[Originally posted on Haywire Magazine] Come 1996 I had to choose between the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64. I was happy with my SNES and Nintendo’s branding department had captured my nine-year old heart. Nintendo was all bright colors, magic spells and mobility. There were cloud islands in Super Mario World that would take decades … Continue reading Full Disclosure: Super Smash Bros.
[Originally posted on PopMatters] It’s strange what can become normal when disbelief is suspended. So much of what is culturally understood about guns, government, science, other people, and so on is informed by the liberties taken by popular fiction. Fiction reflects reality. People can tell fiction from reality, but each still informs the other. Video … Continue reading Fighting Games and the Power of Motion
(Preface: Most of my interest in games is in how they function as narrative pieces. As a result, most of the writing I do focuses on videogames, single-player games, games with a traditional story structure, games that rely primarily on cinematic and literary narrative techniques and the wide cross-section of all the above. Therefore I … Continue reading The Self-Perpetuating Violence of the Mortal Kombat series
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Dragonball was a manga written and drawn by renowned illustrator, Akira Toriyama. The sequel series, Dragonball Z was published shortly after to capitalize on the success of the original. However, most audiences in the west will probably best remember Dragonball Z as a goofy little cartoon from Japan that always played it … Continue reading Review: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Marvel vs. Capcom Origins is the re-release of the classic arcade fighters, Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom. Both games come from a time when every corner had an arcade, busy with players taking on challengers for the right to keep playing. But since this is no longer a time when … Continue reading Review: Marvel vs. Capcom Origins
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