Crusader Kings 2 was the first thing I thought of when the conversation turned to “random events and procedural storytelling in videogames” vs the comfort and safety that life simulators are built upon. I’ve admittedly never played a Paradox game, but among my friends, it rivals our D&D campaigns for the number of…

Perhaps it was meant to be implied, but the pairing here is rather on point: Shadow of War may be a ‘power fantasy’, whereas Stardew Valley is an ‘agency fantasy’ - an appealing concept that I think underpins the actual medium to an extent that doesn’t always get fully recognized.

I wish I could recall what I’m referencing a bit more clearly, but it kind of reminds me of a YouTube video (I want to say Mark Brown or Super Bunnyhop) where one of the aspects of game design was creating scenarios where everything behaved predictably. Maybe it was Brown’s essay about good AI. In essence, the idea…

Regarding the site, I kind of feel like a comments section is what people make of it, and the Gameological mainstays are people who are more than accustomed to what it’s like on “traditional” gaming sites. I still remember reading IGN for the first time in 2007; they actually had a section just for ogling women. Even…

Speaking of creeps, just a friendly reminder to everyone here that the MsLangdonAlger poster on this comment section is a fake trying to bash someone who was always a good part of the community here.

Just to be “that” guy, Avatar is definitely heavily influenced by anime and eastern culture, but it was an American produced/written series and was made for US audiences, which makes me think, when you complain about things like word choices or rhythm of speech putting you off, you’re maybe perhaps approaching anime…

Bubblegum Crisis was dope when I was in middleschool, and I did purchase the remastered Blu-Rays via a kickstarter campaign a couple years back out of nostalgia, but I’d be partially afraid to watch it these days.

Marge: But there weren’t Four Musketeers.

Chris would have been a perfect match for Lorelai *if* he hadn’t been overly concerned with money, always. Lorelai certainly enjoys the finer things in life and living comfortably/shopping a ton, but she was very happy living in Stars Hollow with a middle-class life. Chris couldn’t deal with that. He always needed to…

Teenage Jess’ issues and mistakes make so much sense as you get to see more and more of Liz. She throws herself fully into anything and never fully realizes the consequences. I can totally believe that Jess just wants to sulk the rest of his days when his mom is getting roped into another hare-brained scheme.

“The problem with the internet is the anonymity,” they always say.

It’s not simply a DMCA issue, but a question of whether or not LPs are copyright infringement or an example of fair use. When it’s not fair use, the DMCA is working as intended to expediently take down infringing content; it’s only a misuse of the DMCA when fair use isn’t considered (or, as in the Alex Mauer debacle,…

It’s a problem because it’s hard to know, at first, if a game is being unfair on purpose or by bad design, and if it’s too obvious, then the game is basically telling you what’s happening, and a smart player stops trying and dies as quickly as possible. But it’s also frustrating if you feel like you’re being cheated…

holy hell i am excited for this one. carin at the liquor store is one of my favorite songs from this year.

The idea that HP invented fandom seems to be taken as gospel truth by a lot of its fans. (Which is also why I think you get the idea in so many tumblr-esque spaces that fandom is something adults are muscling in on, rather than something that was historically run by adult women.)

I got a letter this week from a very important television personality:

So yeah I’ve just finished Persona 3 FES last week and today I’m gonna stream Life is Strange: Before the Storm at 6.00am EST. It’s gonna be a hella of a time playing as the worst character in Life is Strange.

This is a lovely, tightly-written, well-honed piece, Kyle. Good job, internet.

You know, me have read lot of complains in past year about “mission drift” at A.V. Club, how site writing about politics and food (and yet rarely cookies! What up with that, A.V. Club?), but one thing me have always loved about site is that there always room for something this personal and heartfelt, regardless of…