Tag: End of Year

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

TGC 2011 Game of the Year

Before I get to my top 5 games I want to give out some honorable mentions to games I played some of, but not enough for me to feel comfortable honoring in my official list. These are games that I either only played the demo to or just didn’t get far enough to pass full judgment on, but in either case impressed me enough to warrant a mention. First is Avadon: The Black Fortress. This is a massive cRPG based in old school isometric design with deep characters and lore that feels relevant to the story to are taking part in. | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

State of the Blog ’11

And so ends the third full year of me trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing. Thank you for whatever readership I’ve garnered in that time and for continue to stick around. In looking over my work here at The Game Critique I find that I did indeed write more this year than last (33 posts to last year’s 24) and that much of my writing hasn’t happened here. Most of the posts here at my blog are External Sources to my work elsewhere and this is by no means a bad thing. | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

TGC 2010 Game of the Year

So, I'm leaving this to last possible moment this year...again. But I have a better excuse than last time of not being able to decide. This time it's because my time has been filled with other projects, the most notable, or at least the one that has been revealed was the rebirth of the Critical Distance podcast. Suffice to say I also haven't played all that many games from this year. I missed out on most if not all of the major releases and most of the secondary releases. | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

State of the Blog ’10

It's been a little over two year since I started The Game Critique. In the past year I wrote fewer posts than before, (only 24 this year) but they definitely have gone up in quality and length. Looking at the posts that I have planned and those that are half finished I find that I may be entering a phase of long form essays. I think and hope I finally may have found my niche and expertise in the critical community that I've long been searching in the dark for. This year was also the year I finally graduated college. | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

TGC’s Game of the Year ’09

So what is my game of the year? Well unlike the last two years when I asked myself that question, there was a clear winner. In 2007 it was Portal and in '08 it was Metal Gear Solid 4. There were plenty of other good games out those years, but those two to me were just obvious. This year has no such easy stand out, hence the lateness of this post. Just to be clear, I have not played everything that came out, not even all the better than decent AAA titles, so this really is a personal pick. | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

State of the Blog ’09

A year and a fortnight ago I started this site from the idea that I wanted to critique games, as one would do to a book or movie, looking at what they mean. It is hard to believe that it has been a full year. In that time, I've learned about the larger spheres of critical communities: the brainysphere, the iris network, the border house and their overlaps. I like to think I've made some friends in that time and haven't totally ticked anyone off with my constant need to argue and debate. | more

Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

I Called It

Well everyone else is doing their end of the year round up, and I thought I'd join the fun. Of course I haven't been around for a major part of the year, hell I don't think I've had an active posting site for a week, but I have been around for the last year and instead of giving my best 10 or whatever else, I'd like to state a few predictions I've repeatedly made to anyone who would listen (I'll do this here come next year) and see how I fared. I think you can guess by the title. | more