Deus Ex Memories

I’ve just finished my final training run as a nanotech-augmented super-agent. Nasty terrorists holed up in the ruins of the State of Liberty have captured one of my fellow agents, and it’s my job to get him out. In real life, it’s 2002, and I’m just a guy in Wisconsin. My four-year-old son is asleep…

Video Game Culture and Theory

My online three-week course will start tomorrow morning. It will lean heavily on blogging, so chances are I’ll be a bit more productive than usual in that area. Video Game Culture and TheoryThis course isn’t about learning how to “win” a game, nor is it about programming or design. In fact, according to a recent…

Ms. Pac-Man: Feminist Hero

It’s a spoof, but it’s well-researched and contains plenty of insight. Similar:Minimalist Graphic Interpretations of Philosophical Concepts — Prints by Genis Carreras …Art Prints by Genis Carreras | Society6….AestheticsABC News executive placed on administrative leave after reports surface of insensitive, ra…The Huffington Post reports that dozens …CultureText Games in a New Era of StoriesClever NYT…

At 13,000 years, tree is world's oldest organism

The Jurupa Oak tree first sprouted into life when much of the world was still covered in glaciers. It has stood on its windswept hillside in southern California for at least 13,000 years, making it the oldest known living organism, according to a study published today. —Independent Reading this story reminded me of a story…

A sound you do not want to hear from your furnace

I canna give the furnace any more power! I hope the lithium crystals are still under warranty. Furnace.mp3 Similar:In between 3 walks and a chess game with my son, today I managed to churn out a second 10s…AestheticsThe girl was cast as Luciana (the younger sister) in The Comedy of Errors in the PPT's sum…Show…

Every Day the Same Dream

I just played this Every Day the Same Dream. Simple, stark, and in places charming. I smiled and thought a little. Similar:The Interactive Fiction CompetitionDownload and Play The Games of the 2014 …Current_EventsAnd yes, that's her picture in the program (from the PPT Shakespeare contest).At PPT’s The Diary of Anne Frank. …CultureMake a date with #HeartOurArt…

Game Studies – Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games

I’m gearing up to teach Video Game Culture and Theory for the third time. It’s a 200-level elective, with no prerequisites. Students will have taken a basic comp course, but some won’t have done any academic research yet. I’m conscious that some students may have difficulty switching from playing the games they want to play,…

The best walkthrough of Myst I've seen so far

The first part of a walkthrough of the classic (1993), a moody, contemplative point-and-click adventure that defies the stereotype of games as violent and chaotic.  Popular with women and causual gamers, but also appreciated by expert gamers for its puzzles and graphics (photo-realistic CGI, with pre-rendered animations), it was the top-selling game for nearly a…

Clicks vs. Bricks

Is this for real? On Christmas Day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books. —Amazon.com Hold on, though… who goes online to shop for more books on Dec 25, before the spines have been cracked on the new books that were under the tree?  Amazon was heavily promoting its…

Colossal Cave Adventure, an Exhibit

Fascinating student project from Zach Whalen’s “A Videogame Canon” course. Adventure. Rules, Representation, and Meaning in Colossal Cave Adventure Analysis of Colossal Cave Adventure Social Impact Colossal Cave Adventure as an interactive narrative and similarites [sic] to fictional novels Other projects include coverage of PONG, Half-Life, and Super Mario Kart. Similar:MLA-Style Bibliography Builder– updated to…

How to Teach Physics to Your Dog

A reading from a chapter of How to Teach Physics to Your Dog Similar:Rocky Horror Show Live 2012 — Stage Right GreensburgThrow toast at the actors and get spaced…AmusingIt's reckless and dangerous for a leader with a habit of doubling down in the face of crit…Today my Facebook feed featured memes th…Current_EventsJust finished a good…