measure. Moreover, they are … Continue reading Plural Protagonism Part 8: Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
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