# The Game Critique

> A Critical Assessment of Video Games


## Posts

- [My 2021 Journey in Getting Back Into Reading](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/my-2021-journey-in-getting-back-into-reading/6269/): In January of 2021, I just picked up a book. Everyone has their pulpy, soap opera, lore bait extravaganza that they get into. Magic: The Gathering is one of mine. I had fallen behind on the published stories and decided to get caught up. I also had bought myself a brand-new fancy Kindle and wanted to use it. I combined these two desires. The act of sitting down and reading a book reminded me of what I was missing, even if it was as something as smooth and banal as a Magic: The Gathering book. I went to Barnes and Noble, reupped my membership […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Comes to an End with ‘Torment: Tides of Numenera’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-comes-to-an-end-with-torment-tides-of-numenera/6289/): For the final episode of the Moving Pixels Podcast, we discuss Torment: Tides of Numenera. The original, Planescape: Torment, had been on our longlist of maybe games to do for the podcast for a while. Then its spiritual successor was announced and made. We had the idea at one point to do them back-to-back. Give the two episodes a neat connective tissue. That plan obviously never came about. The fact that we had to give ourselves a lot of lead time to play through merely one of them is evidence enough of why. I don’t think we knew when we […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes to ‘Detention’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-to-detention/6286/): This year’s horror month is dedicated to the Taiwanese indie game, Detention. A school is haunted. A student is haunted. A game is haunted. The past haunts us. That’s the main takeaway from Detention. When it comes to the Halloween episode of the podcast, we kind of let Nick suggest the game. He’s the horror aficionado and he always picks something interesting. You can find the podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the podcast’s RSS feed. “If a paper plane could whisk my dreams away from here, where I could wake up and find myself in a foreign land to start a new life […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Gets Caught Up in ‘A Case of Distrust’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-gets-caught-up-in-a-case-of-distrust/6283/): This month we talk about A Case of Distrust. Four adventure games in a row. This one was Nick’s suggestion as I had never heard of it before. It was a stylish looking text-based 1920’s noir adventure game. The most interesting aspect of the game is the taxicabs you take from one location to another. Every time you can have a conversation with the driver. It’s all optional, but it adds so much texture to the world and as we note in the podcast, so relevant to current day America. The writing was so meaty that I copied down a […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Becomes Sentient, Discusses ‘The Fall Part 2: Unbound’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-becomes-sentient-discusses-the-fall-part-2-unbound/6280/): This month we look at the follow up to one of my top games of 2014, The Fall Part 2: Unbound. While there was a lot of discuss about The Fall 2, so we got a good meaty discussion, I wasn’t as into it as I was the first one. It had all that delicious philosophical material regarding identity and consciousness that captured my attention in the first game. It’s the sort of thing specifically made for me. Yet, I only thought it was fine. That might have more to do with how well I regarded the first game than […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes on ‘The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-on-the-awesome-adventures-of-captain-spirit/6277/): This month we take a look at the prequel? to Life is Strange 2, The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. It’s a short, free game about the power of imagination of a young child in a less-than-optimal home life. It’s more of an indie family drama than the super powered sci-fi tale that the main entries are. It’s a neat exploration of tip toeing around the triggers of an alcoholic father, or at least it was in my head. Really, it’s about a kid whiling away the time when left to his own devices. It did its job. Can’t wait […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses the ‘Circular’ Series](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discusses-the-circular-series/6273/): This month we look at a pair of games by Mike Bithell, Subsurface Circular and Quarantine Circular. Another long one. A little ironic for the focus of this podcast episode being on two fairly small games, but also not ironic given how textually dense they both are. And that’s not just a pun on the gameplay being text based. Both games are like the best of those mid-century sci-fi stories, they’re about ideas and about communication. Subsurface Circular, while nominally a detective story, plays out more like a slice of life experience on the subway. We play as a detective […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Mythologizes ‘Horizon: Zero Dawn’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-mythologizes-horizon-zero-dawn/6236/): This week we get into the huge open world, post-post-apocalypse by Guerrilla Games, Horizon: Zero Dawn. I’m going to come out any say it, this game has a really bad opening few hours. I say on the podcast that were it not for the podcast, I would have checked out after two. They are so abysmally slow and make the hunting combat, side quests and world traversal and all you can find in it so tedious and dull. It doesn’t help that most of the voice acting the opening area is stilted and just bad. Like 90s get the janitor to […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes to Hell…blade](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-to-hellblade/6231/): This month we discuss my GOTY of last year, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Let me just say off the bat I apologize for the awful audio at the very start. I tried to create a sonic experience relating to the game and upon hearing it, I should have just gone with the standard “hello.” Trust me, the game’s audio is light years beyond anything I could produce. I am still in awe of this game even months after playing it. While certain details escaped me, the vast majority of the game’s visuals and sequences are vivid in my memory. Being able to […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Spends a ‘Night in the Woods’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-spends-a-night-in-the-woods/6227/): This month we go back to the Infinite Fall well and discuss Night in the Woods. Depression, mental illness, economic regression, human sacrifice to cosmic horrors, meeting god and realizing he’s a dick, what a lovely video game to spend your hours playing. There’s no way to make that sentence not sound facetious even when you’re being completely sincere. Even three months after playing it, I was surprised during our discussion how vivid so many of the details and scenes were in my mind. I got the order they appeared in a little messed up, but the scenes themselves came back […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Kills Nazis Again, in ‘Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-kills-nazis-again-in-wolfenstein-2-the-new-colossus/6222/): This month, we decided to follow up on our catch up of the new Wolfenstein series with last year’s follow up, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. WordPress didn’t save what I wrote here when I clicked published. It’s gone. I don’t remember what I said and I’m too angry to even attempt to recreate it. You can find the podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes or through the podcast’s RSS feed. “You take freedom away from the American people, you’re playing with fire. And I intend to pour some gasoline.”
