Monday, August 30, 2010

Moving Pixels Podcast: Femininity and the Female Body in Video Games


In addition to the review of Mafia II mentioned in the post below, the other thing that I've got going on today is a discussion of femininity and the female body on the Moving Pixels podcast.

While both Rick and Tom were absent this week, I once again hosted (I think somewhat more capably than last week--though I lack the courage to listen to the episode again to check for sure) and was joined by Nick Dinicola and special guest, Kris Ligman.

It should also be noted that Nick is at the editing helm for this episode and the last one, which was a great boon as Rick (who in addition to hosting, usually takes on editing chores as well) has been away from the 'cast.

You can listen to the new episode here:

Moving Pixels Podcast: Femininity and the Female Body in Video Games

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Mafia II: The Boundaries of the Open World Experience


I think that Mafia II has been getting mixed reviews. Those who aren't fans seem to be largely criticizing the game's linearity and what they're calling a "waste of an open world." For my money, both elements contribute to the game's strengths, especially as it is a game about acting under orders.

More here:

Mafia II: The Boundaries of the Open World Experience

Friday, August 27, 2010

Review: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days


As I alluded to in my previous post, the new Kane & Lynch is a less than great game. My review addresses its weaknesses as a game, while still acknowledging its other strengths (which include a well drawn and engaging world). I am very torn about this title because there are definitely some great things about it. I just wish that, as a game, it worked.

My colleague, Nick Dinicola also published a similarly ambivalent discussion of the title and its interesting use of a handcam aesthetic, which is worth checking out too, while you over at PopMatters Multimedia section:

Review: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"Real Ain't Pretty”: The Ugly Aesthetic of Kane & Lynch


Kane & Lynch 2 isn't a great game. The gameplay itself is redundant and boring. It does have a couple of great moments in part due to a commitment to a type of realist aesthetic that is more common to 80s comic books than video games. Frankly, most games strive for an idealized and romanticized reality.

Kane & Lynch is looking to present an attitude that is a little more cynical and a world that is a whole lot uglier:

"Real Ain't Pretty”: The Ugly Aesthetic of Kane & Lynch

Monday, August 23, 2010

Moving Pixels Podcast: Co-operative Gameplay

This week's Moving Pixels podcast is a discussion of the kind of dynamics created between players of co-operative games. We discuss a bunch of different games as well as a number of co-op styles (arcade, at home, online).

Rick Dakan, our usual host, is on vacation. As a result, rather mortifyingly it is my first attempt at hosting a podcast.

I'm not sure that I was really successful. I know for example that the closing of the cast is incredibly and embarrassingly bad. However, hopefully there is still some good discussion in there despite my occasional gaffes.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Co-operative Gameplay

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Lara Croft: The Arcade Game, Considering Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light


Man, I'm writing a lot this month. Wait, maybe that's just what I do every month.

In any case, my latest blog post, which is doubling as a review, is out. It concerns the Tomb Raider "reboot" Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, which I found to rather tasty fun. It also really wasn't at all what I was expecting.

This Lara Croft adventure (IMO) has a real coin-op arcade game kind of feel to it that is very different from the traditional action/adventure style that Lara helped to pioneer.

This isn't high art, but it is good fun. And sometimes that is all one needs from a new title (and also seems part of the point in the case of this game).

More over at PopMatters:

Lara Croft: The Arcade Game, Considering Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mountains of Men: The Mythology of the Male Body in Video Games


I guess as a sort of follow up to my essay on Chun-Li's Thighs (I say, "sort of", because I actually wrote this latest essay on male bodies before the one on Chun-Li--the publication was reversed) comes an essay on masculinity in video games that also features a discussion of the Street Fighter games to some degree. To some degree because I actually try to sample a number of games (including Metal Gear Solid, Red Dead Redemption, Darksiders, Metroid, etc.) to suggest a number of examples of some of the representational ideas that I feel like are embedded in male bodies in games.

It is my perception that discussion of the female body and femininity is a common enough topic in games, but I feel like the male body has gotten less attention (something Freudian here). A comparison of some of the body types that exist (male and female) seems to indicate a general kind of idealizing or mythologizing of bodies in this medium that is somewhat akin to the kind of representations that show up in comic books (some might attribute this to the immaturity of both mediums, I don't think that that is altogether true--though there may be a partial truth there).

Anyhow, this one might be more aggravating to folks than the Chun-Li business. On the other hand, maybe male bodies just aren't that interesting to folks. I guess we'll see:

Mountains of Men: The Mythology of the Male Body in Video Games

Monday, August 16, 2010

Moving Pixels Podcast: Dressing the Part -- Character Customization in Video Games


A podcast topic near and dear to my heart. This week's Moving Pixels podcast considers how character creation ond modifications of characters affect our experience of gameplay.

Check it out here:

Moving Pixels Podcast: Dressing the Part -- Character Customization in Video Games

Friday, August 13, 2010

Review: Crackdown 2: Playing the Fascist

It has been awhile since I have "officially" reviewed a game for PopMatters. Frankly, I haven't played a whole lot of games for the last month or so barring some older and newer indie games. Generally this has been kind of a refreshing break from madly powering through twenty to forty hour games, however, I do feel like I'd like to get back to something as involving as a nice long game by a big publisher.

Unfortunately, Crackdown 2 has been the game that I returned from my indie-centric hiatus to.

Nevertheless, while the game is pretty paper thin and repetitive, it at least has some things that are interesting to talk about. Notably its really weirdly sarcastic but fascistic tone, and its tendency to force you into being a kind of tool of the state (despite its attempts to, perhaps, make the relation between the state and player ironic).

Playing the fascist is just weird, man:

Review: Crackdown 2: Playing the Fascist

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Chun-Li's Thighs


What got me going this week was a podcast over at Big Red Potion (a podcast that I generally admire very much) concerning sexism in video games. Much of the discussion focused on contemporary fighting games (especially the DoA girls and those of Soul Calibur). Additionally, this discussion focused largely on recognizing a trend in those games towards big breasts and skimpy outfits but didn't really pursue what those representations suggested besides being especially provocative.

Now, while I am aware of both series, I haven't really played a fighting game in a long, long time. So, I decided to return to what I tend to think of as the seminal fighting game, Street Fighter II, to, perhaps, flesh out some of the meaning of female bodies in fighting games. The fetishization of Chun-Li and her thighs seems to me a little bit different than what the folks I had been listening to were talking about.

My resulting thoughts can be found here:

Chun-Li’s Thighs

Monday, August 9, 2010

Moving Pixels Podcast: Further Explorations of Limbo


Just a quick note that the latest Moving Pixels podcast is now available over at PopMatters. Like many folks, we're still talking about Limbo, a game whose quality I am personally a bit mixed about. It has some really great moments, but I am not convinced that it is a cohesive whole.

For more thoughts (including some quite different ones from my own):

Moving Pixels Podcast: Further Explorations of Limbo

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Brutalizing Children in Limbo

I’ll be posting an episode of the Moving Pixels podcast next Monday, in which we discuss Playdead’s Limbo. Having completed our recording it occurred to me that we had never discussed one element of the game: a little boy is dismembered in Limbo with an astonishing regularity.

To read more:

Brutalizing Children in Limbo

Monday, August 2, 2010

Moving Pixels Podcast: Max Payne in Love

Another week, another podcast. This week the Moving Pixels crew discusses the (in my estimation) excellent, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.

It also gets my wife's vote for "sexiest game ever," thanks to the inclusion of Mona Sax. I'm rather taken by the love story myself, which is something we discuss a bit on the show.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Max Payne in Love