There’s an insidious pattern repeating itself in sandbox narratives that makes many of these stories feel like they’re ironically trapped inside of a box, even as they theoretically offer large possibilities. If sandbox storytelling is to avoid the fate of the classic MMORPG, it must grow in these challenges or else risk falling by the wayside.
Read MoreIs Elegy for a Dead World effective at generating raw fiction?
It’s possible that Elegy's strengths may not rely on encouraging fiction, but instead, on encouraging essaying and more personal forms of expression.
Read MoreWhat does the year of the gamer entail? Multiple front page hits of the New York Times? Beating TV ratings for eSports? Or maybe it just means good games? We asked our regulars about the brightest moments of 2014, and while they might seem satisfied, some still eagerly anticipate 2015 will shine brighter.
Read MoreThough the challenge of branching video games out from one mechanic to another is hardly a new one, Tales from the Borderlands early success is a strong lesson for developers lucky enough for the opportunity to expand their games’ world beyond their original mechanics. By seeking out key, strong characteristics of the original game, and concentrating on how they interact with a new set of mechanics, developers stand to learn both about their original creation and about the new ways it can be explored.
Read MoreEmblematic Group and Nonny de la Peña’s Use of Force recreates the brutal assault of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a Hispanic, undocumented immigrant whose story, Peña tells SevenCut, took him to a dark end at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol officers.
Read MoreIndiecade, as a festival, can sometimes be a festival of themes. This year -- perhaps more needed than years before -- the theme seemed to focus around relationships, and the physical and nonphysical ways people interact.
Read MoreInstead of being aberrations, there must be a time and a place when bug become a natural part of a video game’s flow. Why is it that some bugs will render a game to be broken, but others are celebrated and hunted by players?
Read MoreWhether it’s in Deus Ex, Splinter Cell or Dishonored, stealth games ask players a question -- when sneaking through a room full of guards, would you rather mercilessly kill your enemies, or would you rather harmlessly knock them out?
Read MoreThe cosplay world can be cynical, and I know that photographers like me perpetuate these disparaging problems.
But from my camera, I just want people to know I consider myself lucky.
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The Mass Effect series invites gamers to view the world through the lens of a so-called "female gaze," which helps redefine how we think about characters that challenges how we think about sexuality and attraction.
Read MoreGames like Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes reminds me what it means to be a "bad gamer." But maybe that was the point...
Read MoreThe "dadification" of video game protagonists is getting old in 2014.
Read MoreVideo Games are frequently compared to cinema, but maybe television is a better comparasion...
Read MoreThe best gaming articles you'll find this side of the Mississippi. Considering the Mississippi does not bisect the planet, we have the best best gaming articles on the planet. Can't vouch for Saturn though, their writers are pretty good.
