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Addicted to Death: More Thoughts on Gaming and Masochism

Maybe I'm addicted to critique, to learning through failure, or maybe I'm just addicted to the simple, clear reminder that video games give me sometimes: “Pay more attention, stupid!”

Games

'The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth': Our Ongoing Love Affair with the Twisted Mind of Edmund McMillen

The evolution of this game corresponds to the core idea of Isaac himself, a steadily growing monstrosity that becomes continually more twisted and more interesting with each gross addition to itself.

Games

Returning to Isaac's Body: The Metastasis of the Monstrous

In The Binding of Isaac, the monstrous body may be ugly and awful, but it is unique, free from established rules and stricture, free to continue to grow into something other than what others desire it to be.

Games

'Darkest Dungeon', a Masochist's Dream

For as much as you level up in Darkest Dungeon, you will also level down. This is not power fantasy. This is a fantasy of cruelty and self inflicted pain.

Games

Every Blade of Grass: The Pros and Cons of Photorealism in Video Games

The dream of creating photorealistic video games seems odd to me when considering the medium itself, especially in contrast to other artistic mediums.

Games

'The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth' and the Transformative Power of the Monstrous Body

In The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the body is wrecked and made ugly for the sake of freedom from fear. Instead, it becomes something fearful in its own right.

Games

'The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth': More Grotesque, More Fun

Grotesque, strange, and difficult, Rebirth offers a fantastic vision of what might be the ideal roguelike.

Erik Kersting

Games

Six Little Horror Games That Would Like to Play With You This Halloween

Here are a few little games to put you in the spirit of the spooky season. How you will come out of the other side is up to you.

Games

Dead at Last: Notes on the Consequences of Death on the Virtual Body

In games that feature perma death, by melding narrative consequence to mechanical consequence, a great deal of meaning is added to even the most routine of skirmishes. Death makes play matter.

Erik Kersting

Games

'Runers': What's My Motivation?

Shoot better and better and better. Then, shoot some more.

Reviews

The Pleasures of the Apocalypse, Fantasies of Pain

We don't want utopia. We already have that. We need dystopia, something less familiar, something challenging, something painful.

Games

'FTL' and the Failure of Text Narratives in Roguelikes

While it is possible for a roguelike to tell a story, textually based narratives are a burden to the genre.

Erik Kersting

Games

Gaming and Masturbating, Masturbating and Gaming

Edmund McMillen's A.V.G.M. is a test of fortitude and relies on the assumption that gamers are unwilling to resist their own masturbatory instincts.

Games

Playing to Suffer, Suffering to Play

I have found myself struck with admiration recently by games that I have played that have put me in less than empowering positions, games that celebrate difficulty and hardship, struggling and deprivation, rather than empowerment and excess.

Games

Thinking About 'Cunt'

I had known of Cunt by reputation only. I knew that it bore the stamp of Edmund McMillen's central aesthetic, the grotesque, and thus, that it wasn't going to be pretty.

Games

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Maybe I'm addicted to critique, to learning through failure, or maybe I'm just addicted to the simple, clear reminder that video games give me sometimes: “Pay more attention, stupid!”

The evolution of this game corresponds to the core idea of Isaac himself, a steadily growing monstrosity that becomes continually more twisted and more interesting with each gross addition to itself.

In The Binding of Isaac, the monstrous body may be ugly and awful, but it is unique, free from established rules and stricture, free to continue to grow into something other than what others desire it to be.

For as much as you level up in Darkest Dungeon, you will also level down. This is not power fantasy. This is a fantasy of cruelty and self inflicted pain.

The dream of creating photorealistic video games seems odd to me when considering the medium itself, especially in contrast to other artistic mediums.

In The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, the body is wrecked and made ugly for the sake of freedom from fear. Instead, it becomes something fearful in its own right.

Grotesque, strange, and difficult, Rebirth offers a fantastic vision of what might be the ideal roguelike.

Here are a few little games to put you in the spirit of the spooky season. How you will come out of the other side is up to you.

In games that feature perma death, by melding narrative consequence to mechanical consequence, a great deal of meaning is added to even the most routine of skirmishes. Death makes play matter.

Shoot better and better and better. Then, shoot some more.

We don't want utopia. We already have that. We need dystopia, something less familiar, something challenging, something painful.

While it is possible for a roguelike to tell a story, textually based narratives are a burden to the genre.

Edmund McMillen's A.V.G.M. is a test of fortitude and relies on the assumption that gamers are unwilling to resist their own masturbatory instincts.

Sometimes failing in front of an audience is a good thing.

I have found myself struck with admiration recently by games that I have played that have put me in less than empowering positions, games that celebrate difficulty and hardship, struggling and deprivation, rather than empowerment and excess.

I had known of Cunt by reputation only. I knew that it bore the stamp of Edmund McMillen's central aesthetic, the grotesque, and thus, that it wasn't going to be pretty.