January 31, 2009 Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts

January’s ’09 Round Table Entry – Sister Carrie

Putting the Game Before the Book: What would your favorite piece of literature look like if it had been created as a game first? ...rather than challenge you to imagine the conversion of your favorite literature into games, I challenge you to supersede the source literature and imagine a game that might have tried to communicate the same themes, the same message, to its audience. Better late than never. | more

January 29, 2009 Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

Prince of Persia’s Epilogue DLC – WHY?!?

I decided to not write on it immediately, get a good night sleep and and take some time to digest what Ubisoft has just done. I was angry last night when I checked IGN and found this little tidbit heading the day of news. Basically Ubisoft will release a DLC pack for their recent game, Prince of Persia. It will included an increase in difficulty, two new unlockable skins, a new attack for the Prince, and a new power for Eleka. | more

January 28, 2009 Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

The Proposed Story Arcs for Prince of Persia

I talked about how the story structure in Prince of Persia didn't work for me and how the various villains fit in the game's thematic consistency. Now I'm going to combine the two ideas. This may come off as a little dictating from on high, but oh well. | more

January 23, 2009 Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

Thematic Relevance of the Vignettes in Prince of Persia

The servants of Ahriman are the thematic representation of their fall from grace and at the end of the game, a representation of the Prince. Each had a desire that could only be fulfilled giving something to Ahriman, in their case, their souls. However, like Faust, they find their wishes fulfilled, but empty. | more

January 16, 2009 Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

The Failure of Prince of Persia’s Story Structure

The title pretty much sums up thesis for this essay. Prince of Persia has fallen to the trend of non-linear gameplay. It's the new buzzword in the market. That's all fine and dandy, and in the weeks up to its release even I praised the design as a merging of story and gameplay. However, now having played the game Prince of Persia has replaced Mirror's Edge as my most disappointing game of 2008. It has nothing to do with the gameplay. It has to do with the story and more specifically with the story's structure. | more