As loyal listeners of EGR are aware (or those puzzled by my lack of posts have possibly surmised), I haven’t been playing many video games lately. Life takes its toll and when it does leisure activities are, unfortunately, generally the first to go. But all work and no play makes Jack a soggy Sackboy, so [...]
What makes an RPG “J” or “Japanese”? Is it the random enemy encounters? Although it is a common trait, random battles aren’t a good indicator of JRPGs. Is it oddly emo young teenagers with something to prove? Nope. How about effeminate yet masculine main characters with uncomfortable large weapons? Not really. The defining element of JRPGs [...]
Indie/minimalist game designer Jason Rohrer, recently said the games industry isn’t quite ready to start banding around terms like modernism and post-modernism. That’s a pretty bold statement to make about an industry that prides itself on being cutting edge, but perhaps it’s true. Are we jumping the gun in terms of the “stages” of art [...]
Michael Drucker of Gamespy has a very good point. The industry needs to give us some space. For years now, I always felt something wicked this way comes. Wicked in the sense that gamers are now being bombarded with new titles to the point where it’s not really a flooding but more of a drowning. [...]
Book lovers frequently criticize movies and games on the grounds that they lack imagination. The minimalism of text, no matter how well put together, requires readers to constantly flex their imagination in ways not possible when visual images are given to you. But such critics have never waxed nostalgically for an old 8-bit game only [...]
Videogames have always been about making choices. The earliest games relied exclusively on reflexive choices such as when to jump, duck and shoot. Making the “wrong” choice meant death and too many wrong choices meant one less quarter for laundry that week. While this is still the most common definition of choice in a gaming [...]
The very first entry of E.G. concerned the phenomenon known as fanboys; consider this an extension to that article. It feels weird to self-reference; however, should you want to read the original, you can here. I was perusing the various reviews on Metacritic and just had to look up Gears of War 2. I’m sure [...]
I wanted to take time to discuss an insidious trend in gaming that threatens the state of creative endeavors. A little over dramatic I admit, but it is a topic that needs discussing. Straight to the point: there are way too many WWII games. What brought this rant on? I was on my PS3 last [...]
