When I started this column, I had this idea. I wanted to write about that space where fantasy escapism (i.e. popular entertainment) and social forms meet.  I wanted to talk about why we make the entertainment we do and what that entertainment does to us. Because I do believe that the process of doing something changes us. And since I’ve [...]

From the title, you may think that I’m here to talk about “adult” video games with sexual content. I’m not. While the word “porn” was initially associated with something sordid, it has recently become representative of any number of images that stirs feelings of lust in the viewer. Food porn, for example, is pictures of food all trussed up and [...]

Colleen will be back next week. Until then, I have your back. Twinkies maker Hostess is shutting down due to bankruptcy and a labor dispute. Hey Hostess, pot was just legalized in Colorado and Washington… so maybe you should’ve held out a few more months. Popular Science has come up with a list of the 25 greatest innovations of the [...]

Ever dug out your 6th grade pictures? I did recently, and boy, I was an awkward-looking kid! I had it all: thick glasses, bowl cut, and pimples. It’s a tough time for most kids. I think we all go through it because the humiliation makes us better people, or maybe we just get better at making fun of other people [...]

I had a ton of great links. Then I accidentally exited the window and didn’t realize it for a few minutes. Now you’re stuck with what I remembered finding. Sorry, the internet is a fickle fig. You’re not the only ones trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. Professional Caricaturist Andrea Gerstmann gives everyone’s favorite droids a costumed [...]

Speaking personally, I am a huge NFL fan.  I watch preseason games where my team is not involved– not to see the starters but to see the guys who might make the roster.  I watch every minute of my team’s, the New England Patriots, games.  Last January, I went to 2 playoff games in freezing cold weather. I love the [...]

Three years ago, Gearbox Software introduced gamers to the world of Pandora in the first person RPG Borderlands. Two days ago, I went back to Pandora in Borderlands 2, and I don’t think I want to come back from it. The opening cinematic of the game introduces players to a little bit of plot background and the four new Vault Hunter [...]

Being as picky of a gamer as I am, it’s usually surprising how many poorly-rated games I actually enjoy playing. Lollipop Chainsaw was no exception to this little trend of mine. Cheerleaders, chainsaws, and zombies: what’s not to love? For those of you who haven’t heard of Lollipop Chainsaw, it’s a one-of-a-kind game. Teenager Juliet wakes up to find her [...]

Ahhh, summer. The sun is hot, the movies are all blockbusters with more explosions than you can possibly imagine, and the game industry pretty much shuts down. For years, nothing of note has come out during the summer. Which, quite honestly, annoys the hell out of me. Yeah, I know, people don’t want to sit inside and play games when [...]

Video game publishers never fail to amaze me with their business decisions. For example, Activision announced their pricing for bringing Angry Birds Trilogy to consoles and the Nintendo 3DS…   $40 on consoles and $30 on the 3DS. That’s a 1000% plus markup, depending on the platform you are buying it on. Why would they do this? Because people will probably [...]

Ace of Bass is a tribute band to ‘90s Swedish pop group that performs entirely on…wait for it….upright basses. Didn’t see that coming, did you? You probably did; I telegraphed it pretty clearly. It’s a good question, and one I don’t hear asked enough – Why is rape worse than death in video games? Maybe now that Atari is 40, [...]

Something I’ve noticed a lot lately in both tabletop and video game materials is how messed up they often are. Video games are notorious for this. Didn’t get something correct? We can just patch it later. It’s a trend that I’m torn about. On one hand, game breaking bugs can be fixed (Remember the glitches in NES and SNES games [...]

This week I come equipped with more links and fewer images. So, join me on a journey around the week that was! Pioneering science fiction author Ray Bradbury died Tuesday at 91. In his honor, pull your high school copy of “Fahrenheit 451″ off the shelf and pull up a patch of grass this weekend. The E3 conference this week [...]

John wrote an article yesterday about his disappointment with the current World of Warcraft. I agree with all of his points, but I thought I would take it a step further and talk about the kind of MMO I would want to play. As I was thinking about it, I came up with this formula. Mass Effect’s character creation + [...]

I’ve been an MMO player for a long time. In Jr. High, I was a fan of text-based online gaming MUDs like Gemstone III (now Gemstone IV), and when MMOs moved into the graphical space with games like Everquest or Ultima Online, I was quickly hooked. Then along came World of Warcraft. I was a big fan of the Warcraft [...]