-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Categories
Archives
Posts by Author
Recommended Reading
- Bit Creature
- Chungking Espresso
- Critical Damage
- Critical Distance
- Edge Online
- Electron Dance
- First Person Scholar
- Gamasutra
- Game Studies
- GamesIndustry International
- Gather Your Party
- Journal of Games Criticism
- Ludogabble
- Mammon Machine
- Medium Difficulty
- Metroidpolitan
- Nightmare Mode
- Polygon
- PopMatters
- Radiator Design Blog
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun
- The Border House
- The Escapist Magazine
- Unpitchable
- Unwinnable
Meta
Category Archives: Posts by Author
Leadership, Rhetoric, and Videogames
I find myself thinking about leadership often. Perhaps I think about leadership because we rhetoricians get press (for good or ill) for a few months every four years when our nation chooses a leader based on “mere rhetoric.” But, I … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Gaines Hubbell
Tagged Blogs of the Round Table, BoRT, constitutive rhetoric, criticism, leadership, rhetoric, teaching, videogames
Comments Off on Leadership, Rhetoric, and Videogames
Framing Meaning through Play – or – Everybody’s Gone to Film School
*Minor spoilers for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture to follow, I think.* The perfect shot is a powerful thing – not only in communicating pleasure and meaning to a viewer, but also in the feelings it can engender within its … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Nick Hanford
Tagged Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Film theory, games criticism, Player Choice, The Chinese Room
Comments Off on Framing Meaning through Play – or – Everybody’s Gone to Film School
Fun Possibilities
When I sit down to produce a singular piece of writing, I generally do a few things to spark creativity and get the ball rolling. I generally search Google Scholar, Critical Distance and my own library for things that might … Continue reading
Posted in Nick Hanford
Tagged Blogs of the Round Table, BoRT, Definitions, Fun, games criticism, Play, Serious Games
1 Comment
Hype and Nostalgia: Gaming’s Memory Flows
It took me about four hours to find out that double-clicking made Manny Calavera move faster, running instead of the slow walk I had gotten used to. The game had changed there, in an instant, to something much different. The … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Nick Hanford
Tagged E3, E3 2015, Expectations, Grim Fandango, Grim Fandango Remastered, Memory, nostalgia
Comments Off on Hype and Nostalgia: Gaming’s Memory Flows
Criticism and Habits: My Fear of Never Alone
Every Wednesday in high school I went out to do community service that the campus ministry of my Catholic high school facilitated. We would go to nursing homes, care facilities, and homeless shelters, work for a few hours, and return … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Nick Hanford
Tagged critical habit, fear, game criticism, Never Alone
Comments Off on Criticism and Habits: My Fear of Never Alone
What I’m Playing Now: Combat Mission Red Thunder
In my ongoing effort to find a hybrid game uniting the best principles of table-top RPGs, wargames, and video games, I’ve been exploring the world of wargames a lot. Specifically, I’ve been following two table-top wargames: Bolt Action and Infinity. … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras
Tagged Bolt Action, Close Combat, Combat Mission, Game Mechanics, Infinity, Real-Time Tactical, Red Thunder, RTT, Turn-Based, Video game, Video games, Wego
Comments Off on What I’m Playing Now: Combat Mission Red Thunder
I Search for Traps
I’ve been contributing to this blog for over a year now. I intend to continue contributing, but I’ve also been wanting to write about other things. Despite the fact that I write about video games a lot, most of my … Continue reading
Posted in Announcements, Erik Bigras
Tagged Campaign, D20, Dice, Dungeons and Dragons, Table-Top RPG
Comments Off on I Search for Traps
What I’m Playing Now: Elite Dangerous
I’ve made no secret in the past that I love space sims and that I’m on the lookout for the next Starflight. I’ve tried many games, but none really filled in that particular gap in my heart. Until recently. I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras
Tagged 400 Billion Stars, Elite, Elite: Dangerous, Milky Way, Open World, Sandbox, Space Sim, Space Trader. Simulation, Starflight, Wing Commander
Comments Off on What I’m Playing Now: Elite Dangerous
Sports Games and Remediation
Brendan Keogh wrote a wonderful article for Reverse Shot on the visual workings of FIFA ’14 and it’s really cool. As someone who plays a ton of different sports games, I’m always excited to see new critical engagements with the … Continue reading
Posted in Criticism, Nick Hanford
Tagged Bolter and Grusin, EA Games, FIFA 14, Madden, Madden 15, NHL 15, Remediation, Skycam
Comments Off on Sports Games and Remediation
“We Just Want to Make Good Games.”
I’ve been writing a lot for I Search for Traps lately, but through my discussions of table-top RPGs I’ve come across an old question that I’ve encountered when I was studying the world of video games: What is a good game? … Continue reading →