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast: The Best Games of 2017](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-the-best-games-of-2017/6215/): The first podcast of the new year. Nick and I count down our Top 7 favorite games of 2017. Why Top 7? Because there were only two of us and that got us as close to 15 games that we’d normally do with 3 people doing a Top 5. The big news is at the end of the episode we announced that we are moving away from a biweekly format to a monthly one. The fact of the matter is that this podcast is essentially a hobby and it was taking up a lot of time for most of us. Chris […]
- [2007: Ten Years Later](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/2007-ten-years-later/6203/): Back in 2014, Tony Zhou, of Every Frame A Painting fame, wrote a blog post about the best films of 2004. It wasn’t stating what they were, but rather a survey of what the critics said they were, a glance at the box office and then comparing the two against what films stood the test of time a decade hence. He went on to use that data to explain why certain films lasted and why they did over certain other films in the same year. I took inspiration from the first part of that effort. That same year, I did the […]
- [Laptop Fluff 2.0](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/laptop-fluff-2-0/6187/): January 9, 2018 | Filed under: Recent Posts, Thoughts and tagged with: Fluff, laptop, RSS A bunch of years ago, I bought a new laptop, one with an actual dedicated graphics card and modern processor. Sufficed to say that as time moved on, it was not as hot or useful as it was when I got it. It wasn’t just that games nowadays require more power in pretty much everything — processor, graphics card, RAM — and year even indie games were causing my computer to chug at times, but really the problem was that thanks to the ongoing updates, my internet browser were causing constant slowdowns […]
- [This Year In Video Game Blogging 2017 – Post-Mortem](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/this-year-in-video-game-blogging-2017-post-mortem/6185/): This Year In Video Game Blogging 2017. I have done so many of these post-mortems it’s getting to the point I feel like I may just be repeating myself. Yet, at the same time, I can’t help but look back at the project this year and think of how far I’ve come over the past 8 years. Eight years. Damn. A lot has changed over that time. I was still in college when I started doing this. In 2010, I had an idea. Critical Distance does roundups for the best criticism featured during the week. It’s the end of the […]
- [Wonder Woman: A Mess of a Movie](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/wonder-woman-a-mess-of-a-movie/6174/): It’s not games related, but I need to make myself write something. I watched Wonder Woman the other day. It’s the first movie in the DCEU I’ve seen and I found myself asking, “how low were everyone’s expectations if this was the good one?” It’s not a terrible movie, but it’s not one that I’d call good either. I spent most of the run time alternating between annoyed, disappointed and bored. Overall, I give it a resounding meh. But unlike most bad movies that have signifiers of poor craftsmanship that either gets in the way of the movie being enjoyable or displays […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Kills Nazis with ‘Wolfenstein: The New Order’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-kills-nazis-with-wolfenstein-the-new-order/6178/): This week we decide to go back to the 2014 Nazi killing game, Wolfenstein: The New Order. ‘This game is better than it has any right to be.’ That has been my quick and dirty mantra about this game whenever anyone asks. Several years later I feel it still holds true. I’m of two minds about a lot of the facets in this this game. Because so many of its statements about ideology and Nazism work, then don’t work, but then work again in this endless cycle. It has meaningful things to say about the nature of fascism and about the […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 16 – Milkmaids and Vikings](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-16-milkmaids-and-vikings/6171/): This is the last minisode of the year for the Critical Distance Confab. Thank you to Angelina Bonilla, Red Angel, for sticking around after her interview to do this extra 15 minutes of recording. I’ll admit, I’m a little iffy about how well we hyped up these two games. Red Angel was trying not to spoil anything and thereby leave the mystery intact to be discovered. I was trying to explain another game where its greatness comes from the building of many details compounding on one another and is not easily reduced to pithy statements. I do this to myself. The minisodes […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Visits ‘Tacoma’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-visits-tacoma/6168/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we go to space to talk AI and workplace drama in Tacoma. This is an interesting one for us, because Gone Home at one point was our longest podcast. There was a lot to dig into and a lot of contextual stuff to talk about. So, one does kind of have some expectations going into Fullbirght’s follow up game. We don’t get as long a conversation out of it as we don’t go into as much detail about the specifics. We come to the conclusion that Tacoma is the more challenging game, both in theme, subject matter and design […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Red Angel](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-red-angel/6165/): I wrap up this series of interviews with video producers and essayists by checking out relative newbie and indie game specialist, Angelina Bonilla, better known as Red Angel. (Also, a lot easier to say apparently.) We had a long fruitful conversation in which Red Angel was able to display her enthusiasm and passion as she explained her own work. And yes, as cliche as it is, we did talk about her being a woman in this field. Together the two of us could only think of three women doing this type of work. She brings a different perspective to video-based criticism […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Plays ‘Pyre’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-plays-pyre/6160/): This week, we talk about Supergiant Games’ most recent offering, the fantasy fire Basketball simulator, Pyre. Nick stated before the recording of this episode that he didn’t want it to bloat into a behemoth like our What Remains of Edith Finch episode did. It’s a fair thing to ask given that he has to edit them. As such, our discussion is mainly centered on the big picture ideas Pyre presents rather than digging down into the nitty gritty character narratives. As such, our discussion of Pyre kind of takes us all over the place. We manage to weave our discussion from game design theory to […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 15 – Horror Games Mark II](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-15-horror-games-mark-ii/6151/): The latest minisode is up on the Critical Distance Confab. Returning for another horror themed episode is my associate from the Moving Pixels Podcast, Nick Dinicola. I haven’t played a lot of horror games recently, so I went with the one I had played, Stories Untold. It was the game we chose to do for our Halloween episode of the Moving Pixels Podcast, which ended up coming out on the same day. Ironies of irony, given that this is a podcast about highlighting games nobody is talking about, the day prior Campster released a video talking about it. Sorry about missing last month. I literally […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Tells ‘Stories Untold’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-tells-stories-untold/6149/): For Halloween this year, we look at the horror text adventure anthology Stories Untold. It’s an interesting game that deserves a lot more people looking at it. Is it good? Well, it’s got a lot of good things in it. Again, we ended up looking at a game that I hope is influential in future titles that pull off what it did, but better. You can also find the first tale of this “anthology” as a standalone title on itch.io. I haven’t tried it, but it does give you the option of seeing if the formal experiments are enough to interest you […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – PostMesmeric](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-postmesmeric/6142/): Alex Carlson, the subject of this month’s interview on the Critical Distance Confab, and his channel PostMesmeric is a relatively new find for me. Because YouTube can only find it in itself to recommend videos I’ve already watched (multiple times) it closes off a lot of what is out there to me. I can’t find new channels and voices because the system does not allow you to know they exist. This is bad enough for channels that have enough subscribers to count as a following, but for small channels like PostMesmeric such treatment is a sentence to toil away in obscurity. […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discovers ‘What Remains of Edith Finch’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discovers-what-remains-of-edith-finch/6139/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast, we discuss Giant Sparrow’s sophomore game, What Remains of Edith Finch. This is a long one folks. It always seems the denser video games are the ones we take longer to discuss.  At the time, I felt we kept going around in circles over the central reading of the game, but it didn’t seem that way when listening to it. There is just that much to talk about in What Remains of Edith Finch. You can find the podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the podcast RSS feed. “But now I’m worried that the stories themselves might be the […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses ‘Tales from the Borderlands Episode 5’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discusses-tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-5/6135/): Weeks later, we finally finish up our mini-series of episodes on Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands. This podcast episode did not go the way I thought it would. See, Nick had steadily become more and more hyped on the game with each passing episode. So, I figured episode 5 would continue our enamored love fest of the game, while trying not to retread all the jokes in it, as with the previous episodes. I did not expect the contentious argument regarding the game’s conclusion that would result. And I don’t mean the final section or shot in the vault itself, I […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Heavy Eyed](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-heavy-eyed/6132/): Last week, we released our next podcast interview with one Mitch Cramer aka HeavyEyed on the Critical Distance Confab. This Kiwi (is that derogatory? should I just go with New Zealander?) relatively new voice on the scene and our discussion is mostly about him finding his footing as a critic. We are rapidly approaching the present with this series as Mitch only started near the end of 2015. It’s getting to the point where there just isn’t enough material or work to talk about for the people who started so soon, relatively speaking. I have one or two more interviews and then […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses ‘Tales from the Borderlands Episode 4’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discusses-tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-4/6128/): This week we continue Telltale’s episodic foray into the Borderlands universe with episode 4. The game keeps getting better and better. We laugh. We cheer. We cry. The heist has got it all. You can find the podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the RSS feed. “Catch a riiiiiiide!”
- [The Critical Distance Confab Minisodes Are Back](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-critical-distance-confab-minisodes-are-back/6125/): August 31, 2017 | Filed under: External Sources, Recent Posts and tagged with: Critical Distance, Podcast Yesterday, I published the first minisode in over a year for the Critical Distance Confab, the Critical Distance podcast. Instead of just advertising the fact that minisodes are back, I’d like to take this chance to go over the whole story behind them: the behind the scenes thinking that went into them, why they left and why they’re now back. This story begins at the end of 2014. For the end of the round up podcast, Kris suggested we should list three games we liked or wanted to highlight from that […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes Crazy in ‘Knee Deep Episodes 2 and 3′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-crazy-in-knee-deep-episodes-2-and-3/6123/): This week we finish up the swamp noir, theatrical play, adventure game Knee Deep with episodes 2 and 3. Can a game be so bad it’s good? I don’t know, but Knee Deep is definitely a game that’s so bad it’s interesting. I know the angry video game critic is … (This post is lost beyond this point.) The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes Crazy in ‘Knee Deep: Episodes 2 and 3’ » PopMatters “After all, you can drown in knee deep water, if you stand on your head.”
- [Critical Distance Confab – The Critic and the Dragon](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-the-critic-and-the-dragon/6118/): Joseph Anderson was one of the bigger YouTubers I managed to get for an interview. The larger one’s subscriber count, the harder it is to get a hold of them. (At least if you don’t already know them like I did with Chris Franklin.) So, I was really glad that I kept pinging away until one of my messages got noticed the deluge of emails he gets. Apparently, I was also the first interview and podcast he’s ever done. I should probably frame this tweet or something. I’m always happy to make someone’s day. I also want to again apologize for he audio […]
- [Thoughts on Batman – The Telltale Series Episode 1](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/thoughts-on-batman-the-telltale-series-episode-1/6102/): August 11, 2017 | Filed under: Game Essays, Recent Posts and tagged with: Batman, Batman – The Telltale Series, Telltale After finishing the first episode of last year’s Telltale Batman game I was just gushing with observations, criticisms and other related thoughts. Instead of trying to pound them into a coherent essay (any one of these points could make an essay unto itself), I figured it would be more accurate and honest to leave them as the grab bag of thoughts they were. Oh and uh, some spoilers ahead. Not for anything big or important, but they’re there. 1. Batman – The Telltale Series has the best opening episode of […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Prepares for ‘Titanfall 2′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-prepares-for-titanfall-2/6099/): This week we welcome guest Max Bernard of ‘Great Levels in Gaming’ YouTube series to talk Titanfall 2. We take a break from the episodic games we’ve started to dive into one of the best shooters of last year, that statistically you haven’t played. It’s a masterclass of design and spectacle and we take a roving tour of the game’s level highlights from beginning to end. The episode is live on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the RSS feed. “Standby for Titanfall.”
