Tag Archives: Open World

What I’m Playing Now: Elite Dangerous

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Erik Bigras

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

In Search of Transformative Encounters

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Erik Bigras

Over the course of the last couple of years, I’ve slowly drifted away from video games in favour of table-top RPGs. That trend probably started a few years ago when Gaines and I played TTRPGs weekly with a group of … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dungeons and Dragons, Game design, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Narrative, Open World, Role-Playing, RPG, Sandbox, Twilight: 2000, Video Game Writing | 2 Comments

A Week with Watch Dogs

Posted on June 7, 2014 by manofmanyfrowns

As I’ve spent more time with them, the cities that I have lived in or frequented have often slowly shrunk as I got to understand them better. As I knew where I was based on a landmark or could quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Nick Hanford | Tagged Batman voice, Bradley Whitford, Chicago, criticism, data mining, Open World, Ubisoft, Watch Dogs | 2 Comments

Arguing for the Adoption of Persistent Time in Video Games: Part 2 Building a House, Making a Home

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Jason Coley

In the first of this two-part article, I outlined my thoughts on how persistent time can provide a new paradigm for permadeath in video games. In games like DayZ Standalone (Bohemia Interactive, 2013) and Rust (Facepunch Studios, 2013), hazardous environments … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Jason Coley | Tagged altruism, apprenticeship, Banished, building a house, colonies, colony, construction, control multiple characters, crafting, Dayz, DayZ Standalone, death, Don't Starve, environment, Everquest Next, family, game, games, gene pool, Grand Theft Auto V, grow old and die, GTA 5, habitat, hazardous environment, history of player interaction, kinship, making a home, maslow’s hierarchy of needs, massively multiple online, Minecraft, mmo, Open World, perk, permadeath, permanent, persistent time, possess, progeny, rally around the family, Role-Playing, RPG, Rust, scavenging, shelter, skill, Skyrim, State of Decay, The Sims, time, Video game, Video games, Yi-Fu Tuan | 2 Comments

A Vulnerable Retrospective: Desolation Games

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Erik Bigras

Welcome to a Higher Level Gamer Critical Retrospective! Retrospectives can take many forms: some focus on a single franchise while others are more expansive. For these retrospectives, I’ll be taking the latter approach. These retrospectives aren’t meant to be best-of … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Retrospectives, Erik Bigras | Tagged 7 Days to Die, Affect, Choice, D&D, Dark Sun, Dayz, Despair, Dune, Emotions, Emptiness, Fallout, Game design, Game Mechanics, Guilt, Kenshi, Loneliness, MechWarrior, New Vegas, Open World, Remorse, Rust, SEAL Team, Story, Twilight: 2000, Video Game History, Video games | 3 Comments

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 4: Space

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Erik Bigras

Welcome to the fourth and final part of this Higher Level Gamer Critical Retrospective! For these Retrospectives, I’ll take a broad approach to examine some of the tropes of particular game genres, their historical contexts, provide some examples, as well … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Retrospectives, Erik Bigras | Tagged Doom, Flight Simulation, Freelancer, FreeSpace 2, Game Mechanics, Games and cultural change, Historicity, Nature of games criticism, Open World, Rogue Squadron II, Space Simulation, Story, Video Game History, Video games, Wing Commander | 3 Comments

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 2: The Old West

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Erik Bigras

Welcome to Part 2 of this Higher Level Gamer Critical Retrospective! For these Retrospectives, I’ll take a broad approach to examine some of the tropes of particular game genres, their historical contexts, provide some examples, as well as explore why … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Retrospectives, Erik Bigras | Tagged American Indians, Bound in Blood, Call of Juarez, Duel, Feminism, First Nations, Foucault, Game Mechanics, Gun, Gunslinger, Indians, Mad Dog McCree, Man with No Name, Michel Foucault, Native Americans, Old West, Open World, pistolero, Red Dead Redemption, Revisionism, Revisionist Western, Sergio Leone, Six-shooter, Spaghetti Western, Story, Video Game History, Video games, Western | 3 Comments

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 1: Pirates

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Erik Bigras

Welcome to a Higher Level Gamer Critical Retrospective! Retrospectives can take many forms: some focus on a single franchise while others take a more expansive approach. For these retrospectives, I’ll be taking the latter approach. These retrospectives aren’t meant to … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Retrospectives, Erik Bigras | Tagged Assassin's Creed 4, Black Flag, Bruno Latour, Edward Saïd, Errol Flynn, Feminism, Game Mechanics, Gender, Higher Level Gamer Critical Retrospective, Hollywood pirates, Open World, Pirate simulation, Pirates!, Sandbox, Sea Dogs, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Simulations, Thomas Hobbes, Uncharted Waters, Video Game History, Video games | 4 Comments

BoRT: Why Starflight Changed the Way I Game

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Erik Bigras

One of the things that I was alluding to last week was that I “grew up” playing role-playing games (RPGs). I was still a young kid in the 1980s, so I missed out on the Ultima and Wizardry franchises. Back … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged Choice, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Morality, Open World, Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star 4, Phantasy Star IV, Role-Playing, RPG, Sandbox, Space Exploration, Space Simulation, Spacesim, Starflight, Story, Video games | 6 Comments

The Knowable and Unknowable Futures of Open World and Sandbox Games

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Erik Bigras

Nowadays, an open world is almost a must, or what Michel Callon (1986) has called an obligatory point of passage, when it comes to designing an RPG. For example, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Assassin’s Creed, and Fallout all possess a … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged Darklands, Game Mechanics, Jacques Derrida, Michel Callon, Michel Foucault, Open World, Pirates!, Sandbox, Starflight, Story, Temporality, Video Game History, Video games | 6 Comments

	Erik Bigras on Nuances of Satire: Falling int…
	Desmond Miles on Nuances of Satire: Falling int…
	Desmond Miles on Nuances of Satire: Falling int…
	Gaines Hubbell on Nuances of Satire: Falling int…
	Desmond Miles on Nuances of Satire: Falling int…

Tag Archives: Open World

What I’m Playing Now: Elite Dangerous

In Search of Transformative Encounters

A Week with Watch Dogs

Arguing for the Adoption of Persistent Time in Video Games: Part 2 Building a House, Making a Home

A Vulnerable Retrospective: Desolation Games

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 4: Space

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 2: The Old West

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 1: Pirates

BoRT: Why Starflight Changed the Way I Game

The Knowable and Unknowable Futures of Open World and Sandbox Games

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Posts by Author

Recommended Reading

Meta