Indie Games: The Movie Film Review

As an avid lover of indie video games, I decided to write a film review on a documentary I came across called “Indie Games: The Movie.” The film centers around the creation process of several indie video games; Super Meat Boy, Fez, and Braid. As noted in the film, Braid has been regarded as not…

Fangirl

So I recently read a book called Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and it got me thinking. The book was about a fanfiction writer whom escaped the reality she didn’t want to face through the world of writing about her favorite characters in a series that she liked. It was placed in her first year of…

BoRT April: I’m white Sheik, white Sheik is me

Most of the time when people talk about palette swaps people are talking about ways the age old practice of recycling modes or sprites in order to cheaply and efficiently create more content. However, the thing that most interests me about this prompt is the relationship palettes swaps have with players and their characters. Specifically,…

A slice of (IF) life

Violet is one of my favorite pieces of interactive fiction (which shares some similarities with the adventure games discussed in this week’s Aarseth reading). Here’s the blurb: “Calm down. All you have to do is write a thousand words and everything will be fine. And you have all day, except it’s already noon.”

Controller Texture: More than Cold Plastic?

I really enjoyed this week’s readings. The Aarseth, Bogost, and Dyer-Witheford pieces all provide nice insights into the ways in which academics approach the study of video games. One aspect that particularly struck me was Bogost’s section on texture in video games. Bogost focuses on the visuals and sounds contained within the game environment as…

Media

Last week, we were talking about Massive Multiplayer Online gaming with World of Warcraft. This weeks reading mentions a little on MMO’s in the Games of Empire reading. With the material this week I’ve found that video gaming is a huge culture, and a form of media on its own. What surprised me the most…

BoRT post 1

Self-regulated or self-inflicted rules are something that everyone evaluates differently. Playing a game with someone can either be fun,challenging, or boring based on the rules they place in the game sphere. I love to play Solitaire on my phone, not just as something to pass the time but something I like to do. There are…

The Importance of Reality

All the readings, while in different manners and lengths, approached the idea of realism in video games.  By realism I mean not only the visual representation of the game but also the story line, the tactile sensations it creates, and the ultimate consequences of the game must also approach reality in some light.  Bogost’s discussion…

Short Take- Puzzle Games

For this weeks short take, I wanted to talk about my favorite type of video game –or actually my favorite type of game in general– puzzle games. I find puzzle games to be a really interesting type of game, one because they can be really difficult to figure out. Portal was the first puzzle video…