Beyond Protocol Launches on November 21st
“Beyond Protocol,” an interesting MMORTS game I wrote about previously, releases next week. Just an FYI for those that actually play games on computers occasionally, instead of tabletops. 😉 Trask, The...
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Review: Dragon Age: Origins – The Best Video Game RPG EVER!
So….. Where shall I start with Dragon Age: Origins, the latest video game by BioWare. I started playing this game last week, when it first came out. Trask asked me for a review, and I whole-heartedly...
View ArticleDuty Calls: Amazing Call of Duty Parody
I normally do not post about video games, but this one is justifies the post with its scathing satire on “Call of Duty.” “Duty Calls” is a parody game put together by EA as a great marketing gimmick...
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Game Day Report – The Dragon Age RPG
I am in love! Maybe it is a Valentine’s hangover? Nope. Maybe it is the beautiful Arizona winters? Nah. Maybe it is puppies and kittens, unicorns and rainbows? Oh heavens no. It is sword and steel! It...
View ArticleSkulls of the Shogun!–Undead Samurai!
Undead and Samurai and two of my favorite things about the gaming life. Fearless Japanese warriors embody the heroic warrior class while undead are just…fun. Regardless, a video game is coming out that...
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Paper vs. Pixels. Part 2: Mass Effect is a Dirty Whore
This is a bizarre time we live in, where gamers praise if not outright command open world settings in which to explore. It’s one aspect of digital gaming that paper gaming often does better. With the...
View ArticlePaper vs. Pixels. Part 3: You Call That a Story?
I’ve preached until blue in the face that I require good and/or immersive stories in order to enjoy a game. Although I’ve occasionally found myself hooked in by the preposterously ludicrous fun that is...
View ArticlePaper vs. Pixels. Part 4: Cannibalism, Incest and Pedophilia. One game.
Previously, I got talking about the plots in electronic games, and how they can be simplistic, amateurish, and mediocre. I could even call many of them lethargic. One of the clear ways you can...
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Carcasonne IOS App Finally Updated
Rivers, beautiful rivers. Words cannot express my joy with the new carcasonne tile sets. Behold! There are also double meeple tokens, new ways to score roads and cities and more tiles. A couple of test...
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Behind the Lethargic Ending of Mass Effect 3
Following this initial paragraph is a considerable spoiler regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3. By now, it’s no secret that fans of the franchise are standing in (near) unison in their rejection of...
View ArticleArt & Linear Gaming
The discussion about what constitutes art is never ending as new ways to articulate expression are created with every generation. The old often decries the new, claiming they had defined art for all...
View ArticleCan Players Be Responsible?
As a GM, I’m often annoyed at my players’ lack of attachment. Like a first person shooter, they only care about what lies in their narrow forward vision and feel if it cannot be stabbed or shot at, it...
View ArticleWhen Good Stories Go Bad (or How to Avoid the Poochie Ending)
Mass Effect 3’s banal ending stands the latest example of franchises that run off the rails before arriving at the station. This is not to be confused with the term “jumping the shark”—associated with...
View ArticleHow Inserting Romance Can Feel Hopeless
I’ll open this with an invitation for GMs to post their own examples of how they inserted romance in their own role playing games. I don’t mean two players already married; that’s a cop-out. I’m...
View ArticleIt’s Just a Game
I hate those words. It’s just a game. It’s just a…whatever. The words are spoken by ignorant people imposing their opinion and belittling someone already bothered by something important to them. It...
View ArticleThe Death of Storytelling
I believe confidently that in the next year, Activision, Bioware, Tecmo, or Rockstar will release a game simply called “Tits”. I know, catchy start, isn’t it? It’s the kind that immediately warrants a...
View ArticlePolishing the Turd . The Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut
It’s a great looking turd, with an astounding finish, the kind you’d put on your mantle to show off, and people would look at it and assume its value in gold, that kind of natural beauty. I’ve seen...
View ArticleEntitlement & Obligation — The rights of producers and consumers
I’m going to avoid any comments which involve the topic of whether or not an entertainment format can be considered art. A painting could exist only because of the obsession of its painter, the same...
View ArticleVideo Games of 2012 (And why these lists suck).
I’m not a game reviewer. Yup, just lost half my audience there. Anyone left. Trask? Mom? But I’ve played quite a few this year, probably more than previous years, and this is despite some unfortunate...
View ArticleIs It Really That Bad, Part 2: Dead Space 3
The Aliens: Colonial Marines fiasco is one requiring front row seats and a huge vat of Alzheimer’s inducing butter popcorn. Gearbox pointing a finger at Timegate, Sega pointing a finger at Gearbox,...
View ArticleEconomics of Gaming – Downloadable Content
I recently teased on my company’s Facebook page that DEM’s next book, NeuroSpasta will have DRM which will result in either the digital book deleting itself or the physical book bursting into flames...
View ArticleEconomics of Gaming: Digital Rights Management
My PC build is two years old, loaded with top of the line hardware at that time. I can still run nearly every game at max settings, something my previous ten PCs couldn’t do for more than six months....
View ArticleBad Endings
Have you ever had a campaign end properly—I mean properly, like it ended with a climax and not because the group disbanded or lost interest? It happens rarely, I understand that. I mentioned recently...
View ArticleGood Endings
One of my all time favorite terms relating to writing is “saccharine.” It’s such a great metaphor. It indicates that while a naturally sweet story point is just that, one that is saccharine, as you’d...
View ArticleAn Infinite Rant about Bioshock – The Spoiler filled Analysis
The title should give it away… You have been warned… …so I’m just going to dive into this thing… In Bioshock Infinite, you play as Booker DeWitt, an ex-cavalry man, recently involved in the massacre of...
View ArticleXbox One: Welcome to the Family
Before the jump, I’ll summarize by saying that the unveiling was disappointing but not unexpected. What I found surprising was the level of rage generated by serious journalists and their claim that...
View ArticleAnalyzing Sony’s Nut Punch
After the knee-jerk reactions I shared with the crowds at E3 regarding the PS4, something akin to the tongueless shouts of the mob crowding the cage of Thunderdome, I started to look back at the event...
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Turnabout Microsoft
Well, that was fast. Microsoft’s biggest mistake wasn’t them instigating convoluted and unpopular used game and online policies, and it wasn’t them reversing said policy when it proved a public...
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My Childhood Toys are Museum Pieces!
Now I feel officially old. My local museum had “The Art of Video Games” traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian for the Summer. The exhibition is a fascinating view into the development of video games...
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Oniri Islands – Children of the River Review
Oniri Islands–The Review A little over a month ago, I received a marketing email about a game being developed called Oniri Islands – Children of the river. I immediately responded with my interest in...
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