various pieces from throughout the years
A look at the secret competitive history of Puyo Puyo and Tetris, and how Sonic Team’s mashup turns them into a fresh take on fighting games.
An analysis on how Nioh takes the careful, measured structure of the ever popular Dark Souls, and turns it into a fast and lethal whirlwind of folklore violence.
A look at how SEGA and Sumo Digital’s kart racer draws on the history of competitive arcade racers to create a unique, seriously competitive game that’s big on SEGA fan service.
A look at Chronicles of Teddy, a Zelda 2 inspired game that turns its ocarina style instrument into a way to speak to the world.
VODKA, HERCULES, SLIDESHOW EYES
A short piece of fiction inspired by moments within STALKER Call of Pripyat. Originally published here.
Breathe soft.
My hands shake. I’ve wandered aimlessly. Entering a building built into the side of a hill, I find out its filled with the walking corpses of other STALKERs. Still half sentient, they fire off at me. I return their gestures.
Five dead. Or redead perhaps. I bandage the collection of holes the shotguns have put in me. I’ve survived. Again. I continue on. A derelict building is on my way to the next crash site. Possibly the remains of a school. There is an incline that cuts into the earth. Man made. I’ve heard rumors that some STALKERs have gone missing there.
A jeep is collapsed on the near side of the incline, a sure attractor of radiation. I take a swig of vodka to prepare my system for it. As I approach the building I hear rummaging. A glimpse of movement. Bandits. They don’t look to be the reasonable kind either.
de Blob 2 seems to be more cognizant of the mechanics of resistance than any game about it
a video on God of War’s (2018) conceit of being done in one continuous take, and what it communicates in the process.
a video on Rad Rodgers, a throwback platformer from the creators of the Rise of the Triad video that fails to interrogate nostalgia and what that says about our desire to return to our childhoods
