By Jeffrey Matulef, on March 2nd, 2010% Challenging Conventions is a biweekly column by Jeffrey Matulef that discusses the conventions of games design, whether regards the games that subscribe to these conventions or those that try to overcome them. After many years of hype, David Cage’s experimental blend of cinema and gaming, Heavy Rain, has been released. Touted as an “interactive drama”, [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 9: Heavy Rain Fails to Understand what Interactive Drama Means
By Jeffrey Matulef, on February 16th, 2010% Challenging Conventions is a biweekly column by Jeffrey Matulef that discusses the conventions of games design, whether regards the games that subscribe to these conventions or those that try to overcome them. Mass Effect 2 has been praised across all corners of the interweb for its marvelous cast of characters, rousing combat, engaging storyline, and [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 8: The Transparency of Mass Effect 2
By Jeffrey Matulef, on February 2nd, 2010% Challenging Conventions is a biweekly column by Jeffrey Matulef that discusses the conventions of games design, whether regards the games that subscribe to these conventions or those that try to overcome them. With praise lavished upon BioWare’s recent cosmic opus, Mass Effect 2, from all corners of the web (including our Editor-in-Chief John Laster), there’s [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 7: Taking Stock of Mass Effect 2
By Jeffrey Matulef, on January 21st, 2010% Challenging Conventions is a biweekly column by Jeffrey Matulef that discusses the conventions of games design, whether regards the games that subscribe to these conventions or those that try to overcome them. While playing Assassin’s Creed 2 recently, it dawned that while it’s a fun game in a lot of respects, it falls victim to [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 6: The Likeable, Mass-Murdering Hero
By Jeffrey Matulef, on January 4th, 2010% At this column’s moniker would imply, I usually focus on a particular aspect of a game’s design and how it challenges design conventions. Not this week. Instead, I’m focusing on a sequel that doesn’t challenge any conventions and considering what that means for the game, the series, and the industry as a whole. That game [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 5: Zelda Steams Along by not Veering off the Tracks
By Jeffrey Matulef, on December 15th, 2009% This week marks the release of one of the strangest games to come out of a major studio in quite a long time: Konami’s and Climax Studio’s Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. It is memorable for a variety of reasons, but ithe game’s most unique design choice sees gameplay limited to analyzing environments for the vast [...] . . . → Read More: Challenging Conventions 4: Shattered Memories – A Silent Hill Story in Pictures
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