I don't have cable right now so I'm rewatching old shows and movies. A lot of them are animated. Such is my way. I'd like to have a nobler reason for rewatching them--something like when James 
Let's say you're the newly-sentient internet. How would you decipher
the meaning of all the bits and bytes whizzing past you? And what about
the real world outside your electronic realm?
Former Comics Editor, Guy Leshinski
has very kindly given us permission to reprint a prophetic interview
with Bryan Lee O'Malley in 2005. Will Bryan Lee O'Malley attain the
Holy Grail of cartoonists? As Bryan says, "We'll see..."
Results tagged “interactivity” from The Cultural Gutter
Der Teufelspakt
Solve the mystery of the cursed Mercy Booth in the clickable picture/text adventure, "Der Teufelspakt." You don't need to speak German to play, but it helps. (via The Horror?!)
Roofed!
Jim Munroe's been working on a new movie, Ghosts with Shit Jobs. It's not even out and he has a spin-off game--"Roofed!"
Click and Click and Click
National Geographic's infinite photograph. Click and click and click.
City of Heroes--On the Tip!
"City of Heroes: Golden Age is about Paragon City in the 80s." Check out the screen captures and cross your fingers that your 386 has enough power.
Old Timey Interactive Fiction
The Illuminated Lantern has tentacled interactive fiction with the H.P. Lovecraft Commonplace Book project and whiskered diamond thievery in "1893: A World's Fair Mystery." (via 4DK)
Everybody Dies, Jim Munroe Style
Don't bother guessing the verb, just click here to play Former Games Editor Jim Munroe's Everybody Dies which just took 3rd place at the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can also learn more about the process of writing interactive fiction and see Michael Cho's sweet illustrations.
Narrative and Interactivity
The Artful Gamer ponders interactivity, engagement and narrative in videogames: "Instead of beating our collective heads against the wall as we try to
design games that let players live out their wildest desires, we should
be developing worlds that encourage players to explore them as living,
breathing, places."
Why Aren't You Dead Yet?
Just how many times do I have to kill this
guy? It’s a question I’ve certainly asked myself
while playing various games, along with Why aren’t you dead yet? and How
many damn heads does it have anyway? Everybody’s version of tedium is different,
but endlessly dodging around waiting for some gargantuan horror to blink so I
can poke it precisely in the left eye 11 times definitely makes my list. But a
game where you have to walk down the hall to the kitchen, get some matches,
walk back up the hall, take out several candles, light them, and close the
curtains before some creepy old woman will tell you what the hell is going on?
Apparently that appeals to me.
Continue reading...
What's the Matter with Runescape?
I recently had a conversation with my ten year-old son that I had been longing to have since before he was born, since before I was even sure I really wanted to have kids. We were well into the eleventh hour of a game of Risk that had seen the empires of my wife and seven year-old come and go when my elder boy said the words that not only made me proud, but assured me that he would grow into a fine young man, that my work as a father was practically complete and a resounding success: “You know what I don’t like about RuneScape?”
Continue reading...
But Will Your Parents Play?
Based on the reaction to the November launch of the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii through sales and media attention, it's clear that gaming as a cultural phenomenon has cemented itself into the collective consciousness. Local news media observed in awe as the faithful lined up outside their local electronics retailer at midnight in order to be the first to get their sweaty mitts on the latest and greatest console gaming had to offer. Though like the theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings, the attention garnered by this event was more human zoo-like spectacle than genuine interest.
Continue reading...
The Time Machines
I hated studying history in high school. It was as if the curriculum had been designed to leave out everything that impressionable minds could possibly associate with, while making no provisions to seem like it was anything but handed down from an institution. However, in recent years it's a totally different story. I won't read any book that isn't related to history. I can watch History Television and the Discovery Channel and be immediately engrossed in a program related to some aspect of world history or anthropological pursuits. How did this happen? In a word: games.
Continue reading...
Read Only Memories
I'm fairly suspicious of nostalgia, and I hate how advertisers leverage our emotions to sell us the same products twice. So while I'm happy that people are rediscovering videogames from their youth, and that the games and their blocky aesthetic are mushrooming up all over the culture, I wonder about the retro-gaming phenomenon.
