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BioShock

…and the girl survives. If he chooses to “harvest” the girl, he gets a great deal more ADAM, but she does not survive. For Leigh Alexander, saving the girls is like saving Rapture’s last bit of innocence. In her view, the whole saga with ADAM was like a child’s wish, and saving the girls is a way of forgiving Rapture for making that wish, despite the destruction it caused. Yet many did not find this choice to be compelling. As Wes Erdelack notes, in BioShock as in many other video games, the moral choices are too simplistic and do not…

October 31st

…myriad number of ways.

Speaking of platformers, Sara M. Grimes at the Gamine Expedition blog looks at the Arts & Crafts aesthetic in Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

Adam Ruch at Flickering Colours talks about ‘The Great Undiscovered of Minecraft’ [mirror], dissecting the appeal of the game by breaking it down into two primary feelings: The first ‘is akin to being a small God in a simple universe’ and the second is ‘a strong feeling of presence. Tele-presence one might call it in the parlance of the late 90s game scholarship.’ I do love me some late 90’s game scholarship.

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July 3rd

This has been a big week for gaming in the U.S., with the Supreme Court ruling 7-2 to strike down the California law censoring the sale of violent video games to minors. You can read the opinions here. Michael “Brainy Gamer” Abbott discusses both the good and bad of the ruling. Dan Apczynski at Gamer Melodico riffs on the writing itself by making poetry out of it. And the last piece we’ll link to is Adam Sessler’s video explaining in detail some of the implications of the case.

Two pieces from PopMatters this week. G. Christopher Williams looks

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This Year In Videogame Blogging: 2018

…timely to take another look at Metal Gear Solid 2 and examine what it has to say about propaganda and social control. Oligarchs worry about the loss of their power over the people and anything might happen. “A clown could even be elected President.”

  • “My Life Didn’t Begin Until The World Ended” – Sunset Overdrive and the post-apocalyptic identity | Medium – Adam Page Adam Page takes another look at the fantasy offered by Sunset Overdrive where after the apocalypse you can be free to express yourself, where all “the marginalized; the fandoms; and […]the gamers will unite to…

    • May 2021

    …technologies tend to use exorbitant amounts of fossil fuels and accelerate the climate catastrophe, Chris explains why Ubisoft’s recent experiments with blockchain should be cause for concern. (Autocaptions)

    Design Documents

    Here we have two of the requisite essays on formalist design for May 2021.

    • Why Do So Many Games Have Tanks, Healers and DPS? – Adam Millard – The Architect of Games (19:40)

      Adam Millard discusses the strengths and limitations of the so-called “holy trinity” combination of player roles. (Manual captions)

    • The Isle video essay – Experimenting with the survival formula – SovietWomble

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    February 2020

    …(10:05)

    Screen Therapy puts aside the abundant metanarrative themes of The Beginner’s Guide to look at its presentation of psychological tensions, and how a player might approach it as a form of, or tool for, therapy. (Autocaptions)

  • Why Does Celeste Make Us Feel Anxious – Adam Millard (17:15)

    Adam Millard discusses games (particularly platformers) that use negative difficult-related experiences to design more fulfilling challenges. (Manual captions)

  • Romance In Video Games – Bobdunga (19:14)

    For Valentine’s Day, Bobdunga discusses the truncated, ham-fisted and overly simplistic treatments of romance that have plagued videogames pretty much forever. (Autocaptions)

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    March 2020

    …of the apparent “allowed” order, giving the player an unusual sense of autonomy. (Manual captions)

  • What Makes Mario Odyssey’s Boss Design Special?– Design Doc (12:49)

    Design Doc discusses the difference in design approach that makes Mario Odyssey’s bosses stand out by comparison to the previous 3D entries in the series, and how these encounters contribute to Odyssey’s world-building and elevated sense of adventure. (Manual captions) [Note: contains embedded advertising]

  • What Does It Mean To Be A Metroidvania? – Adam Millard (19:45)

    Adam Millard argues that many contemporary metroidvanias are too reliant on Super Metroid for design

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    • December 2020

    …(Autocaptions)

  • Why Are Explosive Barrels Always Red? – Adam Millard (15:19)

    Adam Millard looks at how a range of colour-coded gaming symbols have been passed along from earlier design decisions. (Manual captions)

    • Wow! We’re finished! Year done! Thank you, everyone.

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    February 7th

    …Drama.”

    Stage Select

    This trio of narrative studies focuses on intersections of genre, performance, and character across three games, each distinct in scope, tone, and themes.

    • Performance & Tragicomedy in Yakuza: Like A Dragon | Adam Arter Adam Arter examines how multi-level performance and roleplaying, combined with an elevated display of the series’ signature tone mashups and bleedthroughs, contributes to the successes of character-writing in Yakuza: Like A Dragon.
    • Game Pile: Arcade Spirits | press.exe Talen Lee interrogates the character writing and narrative themes of Arcade Spirits.
    • Intricate Rituals and the Ties that…

    March-April 2022

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    The release of Elden Ring inspired further discussion about how developers go about building open worlds in the next pair of videos.

    • The Open World Is Not Enough (The Jimquisition) – Jim Sterling (15:01)

      James Stephanie Sterling argues that Elden Ring’s level of detail and care is something all “open world” games should aspire to. (Manual captions)

    • Why The Best Open World Is A (slightly) Closed World – Adam Millard (21:00)

      Adam Millard argues that, while towers are often blamed for poor or lazy open world design, the real challenge facing developers of open

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