#20: The Mass Effect Conundrum: Part 2: Small Fixes
(Warning: Mass Effect SeriesSpoilers, especially Mass Effect 3. You have been warned.) When I proofread the column from last week, I had realized something. While I did much to outline the problems in the Mass Effectseries and its choices, specifically how they did not significantly...
#19: The Mass Effect Conundrum: Linearity vs. Choice
(Warning: Mass Effect SeriesSpoilers, especially Mass Effect 3. You have been warned.) The other day, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the Mass Effectseries. In it, the following point came up: Where exactly does the series fall on the Sliding Scale...
#18: Character Analysis #1: Ulysses (Fallout: New Vegas: Lonesome Road)
Warning: Fallout: New Vegas and DLC spoilers A few weeks back, I discussed characterization in Fallout: New Vegas. I said that the “villain” faction (because the player will almost always be directly opposed to it), Caesar's Legion, was one of the most poorly written groups...
#17: The True Problem with Modern Gaming
The games of today have come a long way from the games of old. Graphical fidelity has greatly advanced and allows for more rich and detailed environments. The streamlining of many often-used systems in games has made gaming more accessible to the masses. Different genres...
#16: Realism in Games
Any game enthusiast who goes onto the internet is familiar with this particular topic. Everyday, someone, somewhere in the world argues that “games are not realistic enough.” Although this assertion is made often, it is a somewhat disingenuous one. When game players say that they...
#15: DLC: How it is Being Handled and How it Should Be Handled
Downloadable Content(DLC) has become increasingly commonplace in the modern gaming industry. Most of the biggest gaming releases utilize it to some extent. Done well, DLC can bring new life to a game, extending its shelf life and keeping players engaged for longer than they normally...
#14: The Mass Effect 3 Ending Debacle
It has been a few weeks since Mass Effect 3 has been released, and the controversies surrounding it have been going strong. People throughout the internet have discussed this issue to death. The fan backlash has been truly astounding. Bioware has reached George Lucas levels...
#13: Morality and Games
If there is one thing that my previous articles have made obvious, it is that I approve of games giving players choice with regards to how their own experience plays out. I love being able to impose my own morality on the world and its...
#12: Game Publishers vs. Used Games
This topic is a serious issue among the gaming community. Simply inserting the words “used games” into a forum post is bound to transform whatever, otherwise benign, discussion into a huge flame war. Nonetheless, it is an issue that needs to be discussed. Game publishers...
#11: Games and Storytelling (Part the 2nd)
(Major Spoilers for the Assassin's Creed series and L.A. Noire abound.)Last week, I discussed how games could be used as a storytelling medium. I talked about the benefits of using games to explore philosophies and scenarios in a free form way: That player choice was...
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