Search Results for “history” – Page 40

August 28th

…impermanence.

The Scariest Video Game Monster Is Time | Kotaku Heather Alexandra reflects on the true horror that underlies the challenge for timely response.
The Olympic Summer Games: The Kotaku Review Tim Rogers judges not just the Olympics, but the entirety of human history, as a bundle of interactive systems and narrative devices.

“One sub-plot of the Olympic Games involves humankind’s struggle with time itself. Can an Olympian exit the Olympics, return to their nation, and then repeat the cycle of competition, qualification, and excellence? At this year’s Olympic Summer Games in Rio de

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October 23rd

…Digital Ephemera (Spoilers for No Man’s Sky) Dan Cox makes a familiar argument about No Man’s Sky with some more precise language and in the context of a longer history of European imperialism.

“This is not a colonist narrative. This is postcolonialism at play. The player may be an invader to these spaces, but the knowledge comes from others, from being and maintaining a hybridity of parts, tools, and technologies. Expansion comes not from within, but in using the remains of past and long forgotten imperialist campaigns. Although the player may have the ability to ‘name’ things,…

Critical Lets Plays for Critical Distance

…needing to say a single word, such as the now-defunct Other Places series. Let’s Plays can be about performing a counter-cultural form of play, such as Amy Dentata’s Let’s Walk series, or they can be about bringing a group of critical thinkers together around a shared object of interest, such as the Scholars Play Twitch channel. Let’s Plays don’t have to be video-based, as demonstrated by a relatively long history of diary writing about long plays and the occasional excellent work by videogame photojournalists.

If you’re interested in Let’s Plays as a critical medium and want to support us…

Help us to support diverse criticism

…diversity and diverse interests

I’ve always had some difficulty getting attached to games writing publications.

I imagine it’d be super convenient to follow one and be done, yet I tend to hop around several outlets, to keep up with the writers that I specifically enjoy. Each imbue something personal, some unique quality that is wholly of themselves into their writing. And to me, that’s important. A person’s identity, education, and history are the filter by which they experience games, and some of the very best games writing explore this relationship.

In fact, I find it nigh impossible

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Support Us

…We’re committed to fighting link rot and preserving the history of games criticism. Since mid-2016, Critical Distance has been automatically creating a back-up archive of every link that we include in any of our features. This means that when sites go down, we still have a snapshot saved for the benefit of readers, researchers, and game developers in the future. Sadly, not everything that we have linked to in the past has been saved in the Wayback Machine, so ongoing conservation efforts are vital if our curated collection will remain as helpful to people in the future as it is…

Fundraiser

…stuff we haven’t finalized yet.

$10 per month

Seasonal special – only available until 16th December

We’ll create a unique e-card for you or someone you love, featuring a link to an article we have archived as part of our preservation of games criticism. Give someone a unique little piece of games history.

Update! Seasonal special pledges now include free help from the Haywire Magazine team. Improve your writing, pitching, editing, and more!

(Existing) Caturday

In addition to being included in our Supporters Club, each month you’ll receive an exclusive photo…

December 11th

…feel strong that arises when you don’t feel like you have any power.

Slaying Dragons – Haywire Magazine Jesse Porch opens this piece with the familiar problem of “fun”, but goes on to consider different kinds of emotional authenticity that can be found outside of the search for catchy game concepts.

15 years on: The story behind one of Xbox’s most notorious TV ads | GamesIndustry.biz Christopher Dring brings us a slightly unexpected lesson on the history of nihilism in videogames marketing.

“Microsoft defended its position, insisting the ad was supposed to be…

Give the gift of games criticism – final week!

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$10/month pledges also get you a special seasonal e-card, created uniquely for you (or the person you want to give the card to). Each e-card includes a link to a piece of writing we have archived and preserved for posterity. It’s a little sample of the games history that you’ve helped us to preserve, and a great gift to show someone involved in games that you value their work.

In addition, we have a lot of higher reward tiers that get you access to support from the Critical Distance team. These rewards are perfect for games studios and

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February 14th

…to to make the same environment evoke different emotions, stating that “the same stand of trees can be sunny and inviting in one scene, and a milestone of terror in the next.”

ZAM’s review of Firewatch praises its naturalistic yet intuitive environmental design, and over at Eurogamer, Oli Welsh presents the game’s environment as a metaphor for nature itself.

Another aspect of the game that stands out to reviewers is its major characters, who make mistakes in spite of gaming’s history of successful video game protagonists.

Emily Short contrasts Firewatch’s main character to that of…

January 29th

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Power fantasies

Next, a pair of pieces that both raise similar points about the arrogant conceits of gameplay and how they map onto the character traits of America’s President, during what has been described as one of the most alarming weeks in US history.

The Unsettling Political Power Fantasy of Dishonored 2 – Waypoint Duncan Fyfe makes a broader point about the videogameyness of Donald Trump’s attitude towards leadership.
Play, Nihilism, and the Magic Circle: Something I Missed – Not Your Mama’s Gamer Alex Layne recognises another connection between Trump-ism and game-isms.

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