Review: The OnLive Cloud Gaming System

All right, maybe one final post for 2011.

I did spend a few weeks with an Onlive system, got to play Braid through, got to try out Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Amnesia, got to be spied on by other players while playing aforementioned titles.

The system worked exceptionally well for me on PC, and in many ways, it feels like the future of gaming--something akin to streaming video and the like. I don't know that they have all the kinks worked out, but I like the library of games and the structure feels right.

The OnLive Cloud Gaming System

The Problem of the Female Gangster

Kind of a weird post to wrap up the year, but it probably is my last post until January.

This time out I consider the recent talk arising from the release of the Grand Theft Auto V trailer about the possibility that some fans were holding out for a female protagonist for the upcoing title. This is something that I have given some thought to in the past, and in the post, I hope that I articulated a lot of my thinking about it.

To me, writing a credible female gangster is problematic because Rockstar tends to rely on historical and cultural precedents. The female gangster and really women and criminality are both actually rather alien or strangely handled concepts in Western history and media.

Here are a few more thoughts on the potential pitfalls of trying to build this type of character:

The Problem of the Female Gangster

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Curse of 3s, or the 2011 Holiday Gaming Season

This will be the last podcast of the year, so we decided to just chat a bit about the state of games during the holiday season. I observed a couple weeks ago that a kind of overly polished quality marks a lot of the sequels of this season, which includes an awful lot of games that are the third in a series. So, basically we used the idea of questioning the value of sequels in the industry as a jumping off point about the year in gaming.

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Curse of 3s, or the 2011 Holiday Gaming Season

The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses Deus Ex: Human Revolution

A lost Moving Pixels podcast of sorts this week. This episode was recorded way back near the release of Deus Ex, so its responses are fresh--even if its topic is not.

The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses Deus Ex: Human Revolution

A Holiday Season Awash in Competence

Nothing says holidays like grousing about the holidays. So, I guess I'm gonna be one of those people.

I'm just posting a bit about my holiday gaming season disappointment. I think maybe earlier this year I was feeling like there was a fair amount of innovation in some titles that seemed a bit more unusual than the norm. The polished quality titles at the end of the year all seem fine enough, but some of the year's rawer fare has left a bad taste in my mouth of sorts for these soulless but well cooked sequels that are making up the bulk of the holiday releases.

A Holiday Season Awash in Competence

Moving Pixels Podcast: The "Girlfriend on a Couch" Edition

So, I've been planning this podcast for a number of weeks, and it was recorded a couple of weekends ago. A discussion with a student precipated it, as we began discussing whether it was fun or not to watch games, and she suggested her status as a former "little sister on a couch."

Our discussion was intriguing to me for any number of reasons, so I thought that maybe getting together what games journalism often calls "girlfriends on couches" to discuss this seeming form of game spectatorship might be interesting.

Unfortunately, when the time came to record, my own equipment goofed up, so luckily, Jorge Albor came to my rescue and hosted the podcast (he did an amazing job--better than I do at hosting really). However, I was still bummed that I could only briefly participate.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this episode, which brings together both gamers and non-gamers for a discussion of spectatorship and participation in gaming. The whole group is really very interesting and includes Dawna Perry, Jamie Dunston, Adrian Dunston, Nicole Martin, Jean McLachlin, and the podcast debut (and probable last appearance ever, according to her) of my own "wife on a couch," Sarra Williams. She did a good job, though, and I'm not just saying that because I love her and stuff.

Moving Pixels Podcast: The "Girlfriend on a Couch" Edition

The "Subtle" Sex Appeal of Saints Row: The Third

Saints Row has always wanted to be Grand Theft Auto, from imitating its gameplay to imitating its outrageous sense of humor. While Volition has gotten some of the gameplay right and has even surpassed Rockstar at times with some of its slicker mechanics (in the previous two iterations, I'm afriad--less thrilled with The Third but maybe I'll talk more about that at a later date), the sense of humor.... eh....

So, a few thoughts on the "subtlety" of Saints Row's efforts at satire:

The "Subtle" Sex Appeal of Saints Row: The Third

Review: The Sims 3: Pets

Much of my review of The Sims 3: Pets is informed by my general distaste for sandbox-style play. I've mentioned at various times that I am a gamer more than a player. In other words, I like some rules, boundaries, and whatnot to guide me towards goals; I have a difficult time making up my own goals.

