Search Results for “narratives” – Page 10

September 3rd

…reference to two different wars.

Searching for the past in the Call of Duty: WW2 beta • Eurogamer.net Edwin Evans-Thirlwell actually finds the shadow of present day problems all over the latest design choices made by Ubisoft.
Selective authenticity and the Spanish Empire in computer games. Spanish journal of games writing Presura has started publishing in English. This piece, by Fede Peñate Domínguez, argues that the portrayal of Spanish conquerors in games tends to privilege outdated heroic narratives that were once used to justify colonialism.

“digital simulations of the past still draw from historical

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Contrast

Dissonances are also explored in these two pieces on the surprising narratives told through games that seem to be about one thing but turn out to be about another.

Opened World: The Night Is Young – Haywire Magazine Miguel Penabella praises the understated yet sensitive storytelling of a game that, on the surface, should surely just be about making cars go very fast.
In Stardew Valley, Ignorance Can Be Bliss | Kotaku Kirk Hamilton makes a compelling argument that Stardew Valley’s rarely-acknowledged ludonarrative dissonance is deliberate and effective.

“It’s a

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…those at the top, and Destiny 2’s society is no exception. No one accomplishes anything alone, but the epic narratives of heroic conquest that drive Destiny players to reach new heights of power and ability do plenty of groundwork to paint it that way.”

Super Mario Odyssey

Nintendo’s latest Mario title has many reviewers praising its joyful atmosphere and skilled design – however, two critics have raised a rather thornier issue.

Video Game Journos and Giving Mario a Pass | Unwinnable DH Shimomura calls out games critics, with the exception of Julie Muncy, for not…

November 12th

…videogames contributing to the lack of imagination regarding our possible futures? Darshana Jayemanne and Ben Abraham look for climate fiction.

Everything Is Dying and It’s All Our Fault | First Person Scholar Cat Goodfellow adds further texture to how we evaluate climate change narratives, and gives us a survey of necropastoral games.

The War of the Worlds, as told by videogames | ZAM – The Largest Collection of Online Gaming Information Matt Suckley’s history of videogame adaptations of War of the Worlds asks how a story so influential is not a more lucrative media franchise.

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January 21st

…effects are examined by two critics this week.

Digital Voyeurism – A Familiar, if Strange Game | Unwinnable Alyse Stanley compares the ethical implications of two different approaches to narratives that center on a fictional character’s personal communications.
What Remains of Edith Finch and losing someone you love – Polygon Simone de Rochefort discusses personal spaces and grief in an account of playing a game about loss while one is mourning the passing of a loved one.

Fantasies

Literary analysis is front-and-center in these three pieces that look at character development, agency, and intertextuality.

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January 28th

…significant not just as a way of building anticipation, but as an exercise in control and restraint.

Gender

Three critics take detailed, nuanced approaches to looking at gender politics in game communities and narratives.

The Stereotype That Women On Twitch Are ‘Asking For It’ – Kotaku Cecilia D’Anastasio interviews women who stream on Twitch with a variety of business models, coherently showing that regardless of how they dress or perform, everybody deserves safe and supportive working conditions.
How ‘The Red Strings Club’ Sabotages Its Hopeful Cyberpunk Vision – Waypoint Danielle Riendeau highlights a misstep…

February 4th

…That Best Describes Our Uncanny Reality – Waypoint Liz Ryerson surveys the spatial narratives and remarkable subversions that have been created through Doom mods.

How Dark Souls, Bloodborne and more imagine the cosmos • Eurogamer.net Andreas Inderwildi offers a richly-illustrated account of the cosmologies of a number of lore-heavy games.

In praise of video game castles • Eurogamer.net Phillip Boyes surveys the history of castles in games, from their roots in Tolkienesque D&D to their subversion in mid-1990s Final Fantasy games, to their relative denouement as a trope in game design.

“As every reader of…

February 11th

How can interactive systems subvert the way we normally think things are supposed to be done? This week’s roundup features a number of articles on designing games for different ways of being, as well as examinations of how visual design can make things feel familiar.

Discipline

First, two writers take on the ideological expression of games, in relation to capitalism and religion.

Clube dos Apreciadores de Tetris – YouTube (Video: no speech) Que Grafico Lixo succinctly and wordlessly demonstrates the anticapitalist narratives that can be read in Tetris and its appropriations by artists such as

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March 4th

…of games, two critics examine the relationship between the player’s agency and a game’s narrative themes.

Three Short Arguments on The Secret of Monkey Island – YouTube (Spoilers for Monkey Island games) Ian Danskin traces the narratives themes and structure of the adventure game that set in place some of the major patterns for the genre.
Stardew Valley is Definitely a Horror Game | Kotaku (Spoilers for Stardew Valley) Stacie Ponder highlights the fundamental weirdness and disturbances at work in Pelican Town.

“You’re forever the outsider, the only person with any kind of free

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June 24th

…building and destroying than it is to produce an actual future.”

Constructed

Do we always need to tell stories about how things could be versus how they are? Is it possible to imagine other ways of creating narratives? Two writers ponder conflict this week.

Conflicted | Problem Machine problemmachine argues that the overlap between two truisms about storytelling and game design leaves a needlessly narrow possibility space for creators.
Twinkle Star Sprites | Something in the Direction of Exhibition Meanwhile, Vincent K. looks at conflict in terms of systemic stability and design polish.

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narratives