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This Is What Video Games Are: A Dispatch From A Crowded Gaming Expo
“Sometimes I’m tempted to just, like, lie,” laughs a colleague across a table from me. We’re talking about preview coverage: The unusual condition of being slotted in front of a monitor in a noisy expo hall, shoulder to shoulder with fans waiting their turn, a well-used headset shifted off one ear so you can hear…
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Why I Cried At GDC
I did a lot of crying at GDC this year. Maybe it’s because I processed so many interactions — met so many good people, caught up with so many friends, cheered on so many heroes — that I am overwhelmed. From the distance of the internet I can usually manage it, Twitter and Facebook and…
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The Beautifully Melancholy Chrono Cross Was Unfairly Overlooked
Japanese RPGs used to be a lot more controversial. Or maybe it was just because I was a teenager during the genre’s heyday — you know, when Final Fantasy games flew off shelves, when hours of CG cutscenes featuring teary-eyed androgynes were considered breathtaking rather than tiresome — and teenagers like to argue about things…
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Last Year’s Best, New(ish) Video Game Ideas
2011 was yet another good year for video games, but on its face it was a little predictable.