Tag Archives: Story

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

Extremism as a Narrative Device

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Erik Bigras

Playing DayZ has allowed me to reflect on extremism a little bit. DayZ appears to be a game that fosters a plethora of extremes: one is either an extremist bad guy (I’ll kill everyone!), an extremist good guy (I’ll kill … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged A Rape in Cyberspace, Bioshock, BioShock Infinite, Call of Duty, Comment Culture, Dayz, DayZ Standalone, Extremism, Fascism, Frantz Fanon, Game design, Julian Dibbell, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Morality, Narrative Device, Skyrim, Story, The Elder Scrolls, Video Game History, Video games, Walter Benjamin, Wilhelm Reich | 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

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

Kickstarting your Dissertation?

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Erik Bigras

Those of us who are in academia are aware of the diminishing funding opportunities offered. This is especially true if you’re studying a topic that is on the fringe of what is considered “popular” research. I know I’ve been having … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements, Erik Bigras | Tagged D&D, Dissertation, Dungeons and Dragons, Fieldwork, Funding, Kickstarter, Myth, Role-Playing, Story, Table-Top | Comments Off

The Trials of Wilsted Kerman

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Gaines Hubbell

By Gaines Wilsted Kerman is the hero of Kerbin. Wilsted Kerman was a victim of a youthful, exuberant, and careless Kerbin space program, the Kerbin National Aeronautics and Space Administration (KNASA), which having finally discovered the combination of fuel, lift, … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Gaines Hubbell | Tagged Ernst Cassirer, Janet Murray, Kerbal Space Program, Marie-Laure Ryan, Myth, Story | 1 Comment

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Tag Archives: Story

A Vulnerable Retrospective: Desolation Games

Extremism as a Narrative Device

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 4: Space

A Simulated Retrospective, Part 2: The Old West

BoRT: Why Starflight Changed the Way I Game

The Knowable and Unknowable Futures of Open World and Sandbox Games

Kickstarting your Dissertation?

The Trials of Wilsted Kerman

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