Are these games really that good?
Continue reading...
Too Damn Talky
Games are often criticised for not having any plot. What isn't given much consideration is whether it's possible for there to be too much story.
The Longest Journey (Funcom, 2000) made me think about this a lot.
Continue reading...
Der Teufelspakt
Solve the mystery of the cursed Mercy Booth in the clickable picture/text adventure, "Der Teufelspakt." You don't need to speak German to play, but it helps. (via The Horror?!)
Roofed!
Jim Munroe's been working on a new movie, Ghosts with Shit Jobs. It's not even out and he has a spin-off game--"Roofed!"Click and Click and Click
National Geographic's infinite photograph. Click and click and click.City of Heroes--On the Tip!
"City of Heroes: Golden Age is about Paragon City in the 80s." Check out the screen captures and cross your fingers that your 386 has enough power.Old Timey Interactive Fiction
The Illuminated Lantern has tentacled interactive fiction with the H.P. Lovecraft Commonplace Book project and whiskered diamond thievery in "1893: A World's Fair Mystery." (via 4DK)Everybody Dies, Jim Munroe Style
Don't bother guessing the verb, just click here to play Former Games Editor Jim Munroe's Everybody Dies which just took 3rd place at the 2008 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can also learn more about the process of writing interactive fiction and see Michael Cho's sweet illustrations.Narrative and Interactivity
The Artful Gamer ponders interactivity, engagement and narrative in videogames: "Instead of beating our collective heads against the wall as we try to design games that let players live out their wildest desires, we should be developing worlds that encourage players to explore them as living, breathing, places."Why Aren't You Dead Yet?
Just how many times do I have to kill this
guy? It’s a question I’ve certainly asked myself
while playing various games, along with Why aren’t you dead yet? and How
many damn heads does it have anyway? Everybody’s version of tedium is different,
but endlessly dodging around waiting for some gargantuan horror to blink so I
can poke it precisely in the left eye 11 times definitely makes my list. But a
game where you have to walk down the hall to the kitchen, get some matches,
walk back up the hall, take out several candles, light them, and close the
curtains before some creepy old woman will tell you what the hell is going on?
Apparently that appeals to me.
Continue reading...
What's the Matter with Runescape?
I recently had a conversation with my ten year-old son that I had been longing to have since before he was born, since before I was even sure I really wanted to have kids. We were well into the eleventh hour of a game of Risk that had seen the empires of my wife and seven year-old come and go when my elder boy said the words that not only made me proud, but assured me that he would grow into a fine young man, that my work as a father was practically complete and a resounding success: “You know what I don’t like about RuneScape?” But Will Your Parents Play?
Based on the reaction to the November launch of the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii through sales and media attention, it's clear that gaming as a cultural phenomenon has cemented itself into the collective consciousness. Local news media observed in awe as the faithful lined up outside their local electronics retailer at midnight in order to be the first to get their sweaty mitts on the latest and greatest console gaming had to offer. Though like the theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode I or The Lord of the Rings, the attention garnered by this event was more human zoo-like spectacle than genuine interest.
The Time Machines
I hated studying history in high school. It was as if the curriculum had been designed to leave out everything that impressionable minds could possibly associate with, while making no provisions to seem like it was anything but handed down from an institution. However, in recent years it's a totally different story. I won't read any book that isn't related to history. I can watch History Television and the Discovery Channel and be immediately engrossed in a program related to some aspect of world history or anthropological pursuits. How did this happen? In a word: games.
Read Only Memories
I'm fairly suspicious of nostalgia, and I hate how advertisers leverage our emotions to sell us the same products twice. So while I'm happy that people are rediscovering videogames from their youth, and that the games and their blocky aesthetic are mushrooming up all over the culture, I wonder about the retro-gaming phenomenon.
Are these games really that good?
Too Damn Talky
Games are often criticised for not having any plot. What isn't given much consideration is whether it's possible for there to be too much story.
The Longest Journey (Funcom, 2000) made me think about this a lot.
