Dec 2012 - March 2013

Being website manager for MWEB GameZone & Bravado Gaming means that I have a lot less time to focus on writing. When I do get the chance to write I mostly cover news, sad times indeed!

Here's a selection of a few of the more noteworthy articles from Dec 2012 to March 2013.

Exclusive: MWEB GameZone interviews SimCity Creative Director Ocean Quigley

I had the tremendous honour to interview Ocean Quigley, the Creative Director for SimCity. Quigley is a veteran in the video game industry; his knowledge, passion and experience is invaluable and demands respect from developers and gamers alike. Even if you are not a fan of the genre he specialises in, Life Simulation, you cannot help but be impressed with the creative processes and genius of his work. Join me for a walk through the mind of the creator of exceptional worlds. Read the full interview here.

Review: Dead Space 3, free falling through terror, together

It will be terror filled they said, you will need a partner they said. (Co-oping with Lola is a terror filled experience in itself. The 50 times she drove our Warthog of a cliff in Halo is a testament to that.) So in fearful anticipation for my review of Dead Space 3, I called on a friend to take down the terror together. I mean all dat hype! I was getting ready to have nightmares and suffer from temporary dementia during my review time in the game. I did not. Read the full review here.

A call to return to the dark ages and the burning of “all the things”

So disturbed kid goes on a shooting spree, automatically the people who claim to know how life works, turn to exterior influences as the culprits. You know, like religious leaders and such people have been doing for eons. In the dark middle ages, witches were burned at the stake. In the 50’s, with the rise of rock ‘n’ roll, records were quickly called out as the root of all evil. In this age of unprecedented advances in science, biology and just about everything, video games are being summoned to the stakes. Read my full rant here.

Take a peek into the deeply layered world of Fallen Enchantress

Fallen Enchantress is a game like no other: it requires a mind that feeds on intrigue, has an aptitude for strategic gameplay and the desire to explore mechanics and complexities. The game is far above my patience, intellect and adrenaline rush inclination so I have searched far and wide across the Internet in order to find a gamer who felt at home in the daunting world of Fallen Enchantress. Read the full interview here.

A slice of Indie life

I have the tremendous opportunity to be able to share in the birth of an Indie video game studio. To witness a birth is both a fearful and wonderful event. You get to experience the anticipation, the pain and the joy of the people involved. It is a rare honour. This is a story about passion, about daring to reach for your dreams and about how a simple idea combined with a bit of faith can turn the wheels of fate in your favour. Read the full interview here.

Remember Me – Living in an electronically manipulated world

Remember Me looks to be a game that will pierce gamers’ imagination by displaying a world that is futuristic, yet imaginable. A world where the most valuable commodity is thought, where privacy is not a right but an item on sale and where freedom is but an illusion. The game holds the promise of being not only a smashing first-person action game, but also a game that will lay bare the underbelly of the ‘connected age’, the age we are being hurdled at with an alarming speed. Read the full article here.

An interview with The Nutty Professor of Gaming

A while back I wrote an article, When science and gaming mesh the world becomes a better place. The article is about a new game in development by Broken Crown Games called Escaping Titan. It is a post-apocalyptic space fiction, single-player role-playing game…yeah, it’s all THAT. What makes Escaping Titan uncommon is the incorporation of science and the usage of input from various scientists into the core features of the game. To my utter delight, Tyler Yohe, CEO and Creative Director for Escaping Titan agreed to do an in depth interview about the game. Please keep in mind that I have an unhealthy fascination with both science and gaming, the interview is therefore lengthy, with stacks of science lingo. Read the full interview here.

Other noteworthy news

A threesome of the best kind, The all-time 100 best video games according to TIME, 2013, the year of living the eSports dream, Silviu, the "cocky" little man from Romania with the sharp mind and big heart, A tale only the rain knows

Special thanks to the people who took time from their extremely busy schedules to do an interview with me.

Writing in my own voice: July 2012

I went from 2 articles in June to 33 in July. My first month with MWEB GameZone was a thrill. A heartfelt thanks to the team, you guys are awesome. Every day brings with it the challenge of writing in your own voice and delivering articles that are worth reading in an industry flooded with better journalists than yourself. Challenge was accepted ;)

For this blog post I will focus mainly on my opinion pieces.

"All the world's a digital stage"

This article explores ubiquitous computing in depth. 

The Web is essentially a digital mirror of individuals, created by the interactions of each person on it. A sensor based digital world has replaced a senses dependent world. Just how much information related to you is available on the Web?  We interact on a real time, highly information based world with software that interprets all the data we feed it almost on a daily basis. You might think, but how accurate can these interpretations be? Let’s take a look at just how deep this rabbit-hole goes.

The language of music in games

I attempt to articulate the beauty that music adds to the gaming experience.

There are few things in life that can compare to the passion we feel towards music. It is the chameleon of the soul; because as a chameleon reflects the colour it touches, so music reflects the ever changing landscape of our emotions. Music conveys a clearer message than words, because it surpasses the barriers of prejudice and reason. It elicits deep response because it knows the path to our hearts. Its melody can serve as a teacher by clearing our minds and directing our thoughts along the message of its lyrics. It is the higher language because it surpasses race, intellect and outward beauty. It makes us all equals on the planes of feeling. 

About the male gaze and other holy cows

I take a look at the controversial subjects of the male gaze, and the inclusion of religious and sexual content in video games.

We are just scratching the surface of what games as a medium are capable to deliver to an over saturated, preached up, fed up, over educated and intellectualized humanity. I don’t know where we should draw the lines, we are discovering that together. What I do know is that I am listening, and what I hear, is that games have become a catalyst for mass critical thinking. What are you hearing?

Indie Games – A digital self portrait

I take a look at how the medium of video games didn’t grow with its audience, and Indie games as the new genre of inspiration.

AAA titles are audience driven, whereas Indie titles are essentially a digital self portrait of the developer, or at least a window into the mind and soul of the developer. In Indie Game: The Movie, Jonathan Blow says this about creating the Indie hit Braid, one of the highest-rated games of all time. “Making it was about me taking my deepest flaws and vulnerabilities and putting that into a game.” Just think about that a minute. How would playing a game that is at its core a deeply personal and intimate story of another individual, impact the player?

News, interviews and reviews
I did a fascinating series on role-playing games: An entirely personal matter, role-playing games and escapism, explore the magic that is role-playing games, and role-playing games, where to from here? I also did an interview with "The legend that is Ashkan Namousi."

Noteworthy news included: Apps that eavesdrop, Digital is changing the landscape, and Living the game.

Many thanks to everyone that played a part in making July a spectacular month of video games journalism for me.