Death of a Quarian

Unsurprisingly, we are still on the topic of Mass Effect this week at PopMatters.

I hadn't lost anyone of any real significance in any of the previous games (got through the suicide mission unscathed). But I lost Tali in the final game.

The moment reminded me of Final Fantasy VII's infamous death scene, except this time, I had control. I could scrub this "mistake" and make things right through the magic of save files and player choice.

But I didn't. Here's why:

Death of a Quarian

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Mass Effect Effect

This is the first of two podcasts that we have recorded on Mass Effect 3. One was recorded while we were all still playing the game. The second one will be a look at the whole of the game.

Moving Pixels Podcast: The Mass Effect Effect

Machismo and Mass Effect

Just have some fleeting thoughts about the macho quality of the Mass Effect series. And here I'm not even especially focused on James, like everyone else is (I hear).

Machismo and Mass Effect

Moving Pixels Podcast: Stereotypes Vs. Archetypes in Video Games

Oh, yeah, we did a podcast earlier in the week.

It concerns the nature of stock characters in video games, a short cut for game writers or a useful convention for the medium?

Moving Pixels Podcast: Stereotypes Vs. Archetypes in Video Games

Review: The Sims 3: Showtime

I almost always have fun with a few rounds of The Sims. Its charm is always a welcome break from the grittier, darker titles that I seem more often drawn to. As always, it is the weird and twisted and hilarious domestic dramas that emerge from gameplay that keep me occupied with the game and playing long after I should be in bed.

Showtime is a very decent expansion.

And it has Katy Perry stuff in it.

*shrug*

Review: The Sims 3: Showtime

You Can't Go Home Again: Why Nintendo Shouldn't Grow Up

Nintendo really shouldn't grow up. They're fine the way that they are.

I think.

You Can't Go Home Again: Why Nintendo Shouldn't Grow Up

Moving Pixels Podcast: Back to Isaac's Basement

You may have heard that I have spent a lot of time playing this game called The Binding of Isaac. I mean a lot of time.

So, it just wouldn't be fair not to record a podcast on the game. Nick Dinicola has likewise spent some time hacking through the dungeon that is Isaac's basement, so the two of us got together for an extended chat about body horror, religion, and the undeniable allure of Edmund McMillen's game.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Back to Isaac's Basement

Moving Pixels Podcast: Gaming Without the Geek

Nick and I were joined this week by former Digital Cowboy and current host of Digital Gonzo, Alex Shaw, to discuss the changing definition of the concept of the gamer.

I was very tickled to have Alex with us, as I am a huge fan of his work. He's one of the smartest and most engaging podcasters out there.

Moving Pixels Podcast: Gaming Without the Geek

Labyrinths of Childhood: Exploring The Path

This essay isn't mine.

I taught a course on Interactive Fiction last semester and a graduate student named Kate Worzala wrote a really nice piece on Tale of Tales's game The Path for her final paper in the course, which I then encouraged her to submit at PopMatters.

While Kate grew up around video games, she doesn't self identify as a gamer and was a little leery of the course's subject matter. She hung in there, despite playing games like The Path and initially finding herself despising it.

I actually understand writing about that which you despise. I often found that the books that I disliked the most when I was a student often occupied my thoughts when it came time to write the paper, causing me to seek somehow to explore them all the more. Maybe I wanted to understand better why others admired them? Or maybe I wanted to confirm why I shouldn't like them at all? I'm not quite sure. (I do know that I admire Hemingway a great deal more now than I did then, though.).

In any case, Kate brought some definitions of labyrinths from Umberto Eco, some discussion of The Path by L.B. Jeffries, and her own thoughts on her experience with the game and grappling with what it was all about together in the essay. I think that she ended up with a pretty nice piece about the game as a result:

Labyrinths of Childhood: Exploring The Path