You are Death. In a country torn by a violent domestic conflict and industrial revolution,a charity gala brings together a cast of influential and ambitious characters. But the Powers That Be demand you take one life tonight.
How will you choose?
Continue reading “Postmortem: one must die – Announcing my Game and Recruiting Help!”
I used to make fun of Eve Online players, sinking countless hours in what has often been called “Spreadsheets in Space.” But as I sank timeless nights into Patrician 3, I realized there really is something about games that brings out the brilliant organizers and managers in us. Why not do the same in real life?
Continue reading “If you can build a virtual empire, why not a real one?”
The banality of moral choices in games, boiling down to “Choose between being an Angel or Satan” has been criticized ad nauseum. But even with properly ambiguous gray areas, moral dilemmas don’t fully work in games because at their core they are just, well… games.
Continue reading “Banality of Evil – video game moral choices vs. pragmatism”
Is your life suffering a dearth of men in bikinis, dildos or Satan? Fear no more – Starving in Hollywood is coming to your internets!
Continue reading “Starving in Hollywood: Teaser and IndieGoGo Campaign”
When I moved to LA six months ago I was excited to furnish and equip my new heaven. I set out on my shopping sprees, browsing the much-needed goods, but leaving empty-handed and disappointed. All because of that niggling thought in the back of my head… “I can get it cheaper online.”
My roommate has a coffee maker. An old, dirty, rusty and scary coffee maker I refuse to use. That thing is ancient. But I have a degree. Nay, even two; so I put my creative mind to work to overcome the challenge of brewing coffee.
Today I went to buy cornflakes – but which? Plain, honey, almonds, clusters, pecan… What brand? Honey Bunches, Kellogs, Special K, Safeway… God, why do I need to pick between so many almost-identical choices? I want just one, just one that… works.
Continue reading “How cornflakes and PayPal made me appreciate Apple’s philosophy”
Recent RPS article on yet another System Shock 2 (first-level) remake reminded me how much I hate fan game remake projects, and how those efforts could be put to a much better use.
Open-world games like Skyrim or GTA create increasingly complex environments to explore. Whether an evil dual-wielding barbarian or Russian heartbroken thug, the gamer’s playstyle is often characterized by certain underlying tendencies and patterns, reflecting his unique personality traits. But if games can reveal our personality, could they also not be used to fundamentally change it?
Sometimes I feel we got tricked, duped, with that internet and all. Back in the day, we were promised the information super-highway, connecting people from distant lands in a matter of seconds, and all the grotesque and obscure pornography you could ever yearn for. But the more I read the internet, the more it seems a ruse, a clever mechanism that feeds on us. On our anger.