- [Moving Pixels Podcast: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 3 – Catch a Ride](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/moving-pixels-podcast-tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-3-catch-a-ride/6095/): This week we continue our drive through Telltale’s episodic adventure game, Tales from the Borderlands, with episode 3 “Catch a Ride.” Sorry about last week, there was a slight snafu hitting the Monday release date. Then then episode was supposed to go up mid-week last week, but that didn’t happen either. So, it’s released this Monday and we’ll be back on schedule next week with the next episode. No extra waiting for it. As for this episode, I was a little surprised on listening to it how much we discuss the other episodes in relation to this one. We occasionally hit […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – A Measured Response: Hbomb](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-a-measured-response-hbomb/6091/): A new interview on the Critical Distance Confab is up. This time with YouTube critic and vaudevillian Harry Brewis, also known as Hbomberguy. (I will never get tired of that moniker. YouTube Vaudevillian.) Proving once again that preparation and not being hocked up on cold medication makes for a better, livelier interview. I was extremely happy with how it turned out, so of course this is first episode I get actual feedback about my worst nightmare: the audio. The feedback wasn’t even directed to me; I just happened to see it. The audio was low quality enough that it took away […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes ‘Knee Deep’ in Swamp Noir](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-knee-deep-in-swamp-noir/6087/): We begin another episodic adventure game to alternate between episodes of the podcast. We begin with episode 1 of Knee Deep. The episode is a bit more chaotic than usual, mostly because I don’t think any of us knew quite what to make of Knee Deep. It’s not a bad game, but it’s also not really a good one either. It’s doing quite a few interesting things, but also, its positioned itself as more generic work in the gaming landscape. It’s hard to read into it when everything it’s doing is rather boilerplate. And then there’s that pesky question we kept […]
- [TGC Game of the Year 2016 Addendum](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tgc-game-of-the-year-2016-addendum/6079/): I struggled a bit with my game of the year list, mainly because I was trying to squeeze more games than would fit. 15 games into 10 slots at final count. I debated whether I should increase the list to 15 to accommodate all the games I wanted to mention. I also did think about forgoing the top 10 format entirely. With an alphabetical list I could put as many as I wanted onto the list without getting wonky with the numbering system. I also had thought about doing what Kyle Kallgren has done for the past two years or […]
- [TGC Game of the Year 2016](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tgc-game-of-the-year-2016/6066/): July 5, 2017 | Filed under: Game Issues, Recent Posts and tagged with: End of Year, Game of the Year Time got away from me. I could have passed on doing this altogether, never published it and nobody would have cared, but I’d know. I’d know and that would gnaw at me. This is a wrap up to 2016. In a way, this is an exercising of the last remnants of that year. Things haven’t improved overall, but carrying on any psychic baggage that could otherwise be compartmentalized away from the present is something I don’t want to do and cannot afford myself. I would […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Talking on Games](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-talking-on-games/6062/): There interview was delayed a little thanks to E3, but here it is with Hamish Black of Writing on Games. I want to quickly apologize for how I sound and my less than stellar ability in asking questions in this one. At the time I thought I was normal and all right to go. Only during the editing did I realize how loopy on antibiotics I was. I also want to make some observations on the changing nature of these interviews that isn’t appropriate to say in the official post. I started last year with James Portnow of Extra Credits because […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses ‘Tales from the Borderlands Episode 2′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discusses-tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-2/6059/): We continue our episodic discussions of Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands with episode 2. There has been a big change in how we handle episodic games in our podcast between this series and the last time we tackled a Telltale game. Before they were a form of audio playthrough. We went chronologically through the events of each episode discussing plot points and our rational for our choices. We did much the same when we did Life is Strange. But our discussion for Tales from the Borderlands is much more fluid. In a lot of it, we aren’t even containing ourselves to the episode in question, […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes ‘Full Throttle’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-full-throttle/6055/): This week we check out the recently release remaster of the LucasArts classic, Full Throttle. I feel like comedies are difficult to discuss in the manner we usually dissect video games. Instead of going into story details, much of our discussion is concerned with the mechanics of how the game functions both literally and thematically. I make a comment near the end of this podcast that we didn’t really discuss the story all that much. Instead, we focus on the pieces that make up the world and the game. We didn’t discuss how to talk about Full Throttle, just that’s how we seem […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Discusses ‘Tales from the Borderlands Episode 1′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-discusses-tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-1/6051/): And so, we begin a new series of episodes on a Telltale Adventure game. This time the action/comedy Tales from the Borderlands. We’ve been away from Telltale for a while so covering Tales from the Borderlands both felt like coming home to a knowable, comfortable quantity and getting a splash of cold water to the face. If there’s a through-line to our discussion, it’s this dichotomy. In changing up to a comedy instead of another tragedy, Tales feels fresh and something of a clearing the air over our burnout of the relentlessness of Telltale’s other titles. But this change also caused some problems for Nick […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Documentary Delight](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-documentary-delight/6047/): I interviewed the director of the gaming documentary Gaming in Color, Philip Jones. This was a bit different from the other interviews, as it seems every interview in this series is, that instead of a whole body of work that I could discuss we focused solely on a single piece, the film. Can’t think of anything else to add that didn’t make it into the interview. I will admit, this one is a little behind the original schedule. This interview came out in the right part of the month, the week of the 15th, the part I aim for, just in the […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Seeks the ‘Lost Constellation’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-seeks-the-lost-constellation/6043/): This week, we discuss the free Kickstarter teaser, demoish thing for Night in the Woods, Lost Constellation. I personally didn’t get much from the game other than a nice, pleasant feeling from the game’s art style, but fellow podcaster Nick liked it a lot. I didn’t have much to contribute this time around, but Nick and Chris went in depth on a discussion of folklore and rituals and how Lost Constellation reflects that aspect of human behavior. You can find this podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the RSS feed. “In their wings,in their trees,all things die,be at peace,cease all care,they are coming,god of the forest,carry us.”