Thus, I have always weirdly preferred the more narrative-driven console versions of The Sims, despite their undeniably dumb storytelling and goofy plots. This console version of The Sims seems to me to be less "dumb" than previous console iterations, maintaining the series strengths in emergent narrative instead (which is what the more sandbox-style of Sims excels), while also putting me on enough of a leash, satisfying my more "gamer-y" tendencies.

I think the review clarifies what I mean a bit more coherently:

The Sims 3: Pets

Necessary Failure: Some Late Thoughts on The Path

I'm late (very, very late) to the party on talking about The Path. I have played and written about Fatale, which I admire, but I hadn't looked at Tale of Tales most successful game.

It's a bit slow to get going, and while initially its controls seem agonizingly irritating, once the concepts of the game begin to become clear and how they relate to those controls (which theme and gameplay are definitely related here), the game is pretty engrossing.

I am aware of some of the thinking on this game, and while I obviously agree with most about its overall theme (the loss of innocence), I think that I might present a slightly different view of what Tale of Tales is communicating about that process in this revision of the Little Red Riding Hood story.

Necessary Failure: Some Late Thoughts on The Path

The Moving Pixels Podcast Reconsiders the Cutscene

Rick wanted to talk about his distaste for cutscenes, and I know a bunch of critics hate 'em. I think that maybe Nick and I kind of have a soft spot for the visual reward that is the spectacle of the cutscene.

The Moving Pixels Podcast Reconsiders the Cutscene

Review: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Playing Dead Rising 2 again--just as a different character, the shlubby journalist Frank West--didn't seem especially attractive to me. Then, I played through it again for review.

Man, I like Dead Rising, even recycled Dead Rising:

Review: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Review: Batman: Arkham City

While I'm playing The Path for the first time, you can read more about Batman: Arkham City:

Review: Batman: Arkham City

Batman and “Bitches”

Some discussion has emerged concerning the language used in Batman: Arkham City. The language is unpleasant.

But then again so is nearly everything in noir and hard boiled fiction.

I don't intend this piece to defend Rocksteady's usage of language. However, I do think that part of what informs its usage concerns the overarching philosophy of the genre that the Batman mythos emerges from, hard boiled pulp and film noir. Unlike some genres, which aren't often governed by a central philosophy (though there are other subgenres that, like noir, do find themselves entrenched in a "position" or world view, cyberpunk, for example, is very much anti-corporate on the whole), noir is very much expressive of a particular brand of cynicism that suggests that few, if any, human beings are anything more than creeps. So, this piece is really an attempt to trace the history of noir and hard boiled attitudes through their evolution into neonoir and how Batman as an exemplum of the genre's adherence to its philosophy emerges contemporarily.

Writing this piece was weird because I grew up on a steady diet of comic books and film noir. I know Batman and American crime stories rather well, and I kind of forgot that I did.

Batman and “Bitches”

Moving Pixels Podcast: Another Princess, Another Boss Fight

Topical again this week at the Moving Pixels Podcast. This week we discuss the tradition of boss fights in games and consider whether it is a tradition worth reconsidering.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Another Princess, Another Boss Fight

Developing Games with the Player: An Interview with Rick Dakan of Mob Rules Games

My colleague Rick Dakan, a founder of Cryptic Studios, is getting a small indie development team off the ground called Mon Rules Games. I interviewed him this week in the Moving Pixels blog concerning the philosophy of his development house, which wants to grow a community alongside the development of their games:

Developing Games with the Player: An Interview with Rick Dakan of Mob Rules Games

Review: Dark Souls

It feels like a long time since I have written a review (I actually have quite a few thing to write up right now, though).

However, I have written a couple of things about Dark Souls, so this review may be a little familiar in some of its observations, but there it is. I do focus once again on gaming and consequence and also how amazingly engrossing this cruel, cruel game is.

Review: Dark Souls

Dead Again: Notes on the Impermanence of the Virtual Body

So, I'm not done thinking about Dark Souls, yet. I had only really gotten to the start screen in my first post on it a couple of weeks ago, and I still wanted to address its consequential approach to death and compare it to other forms of death in video games.

This is the result:

Dead Again: Notes on the Impermanence of the Virtual Body

Other Princesses, Other Castles: The Problem with Playing Romantically in Video Games

I've found myself in recent years writing a lot about sexuality and sex roles and how they are expressed in video games. My newest Movng Pixels column revisits this topic and does some of the things that I've done before with it, like considering how mechanics express romantic concepts. Additionally, I do an abbreiviated survey of romance in video games, all of which is related to a larger project that this column is serving as a bit of a dry run for.

