Monday, February 25, 2013

Forgive Me, Father, for I Have Simmed

Perhaps, someone on ye olde internet has noticed that I renamed my blog. This article is kind of why. I think that, perhaps, 8-bit confessional might get at some kind of central core of what I write about video games, which concerns something like nostalgia, ethics, and storytelling -- all elements of the confessional.

That being said, I feel like this particular column won't be generating any particular buzz. I think it may lack too much context to fully communicate what I want to say here. It might be too personal. But then again, I never know about these things and why some take off and some don't.

The article has a good title, though.

Forgive Me, Father, for I Have Simmed

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Space for the Boys: Considering the Gendered Quality of Arcade Culture

The kid in the center of the picture really does remind me of me.

This post is a follow up to something that Mark Filipowich wrote about gender in gaming (a link to which you can find in the longer article). Basically, one of his comments regarding how video games are "not just for teenage boys just got me thinking of the history of the arcade and it as a space that actually more or less was "just for boys" and what that means to the development of video gaming culture.

A Space for the Boys: Considering the Gendered Quality of Arcade Culture

Monday, February 18, 2013

Moving Pixels Podcast: Assassination American Style

We revisit Assassin's Creed 3 for the whole of this podcast. And I revisit the personality of Tom Cross (that is, the personality of Mikey from the Life commercials, "He hates everything!").

Moving Pixels Podcast: Assassination American Style

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I don't think you can win this game. On the box, it says it's a tragedy.

The title of this post is a paraphrase of my favorite line from Kentucky Route Zero.

The idea of a game as a tragedy, as a tragedy being based on my own fail state is irresistably interesting to me.

It seems almost obvious. Aren't Hamlet and Pac-Man always headed towards the same inevitable doom?

I don't think you can win this game. On the box, it says it's a tragedy.

Review: Omerta: City of Gangsters

I really like Tropico. I really like Kalypso. I like Omerta. I wish I really liked Omerta.

Though I still admire the way that the game marries its mechanics to its themes.

Omerta: City of Gangsters

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Size, Grandeur, and the Inevitable Disappointment of the Boss Fight

Some thoughts on how we can engage with images and whether or not that engagement is always "honest" in terms of the actual stats and abilities that those images are supposed to represent.

Size, Grandeur, and the Inevitable Disappointment of the Boss Fight

Monday, February 4, 2013

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Unsettling Allure of Violence in Hotline Miami

Continuing thoughts on Hotline Miami. In particular, I continue to have difficulty with the fact that I enjoy the game so much despite the uneasy feeling it provokes in me due to its presentation of violence.

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Unsettling Allure of Violence in Hotline Miami