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Becomes The ‘Beholder’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-becomes-the-beholder/6038/): This week we look at the Russian indie game on living in a totalitarian society, Beholder. It’s one of those games where I found the discussion engendered by the game far more interesting than the game itself. I contend on the podcast that this was by design as it felt thematically appropriate to withhold certain aspects of how to play the game but nonetheless makes it a frustrating experience to play in the first place. Nick got more out of it and gleaned some facets about how the game makes you behave by subsuming yourself to the system. Like I said, […]
- [Moving Pixels Podcast Finally Plays the Long Delayed ‘Last Guardian’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/moving-pixels-podcast-finally-plays-the-long-delayed-last-guardian/6029/): We finally get around to talking about the finally released The Last Guardian. This one has been a long time coming. This is one of those titles that has always been on the docket to be discussed, basically as soon as enough of us have played it. We discuss the wait that The Last Guardian put us through and how the expectation game might effect our appreciation of it. Though we do get into a discussion into how The Last Guardian delivers its story and develops the relationship between Trico and the boy through its play. And despite all the expectations that have been built […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – A Cagey Interview](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-a-cagey-interview/6026/): This month I interview Scotsman YouTuber Kevin John for the Critical Distance Confab. We’re getting closer and closer to the present day. Going in chronological order means that the later interviews will be with people who have started not so long ago. Cagey, as he calls himself, started less than two years ago. He also has the smallest and least known channel of the people I’ve interviewed so far. Add that up all together and even John himself makes no bones about how rubbish he is at interviewing. Still, I like his work and he is somewhat different to many of the […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast ‘Reigns’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-reigns/6022/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast, we discuss the tinder-esque mobile kingdom simulator, Reigns. I am sometimes surprised at some of the games we do for the podcast are able to sustain a discussion. For as simple as Reigns is and as reductive as it has to be to fit the format, it has a lot of commentary embedded into its structure. At one point I call it a game of political one-liners. While true for a lot of the mini quests that make up the deck of cards, it’s a bit reductive to regarding the meaning in the mechanics. You can […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Plays ‘Sorcery!’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-plays-sorcery/6018/): This week we look at the first two games in the Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! series. The Steve Jackson’s Sorcery! is so arch that delving into the game in any sort of detail is inevitably going to turn into a discussion of the fantasy genre and its tropes. Sorcery! is from a particular brand of fantasy from the 1980s. Born of the monopolization of the Campbellian monomyth and world building lessons of Tolkien. We discuss the game’s context from which it was born and the effect of a road trip narrative filled with mini-story arcs throughout. We also touch upon if there was a difference between playing […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Think, Game, Love](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-think-game-love/6013/): On this episode of the Critical Distance Confab, I interview Heather Alexandra. It seems there is much variety on YouTube when it comes to video game criticism. This is my 11th interview with video producer and only now do I get to talk to someone about Let’s Plays. Heather Alexandra is also very different in that she is far more informal with a lot of her work. She can do the structured essays but also seems just at ease doing a video where it feels like you’re just chatting with her without you having to say a word. I hate having […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Explores ‘This is the Police’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-explores-this-is-the-police/6009/): This week we dig into the Belarus indie police simulator This is the Police. It was a game that seemed fine at first, but slowly devolved into ‘I don’t give a fuck just be over already.’ I danced around what I felt the major failing of it was, because I hadn’t completely ordered my thoughts on it, but it’s so damn cynical for no reason. And cynical in a way that doesn’t really make sense. It’s a depressing cartoon of a police force that so desperately wants to be taken seriously. It has its moments, but those moments aren’t really attached […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Great Levels, The Best Levels In Gaming](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-great-levels-the-best-levels-in-gaming/6004/): It’s a little late, but the first episode of the Critical Distance Confab for 2017 is up. I interview Max Barnyard about his YouTube show Great Levels in Gaming. We were migrating the server, so uploading the actual mp3 got delayed by several days. This is January’s episode and, despite it releasing in February, you can expect to see another interview later this month. I’d also like to apologize about the first 4 minutes or so of audio. What happened to the previous recording, happened to this one. I just managed to notice that Pamela recording timer was moving about three […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Experiences ‘Event 0′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-experiences-event-0/6000/): This week we go into deep space and talk to a ship AI in Event [0]. We discuss language as a mechanic as through most of the game you are uncovering what happened on a derelict star ship by way of real text conversation with the ship’s AI. The game is a marvel of technical prowess. But we each had issues with it came together as a whole. Strangely enough, each of us had different issues. You can find the episode on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and through the RSS feed. “The act of being in itself is not the problem. It’s just that some ways of […]
- [My PopMatters Reviews from 2016](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/my-popmatters-reviews-from-2016/5986/): I haven’t written for PopMatters in quite a while. When I went to go upload post an article for them the other week I found that I no longer was able to. Most likely my permissions have been changed. Last year, I did write a number of reviews that I never got around to linking to here. I’m still going to appear on the podcast, but given my current situation with the site, this will most likely be the final roundup of written material I published on PopMatters. I don’t have any unique insights in my review of SUPERHOT. Given that […]
- [Moving Pixels Podcast: The Best Games of 2016](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/moving-pixels-podcast-the-best-games-of-2016/5982/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we list our top 5 games of 2016. As I say at the beginning of the podcast, this isn’t my final list. They’ll all most likely appear on my final list, that should be coming soon. But my goal here was to talk up games that we hadn’t done podcasts on and wouldn’t really get talked about. I succeeded in part. My compatriots on the podcast might have cheated a little with their choices, but ehh. What is interesting is that unlike previous years where there would be some overlap between all our lists, […]
- [This Year In Video Game Blogging 2016 – Post-Mortem](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/this-year-in-video-game-blogging-2016-post-mortem/5976/): Has it really been seven years of me doing This Year In Video Game Blogging. Good lord. I hate myself for doing this. Without a doubt, every time I do this project, I hate myself and promise myself outrageous things like, “I’m never doing it again.” It’s painful, exhausting and I usually end up miserable for the entire duration of December. Skipping both birthday and Christmas in my efforts to get this shit done. But, before we go any further, I must link the methodology post for how we do the year end roundup. The basic process for what and how we compile […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Investigates ‘Gravity Bone’ and ‘Thirty Flights of Loving’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-investigates-gravity-bone-and-thirty-flights-of-loving/5970/): This week we look at two small games by Brenden Chung, Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving. Following up on our discussion Virginia we decided to look back at the games we figured had to be an inspiration for its choice of using film editing language. Coming at these two games, many years after their release and their initial splash on the critical scene, we find they hold up very well and in fact still feel part of the vanguard of narrative experimentation. 6 and 4 years later, respectively, and only now do some of the lesson from these experiments seem to […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Interrogates ‘Virginia’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-interrogates-virginia/5965/): On this, the last Moving Pixels Podcast of the year, we look at the cinematic adventure game, Virginia. There’s a lot to talk about with Virginia, mainly because no one in the game says anything themselves. The entire game is wordless, even my quote below required some stretching to get. Because of that, a lot of the game is up to interpretation and insinuation. Of course, before you can ask what is going on, you have to reckon with how the game is delivering its visual experience. And that is what we do. Moving from the cinematic lessons it incorporated to the […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Every Game a Painting](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-every-game-a-painting/5959/): November 30, 2016 | Filed under: External Sources, Recent Posts and tagged with: Critical Distance, Podcast The November episode of the Critical Distance Confab is finally out. Continuing in chronological order brings up to Mr. Mark Brown of Game Maker’s Toolkit. I do feel like I should apologize for this podcast being so late. Though probably in the end it was best I didn’t hit the 15th target date as it would have gotten lost in the shuffle. I do want to explain what happened just to have it written down for posterity. After I finish an interview, I’ve made it a habit to check the […]
