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From genuine interpersonal relationships to the art of the pickup, the gaming of life is an inevitability. We may overtly participate in it, or it may take place beneath the surface of our awareness, but we are constantly playing with the systems of social interaction and society. Being polite, dona
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It’s tempting to dismiss Halo 4 as purely a workout for the adrenal glands, but it has a softer side hidden beneath the battle rifles and pulse grenades. Its characters were not just iterations of Hollywood’s collection of Johns (Rambo, MccLane, Connor), but were influenced particularly by a progeny
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If you were ravenously consuming prerelease information for Dark Souls like I was, then you probably stumbled across a helpful nugget from its director Hidetaka Miyazaki: start with the Pendant. You see, there were a few different “gifts” the player could receive at the start of their game. Each had
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A panel at last week’s ExPlay Festival in Bath analyzed educational videogames and their potential. Each speaker brought a new perspective to the discussion: Force Of Habit founder Nick Dymond talked about working with a professor of microbiology on Tempest-style game Dysbiosis, which teaches player
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As far as my parents are concerned, my college applications were delivered months before they were due. In reality, I adhered to a strict policy of delivering them in the 24 hour window before their deadlines (and I’d hazard a guess that this limited their quality). If only Mission: Admission had ex
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A portrait of a free-to-play cash cow: It was a typical weekday night after work: Lee slipped off his shoes, climbed into bed with his iPad, and booted up Clash of Clans. The free-to-play strategy game, in which he went by the name “Metamorphaz,” had quickly become a favorite stress-reliever for him
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Jim Crafword is a menace. His games have scrambled my brain, made me hate myself, and yet I still love him. Stockholm syndrome I guess. All of his games are worth playing, but definitely try Frog Fractions. On his website, Crawford quotes a reviewer who describes the game as the “Look Around You” of
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Horror games used to be slow. The protagonist would slink along, in a digital representaion of what your stomach felt like. They were like this as much by design as they were because of their technological limitations. But with new technology, those slinking games of yesteryear are making way for a
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When games get edgy, it usually means they are gory or contain erotica. Too often we conflate pushing the envelope with meaning. Soldier of Fortune let you blow people to pieces, literally. Mass Effect treats sex and romance as though it were written by a salacious 13 year old (I will give credit to
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Multiplayer is often considered to be a shtick. When BioShock Infinite had its multiplayer cut, fans rejoiced that the game wouldn’t be polluted with marketing contrivance. To the ire of fans, Mass Effect 3 hid parts of its ending if you did not play its multiplayer. There are, of course, games that
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Every year, The Guardian makes a list of 100 most powerful people in British media. This year, only one of them was involved in games. Could this be accurate? Tadhg Kelly doesn’t think so. We have much more power than we realise. Although the British game industry has dropped to sixth place in the w
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Open book. That is how we describe people who are easy to understand: they are easy to read, as it were. But perhaps that is an outdated expression and a videogame metaphor would be more apt? Alan Kwan, an artist of all trades, may have something we can work with. Early next year, [Kwan] plans to o