So, hopefully, this column is of interest because it represents some ideas that I want to express in a more formal way in the nearish future.

Other Princesses, Other Castles: The Problem with Playing Romantically in Video Games

Self Indulgence or Self Realization?: Sony's “Michael” Ad

So, you know that moment when one of your relatives is doing something public, like public speaking or some kind of performance, and you can just see that they're choking? And you love that person, you don't want other people to see this lapse because you know that they are better than this moment?

That's kind of how I felt initially when I saw Sony's "Michael" ad, an ad that both places a whole bunch of video game characters in a weirdly "real" context but also revels in the narcissism of gaming--that players are constantly trying on the roles of heroes for the sake of their own pleasure.

However, I then found myself feeling a bit differently about the ad, seeing its self indulgence as honesty about what the medium is and what is unique about it as an art form.

I'm not sure that I've worked out my ambivalence about the ad's presentation, but here is more of my thinking on that ambivalence:

Self Indulgence or Self Realization?: Sony's “Michael” Ad

Moving Pixels Podcast: What's the Point of Points?

What does the image above have to do with this week's podcast topic?

Ummm... it is art based on a classic video game that has points... I guess...

I don't know. I just think the painting is really cool.

If you want to hear about the value of points, though, head over here:

Moving Pixels Podcast: What's the Point of Points?

A Quiet Start Screen Speaks Volumes

A few brief thoughts on how a start screen can evoke dread.

A Quiet Start Screen Speaks Volumes

Moving Pixels Podcast: Fun, Sun, Zombies

Given as many hours as I committed to a game that I wasn't actually sure that I wanted to play, taking part in a podcast seems appropriate enough.

I rather like Dead Island in terms of mood and in terms of its gameplay. This ain't Shakespeare, but it handles its more functional qualities rather well.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Fun, Sun, Zombies

Living for the Short Term Grind

Lordy, League of Legends is good.

Ironically, I'm singing its praises in my recent blog post for "shortening the grind." The truth is, though, it is consuming so very much of my own, as it definitely is a "just one more match" kind of experience.

Living for the Short Term Grind

The Moving Pixels Podcast on CivWorld and Social Gaming

As my post from last week indicates, I (and my Moving Pixels colleagues) have been spending time with CivWorld on Facebook. Like any social game, it is engaging on some level, drawing the player back in regularly to maintenance his "segment" of the game.

Also, as I indicated in my previous post, this is also a game that lacks some ability to keep the player hooked, largely because it fails to establish a strong enough sense of ownership for the player over his own corner of this particular universe.

But you can hear not only what I have to say about it but also Nick and Rick's sense of the game's strengths and weaknesses.

The Moving Pixels Podcast on CivWorld and Social Gaming

Paying to Own, Paying to Compete: Monetizing the Social Game

So, yeah, I've been playing a fair amount of CivWorld on Facebook for the past few weeks. I have done so in preperation for a podcast that we recorded last weekend on Civworld, casual gaming, and the hardcore player.

In addition, I have helped manage my wife's city in Cityville since some time around the beginning of the summer.

Seeing the differences between the social game oriented towards the casual player and the one (ostensibly) oriented towards the more hardcore crowd has me thinking about the problems of doing well with a social game in the CivWorld vein. It's harder to monetize.

Here's maybe why:

Paying to Own, Paying to Compete: Monetizing the Social Game

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Role of Cheating in Video Games

Ah, the Konami code.

I've always hated god mode. It's boring.

I also really don't love using gamefaqs. They make me feel... less accomplished.

That isn't quite what we talk about during this 'cast, as Rick's framing of the discussion makes cheating more of a moral question. But that's okay because I like such frames in any case.

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Role of Cheating in Video Games

Tropico 4: In Politics (and Video Games), the Game Never Changes

A podcast should be posted up at PopMatters a little later on today. The topic will be cheating.

In the meanwhile, I reviewed Tropico 4 for the site and largely found myself writing about the problem with assigning numerical scores to games, as a result of trying to review this new Tropico correctly. Basically, the quandry for me is that this is a very good game, but it is also the same game that I played last year.

Is that good? Is that bad? What number represents "very, very good but..."?

