(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
Roland Barthes’ “Death of the author” line of criticism has carried a lot of weight in videogame circles. In large part because it’s just an attractive, empowering theory. Barthes was a French literary critic writing in the 1960’s; a time when literary criticism—particularly from French authors—was a new, dynamic and popular discipline. In killing the … Continue reading From Game to Play: Roland Barthes, Videogames and Criticism
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Jake Rodkin, a developer and writer who worked on The Walking Dead: Season One, compared the much lauded series to Twine games at the Practice Conference in New York earlier this month, saying that “Walking Dead is basically the world’s most expensive Twine game.” The statement makes sense. As important as the … Continue reading Who Needs Interactivity?
[Originally posted on PopMatters] Playing Agarest: Generations of War for review (PopMatters, 28 Oct 2013) was a bit of a frustrating experience because, while there was a lot to enjoy, there was a lot that was just awful. I ended up splitting the difference and calling it average—the video game kiss of death if there ever … Continue reading A Colonist’s Fantasy: The Problem with the Fair Fight
Can’t tell the difference between real art and high kitsch – Buck 65 So Grand Theft Auto V was released and Lana Polansky wrote everything that ever needs to be said about it (“Top Ten Grand Theft Autos: What the GTA V map size obsession tells us about our culture.” Medium. Sep 26 2013.). Actually, … Continue reading Thoughts on Video Game Criticism
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