Immortal Defense

The best video game plot since Planescape. I'm serious.

Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 4: Player Input via the Silent Protagonist

A brief explanation on the wacky name and a break-down of the actor/audience relationship needs of player input in games

Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 3: Plotting the Plot

The Ethics of Forcing a Player to Do Something in Games

Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 2: The Role of Depth

Challenging conventional values of game design and their absolute necessity in video games

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

Improvement Standards in Ported Games

An Outline of the Next 10 Weeks

Zarathustran Analytics

I. Introduction to Game Identity

II. Game Design Values

III. Ethics in Forced Player Action in Story Telling

IV. Player Input and the Actor/Audience Hybrid

V. Four Forms of Game Experience

VI. Exceptions to the Four Forms

VII. Philosophies of Game Purpose

VIII. Application

IX. What Proper Criticism Is Not

X. What Proper Criticism Is

Every Tuesday, the next one goes up. I'm always appreciative of any suggestions here or over at Popmatters. A great deal of this is already written though, so I'm at the tweaking stages for a lot of it.

Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 1: Finding Identity

I figure if you're going to be pretentious enough to invent a critical method & language for video games, you might as well name it after Nietzsche.

The Zerg Through the Eyes of Marx

Last one of these old posts before the new stuff starts rolling in