Irrational Games’ BioShock: Infinite, released in 2013, transitions from the underwater world of Rapture to Columbia, a floating city in the sky that makes parallels with the United States capital,…
Video Games
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“Who is John Galt?” is the opening line of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957. Perhaps as an homage to the famous question, “Who is Atlas?” posters riddle…
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GamesMusicReviewVideo Games
Ninja Gaiden Definitive Soundtrack: Nostalgia or Preservation?
by Salvatore Pane May 20, 2017Nostalgia is a powerful manipulator. Whether it’s the latest Star Wars or superhero retread or yet another video game sequel, nostalgia is big business. But who exactly wants to go…
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Video Games
Living and Dying (But Mostly Dying) in Zelda’s Open World Environment
by Alcy Leyva May 2, 2017The tower seemed manageable as I stood at the base looking up. The moon was out but it was a clear night, allowing me to see the very top and…
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Board GamesGamesReviewVideo Games
Session Report: Gloomhaven and Telling New Stories
by Byron Alexander Campbell April 8, 2017Session Report is a monthly series that explores the intersection of narrative and broader themes of game design by focusing on a specific tabletop game each month. This month’s game…
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Video Games
The Mouthless Mouth: 5 Non-narrative Games I Loved in 2016
by Guest Contributor March 9, 2017Parry. Putt. Rub the dogs and pineapples. Watch your lover die, over and over and over. Stare bewildered at the cactus, the only life form you’ve seen in the past…
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FeaturedVideo Games
Everybody’s Got Choices: Video Games, Poetry, Art, and Minecraft
by Will Vincent March 5, 2017There’s been a lot of interesting experimentation in overlapping the mediums of video games, poetry, and art. Video games by thatgamecompany like Flow, Flower, and Journey allow viewers to appreciate…
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Photo via Petur HK (and his girlfriend’s camera). Often, reality is too narrow. The hour has just passed noon, the building opposite my bedroom is reflecting the winter light (always…
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CultureFilmGamesReviewVideo Games
MONSTERS AND METAPHORS: A REVIEW OF RESIDENT EVIL: FINAL CHAPTER
by John Yohe February 15, 2017At their best, monsters are metaphors for ideas, or cultural phenomena, in real life that scare us, from the most basic ‘Other’/foreigner to, say, sex/desire in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Zombies…
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With the recent trailer release of The Last of Us: Part II, which may, for all we know, come out in the very far future, and even as fanboys have…
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The Past, Present, and Future of Japanese Role-Playing Games Whenever I’m asked what my favorite video game is, I’m torn between Super Mario Bros. 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Final…
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They wheel her back to surgery, and I squeeze her hand one more time. The wheels of the stretcher squeak, and I hear the familiar hiss of an automatic door…
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This article, which originally appeared on the Black Clock blog in 2011 as part of an ongoing exploration into interactive storytelling, has been revised for publication on Entropy. It’s practically a…
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Video Games
Terra Nullius: The Spectral Colonialism of No Man’s Sky
by Reed Underwood September 28, 2016Before 1788, the indigenous peoples of Australia number between 300,000 and a million individuals. Many are nomadic, some have agriculture and permanent dwellings. They alter the landscape with fire. They…