Here's my unresolved thoughts on the matter:

Tropico 4: In Politics (and Video Games), the Game Never Changes

Could You Carry Our Stuff? Oh, and Maybe the Plot, Too, While You're at It

So, I've spent the last week and a half or so with Dead Island (among a few other odds and ends). I think the gameplay is quite good, the game lags a bit in the middle (and also seems much more suited to multiplayer than my own single player tendencies at that point in play), and it has a serviceable plot.

What I got interested in this week was the charcter Jin, who is not one of the playable characters, but instead, an NPC that doubles as a storage container for the PCs.

Strangely much of the plot's burden is left to this mobile storage device rather than to the ostensible protagonists, so I talk a bit about the perspective that that gives one on the game's story.

Could You Carry Our Stuff? Oh, and Maybe the Plot, Too, While You're at It

The Moving Pixels Podcast Is Being Difficult

A common enough difference between game players is how much difficulty that they're willing to stand.

Within my Saturday night board gaming group, there are any number of answers. Some of our players want a game to be as complex to master as possible. Some want a system that evokes more mood than challenge.

Such levels of difficulty very much affect our attitudes towards a game. Wih difficulty often improving a game's pleasure for some of us, while possibly just as often it serves as a hinderance to fun for others.

So, this week the Moving Pixels Podcast considers how difficulty contributes to the pleasure and pain of video gaming:

The Moving Pixels Podcast Is Being Difficult

Parenting with Angry Birds

Nothing heavy today.

Casual thoughts on a casual game:

Parenting with Angry Birds

Moving Pixels Podcast: Art, Commerce, and the Auteur in Video Games

So, a brief hiatus for the Moving Pixels podcast due to Labor Day last week.

In our return this week, we are joined by podcasting vet Scott Juster of ExperiencePoints.net for a discussion of whether the auteur theory is a useful concept to apply to video games, which gets us launched into discussing issues of marketing and commerce within the medium.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Art, Commerce, and the Auteur in Video Games

In Some Games, It's the Pattern, Not the Plot, That Makes Them Beautiful

I kind of see this as a companion piece to my essay on "Why Video Games Might Not Be Art" column from a few weeks ago, though that may make little sense to anyone but me.

When I wrote "Why Video Games Might Not Be Art," it was in an effort to address a few issues that have bothered me when it comes to how folks talk about video games and art and how I feel like most of the smart talk about games has avoided distinguishing between aestehtic categories. Not that I think that that talk isn't smart or relevant, I do, just that few people seem equipped or willing to confront aesthetics themselves, focusing on other lines of critique when it comes to games, social, political, rhetorical, etc.

In any case, this post is an effort to address something that I keep hearing from game critics that seems to suggest that narrative and art are somehow intertwined, as if beauty is not accessible without a story. I would agree that story is one of the clearest access points to the beautiful. It is a great "vehicle" for art. However, I don't think that it is requisite to call something art.

In Some Games, It's the Pattern, Not the Plot, That Makes Them Beautiful

Review: Frantic Frigates

Must. Stop. Writing.

More flash reviews. More Writing.

More. More. More.

Need less.

Review: Frantic Frigates

Cut to the Chase: Undressing the Video Game Plot

More thoughts on Deus Ex this week. However, they are really thoughts about game design (more specifically game revision and editing) that Deus Ex has provoked from me.

I watch too much Project Runway. I concern myself too much with appearance. As a result, I worry a bit about how video games present themselves to the player.

I think that is what this is about:

Cut to the Chase: Undressing the Video Game Plot

Moving Pixels Podcast: More Great Flash Games for 2011

Well, with all my flash game talk of late, I guess another podcast on flash titles was inevitable.

We are very short handed this week, so the whole conversation is between Nick Dinicola and I, and we talk about several titles that I suggested: Skinny, Alphaland, and Rebuild.

Links to all three games can be found in the article below, so feel free to play before you listen (though Rebuild is probably much more involved than most flash games usually get--it's easily a four hour investment, I think).

Moving Pixels Podcast: More Great Flash Games for 2011

Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Its voice acting is bad, many of its side quests are tired video game plot devices, and it starts very, very slowly.

But Deus Ex: Human Revolution really grows on you. Its homages to Blade Runner are actually very appropriate, and the gameplay as the game advances just gets better and better. If I had the choice, I'd play it on PC, rather than on the 360, nevertheless, the central plotting is tight, the gameplay is--again--a pleasure, and it really does a great job reinvigorating late 80s and early 90s cyberpunk themes. I'll probably have to write on that latter idea more later, but in the meantime, here's my more detailed review:

Review: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The Five Games That Actually Should Be on the Nintendo 3DS

So, yesterday I talked about games and art. Today it is all about games and schlock.

