Tag: Criticism

Eric Swain External Sources

NPC – Non Play Criticism: Women in Clothes

It is a truism in video game circles of serious thinkers that video games are a young medium and that we are forging new territory with our criticism. That is of course bullshit in both respects. Video game critics are often cut off from other mediums. May perhaps that our medium is so new that more energy is required to get anything done as each new step is not just walking along a singular path among the fold, but having to stir and pour the concrete before a step may be taken. | more

Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts

In Which I Respond to A Blunt Critique of Game Criticism

(Quick history: About a year and half ago I took issue with another of Danc’s posts, the Three False Constraints. It was the longest post I ever wrote. Then his latest post came out and I wrote a 13-page response in one night a week later after it had been edited. A combination of poor sleep schedule, life and laziness kept me from editing it. It was also 13 pages long. In that intervening time it has been edited again, apparently. I couldn’t care less about what was added and this is long enough. | more

Eric Swain Critical Responses, Recent Posts

The Nature of Reading: Interpretation and Auteurism using Final Fantasy VIII and Mulholland Drive

Recently on twitter I was pointed to an essay on Final Fantasy VIII that differs from the more generally accepted reading of the game's story. If you have not read it yet, before you proceed with this post, please do. First let me speak on the essay itself. I think it's a beautifully argued and supports its position admirably. The Squall's dead theory hadn't ever occurred to me. Never once did it enter my mind that discs 2-4 were a death dream. | more