Tag Archives: Video games

What I’m Playing Now: Combat Mission Red Thunder

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Erik Bigras

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

“We Just Want to Make Good Games.”

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Erik Bigras

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 →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged audience, Biopolitics, Comment Culture, criticism, Feminism, game criticism, Game design, Game studies, Gender, good games, Habitus, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Video games | Comments Off

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 Severed Prosthetic Memory by NBA 2K14

Posted on April 25, 2014 by LCooke

The discourse of representation, stereotypes, and racism surrounding video games is fraught, and quite frankly not at all progressive. During “black history month,” I took notice to the number of my Facebook feeds that posted the obligatory Black History Month topics, … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Laquana Cooke | Tagged Alison Landsberg, and racism, Bill Russell, black history, black history month, Celtics, Chuck Cooper, Civil Rights Movement, Doris Burke, game criticism, Game design, Game Mechanics, Gender, Hall of Fame, Harlan, inequalities, Jerry West, Kellogg, Lakers, MLK, NBA, nba 2k, nba 2k14, NBA Playoffs, prejudices, prosthetic memory, ps3, Representation, stereotypes, Steve Kerr, Video Game History, Video games, Wilt Chamberlain, Xbox One | 1 Comment

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

DayZ of Indifference: Fighting Against the Injustice Engine

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Erik Bigras

I hadn’t meant to be talking about DayZ this week, but after reading Jason’s post, I just couldn’t resist. As with many of us, I’ve been familiar with the ArmA II mod for a while now. I found it interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Erik Bigras | Tagged 7 Days to Die, ArmA 2, ArmA II, Biopolitics, Bohemia Interactive, Dayz, DayZ Standalone, Doom, Indifference, Injustice engine, Minecraft, Mods, Player interaction, Rust, Sandbox, Steam, Survival, Video games | 2 Comments

Dialogue Options: Where’s the Rhetoric?

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Gaines Hubbell

Last year, Stephen Beirne pointed out the way dialogue in video games is treated as an obstacle—not a part of gameplay. Beirne’s right. But, I’m going to look at why Beirne’s right, particularly for games with dialogue menus. Simulation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism, Gaines Hubbell | Tagged conversation, dialogue menu, dialogue options, dialogue writing, dramatism, Fable, Fuck Videogames, Gaines Hubbell, Kenneth Burke, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Morality, pentad, rhetoric, rhetorical situation, Video games, writing for video games | 3 Comments

Fate of the World: An Epistemological Review

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Erik Bigras

My work leads me to discover some very strange games. After Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus, I’d like to offer you another epistemological review of one such games. By epistemological, I mean that I won’t necessarily be following the traditional formalisms of … Continue reading →

Posted in Erik Bigras, Reviews | Tagged Foucault, Biopolitics, Game Mechanics, Video games, Starflight, Michel Foucault, Neolibralism, Climate change, Scientism, Corporatism, Card Game, Educational game, Fate of the World, Global politics, Transnational corporation, Environmental science, Global warming, Computational modeling, Environmental projections, Arjun Appadurai, Arturo Escobar | 9 Comments

Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus: An Epistemological Review

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Erik Bigras

I return after the holiday season with a confession: I’m not, strictly speaking, a game studies scholar. Rather, I’ve been dabbling and stumbling professionally in this particular academic arena for close to a decade, now. Formally, I’m trained as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Erik Bigras, Reviews | Tagged Alternative model, Anthropology as Cultural Critique, Asthma, Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus, Dominant model, Donna Haraway, Educational games, Etiology, George Marcus, Michael Fischer, Pathology, Pharmaceutical model, Situated knowledges, Video games | 3 Comments

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Tag Archives: Video games

What I’m Playing Now: Combat Mission Red Thunder

“We Just Want to Make Good Games.”

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

A Severed Prosthetic Memory by NBA 2K14

A Vulnerable Retrospective: Desolation Games

Extremism as a Narrative Device

DayZ of Indifference: Fighting Against the Injustice Engine

Dialogue Options: Where’s the Rhetoric?

Fate of the World: An Epistemological Review

Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus: An Epistemological Review

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