Kill Screen archive
…head of rose quartz
…head of rose quartz
How can interactive systems subvert the way we normally think things are supposed to be done? This week’s roundup features a number of articles on designing games for different ways of being, as well as examinations of how visual design can make things feel familiar.
First, two writers take on the ideological expression of games, in relation to capitalism and religion.
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http://readyset.zam.com/article/1579/suraya-hawthorne-destiny-2s-token-human
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1578/cuphead-and-the-forgotten-joy-of-putting-the-controller-down
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1569/my-top-10-most-played-games-and-my-excuses-for-them
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1568/i-love-you-indiecade
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1562/a-few-ways-destiny-2-could-still-salvage-its-awful-writing
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1561/my-mail-order-neighbor
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1559/destiny-2s-failsafe-is-a-real-voice-among-player-propaganda
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1557/a-football-spiral-universe-what-17776-and-david-oreillys-everything-tell-us-about-art
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1555/the-economic-dread-of-little-red-lie-and-design-home
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1554/vision-cones-and-street-ball-how-an-obsession-with-hyperrealism-has-suffocated-modern-sports-games
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1552/why-dont-we-complete-games
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1549/uncharted-the-lost-legacy-is-proof-the-series-still-has-room-to-grow
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1548/bless-you-mr-jackpots-in-defense-of-twin-peaks-dougie-jones
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1538/adults-onlyish-a-history-of-nintendos-mature-games
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1537/two-steps-forward-three-steps-back-how-hellblade-reinforces-myths-about-mental-illness
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1535/please-just-this-once-dont-give-nintendo-your-money
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1534/whats-so-great-about-watching-pro-dota-in-person
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1532/wolfenstein-iis-picture-of-american-fascism-seems-more-prescient-than-ever
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1531/why-do-we-go-back-to-the-same-places-in-games
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1528/the-perils-of-nostalgia-starcraft-remastered-and-our-repackaged-past
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1526/overwatch-does-more-than-most-when-it-comes-to-gameplay-balancing
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1519/hitmans-npcs-are-fascinating
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1512/how-much-esports-should-we-watch
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1510/heres-why-it-hurts-when-tekken-7-cuts-your-favorite-character
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1508/destiny-is-a-lot-like-dancing
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1506/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-puts-teamwork-above-competition
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1504/its-not-too-late-to-get-into-destiny
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1502/a-billion-armed-bandit
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1499/an-apology-to-final-fantasy-xii
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1494/videogame-gardens-can-be-spaces-for-reflection
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1485/dead-cells-dark-souls-and-mass-effect-what-games-can-still-learn-from-early-access
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1453/persona-5-could-say-a-lot-more-if-it-didnt-constantly-objectify-ann
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1477/who-won-this-years-e3-devolver-actually
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1452/prey-turns-open-ended-game-design-inside-out
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1444/why-arent-we-adapting-more-games-into-comic-books
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1441/sketches-of-greatness-why-do-esports-excite-us-so-much
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1440/videogames-hip-hop-and-the-value-of-saying-yes
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1438/if-you-havent-checked-in-on-heroes-of-the-storm-in-a-while-heres-what-youre-missing
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1434/marvel-vs-capcom-infinite-and-the-chase-for-fighting-game-accessibility
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1432/puyo-puyo-tetris-is-an-esport-you-can-play-against-yourself
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1431/latin-american-representation-in-games-is-getting-better—-but-its-far-from-perfect
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1429/get-wrecked-why-esports-injuries-matter
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1425/little-nightmares-i-have-had
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1408/age-of-triumph-only-serves-to-highlight-destinys-biggest-shortcomings
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1401/why-persona-5s-silent-protagonist-works
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1400/nier-automata-may-have-26-endings-but-it-respects-my-time
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1396/do-we-really-need-to-like-horizon-zero-dawns-aloy
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1399/the-old-ways-arent-best-when-it-comes-to-survival-horror
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1388/the-10-mass-effect-scenes-thatll-fck-you-up-the-most
http://readyset.zam.com/article/1382/destinys-meta-shifts-are-fascinating
…
…to understand the strengths of its historical storytelling.
“To play Abzû is to remove oneself from the tension that…
…is an equally empowering experience.”
Our holiday coverage continues with two more horror-tinged examinations of games and play.
“In co-operative multiplayer, the screen orbits a dark polyhedron, surrounded by other particles. Each CPU is given a zodiac…
Links updated 29 June 2017
This Week in Videogame Blogging, 65 die in a tragic Tetris accident in NYC, and Hard-casual also get the scoop on the Fallout: New Vegas protagonist!
In slightly less tongue-in-cheek happenings, Jim Rossignol, one quarter of Rock, Paper, Shotgun, noted that “Locked Door” was close to the biggest article ever published on RPS. It’s certainly well worth a read, and a great example of the fact that good games crit doesn’t have to be the straight-forward essayist type. RPS continued its standard of excellence this week with some fantastic coverage of upcoming game
…
…no mirror available]. I liked the part about the size of the earth being all wrong, and how a certain shockwave that plays a major role in the plot would actually fail to propagate through the vast vacuum of space. The above quotes are there for a reason.
Jim Rossignol at Rock Paper Shotgun looks at some recent gaming-related scientific research and summarises the results. It’s quite an intriguing read, for instance, playing Tetris can help with post-traumatic stress related flashbacks.
Alex Raymond wrote this week about why she writes about games [dead link, no mirror available], namely…
…with regards to their ultimate fate.
Unlike Alyssa, I don’t get stressed when my first person player character “dies” in Portal. Her death is impermanent; the player’s respawn is nearly instantaneous and the game replaces puts the avatar pretty much right back at the site of the player’s failure. I no more stress out about launching myself into a turret (oops) than I do about laying a jigsaw puzzle piece in the wrong corner, or about missing a move in Tetris. Portal is ultimately about solving puzzles and although there’s a great narrative framework going on, I don’t
…
…Mark argues that games don’t just need a good story; they need good storycraft as well. We don’t need to look at it in such narrow terms as plot and character: even games like Super Mario Bros and Tetris have their own ‘design grammar’ that helps us contextualise their worlds. Story is one part of the language of game design, but if it is there, it has to make grammatical sense.
Sylvain L. looks at ‘cinematic’ storytelling in games.. I’ve just started a Film Studies night course to help me understand this kind of inter-disciplinary writing, but I can…
…the Round Table, let’s talk about ‘Player’s Choice.’
This month, we’re interested in hearing about self-regulated or self-inflicted rules. For instance, do you take stealth games so seriously that any detection causes you to restart from the last save point? Or maybe, when you played Skyrim you completed the game without once using a melee weapon? Alternately, perhaps you refuse to run left in side scrolling games – no backtracking allowed. Maybe you only ever allow yourself to rotate Tetris pieces two times. Maybe you played with an all female cast in Fire Emblem? Maybe, just maybe, you
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