Video game addiction is a difficult issue for those of us involved in the gaming world. It’s difficult to ignore the dangerous effects a game can have on a player’s social and physical well-being. Some players who take their gaming to excess have lost spouses and friends and suffered health complications as a result of [...]
In yesterday’s Blogology, I expressed some frustration about the carefree use of Nazi symbols and themes in video games. I took a little time at the end of the post to discuss what I thought a great World War II game should be. Today, Jim Sterling over at Destructoid has written an intelligent, sensitive post [...]
I think Nazis, as an American cultural symbol, tend to fluctuate in and out of popularity. Right now, Nazis are big. Think about it–Inglorious Basterds. Valkyrie. And of course, there’s that awkward-yet-hilarious meme in which humorists subtitle Hitler’s rants with pop-culture references and redirected fury. So it doesn’t surprise me that, in this cultural climate, [...]
Although I’m more of a SNES partisan, I’ve gotta give some hearty respect knuckles to the N64. Maybe it had trouble fending off the classier PS1, and maybe it spent too much time playing host to third-party trash, but in its element, the N64 was a generation-defining system. Its catalog of games is littered with [...]
Sometimes, a game becomes more than just entertainment. Sometimes it becomes a way of life. In Russia, that game is S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. Russian fans of the gritty first-person shooter have been re-enacting memorable scenes since the game’s release, but recent photos show an improvement in both dedication and technical prowess:
Russia’s fascination with cosplaying [...]
Steam is quickly becoming my new best friend. They’re offering up yet another freebie:
Steam and Epic Games are throwing another one of those Unreal Tournament 3 free weekends, and even though it isn’t the weekend just yet, UT3 is now free to play until Sunday.
If you like what you play, the game has also been [...]
When I was a callow youth, I spent a lot of time on a service called GameStorm, which, I believe, grew out of the pay-by-the-minute games available on AOL. (Remember AOL?) One of the titles it offered was this crazy FPS called Aliens Online. It was based on the film series with Sigourney Weaver, and [...]
At the end of the day, I’m glad there are video game ratings. When I was seventeen, it was annoying to have to drag my mom over to the counter to buy an M-rated game, but now that I’ve got the power myself, I recognize how useful the ESRB’s system can be. Granted, it isn’t [...]
If you’re a frequent Ology visitor, you’ve probably surmised that I’m big on storylines. If a game has a good central narrative, chances are I can slog through hours of sub-par gameplay just to see the conclusion. This isn’t always the case, though–sometimes, story and gameplay unite to create a truly memorable experience. One of [...]
