Kojima’s vision always seemed too bloated and overzealous in my eyes. I would sigh in discontentment anytime a Kojima cut scene would commence since I knew I would be sitting there in noninteractive mode for a good spell. Sometimes I felt that Kojima was being too preachy and overly obtuse in his use of philosophy [...]
There is a classic archetype in high fantasy that involves a brave knight and a princess in distress. A beautiful and helpless princess is captured by an evil force and must be rescued by a valiant and courageous knight. It’s a fairly basic foundation from which many fiction pieces are written including video games. The [...]
For many gamers, including myself, Nintendo has been the archetype for console gaming. Personally speaking, the NES was my first system and my introduction to the glorious world of video gaming. For me, Nintendo has been the example of innovation and the most responsible for the growth of the industry in many ways. On the [...]
I’m a grumpy gamer admittedly. I expect so much from my beloved hobby that it sometimes it mirrors more cynicism than well meaning criticism. To my defense, games lately have treaded more on the negative side of things rather than the sunny. I get the feeling that more positive, uplifting gaming is more akin to [...]
After the incredibly mixed critical reception of Final Fantasy XIII – including several lengthy discussions here at Existential Gamer – I’ve been chomping at the bit to experience it myself. By now you’ve no doubt read about its lengthy slow burn, extreme linearity, and a combat system that encourages spamming the auto-battle button. In my [...]
Gotta Catch Them All… …but why? That’s a question that has been bothering me since Pokemon was introduced. Pokemon has been around for quite some time, and its popularity shows no signs of slowing down. Early on, skeptics dismissed it as a passing fad that would soon disappear into obscurity much like pet rocks, Cabbage [...]
My interest in critical dialogue about games began several years ago while I was studying to be a professional ethicist. Games, in my opinion, are an untapped goldmine for ethical inquiry because they are the only real space in which we can “practice” morality. Books and films are static. Though we may be able to [...]
Puzzle games haven’t changed much since the release of Tetris, and for the most part they are highly abstract affairs. There is no narrative to Tetris, only gameplay in its purest form. Ditto modern puzzle classics like Bejeweled. Some have themes pasted on, like Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, while others, like Puzzle Quest, add [...]
I remember when the orginal title was announced. I remember when they described where the original idea came from. The concept of assassinations isn’t new to video games. Death and murder, in general, isn’t a new concept in any entertainment medium. What made Assassin’s Creed so interesting was the concept of weaving through crowds and navigating through [...]
There is something magical about the Zelda franchise. Something about the series inspires child-like wonderment within all of us. How is this possible? Inspiration inspires inspiration. Rumor has it that Miyamoto was playing in the backyard of his house when he got the inpiration to create a game based on puzzle solving and exploration. Legend of Zelda [...]
