Essay
Will Work for Fun
What are the roots of free-to-play capitalism? Michael Thomsen argues that in-game commodities and microtransactions are not new ideas so much as the latest ways that videogame companies instrumentalize us.
Michael Thomsen
Review
The Untold Depths of Snake Eating
We can try to make sense of the sound and the fury of Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D as it escalates and unravels. But maybe we don’t need to.
Columns
When Robots See Us Laugh
Have you ever asked the nearest robot how you can help it—not vice versa? If “charismatic machines” take hold, then we’ll have a lot to laugh about.
Review
Review: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
The ever-popular genre of medieval role-playing continues its downward march with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a collaboration between game-design heavyweight Ken Rolston, fantasy luminary R.A. Salvatore, and comics auteur Todd McFarlane. Michael Thomsen finds the results less than uninspiring; th
Review
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Nintendo’s new Zelda opus is a paean to learning and wonderment. Michael Thomsen dissects the contradictions at the heart of Skyward Sword, both mechanical and human.
Essay
Difficulty and the Neoclassical Era
What sense can be made of the influx of game mechanics and forms? Michael Thomsen argues that recent videogames have pruned their rules with purpose, bringing us into the beginning of a neoclassical era of game design.
Article
Deconstructing Disease
The merger between videogames and biochemistry led to an HIV breakthough. But is it really a game?
Article
Walk on the Wild Side
Why men are more likely to play as women in World of Warcraft, and how they behave differently when they do.
Review
Review: Wii Play: Motion
Why a series of mini-games about swimming, vegetables, and balloons is one of the more profound titles in recent memory. Michael Thomsen breaks down the expressive abilities of Nintendo’s Wii MotionPlus controller.
Article
Touching From a Distance
We speak with researcher and assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, about making games with microscopic lifeforms.
Article
A Mind of One’s Own
Think games are smart now? MyCyberTwin’s John Zakos and his business partner Liesl Capper-Beilby are hoping to bring their moldable AI clay to everything from massively multiplayer games to microwaves. Will AI in games be too smart for its own good?