Year: 2016

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – The Spawn of History

This month on the Critical Distance Confab I interviewed Bob Whitaker, the man in charge of the History Respawned YouTube channel. What Bob does is not too dissimilar from what I do. Though instead of interviewing critics, he interviews academics and scholars about their field of expertise through the lens of video games that overlap with that subject matter. It’s an interesting and underutilized lens from which to approach games, so I’m glad someone is doing it. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Catches ‘Em All

Last week, we discussed the summer’s hot new game, Pokémon Go. This really was the summer’s big game. It was everywhere and I don’t just mean out in the wild playing it. Culturally it seemed to have saturated the mind share for the past few months. You couldn’t go much of anywhere or read something without Pokémon Go being brought up. It’s why I felt in some way able to talk about it as a cultural event despite having never played it myself. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes ‘Inside’

This week, we inspect PlayDead’s sophomore game, Inside. We go into a long, long discussion on the nature of purpose in art. The dichotomy being, whether it should be imbued with meaning or whether pure expression is enough. And then whether Inside succeeds or fails in regards on those merits. … (This post is lost beyond this point.) The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes 'Inside' » PopMatters "........." - There! That's my quote. Because no one says a goddamn thing in this game. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Battles the ‘Jotun’

This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we look at the brilliantly animated, Norse, giant-slaying adventure, Jotun. This is a game born of Norse mythology. Those stories are inscribed in the worlds you visit. It isn’t just a source for the developer to mine enemy types from, but a presentation of an ethos of that world view. As Nick notes in the podcast he was expecting for a long time for victory to mean Thora would be granted life once again. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Unearths ‘Uncharted 4′

This week we look at a AAA game, the end of the Uncharted series, A Thief’s End. Our usual host, G. Christopher Williams does not have access to a PS4 and had to bow out of this episode. I put the call out for a guest over several weeks and got few responses. Justin Keever ended up being the one we brought on to discuss the game. Instead of having a thesis to discuss this game under, we used the ‘throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ method. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 13 – Soundscapes and Dreamscapes

Last Friday, the latest minisode of the Critical Distance Confab went live. Joining me for this minisode is games and digital arts creator Lauren Schmidt. All the games we discussed had a strange unearthy quality to them in some respect. Sometimes you get lucky when looking for a title because one or both of you say it during the podcast. We’re off schedule for the moment. The minisodes are supposed to come out at the end of the month, but recently they’ve been shifted forward due to reasons. | more

Eric Swain External Sources

Critical Distance Confab – The Hows and Whys of TWIVGB

This episode came about because of scheduling problems. Since I wanted to do these interviews in chronological order, we have a list of people to interview. It generally doesn’t take much to someone’s attention to ask, but it had to happen sooner or later. In the meantime, Zoya and I … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Episode 36 – The Hows and Whys of TWIVGB – Critical Distance | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Learns the ‘One Finger Death Punch’

This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast, we discuss the martial arts mastery action game, One Finger Death Punch. For as simple as the premise is and the fact the game doesn’t have a whole lot of the usual type of material we dig into, we got a good long … (This post is lost beyond this point.) The Moving Pixels Podcast Learns the 'One Finger Death Punch' » PopMatters "Victory: Gold Medal Awarded!" | more

Eric Swain External Sources

The Moving Pixels Podcast Gets ‘SUPERHOT’

We discuss SUPERHOT on this episode of the Moving Pixels Podcast. For all of SUPERHOT‘s solid focus on the mechanics of slow-motion shooting play, there is a lot more going on under the hood. In fact, I’d hold SUPERHOT as a prime example of a game that can’t get a fair shake because the critics purposefully turn their brains off with what it’s saying. The number of people saying that all the narrative material shouldn’t have been in the game and they wished it has been excised, is frankly appalling. | more