May 2012
‘The Witcher 2’ Does the Exposition Dump Right
All of the plot is laid bare in the final conversation of the game: a climactic Q&A session.
In Support of Supports
The damage dealers may get the accolades, but the true unsung heroes of class-based games are the support champions and their designers.
‘Max Payne 3’: A Shooting Gallery with Teeth
This ugly world of a Sao Paulo ghetto was juxtaposed against a backdrop of a gorgeous tropical Brazil, making each detail worthy of attention despite the incongruity of the squalor amid natural beauty.
Moving Pixels Podcast: Who Do You Not Want to Be?
Video games allow us to take on roles of people that we could never be. What happens when those people are people we would never want to be?
The Evolution of Alan Wake
The character of Alan Wake has evolved in appropriate ways over the series, but what’s more interesting is how the mechanics have evolved with him.
Multiplayer Memories in ‘Demon’s Souls’
Some notes on Demon's Souls's bizarre social scene on the eve of its demise.
Like ‘Doom’, In Heels
No One Lives Forever suggested that an FPS could actually represent a world to explore, not merely a “game board” to move across.
Nathan Drake Shouldn’t Shoot People… He Should Punch Them
It lessens Drake’s heroism to see him shoot someone, not because it makes him a violent man, but because it makes him look weak.
MMOs and Limited Innovation
Plenty of studios continue to wade into the genre, realizing that even minor innovations in the tired MMO formula can spark success.
The End of the Adventure Game
The Walking Dead might be the end of the adventure game as we know it, and if so, I feel fine.