- [Exploring the Mind-Body Connection in ‘Soma’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/exploring-the-mind-body-connection-in-soma/5956/): This week, we finish our trilogy of going through the Frictional Games oeuvre with their latest game, SOMA. I really love this game. It was my number 2 game of last year. When we started down this Amnesia route, I knew this was the superior game already and couldn’t wait to get to it and dig in. The discussion we had did not disappoint. Also, stick around for after the ending music. My ending quote inspired an 8-minute discussion on one of the characters. You can find the podcast on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and the RSS feed. “I never felt that comfortable being human in the first place. […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Explores ‘A Machine for Pigs’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-explores-a-machine-for-pigs/5952/): This week we continue on from our last Amnesia podcast with The Chinese Room follow up, A Machine for Pigs. Despite that this episode was going to release in November, we decided to continue our look at/catch up with the horror franchise Amnesia. A Machine for Pigs is familiar as an Amnesia game, but at the same time, noticeably different from Frictional’s take, but with clear similarities to The Chinese Room’s other work. My reference point was Dear Esther and Nick’s was Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. On a personal note, I think this was me at my most coherent in discussing thematic meaning […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Finally Gets ‘Amnesia’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-finally-gets-amnesia/5948/): This Halloween we look at a now horror classic in Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent. One of the reasons I love being on the Moving Pixels Podcast is that it forces me to sit down and finish games by a deadline. I began playing Amnesia 3 years ago. I made it about halfway through before I had to put it down because it was late and I just never picked it up again. So, we decided on Amnesia as hour Halloween title and I had to sit down and finish it. As we frame it, Amnesia is a kind of ur-text for this new type of […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Executes ‘The Deed’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-executes-the-deed/5943/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we discuss the indie murder planner simulator, The Deed. It’s an interesting idea that works more as a proof of concept than as a cohesive whole. That is just my opinion. My compatriots aren’t quite in a agreement on that front. You can get the episode now on PopMatters, SoundCloud, iTunes and the RSS feed. “There are many ways to do the deed,but only the cunning will succeed.”
- [Critical Distance Confab – Games Literary Studies on Youtube](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-games-literary-studies-on-youtube/5938/): Last week, we released our newest interview on the Critical Distance Confab featuring Sam Gronseth, the Game Professor. His whole project emerged out of a class he taught using games to teach literary analysis and critical thinking. From that he created a series of videos to explain the basics of understanding how games work to deliver meaning. Ironically, some of those videos are infuriating to watch despite there being nothing wrong with them. Flashbacks to all the arguments coming back.
- [Critical Distance Confab – This is Innuendo Studios](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-this-is-innuendo-studios/5934/): I’m sorry this is a few weeks late. I wanted it out on time and instead the unedited audio just sat on my desktop for a month, mocking me. Let that not reflect on my interview with Ian Danskin about his work on his YouTube channel Innuendo Studios. We cover from its viral first video about Phil Fish (or not as the argument goes) to his continuing strong output of thoughtful criticism. The podcast is live in iTunes, please rate and review us, and on the podcast’s RSS feed.
- [Highbrow, Middle Brow, and Lowbrow in Free-to-Play Gaming](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/highbrow-middle-brow-and-lowbrow-in-free-to-play-gaming/5930/): September 27, 2016 | Filed under: External Sources, Recent Posts This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we do another anthology of 3 small free games. The games this time are A Date in the Park, Mandagon and The Lion’s Song. For this variation on the occasional trip into free game land, we, essentially, each picked a game out … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Moving Pixels Podcast: Highbrow, Middle Brow, and Lowbrow in Free-to-Play Gaming » PopMatters “No need to linger little totem; heed the words we all have spoken!”
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Explores Act IV of ‘Kentucky Route Zero’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-explores-act-iv-of-kentucky-route-zero/5926/): The long-awaited Act IV of Kentucky Route Zero has been released and now so has our discussion about it. It’s a game about being lost. With each new episode KR0 seems to find a new way to express this both thematically and structurally. While Act IV may be the most constrained episode geographically, it also feels like it is also the most expansive with narrative crafting options. It strange coming back to continue a game after letting it lie two years fallow. I remember almost everything that happened previously, while my co-hosts struggled with the details. In some ways both approaches worked […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – The Spawn of History](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-the-spawn-of-history/5921/): 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. History is one of those subjects that gets thrown under the bus in popular conception, mainly because it was thrown under the bus in […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Catches ‘Em All](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-catches-em-all/5918/): 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. Not a whole lot you can do if your phone isn’t new enough to play it. For all […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Goes ‘Inside’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-goes-inside/5914/): 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. Not sure what you want from me.
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Battles the ‘Jotun’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-battles-the-jotun/5907/): 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. But that isn’t the Norse way of thinking, if you cannot live well, then it’s about dying well. As a […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Noah’s Crit](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-noahs-crit/5904/): We’re back to our series on video-based game critics over on the Critical Distance Confab. This month I interviewed the long-form essayist Noah Caldwell-Gervais. The episode is up on iTunes, so please rate and review the podcast. It would be much appreciated.
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Unearths ‘Uncharted 4′](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-unearths-uncharted-4/5898/): 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. Given that the podcast had been delayed a few times it was more […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 13 – Soundscapes and Dreamscapes](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-13-soundscapes-and-dreamscapes/5900/): 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. I’m going to try and get back on track this month. So, see you […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – The Hows and Whys of TWIVGB](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-the-hows-and-whys-of-twivgb/5894/): 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
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Learns the ‘One Finger Death Punch’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-learns-the-one-finger-death-punch/5891/): 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!”