I don't have very much respect for 3-D as a technology because I feel like I can see just fine as it is. So, this list is presented in a manner that is more than a bit facetious.

The Five Games That Actually Should Be on the Nintendo 3DS

Vampire Vision: A Study of the Player, A Study in Incentive

Write, write, write. Review, review, review.

Another review of a flash game here (something triple-A by Friday I think). It's a funky little "educational" game called Vampire Vision (a link to it is available in first line of the review). It's simple, answers the question: what would vampires look like if they were muppets?, and is also weirdly addictive due to some Zynga-style incentivization to play.

Not a bad way to hook research subjects... err... players, I guess.

Vampire Vision: A Study of the Player, A Study in Incentive

Why Video Games Might Not Be Art

I admit right off in this post that the title may be misleadng regarding my own position in the "games as art" debate. However, I wanted the chance to point out that the opposition to this position is not crazy for calling this premise (that games are obviously art) into question, and I also wanted to take the opportunity to discuss some issues that I have with my side not really addressing aesthetics clearly at times.

That being said, I have done a bad thing and really largely not named names regarding who I am directly responding to on either side, which may make my argument appear to be more than a bit of a straw man. However, I just really didn't want to pick a fight with any of the folks that I am speaking of. Bad pool on my part, I guess.

Finally, though, picking fights is part of my problem with having this discussion at all. Probably a lot of readers will find my discussion a bunch of presumptuous gobbledygook, while another part of the audience will be irritated that I haven't grounded my discussion in enough research. So be it. I just needed to get a few general thoughts off my chest about aesthetics and games that I probably should have written awhile ago.

Hopefully, someone finds something interesting in there.

Why Video Games Might Not Be Art

Moving Pixels Podcast: Misogyny, Misandry, and Catherine

Today's episode of the Moving Pixels podcast is one of the more enjoyable (to me) conversations that I have had about a game in awhile. Kris Ligman of PopMatters, Skyler Moss of Gamepad Dojo, and I chat about Catherine.

I should warn folks though that we absolutely comb through just about every granule of the game's plot and characters, so it is spoiler heavy. I think we mention the main thrust of each of the major endings as well as a host of other details along the way. So, if you haven't played it yet, you may want to just bookmark it for later listening.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Misogyny, Misandry, and Catherine

Grey Story: A Boy, a Girl, and Invisibility

A review of a bittersweet, little flash game.

Maybe next week we'll return to our regularly scheduled reviews of very expensive $60 titles.


Grey Story: A Boy, a Girl, and Invisibility

Sorry, But Our Princess Wants to Be in Another Castle

This is a classic style of blog post, I think (unlike, my usual tendency to turn blog entries into full on essays).

It's just an observation that I had during a recent gameplay session that made me think a little bit about games and storytelling. Nothing earth shattering here, but it made me go, "hmmm..."

I've been thinking about plotting a lot since encountering the RPG Fiasco, which many describe as "the Cohen brothers RPG." Essentially, this is a game that through some simple parameters about character and motivation is capable of provoking Cohen-brothers-style plotting in a couple hour RPG session.

A really simple sequence in Uncharted 2 concerning Chloe made me think of how just adding clear motivations to supporting characters can complexify plots in fairly interesting ways.

The observation follows, as usual, at PopMatters:

Sorry, But Our Princess Wants to Be in Another Castle

Rebuild, a Game about Zombies and the Economy

A review of sorts early today, though I have a smallish (for me, I think) blog post on Chloe from Uncharted 2 coming a little later on.

This review is from a game released much earlier this year over at Kongregate. Rebuild is a turn-based strategy game by Sarah Northway, which has a pretty lengthy playtime for a flash game. The graphics are pretty stripped down and the play is pretty much simple decision-making, but I think that it has a really intuitive interface (important to me in games of this sort) and is definitely a different approach to a zombie-themed game than usual.

This is zombies and economy, not a mix that I would think of as working right off the bat, but I think it is a pretty solid approach to both. You can also find a link to the game at the bottom of my review if you want to play it first before reading.

Rebuild, a Game about Zombies and the Economy

The Taming of the Dude: Catherine and the Sex Comedy

Okay, so more discussion of Catherine. I really like the game and keep talking about it. In fact, we'll be recording a podcast on it tonight (probably a couple of weeks out before that goes live, though).

