Abusing the World: An Aesthetics of Demolition

A discussion of breaking stuff in games. Pretty, no?

Abusing the World: An Aesthetics of Demolition

Moving Pixels Podcast: The World of Max Payne

So, the reason that I have been chattering about Max Payne off and on the last few weeks is because I played it in order to prep for this podcast:

Moving Pixels Podcast: The World of Max Payne

Possession As a Metaphor for the Player-Character Relationship

I've been messing around with a lot of freeware lately, and the best of that experience has been the 2003 game, 5 Days a Stranger. Since I often think about the relationship between myself as a player and the character that I am inhabiting, I got really interested in the way in which possession becomes a major way of driving the plot of the game.

This new essay might serve as kind of a companion piece to the one that I wrote a couple of months ago called "But Who Am I?: Schizophrenia as a Metaphor for the Player-Character Relationship", recalling some similar ideas:

Possession As a Metaphor for the Player-Character Relationship

8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive by Doctor Octoroc

Just a bit of 8-bit fun from the ever charming Doctor Octoroc:

8-Bit Twilight Eclipse Interactive by Doctor Octoroc

Imitating Intimacy in Video Games

Love and sex in video games. I just can't get away from these topics.

I just think that games have done pretty well with some kinds of stories (parent-child relationships recently but also they have done okay with revenge, war, mystery, etc.) but not so much with romance and authentic (or mature) representations of physical intimacy.

This week I talk about some of games' failings in this regard and a few slightly more successful versions, especially the 2008 Prince of Persia and Max Payne 2.

Imitating Intimacy in Video Games

Moving Pixels Podcasts: Red Dead Redemption Parts 1 & 2

I forgot to mention last week that the first of a two part Moving Pixels podcast on Red Dead Redemption went live at PopMatters. Maybe part of it is my absence from that episode. However, Rick, Nick, and Tom were all on hand for the first part, which concerns the gameplay and world of Red Dead. The second part, which I did manage to show up for, concerns our impressions of the story in the game.

You can find both at the links below:

Moving Pixels Podcast: Red Dead Redemption Part 1
Moving Pixels Podcast: Red Dead Redemption Part 2

All This Useless Interactivity

LB Jeffries wrote a really nice post this week on the game-like qualities of the movie Groundhog Day. Maybe it is just me, but I see some strange correspondence between his thoughts on the inability to alter a script and some thoughts that I had concerning Remedy's attitude towards the player's relationship to narrative in the Max Payne (and Alan Wake) series:

All This Useless Interactivity