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Gets ‘SUPERHOT’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-gets-superhot/5887/): 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. Especially when they’re the people usually on the side of defending deeper criticism of video […]
- [Our Own Points of View on ‘Hardcore Henry’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/our-own-points-of-view-on-hardcore-henry/5883/): This time on the Moving Pixels Podcast we discuss not a game, but a movie. Hardcore Henry to be specific. I did not like Hardcore Henry. Let’s just get that out of the way. I came out of that theater only glad I went to a matinee and thus didn’t spend as much money on the ticket. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go and see it. Having said that, talking about what the movie was doing was rather interesting. My main issue with the film is that it’s hard to watch and comprehend what is going on. The main artistic choice makes it ugly […]
- [TGC Game of the Year 2015](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tgc-game-of-the-year-2015/5869/): May 17, 2016 | Filed under: Game Issues, Recent Posts and tagged with: End of Year, Game of the Year This is late. Way later than I ever wanted it to be. Though, giving up on the whole video game critic thing for about 4 solid months last year really cut into my being able to present anything. To my satisfaction at least. Last year, from around the middle to end of July through the end of November I just did not care to take any significant part of the video game critical community. I was just sick of the lot of it. This bled […]
- [Haunted Islands and the End of High School Are Both the Subject of ‘Oxenfree’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/haunted-islands-and-the-end-of-high-school-are-both-the-subject-of-oxenfree/5864/): We’re back with another episode of the Moving Pixels Podcast, this time talking about the indie adventure game Oxenfree. I heard good things about this game and I’m extremely glad it did not disappoint. You can hear my enthusiasm for it in my voice when we discuss it. I knew so little about Oxenfree going in and somehow it managed to exceed all my expectations for it. There, that’s my recommendation for it. So, give the podcast a listen if you want to hear us discuss the craftsmanship of the walk and talk as well as my (I’m sure) hilarious attempt at explaining […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 12 – Not Dark Souls](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-12-not-dark-souls/5860/): Another minisode is up, this time with freelance critic Nick Capozzoli. As is the way, when I recorded this minisode, I hadn’t heard a peep about 1979 Revolution: Black Friday. So, of course, two days later about half a dozen articles dropped. Ah well, still a game worth discussing. As for the title, I’ve been trying to come up with titles whose description encompass at least half of the games talked about. It’s why some of them seem really strained when there is little to no overlap. In this case it’s Nick and I mentioned Dark Souls for one reason or another regarding […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Chat with Matt](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-chat-with-matt/5834/): The latest CDC interview is one I’ve been looking forward to, specifically because of the content of Matt Barton’s channel. He is an interviewer and obviously that is going to appeal to me. Not only do I get to commiserate, I also get to pick the brain of someone who … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Episode 34 – Chat with Matt – Critical Distance
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Looks at the Scenic Vistas and Human Drama of ‘Firewatch’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-looks-at-the-scenic-vistas-and-human-drama-of-firewatch/5857/): This week on the Moving Pixels Podcast we talk about the out in nature First Person Walker, Firewatch. Despite Firewatch essentially being a mystery game, we spend most of our time discussing how the game divorces itself from that genre, or fails to do so, depending on which one of … (This post is lost beyond this point.) The Moving Pixels Podcast Looks at the Scenic Vistas and Human Drama of ‘Firewatch’ » PopMatters “You came out to put your memories behind you and they’re still right there, in front of you.”
- [Critical Distance Confab – Camp’s Signal](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-camps-signal/5853/): With this interview we are entering the more modern conception of video based criticism. The video essayist. First on the docket is Chris Franklin aka Campster. It’s a good interview and not surprisingly, in many ways, sets up future discussions of video as evolving form of criticism. Thanks to Chris … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Episode 35 – Camp’s Signal – Critical Distance
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Takes a Trip to ‘Pony Island’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-takes-a-trip-to-pony-island/5850/): This time on the Moving Pixels Podcast we discuss Daniel Mullins’s game Pony Island. This is a weird little game that I think I kind of love almost solely for its weirdness. It’s always throwing something new at the player and never allows itself to become complacent or stale. And it ends in the most pitch perfect way possible of an uber triumph of bombastic proportion within its own stylistic confines. I also like that there may be more underneath the surface that we just weren’t able to tease out. It gets into a discussion about deep dives with games. With […]
- [Storytelling Engines: The Story Arc Has Ended and Yet the Game Keeps Going](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/storytelling-engines-the-story-arc-has-ended-and-yet-the-game-keeps-going/5847/): I wrote this piece trying to examine my own response to “storytelling engine games” and why they don’t grab me for long. Every time we do one of these games for the podcast I end up on the “ehh” side of lukewarm. Darkest Dungeon being the most recent, but you … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Storytelling Engines: The Story Arc Has Ended and Yet the Game Keeps Going » PopMatters
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 11 – Grab Bag of Games](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-11-grab-bag-of-games/5844/): The newest minisode for the Critical Distance Confab is up. A few days late but no matter. I would first like to apologize for the audio quality on this one. Since I couldn’t get anyone online to join me, I grabbed IRL friend, Fred McCoy, who was over at my … (This post is lost beyond this point.) Minisode 11 – Grab Bag of Games – Critical Distance
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Plumbs The Depths of the ‘Darkest Dungeon’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-plumbs-the-depths-of-the-darkest-dungeon/5841/): On this episode we delve into the Darkest Dungeon, the horror RPG that hates you. I find whenever we do one of these roguelike games that’s light on authored content, you have to hope the description of how it plays leads to some sort of metaphor. Thankfully, Darkest Dungeon is one of those that does. The game hammers hard on the “grind up those cogs in the corporate machine” message. But beyond that base message and a few shades of specifics in the behavior that is rewarded by the system, there doesn’t seem much. These types of games don’t last long with me […]
- [Mind of the Machine: AlphaGo and Artificial Intelligence](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/mind-of-the-machine-alphago-and-artificial-intelligence/5838/): I finally wrote a new column for PopMatters. I stayed up all night several days in a row to watch the AlphaGo vs. Lee Sedol match play out. It was being held during the day in Korea so that meant it started around midnight here on the East Coast. I feel it was worth it. I really like the game of Go and try to talk about it when I can, but unless you are ingrained in the game, a lot of the specifics are utterly meaningless. I suppose that’s a lesson that could be applied to most games. Except, I feel if I […]
