An Introduction to Violence

Hello once again fellow Doomers,

Today I'm going to talk about violence in video gaming. I got some comments on last weeks article that suggested I should explore the topic of violence in popular games further and how these games use ethical window dressing to make that violence more palatable.

That seemed like a swell idea to me so here we are. Let's talk about violence.

The Current Gaming Trifecta

Hey Murder Junkies,

It's that time again. Another week or so has passed us since I last left you and more gaming related thoughts have cluttered up my mind so I figure it is time to do another one of these articles.

This week I thought I could talk to you a bit about the state of video games in general and lay out, as I see it, the Current Gaming Trifecta.

First I'm going talk about just what this Trifecta is, then I'm going to talk about how it got that way by reminiscing some and giving some historical context. Finally I'm going to speculate on what it all means for gaming in general going forward.

To Kill or Not to Kill: A Dishonorable Review

Hello Dear Readers,

This week I'm going to talk about a little gem of a game from 2012 that was released by Arkane Studios, an older development house that makes games so fresh it still has that new-developer smell.

The game, of course, is Dishonored, a first person Thief-like that was billed as having Deus Ex-like "immersive sim-ness". You might call this genre the "sneak-em up" with a side of "slice-em up" if you want to go that route.

In this article I'm going to go into the game's pedigree, who exactly Arkane Studios are, and describe to you just how awesome Dishonored is while also picking at some nits I just can't ignore.

BioShock or BioSchlock?

Greetings friends!

Today I'm going to talk about BioShock 2, a 2010 sequel to 2007's BioShock. BioShock is wrongly considered a masterpiece by a lot of otherwise well-meaning people thanks to advances in public relations and marketing. The sequel fares a bit better but is ultimately plagued by many of the same problems as the original.

First I'm going to talk a bit about the original BioShock: It's lineage and main promises, what it did right and where it went wrong. Then I'm going to talk about the sequel, BioShock 2, and why it's a bit better despite making most of the same mistakes as the original.

Somewhere along the way I'm probably going to insult people who think these games are anything other than schlocky B-grade trash with nice window dressing. I'd rather not end up insulting people but when appraising these games honestly it's very hard not to piss the fans off. But oh well, fans blow!