From QWOP: a runner falling over backwards

Dying Is Easy

August 22, 2011 / 0 comments

Many aspects of drama are famously difficult to copy directly from other media to games. Game writers are forever struggling with how to create suspense, emotional impact, and thematic consistency in games with grand epic storylines. A similar set of problems are faced in games that go for a comic tone. Just like drama, comedy…

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Weekly Update: Dying Is Easy

August 22, 2011 / 1 comment

This week at Robot Geek, I talk about comedy in games in Dying Is Easy. It’s an extension of an offhand remark from this post, and a topic I’ll probably revisit at some point. Comedy is fascinating! So here’s what I’m reading this week. Art restoration… er, game modification? Chris Johnson tries to figure out…

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Dragon Age 2: The Champion of Kirkwall

August 20, 2011 / 0 comments

It took me a long time, but I finally finished my first playthrough of Dragon Age 2. This is the first of a couple posts I’ll be writing on it. To get the overall opinion stuff out of the way first, I was pretty crazy about the game. I wasn’t too offended by the reused…

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Awkward Attachments

August 19, 2011 / 0 comments

Just a few short reviews this week. I had the bad luck to run into a few more buggy/unplayable games than usual. Comes with the territory, that. On to the games that worked! Block Push Championship Another great puzzler from Stephen Lavelle. One of his favorite maneuvers in these type of games is to put you in…

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Weekly Update: Sick Day

August 15, 2011 / 0 comments

Oh hey guys. So not only have I come down with some gross flu, but my apartment building also has a malfunctioning fire alarm, which has been either beeping steadily or going off at full blast since yesterday!  Upshot is I am taking the day off at Robot Geek. I’ll get back to you when…

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Terrible Gameplay is Hilarious

August 12, 2011 / 1 comment

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I’ve been tweeting links and brief assessments of all the experimental shorts I play. Most of these don’t end up getting full reviews here or at Robot Geek, but I like to record my thoughts on them anyhow. In addition to that, I’m…

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Weekly Update: The Wheel of Fortune

August 9, 2011 / 0 comments

This week at Robot Geek, I discuss my failure to get laid in Persona 3 and what it says about narrative design in Game Stories and Fortunetelling. This was a fun one that I’ve been meaning to write for a while. I’m kind of a huge Tarot card nerd, and I’ve always been fascinated with…

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A screenshot from Persona 3. Dialogue text reads: Keep in mind the meaning of each card and the direction it faces, and use your inspiration to create a story.

Game Stories and Fortunetelling

August 9, 2011 / 0 comments

One of the reasons it’s hard to tell stories in videogames is that there are so many variables flying around. You want to give the player a sense of freedom in the story space; but the more freedom they have, the more changes to the world you have to track. Is so-and-so dead or alive?…

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Burnination 2: Homecoming

August 1, 2011 / 0 comments

I return home this week with my injuries, if not my pride, largely healed. Over at Robot Geek I shamelessly wrote about what I did on my summer vacation in Changing Spaces.  I’ve been slow to keep up with my reading over the break, but I can’t go without mentioning Diego Doumecq’s post on Description-Based…

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Burnination

July 27, 2011 / 0 comments

This week I’m on vacation, so it’s a truncated weekly update.  Over at Robot Geek, I wrote a post called It’s Not the End of the World, about the way games tend to equate failure and death. This post is notable for being typed with one hand, as the other was covered with an ice…

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