Search Results for “battlefield” – Page 4

February 16th

…provides a parallel to citizen Charles Foster Kane, the character:

Then there are games – even successful ones – that get pushed out the door unready. Games that still carry the scars from the industry’s policy to release now and patch later. It’s a strategy that amounts to throwing the devs over the cliff and ordering them to build a parachute on the way down, so of course games ship broken. Take Battlefield 4, for instance, which still has systemic problems three months after launch. By all accounts it’s a well-made and financially successful game, but rushing it

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This Year in Videogame Blogging: 2014

…War.

Ria Jenkins detailed the horrible content of the Chico Tape 4 collectable in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and how it undermines Paz’s character to confirm the worst stereotypes about women. (Content warning: descriptions of sexual violence and gore.)

Looking at a more contemporary set of affairs, Mike Williams of US Gamer remarked that Life Imitates Art, looking at how the upcoming Battlefield: Hardline mediates the militarization of urban police departments. Kevin Nguyen at The Paris Review also noted how awful the game’s timing is, both specifically and where we are as a culture.

Back…

February 2015

…pairs well with George Weidman’s discussion of the “ubiquity problem” in games. Weidman notes, “Ubiquity hurts the enjoyment of all games that share those similarities regardless of their individual qualities” The upside is that as old trends becoming stale (really stale) new trends should emerge to replace them.

Expectation Vs. Delivery

Several Let’s Plays this month looked at the difference between game expectations (either by developers or players) and game experience (again, either by developers or players).

Eurogamer’s Johnny Chiodini discusses how Battlefield Hardline too thinly stretches a cops and robbers motif over what is…

April 26th

…effects of typography in Kentucky Route Zero. And speaking of speaking, back at Pop Matters, Nick Dinicola pokes at the awkwardness of silent protagonists in leadership positions, looking at Battlefield 4 to point out that:

Our silence prevents us from ever becoming an active participant in this world. We can only ever be a free floating camera that’s either ignored or lectured to, and when we’re addressed with complex issues, we can only ever respond with a blank stare.

Lastly, Mattie Brice looks at interactivity in games and tarot through the lens of Scott McCloud’s Understanding…

01: Subjectivity

…could replicate the same playthrough moment for moment, interpretation of the symbolic value of the playthroughs would vary wildly. Likewise, I share Iris’ reticence to call a review a type of sign largely because I don’t think reviews point toward referents. Taken as complete “objects”, reviews tend to be devoid of anything semiotically engaging. As such, their value to me as an observer is limited. Unless they concern themselves with the reviewer. The more experiential the writing, the more value may be gleaned through empathetic projection. After all, do I want to know how many guns Battlefield: Hardline has or…

November 15th

…wears a nice silk scarf, for instance, is someone I want to find more about. Why do they care about their appearance even on the battlefield? Were they always a warrior, or did they have a different background? Is there someone they want to impress or look nice for?

Guess what’s out? Unwinnable Weekly issue 69, continuing a series profiling Unreal developer grants in “Revving the Engine: Planet Alpha 31”:

There are many sources that inspired the visuals of Planet Alpha 31 — from ancient Greek architecture to the vintage look of Star Trek, Alien and…

Episode 31 – Back to the 2015

Welcome back to another Critical Distance Confab podcast, End of the Year edition! 2015 is almost behind us, so just lean back and listen as myself and a couple of colleagues skim over some of the major discussions that came up during the year.

http://www.critical-distance.com/podcast/Critical-Distance-Confab-episode-31.mp3

Direct Download

CAST

Eric Swain: The Game Critique

Kris Ligman: Dire Critic

Alan Williamson: Five out of Ten

Riley MacLeod: Twitter

SHOW NOTES

Colorblind: On The Witcher 3, Rust and gaming’s race problem by Tauriq Moosa

Battlefield: Hardline Review: Cop Out by Austin Walker

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February 21st

…on the Battlefield: Fire Emblem’s “Support” System | Gamasutra: Zack Wood’s Blog Useful explanation of how relationships have worked in Fire Emblem games in the past

With Those We Love Alive — The Arcade Review Edmund Chu discusses intimacy in With Those We Love Alive

Ignoring Delilah in Firewatch is Heartbreaking | Indie Haven Simon Rankin wrote about how intentionally ignoring Delilah affects Firewatch

Simulated fighting

Some of the more technical pieces this week examined creative ways that players and developers have worked with violence — be it the physical violence of a fighting game

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March 13th

…Games publishes a piece by David Gaider where he explains why we need GaymerX.

Alex Layne explains that in hostile spaces, gaming included, it’s important to have mentorship, and lists off several ways to be good stewards to women wanting to get into playing games.

Dark Side of Politics

Ed Smith at Vice looks back a year at Battlefield Hardline and how it remains troubling in the current political climate, explaining how the apolitical is unavoidably part of the political.

Robert Rath uses his column at Zam this week to look back at the “No Russian”…

November 13th

…their objections towards the neo-liberalism on steroids that Brexit is most likely to result in.”

Progress is not inevitable

The usual discussions of how history is represented in games took a turn to the negative this week, as people contemplate socio-economic decline and increased violence.

“Battlefield 1, By the Numbers,” by Reid McCarter – Bullet Points Monthly Reid McCarter discusses the uselessness of technical veracity for connecting to what’s at stake in our tellings of history through games.
How ‘Dark Souls II’ Reflects Our Historical and Political Anxieties – Waypoint Brendan Vance’s piece on…