- [Hinduism and Buddhism Meet Science Fiction in ‘Cradle’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/hinduism-and-buddhism-meet-science-fiction-in-cradle/5831/): This week’s episode of the Moving Pixels Podcast is on the indie game Cradle. I was on this podcast, but it was quickly apparent to me that I had nothing to say on this game. I was near catatonic I was so bored with this game. So, I’m introduced, make some comments at the beginning and then am pretty much silent for the rest of the running time. Which is a pity given all the fascinating things Chris and Nick were able to get out of this game. Especially because Buddhism and Hinduism don’t show up in games as anything more […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 10 – Abstract Aesthetics](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-10-abstract-aesthetics/5828/): I’ve heard from former Critical Distance editor-in-chief, Kris Ligman, that people like these minisodes as a shorter format discussion. Well, sorry for this month. Sometimes there’s such a good rapport with a guest that controlling the time gets away from me. Heather Alexandra and I had such a rapport. Of course, what do I know. I’m just throwing stuff into the void. Wish I could figure out the download figures for each episode. Find out if anyone is listening. As of writing, the Critical Distance Confab still only has a single review on iTunes. I wonder if people listening know that […]
- [Learning about Love from ‘Cibele’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/learning-about-love-from-cibele/5819/): Just in time to miss Valentine’s Day we look at the confessional, autobiographical love story by Nina Freeman, Cibele. Cibele is an important game in the video game landscape right now. You wont find too many games as personal and as open as it. It’s short, yet dense in its drive to reach for that singular emotion of that event. I am positive towards it on the podcast, but that was recorded weeks ago after playing it. Now, I’m having trouble remembering that emotional resonance.  Don’t really have much more to say than that. I think we had a good discussion regarding […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Game OverThinker](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-game-overthinker/5822/): I will admit, I continue to be a little surprised by who I am able to get for Critical Distance podcast interviews by simply asking. This month I had on Bob Chipman, aka moviebob, to talk about his Game OverThinker YouTube show. Ok, neither he nor James Portnow are exactly huge, but compared to me, wow. I was told to focus on the historical side of things as what Mr. Chipman does isn’t really criticism, per se. But he is undeniably a big early voice in the now exploding YouTube scene. And doing so lead to some interesting points such as […]
- [‘Tales from the Borderlands’ episode 5 review](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-5-review/5815/): It’s good. If you’ve waited this long to find out whether or not you should get Tales from the Borderlands, I really don’t know what to say to you. If you haven’t finished it or even played it yet, then you should really go remedy that before continuing to read what I have to say here. There is a concept of the innovator and master in art. The idea that some artwork innovated on a concept and later some other artwork showed mastery of that innovated technique or style. There’s a whole lot of problems with this reductive idea, but let’s […]
- [‘Tales from the Borderlands’ episode 4 review](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-4-review/5812/): What I’m loving about Tales from the Borderlands is that it allows itself to go wherever the story needs it to. Case in point, after three episodes of being a treasure hunt, the game just up and says, “let’s change genres. We’re now a heist film.” Ok, a treasure hunt and a heist aren’t too far off from one another in the narrative output department, but it is still a big shift in focus. Now that our plucky cadre of miscreants are under the thumb of Pandora crime boss Vallory, they have to satisfy her desire to complete the vault key rather […]
- [‘Tales from the Borderlands’ episode 3 review](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-3-review/5807/): I don’t remember where I heard, saw or read this, but I remember an interview with John Cleese, the estimable comedian behind Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda, that he had to learn how to do comedy differently for each of those works. When he moved on to doing a full half-hour show in Fawlty Towers, he realized there was a difference to how he was doing the few minute shorts of Monty Python. Then when he moved on to making a full feature film with A Fish Called Wanda, he realized that nature of the comedy had to change again. In each instance, […]
- [The Moving Pixels Podcast Gets Under the Hood of ‘Undertale’](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-moving-pixels-podcast-gets-under-the-hood-of-undertale/5804/): This episode we talk about last year’s indie darling Undertale. Don’t know what I can say here that I didn’t managed to say on the podcast itself. I went in expecting Undertale to disappoint me due to overhype and it did not. I also didn’t “finish” the game as there is so much more to it once you “beat” it on the first go around. You can find it on PopMatters, SoundCloud and the RSS feed for use in the podcatcher of your choice. “You are filled with determination.”
- [Critical Distance Confab – Minisode 09 – Long Games and Short Games](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-minisode-09-long-games-and-short-games/5801/): Good news everybody! We’re continuing the minisodes on the Critical Distance podcast into 2016. What a shock, I know. The one decent thing I managed to do last year and I’m going to continue doing it? Wow. This month I had Todd Harper on. No, Professor Todd Harper on to talk about more games that no one else seems to be talking about. As unsure as Todd was before the podcast about the games he wanted to talk about, and we actually had to workshop his third game, but damn if he didn’t come prepared with potential essay topics for his games […]
- [Moving Pixels Podcast: The Best Games of 2015](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/moving-pixels-podcast-the-best-games-of-2015/5797/): It’s that time of the year again, where those of us on the Moving Pixels Podcast list our top 5 games of the year. I’m a little disappointed that Chris didn’t makes one of those vertical slice composite images of our game choices like he did in previous years and instead went with a generic screengrab from one of the games. Ah well. I always like these look backs and celebrations of games we loved.  While I personally haven’t yet got to all the titles I want to get to in order to make my “official” list for here, I feel […]
- [Critical Distance Confab – Supplementary Grades](https://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/critical-distance-confab-supplementary-grades/5794/): Last year I interviewed authors and editors of books and publications. The focus was criticism via the written word outside the medium of the internet. Now I’m moving on to other mediums, first up video. I cannot say how flabbergasted I am that I actually got James Portnow to come on the podcast to talk Extra Credits. I didn’t reach out to him; he reached out to me through Kris. This still astounds me some months later. I knew I would be moving on to video next and there were plenty of people I could easily contact to set up an interview […]

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- [About](https://www.thegamecritique.com/about/): “Thegamecritique.com,” could there be a more pretentious name for a video game website? Gamecritique.com sounds overblown and self-important enough, but to put a “the” at the beginning, like this is the only place to get such a thing, pushes it over the edge. So why on earth would I call it that? Short answer: it was available, and you don’t let a name like that hang around unclaimed. Slightly longer answer is that it is what I aim to provide. Video game are coming into their own as medium and art form as they are now equipped with the tools needed to […]


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