June 2011
Playing the Persona in ‘L.A. Noire’
L.A Noire is a rare game that doesn’t let us into the head of its protagonist.
The Information Revolution in Multiplayer Gaming
With the announcement of Modern Warfare 3’s Elite, a new era of content delivery seems guaranteed.
Rage Quit Chapter 11 “Round 1 - Fight!”
An all out battle for survival as Lea takes on the entire Fear and Loading QA staff in a fight to the finish!
The Best of Thoughtful Gaming Podcasts
While you are out and about this summer, here are a few podcasts that you might want to listen to if you are interested in smart discussion and interesting analysis of video gaming and video game culture.
‘don’t take it personally’: Identity Performance and Surveillance Culture
Christine Love captures the impulsive, shortsighted character of adolescence phenomenally well here, including the reproduction of all the expectations and sex-obsessed attitudes our mass media have thrust upon these kids.
Press X to Read the Article: Tutorials and Beginning Games
The beginning of a game has to convince the player that it's worth playing, draw the player into the game's world, explain the game's mechanics, and do it all in a way that's not so slow and plodding that players give up before even getting to the meat of the game.
Puzzles Are Strategy in ‘Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes’
The puzzle parts of Clash of Heroes allow the strategy parts to be shrunk down so they fit on a single game board.
The Seriously Absurd Case of ‘Vanquish’
Unlike games like Uncharted, in which players must willfully ignore ludo-narrative inconsistency, Vanquish acknowledges its mechanical challenges and lets them exist independently from the plot.
Rage Quit Ch. 10 “All your base are belong to us.”
The free novel continues -- only at Popmatters.com.
‘L.A. Noire’: The Fatalism of American Sticktoitiveness
You can get through the entire story by being the least competent detective in the world. The story will unfold, as it were, despite you.