For many of us, music serves as the ultimate salve for sadness. Songs about heartbreak, like Robyn’s “Missing U” or Lorde’s “Liability,” are deeply sad songs mired by hurt, but motivated by the belief that things will ultimately be okay in time. This is the emotional register of Sayonara Wild Hearts, Simogo’s rhythm game homage to … Continue reading Opened World: Dancing on My Own
Black Flag plays into our familiar, romanticized idea of pirates, in which Kenway serves as a paragon of roguish masculinity tied down neither to nation nor family. We attribute such archetypal figures with romantic ideals of freedom, youth, and adventure. When we think of pirates, we often think of alluring, wisecracking men from the Dread Pirate … Continue reading Opened World: Men Who Are Boys
Through Abby, the game gestures towards new paths. Abby, daughter to a Firefly doctor murdered by Joel in the first game, leads a revenge mission to Wyoming with a small posse, brutally dispatching Joel in front of Ellie. His murder prompts Ellie to follow them back to their Seattle headquarters to kill them all in … Continue reading Opened World: Let’s Go Home, Abby
Interview by Miguel Penabella Originally conducted December 12, 2019 Edits and introduction written September 1, 2020 When I caught up with artist, professor, and game maker Everest Pipkin late last year, they were wrapping up a semester of teaching but still finding new creative outlets for their talents and expertise. Outside of the college classroom, … Continue reading Player Two: An Interview with Everest Pipkin
By randomizing the selection of available upgrades, Payback radically alters the structure of a Need for Speed game by compelling players to dutifully check tune-up shops to browse the latest supply of speed cards as stock is refreshed every ten minutes (originally a whopping thirty minutes before criticism). In previous games, players typically upgrade their vehicles intermittently, usually at the moment … Continue reading Opened World: Exploitation by Design
Interview by Miguel Penabella Originally conducted December 9, 2019 Edits and introduction written March 17, 2020 What strikes me about Brendon Chung, sole developer of independent studio Blendo Games, is his sustained interest in taking things apart to learn—really learn—how they work. In his many meticulously detailed game development streams on his YouTube channel, he … Continue reading Player Two: An Interview with Brendon Chung
Maintaining and holding onto any sense of community is held in utmost importance, as Act V acknowledges the fragility of a vulnerable public. WEVP-TV producer Emily can be found crouching over the destroyed Video Databank archive, grieving the loss of the town’s communal library of artist videotapes, home movies, and filmed dream diaries. As backstory … Continue reading Opened World: Kentucky Route Zero Act V
Death Stranding and Tacoma are two games that reflect our boring dystopia. They are both concerned with precarious labor, hauling cargo, and data collection, and both feature labor contexts of granular workplace surveillance. In Death Stranding, players are confronted with the constant monitoring of their labor. Sam Porter Bridges, transcontinental porter in a post-apocalyptic United States, grinds away as … Continue reading Opened World: Who Watches the Workers?
Interview by Miguel Penabella Originally conducted November 15, 2019 Edits and introduction written December 24, 2019 Thinking back on her time studying poetry under Charles North at Pace University, game developer and poet Nina Freeman expresses admiration for the confessional, precise prose of Elizabeth Bishop. She shares her love of “In the Waiting Room,” a … Continue reading Player Two: An Interview with Nina Freeman
Interview by Miguel Penabella Originally conducted November 7, 2019 Edits and introduction written December 2, 2019 With its temperate rainforest climate, the Pacific Northwest has no shortage of natural beauty and biodiversity that has attracted many to places like Washington’s Olympic National Park or Oregon’s Cannon Beach, among the many other forests, lakes, rivers, and … Continue reading Player Two: An Interview with Heather Gross