This time I focus on Catherine as a traditional farce, so it is much more a discussion of the plot and how it compares to some cinematic forebears than the gameplay issues I discussed last week (which you can find a link to a few entries below).

I think that there are some good things in here, but I am not sure because my wife didn't read it before it went live for a change. Wish I had her opinion beforehand. She usually catches the obviously dumb stuff if there is any.

The Taming of the Dude: Catherine and the Sex Comedy

Moving Pixels Podcast: Subjectivity and Interpretation in Child of Eden

Having had no opportunity to get a hold of Child of Eden, I did not participate in this week's Moving Pixels podcast, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't listen to it (indeed, perhaps, my absence is even more reason to do so).

This weeks 'cast finds a house more or less divided with half of the crew largely positive about this release and the other half, well, less so. Another reason to tune in is that long time PopMatters contributor and former Multimedia Editor, Mike Schiller, filled in my vacant seat. I wish I had been there just for that reason, as Mike and I have worked together for years and haven't actually ever spoken beyond written communication. Maybe next time.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Subjectivity and Interpretation in Child of Eden

On the Clock: Narrative and Gameplay Tension in Catherine

So, I'm pretty into Catherine. (I'm not supposed to say that, am I?). But it's good. Like Vincent, I can't help myself.

I wrote this week in defense of the game, as a game, because I've seen a lot of lukewarm reviews that are especially critical of how the gameplay relates to the storytelling.

I think that I probably want to write a bit about the game's possible relationship to the genre of bedroom farce and obviously sex comedies more generally. Maybe next week, though.

In the meantime, my discussion of time pressure in the game's play and narrative can be found by following the link below:

On the Clock: Narrative and Gameplay Tension in Catherine

Moving Pixels Podcast: Holla Back with Fat, Ugly or Slutty?

Credit for today's podcast goes to Kris Ligman for setting up an interview with a number of the admins from Fat, Ugly or Slutty? and serving as host. Additionally, props to Nick Dinicola for once again getting all of our editing done and also being a genial and thoughtful participant in our discussion.

I'm on this 'cast, but I believe in a post-surgery semi-haze. So, it may be best if I just allow Kris to introduce our guests and the topic of dealing with distasteful behavior in online gaming:

Moving Pixels Podcast: Holla Back with Fat, Ugly or Slutty?

In the Grip of the Paternal: Thomas Brush’s Skinny

So, yeah, it has been a less than productive month blogging. I've kind of been wrapped up in things and not doing too much gaming.

So, I return with an entry on a smallish game, the follow up to Thomas Brush's Coma. Brush's new game is called Skinny, and it stars a gangly robot with mommy issues (of a sort).

I don't think that I am as captivated by this title as the previous one, oddly maybe because it has more game-like qualities to it. While a more fully developed game, Skinny's activities maybe interfere with the moody atmosphere, and atmosphere is what Brush does very well. That being said Skinny still has a rather beautiful aestehtic and tone. Dude knows how to create a mood, which is what I largely admire him for.

Also, I think that I am beginning to catch hints of an anti-authoritarian vibe that I think I really appreciate, however, I may just be placing my own lack of love for paternalism on his work. That's kind of what this blog entry is about, considering whether Brush has some of those ideas in mind by comparing some of the paternalistic anatagonism present in both games.

Read on over at PopMatters:

In the Grip of the Paternal: Thomas Brush’s Skinny

Moving Pixels Podcast: Madness and Maturity in the Shadows of the Damned

Just podcast after podcast this month. I haven't written much (or played much for that matter) because I have been on the road and living in a more or less gypsy fashion for weeks. However, there is a blog post (finally) for Wednesday.

In the meantime, the newest Moving Pixels podcast is on my favorite recent topic:

Moving Pixels Podcast: Madness and Maturity in the Shadows of the Damned

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Grotesque Wonderland of Alice: Madness Returns

I'm having a terrible time writing blogs for podcasts. Too much time is elapsing between recording them and when I post them, which indicates that I really need to start writing "summaries" right after recording rather than waiting until around time of publication.

Thus, I feel like there is some really good discussion in this podcast about the nature of Alice's weird take on mature themes and some legitimate criticism of its gameplay, but I can't recall much in the way of specific details. Best I can say is that I think that there is stuff worth hearing here? (More terrible salesmanship on my part).

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Grotesque Wonderland of Alice: Madness Returns