L.B. Jeffries

Features

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Redefining the Game: A Look at Machinima

[16.Jul.08] :. "Whatever we're doing, it's all story telling -- and if the story's bad then the appeal can't last to the gamer crowd let alone anyone else."

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Play's the Thing: The Art of Video Game Writing

[7.May.08] :. Many of the people who make the video games you play don't like having a plot at all, much less a good one. It constrains their designs and forces them to sacrifice player freedom for something that the player should be doing themselves.

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Multimedia

The Carolina Games Summit Through the Eyes of the Ex-Core

[7.Mar.08] :. Kids, spouses, and jobs are all huge time drains for former hardcore gamers. The appeal of games with unlockable content, beating impossible odds, or even ones that just take a lot of practice no longer work on this demographic. They really play them to kill time.

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Multimedia

Rejecting the Conventional Industry: The Independent Gaming Scene

[27.Feb.08] :. What makes the games these people produce so impressive is not just the dedication of the people making them, but the staggering creativity that makes so many of them stand out.

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Books

Olaf Stapledon: Of His Time, and Others

[16.Nov.07] :. To sit and complain about the lack of credit Stapledon receives is to undermine the very principle for which he was writing about: mankind's yearning for community.

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Multimedia   Above the Sea of Fog: The New Romantic Era of Video Games

Columns

Moving Pixels

Just as Fun to Watch

[9.Jul.08] :. L.B. Jeffries talks to "Boner", a gamer who has managed to build a following simply by allowing an internet audience to watch him play.

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Reviews

Featured Article

Multimedia

Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire

[22.Sep.08] :. This remake is such a precise recreation of the original, right down to all of the scenes looking exactly the same, that there are no real complaints to make.

Recent Multimedia reviews

 

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Roogoo

[8.Sep.08] :. Roogoo simplifies several puzzle game concepts while adding a variety of challenges to sustain the interest of its players.

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Randy Balma: Municipal Abortionist

[18.Aug.08] :. The concept of video game design and architecture has been expressed by several academics and yet within it there doesn't seem to be much room for Randy Balma: Municipal Abortionist.

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Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

[11.Aug.08] :. In Final Fantasy Tactics A2 there isn't really a point at which you can stop grinding and say, "I'm ready to hear the plot now".

Recent Multimedia reviews

 

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The Political Machine 2008

[30.Jul.08] :. It’s like playing Monopoly without the dice or the satisfaction of ever owning property. You just go around and around the board bidding on things.

Recent Multimedia reviews

 

Multimedia   Wii Fit

Multimedia   Myst

Multimedia   Summon Night: Twin Age

Multimedia   Everyday Shooter

Multimedia   Insecticide

Multimedia   Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

Multimedia   Naruto: Ninja Destiny

Multimedia   Immortal Defense

Multimedia   Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

Multimedia   Patapon

PopMatters Pick

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Sam & Max: Season 2

[21.Mar.08] :. The comedy routines between Sam and Max run a bit like Calvin & Hobbes humor taken to a freakish extreme.

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PopMatters Pick

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Audiosurf

[17.Mar.08] :. The real joy of Audiosurf is picking a song, any song, and seeing it literally appear before you as you travel and listen along.

Recent Multimedia reviews

 

Multimedia   game, game, game, and again game

Multimedia   Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice

PopMatters Pick

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No More Heroes

[22.Feb.08] :. Whether you'll enjoy No More Heroes really boils down to whether you're the kind of person who can make fun of yourself or you take yourself so seriously that you don't get the joke.

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Multimedia   Blackwell Unbound

Multimedia   Aquaria

Multimedia   Jenga World Tour

Multimedia   Trilby: The Art of Theft

Multimedia   Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull

Multimedia   Namco Museum Remix

Multimedia   Dementium: The Ward

Multimedia   Chibi Robo: Park Patrol

Multimedia   Mega Man Star Force

Multimedia   Carnival Games

Featured Article

Multimedia

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

[30.Jul.07] :. Resident Evil 4 is the best action game to yet be released on the Wii, and will probably be the first of many games to be made in this fashion.

Recent Multimedia reviews

 

Multimedia   Mario Party 8

Multimedia   Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End

Multimedia   American Idol Talent Challenge

Multimedia   The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Blog posts

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ZA Critique: Ico

[7.Oct.08] :. An in-depth analysis of Ico based on the ideas from the Zarathustran Analytics. Spoilers abound.

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Flash Game: Storyteller

[2.Oct.08] :. I found this flash game thanks to Play This Thing!.

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Future of Video Game Litigation

[30.Sep.08] :. The fun and wacky world of lawsuits and what may happen when they go online.

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Crafting Linear Game Plots

[23.Sep.08] :. A discussion of the various elements of a linear game narrative and how they come together.

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Gameratis

[16.Sep.08] :. A variety of science fiction authors offered theories about internet culture in the nineties, observing the potential and predicting various modes of expression possible in such a medium. William...

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Moving Pixels   Games Into Space

Moving Pixels   Super Mario Galaxy Poem

Moving Pixels   Reality and Virtual Reality

Moving Pixels   C***

Moving Pixels   Game Revenue Issues

Moving Pixels   To Ken Levine

Moving Pixels   Universal Game Design

Moving Pixels   How to Make Non-Linear Reactive Stories

Moving Pixels   Learning to Love the Wii Fit

Moving Pixels   How, then, shall we Hype?

Moving Pixels   Baby Boomers & Video Games

Moving Pixels   The Great Divorce

Moving Pixels   The Difficulty with Difficulty in Games

Moving Pixels   How to Talk to Fans

Moving Pixels   Something Completely Different

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics Synopsis

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 10: The Value of Player Experience

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 9: Flaws in Criticism Today

Moving Pixels   Execution - An Experiment in Game Consequences

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 8: The Factions of Gaming

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 7: Application of Forms

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 6: Accomodating Nonconformity

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 5: The Four Forms

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 4: Player Input via the Silent Protagonist

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 3: Plotting the Plot

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 2: The Role of Depth

Moving Pixels   Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 1: Finding Identity

Moving Pixels   The Zerg Through the Eyes of Marx

Moving Pixels   Thou Shalt Kill: A Look at Violence in Video Games

Moving Pixels   Broomsticks for Boomsticks

 
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