Any recommendations for articles/videos/whathaveyou discussing old game background tiles from an artistic rather than a technical perspective?

I find a lot of discussion of sprites, but so far nothing about tiles

#GameArt #GameCriticism #GameDev #ClassicGames #RetroGames #IndieDev

Whether we are talking about my work or somebody else's, I think this is an important question.

I can think of a few times when a critic seemed exasperated by an author writing about disability. This is a real thing. A thoughtful essay by a critic I respect.

https://www.tier-review.com/repeat-the-ending-where-do-personal-games-go/

#interactivefiction #gamecriticism

#HSLreacts #HSLnews
MARIO KART IN NAME ONLY... WHEN NINTENDO CHOOSES FANTASY OVER PRECISION

HSL reacts to Sakharu Baguette’s documentary: "Mario Kart, 30 years of fun and madness". Original video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6tMbgg7tJCE

From Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart 8, the series drifted away from kart racing and into magical nonsense. It’s not that Nintendo can’t reconcile fun and challenge... it’s that they don’t want to.
¯

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PART 1: INNOVATION OVER CONTROL

If Mario Kart 8 was developed by Namco and Mario Kart Super Circuit by Intelligent Systems, then of course those games are very different from the rest of the series, and in a way, that’s what helped refresh the concept. I don’t see driving on walls or underwater as an improvement. I prefer a "real game" where obstacles say "stop", rather than one that becomes increasingly permissive, where the player is never really interrupted in their progression. Miyamoto is an inventor, everything he touches is original. Whether it’s F-Zero, Mario Kart, or even Wave Race, none of those games have believable gameplay. They shine thanks to their innovation and whimsy, but never because of gameplay. Because as much of a legend as Miyamoto is, he doesn’t even come close to Yu Suzuki in that specific domain.

In F-Zero, you have to press down to land. But the D-pad also steers the vehicle. That’s intentional, Miyamoto wanted landings to come with the risk of not landing straight and flying off the edge.

It’s clever, it’s fun, but when you want to clock a proper time in time trial mode, it becomes impossible to drive precisely. In Mario Kart, they removed the landing mechanic, because it’s no longer spaceships, but instead added speed boosts before jumps. So you end up being launched into the air at full speed, and again, you never know where or how you’re going to land, and you might fall off. Just like in F-Zero, it’s innovative and fun, but even though time trials can feel "sim-like", all these flights and landings destroy driving precision.

#MarioKart8 #Nintendo #GameDesign #GameCriticism #FZero

new blog post: a few thoughts on life is strange: double exposure

https://blog.dante.cool/a-few-thoughts-on-life-is-strange-double-exposure/

an incredibly good followup to a mixed bag of a series that chooses to do the difficult and dangerous task of treating the series with gravitas and grace instead of taking an easy wish-fulfillment route. a standout of this year. i wrote a LOT about it here.

#blog #videogames #gamecriticism

Did you know? Brian Rushton's fantastic "Learning From the Best of Text" is out! A highly engaging and well-written work of craft archaeology. Completely free, thanks to an IFTF grant. Well worth a look!

https://github.com/brirush84/IFTextbook/releases

#interactivefiction #newmedia #gamecriticism

While Joe Mason's In the End (1996) was not a success, it is a work I've thought of often.

https://topexpert.blog/2024/07/12/critical-discursions-joe-masons-in-the-end/

#interactivefiction #parser #gamecriticism

A reading of the widest part of Brian Moriarty's "Trinity," the Wabe.

https://golmac.org/narrative-surface-features-of-trinity-part-2/

#infocom #interactivefiction #trinity #brianmoriarty #parser #gamecriticism

One of my A Mind Forever Voyaging posts got mentioned in Critical Distance's "2023 in video game blogging." Don't see a lot of text IF writeups out there in mainstream discourse. Feels good!

You can see it here. Has a Kierkegaard quote and everything, very classy.

https://golmac.org/a-mind-forever-voyaging-the-good-ending/

#interactivefiction #parser #infocom #gamecriticism #goldmachine

Am I in this? I'm in this! So are some very cool essays about video games.

https://critical-distance.com/2023/10/29/october-29th-2/

#gamecriticism #interactivefiction #ifcomp2023 #goldmachine

At long last, after literal years of challenges and delays (journal's fault, not the authors'), the SURVIVING WHITENESS IN GAMES special issue of Journal of Games Criticism is now published in full. *14* incredible articles on games and race from a variety of different perspectives.

https://gamescriticism.org/issue-5A/

#gamestudies #mediastudies #commadon #academia #research #gamedev #gamecriticism