Category: Commentary
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I can think of no better way to celebrate Akira Toriyama’s life and works right now than to play Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Akira Toriyama passed away earlier this month at the age of 68. The creator of Dragon Ball and an artist behind games like Chrono Trigger, the Dragon Quest series and Blue Dragon left behind truly one of the most consequential legacies in entertainment anywhere in the world, and we’re all poorer for his absence. My…
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The thing they say they’re mad at never actually matters
Ten years ago, a bunch of bigoted fascist assholes used false pretenses to terrorize women, queer people and people of color in the video game industry, in games media, and even in academic games studies. These false pretenses – proven false at the time and repeatedly many times over in the years since – do…
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Is True Detective Better as a Supernatural Story? Signs Point to No
Spoilers ahead. You know the drill. The first season of True Detective rocked the shit out of me. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson were incredible as two scumbags with badges on different sides of the shitpile trying to solve a fucked up murder in a place the rest of the world forgot. McConaughey’s Rust Cohle,…
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On the Trolley Problem of Playing Destiny 2
The final season of Destiny 2, “Season of the Wish,” released today. As is usually the case with seasonal updates, Season of the Wish comes with new gameplay modes, new gear and weapons, a new seasonal artifact to level up, new challenges to cross off your list, and new narrative content to sink your teeth…
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It Hasn’t Been A “Good Year” for Games
UPDATE: A friend sent me a link to this website which has been keeping an even more granular account of games layoffs and studio closures. By this site’s count, there have been roughly 107 different layoffs and closures this year, with over 6,000 people fired in the past ten months. So, you know. It’s fun…
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Cyberpunk’s Critical Reevaluation Feels Rushed
I’m enjoying myself in Cyberpunk 2077, and that bothers me. To be clear, it doesn’t bother me because I find myself stuck in 2021, unwilling to acknowledge that a game studio – especially one with the resources and willingness to crunch like CD Projekt RED – can’t improve a video game post-launch. I’ve seen what…
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It’s That Lonely Sinking Feeling
In 2008 Fox News had talking heads on to discuss the corruption of the youth via interactive video sexuality. The Girls and Homos could kiss in Bioware’s Mass Effect and if the sound of two clonking pieces of blue colored digital wood pushing faces against each other wasn’t the sign of the culture wars to…
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Fight the Right
This is a bit of a different post from me today, but it fits well with No Escape’s tagline: Digital culture and its discontent. I’m, uh, feeling discontent right now. For a couple reasons. This blog is about three things: KOSA, Project 2025, and this week’s indictment of 61 people by a Fulton Co, GA…