Tag Archives: gaming

Bad Affect as Game Design, Or It Feels Good For Overwatch To Feel Bad

Posted on 04/19/2017 by kunzelman

This was originally written as a monthly essay for my Patreon. If you like it, consider chipping in $3 a month. There’s a lot of talk in game design about how to make people feel things. For the Skinner Box … Continue reading →

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“No One Criticized Bioshock Infinite Before!”

Posted on 09/17/2016 by kunzelman

All week long I’ve been reading tweets that have intimated that there has been some kind of sea change opinion shift in the way that Bioshock Infinite was received by audiences. The entire conversation has had a kind of “these damn hipsters” … Continue reading →

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On The Last Door: Season 2

Posted on 09/12/2016 by kunzelman

I’ve been sitting on the second season of The Last Door for some time now, and I can’t really explain why. It was less an avoidance and more of a saving, like I wanted to make sure that I was in the right … Continue reading →

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On Bloodborne: The Simulation and the Surrogate

Posted on 07/18/2016 by kunzelman

I. The lore of the Soulsborne series is generally “solved” a few weeks after the release of the newest games. We end up with a vague consensus, and then there’s just the continual work of augmenting that in order to … Continue reading →

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You Buy It, I Play It: Lifeless Planet

Posted on 07/05/2016 by kunzelman

Lifeless Planet is a beautiful object. It’s graphically “simple” in the contemporary world of both prestige and grungy independent game development. The astronaut you play as is this wonderful almost-lump that can double jump by using his astronaut jet pack (my … Continue reading →

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Appearance on Abnormal Mapping

Posted on 03/15/2016 by kunzelman

I was recently on Abnormal Mapping to talk about Metal Gear Solid 3 and the weird world of Hideo Kojima. I had a great time, and it’s an excellent podcast. Check it out here.

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A Firewatch Reader

Posted on 03/09/2016 by kunzelman

I think Firewatch is a neat game, and I like reading about games that I think are neat. Like I did with Bioshock: Infinite, I’m going to create a list of writing about Firewatch that I find interesting. This list is not exhaustive, nor does … Continue reading →

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Far Cry Primal Essay at Paste

Posted on 03/08/2016 by kunzelman

When we write about the past we’re always writing about the present. That writing can take a personal tone, showing how a person got to the place that they are through the person that they’ve been. Ben Carson stabs a … Continue reading →

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Trilogy Thinking and “Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea”

Posted on 03/02/2016 by kunzelman

This is part of my March post over at my Patreon. Cmrn Knzlmn Presents Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is the finale of my trilogy of “water games” of On August 11 . . .  and 2015: A Year in … Continue reading →

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30 Years of Trinity Islands

Posted on 02/15/2016 by kunzelman

Earlier today Twitter user @PointlessDude reached out to me to show me the abomination he has created in Rollercoaster Tycoon. He’s played Trinity Islands, a level in the game that I recently completed myself, for a long time. I think the normal … Continue reading →

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