Mad Catz Fightstick Soul Edition: first impressions
January 23, 2012
I thought I’d do something a little different and write about a gaming toy. Mad Catz doesn’t exactly have a pedigree of high quality peripherals, but their Tournament Edition Fightstick arcade sticks have garnered a lot of praise. Gamers loved the Sanwa-made buttons and stick, and found it easy to modify. After Soulcalibur V was announced, Mad Catz revealed a special edition of their Fightstick with Soulcalibur art and a slightly different button layout. I didn’t even know this had been released, but I felt like maybe it was time to upgrade my existing arcade stick. It arrived today, and I put it through a few hours of light testing. Read More...
A game about (almost) nothing: Limbo review
December 29, 2011
Playdead’s Limbo is a remarkable game in that it takes the barest minimum of what makes a game, and does so much with it. Of all the minimalist games I can think of, Limbo is the most minimal. It’s two-dimensional. There are three total controls (move, jump, grab). There’s hardly a soundtrack. There isn’t even any color. Despite all this it manages to be much more than the sum of its parts. It’s a clever puzzle-platformer that evokes many emotions: fear, disgust, sadness, longing, and also a fair amount of joy. All of this without a single spoken word or piece of explanatory text. Read More...
Drake of Persia: Uncharted 3 single-player review
November 11, 2011
Uncharted 3 can be summed up in one sentence: it does everything Uncharted 2 does, then amps up the set pieces tenfold. But maybe this isn’t as much of a winning formula as Naughty Dog thought it would be. Though I’ll always have a special spot in my heart for the Uncharted franchise, somehow I felt that this latest installment lacked magic. It’s a game where every part is good, but the product is still less than the sum of its parts. Read More...
Thoughts on Heavy Rain
March 27, 2011
Quantic Dreams’ Heavy Rain is a terrible game in many ways. Although it’s been out for more than a year, I didn’t find the right time to play it until today. I sat down, let myself become completely immersed in the game, and played through it all in one sitting. In case you didn’t know, Heavy Rain deals with four main characters and their efforts to catch a serial killer. With the experience fresh in my mind, I can tell you everything that’s wrong with it. Read More...
Anime and Video Games: A Brief Study
March 24, 2010
There have been plenty of games adapted into anime, and vice versa, but I’d hardly call it cross-pollination. But why is that the case? As games have strived to be more cinematic, it makes sense on a certain level to adapt the stories to the medium of animation. Read More...
Persona 4 and the Act of Individuation
July 29, 2009
Spoiler alert: I will be talking about major plot points from the game and the ending. Read More...
Persona 4 and the Shadow Archetype
July 23, 2009
Spoiler alert: I will be talking about major plot points from the game. Read More...
Persona 4 and the Collective Unconscious
July 16, 2009
General spoiler alert: I’ll try not to reveal too many plot details but I make no promises. Read More...
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