Year: 2010

Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter – A Book Review

I haven't done video game reviews on this site. I also don't intend to. I have only done video game critiques or criticism. The name in the top banner should be enough of a clue. So it is interesting that the first review I do for a blog about video games is really about a book. faster full movie high quality part I finished Tom Bissell's Extra Lives over a week ago, before E3 started. I wanted to finish those posts on inFamous before I got around to writing on the book. | more

Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

What I got from E3

I know it's kind of pointless to write anything on E3, especially after this pretty much summarizes the whole thing, but it's my blog and I want to. inception on youtube full movie Going into E3 I wanted to see only a few things: Beyond Good and Evil 2, The Last Guardian, Dragon Age 2, Mirror's Edge 2 and anything that hadn't already been announced. That last one is a little innocuous, because with the exception of The Last Guardian, none of the others on my list have been announced. | more

Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

The Morality of inFamous

Probably the most talked about part of inFamous is the moral choice mechanic. The idea is to split the choice between good and evil options, which can be interesting, but the criticism has been leveled at how it is handled. Reasoning in later choices makes less and less sense as you continue on. The options in the early choices are both justified, while later ones seem to prove that you have a problem with rational thought (if you choose the evil route that is). | more

Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

The Propaganda of inFamous

(*minor spoilers*) While the story of inFamous is told through the standard methods of cutscenes, found messages and calls from allies and mission handlers, it adds aftermath commentary. In the form of propaganda, the game provides story related and world building feedback on your actions. The messages only relate to the main story missions, so the words don't change, but the effect they have on you as the player as you relate to your in-game character is different. | more

Eric Swain Game Essays, Recent Posts

The Milieu of inFamous

I would place the introduction of inFamous as one of the better opening levels in open world gaming. I say this because it sets the stage to not just for the game, but also more importantly for the milieu. Milieu is the French word for environment or setting, but it means more in literary theory and in stories where it is about creating an evocative setting as much or more so than characters, it is treated as a major character. It becomes as important if not more important than those whom the story follows. | more

Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts

The Ebert Response

For those of you are utterly sick of this issue, bear with me. I am with you. I am tired of people questioning whether video games are art or not. Yes they are, now move on. But when someone like Roger Ebert brings it up and declares that opinion loudly to the rest of the world, a world ready and eager to accept that proclamation, then we have to stand up and say you are wrong. You are mixing your facts up. You are missing the point. You are looking in all the wrong places at all the wrong things. | more

Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

Games are Structure

(Forget it, this is going up as is. - Eric Swain) My last post was really only the first half of a longer first draft I wrote on paper. When transcribing it I realized it started to meander and connect too many points, so I cut it down and resettled everything else into another post where it would hopefully make more sense. I wrote about how my exposure to Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition at PAX East sparked that tabletop creative part of me and I started a new campaign. | more

Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

4th Edition and Cooperative Storytelling

After PAX East sparked my interest in DnD and my players wanted to get back to it, I decided to give it a try. I liked the 4th edition simplification and streamlining of the rules. So I got the core books and read through them in anticipation of trying a new campaign. What I want to talk about came about at the end of our character creation session.  Using the suggestions in the Player's Handbook #2 the players use the possible background bullet points to create their character's pasts. | more

Eric Swain Recent Posts, Thoughts

PAX East in 67,719 Words

I got to Boston around 3 pm on Thursday. Plenty of time for the pre-PAX meet up and Justin's birthday. I spent some time at the Copley mall before heading up to the Cambridge Brewing Company. I got there really early, so early in fact that I sat around doing nothing and that usually leads to worrying thoughts, like: am I at the right place? Do I have the wrong time? How in the hell would I recognized them? How in the hell would they recognize me, given that there is no known picture of me on the internet because I spent a good deal of effort to accomplish that? | more

Eric Swain Game Issues, Recent Posts

An Act of Non-Consequence

I've been on a documentary binge as of late (Thank you Netflix) having watched 6 in the last 24 hours at the time of writing. As it so happens while watching them, I noticed a correlation in the behavior of the subjects of the majority of the documentaries and players of video games. The documentaries in question, or rather the aspects of the documentaries I'm going to talk about, all deal with the idea of responsibility. Of course it's very easy to point to who is responsible, but then the question becomes 'why did/do these things happen in the first place? | more