I never think my opinion matters. Who is my audience? Who am I explaining anything to? Who do I imagine?
Growing up Riot Grrl: The Nostalgia Lie of Gone Home
I don't even know how to begin to write about Gone Home. I guess I'll start by linking Anna Anthropy's piece, since it made me feel relieved. Oh, spoilers, by the way.
Read MoreThe Grey: Tackling depression, masculinity, suicide, survival, and magical wolves.
Most people go into The Grey with spoilers in mind. I didn't. I got lucky. Somehow, I managed to avoid any and all trailers for this film. I only knew Liam Neeson Fights Wolves. I had also heard the film "sucked" and that the wolves didn't look realistic. I knew nothing else.
Read MoreNews! Judging Gears of War: Judgment, more on Tomb Raider, and podcasts (again)
Some long overdue updates on work I've published about the ol' internet lately.
Two weeks ago, I wrote a review of Gears of War: Judgment for Paste magazine. I also wrote an editorial about Sofia for Gameranx. Tom Bissell, one of the game's two lead writers, responded in a comment on the post. We live in a magical world of accessibility now, where game creators can talk directly with critics and vice versa. Too bad I couldn't use that accessibility to tell Bissell how much I loved his game, because I did not.
Read MoreAshes of the Phoenix.
I didn't always like the Phoenix. But I did always love it.
Like any long-term relationship, there weren't good days and bad days. There were good years and bad years.
Read MoreMiddle Schooler Maddy and Tomb Raider
Back in seventh grade, I thought at first that Tomb Raider was just a porn that all my guy friends liked. Oh, I knew that it was a game -- I just thought it was a porn game. My male friends talked in front of me without shame about their masturbation habits, their pornography preferences, and their wish for a Lara Croft "nude" mode. Middle schoolers, am I right? The guys did get their hands on the Nude Raider patch; I didn't understand until a couple years later that this patch wasn't included with the game, that it had been created independently.
Read MoreFor the love of the game.
If you've ever seen me speak on a panel about games writing, you've heard me joke around about sleep deprivation. "All the game reviews you read have been written by someone who hasn't slept for a week," I say to anyone who raises their hand to say they envy the life of a video game critic. "You think reviewing games is easy? You try it."
I say this in a joking tone so that I don't scare people, but it's not really a joke. I think reviewing video games is fun. I do not think it is easy. And I do think you should try it.
Read MoreNews! Tomb Raider, WIG Boston, and podcasts
I reviewed the Tomb Raider reboot for Paste Magazine this week. The game comes out tomorrow. Hopefully I helped at least a few lost souls decide whether or not they should pick that up.
Read MoreHello, world.
This website will be a new catch-all place to put all of my work and projects.
This week, I wrote a blog post about Hotline Miami, guns, violence, America, and masculinity. I also published a round-up of five indie PC games that gave me hope for the games industry in this past year.
I will try to use this space for blog post topics that don't quite "fit" the tone of Laser Orgy (my blog at the Phoenix), and also to keep folks aware of the writing and other projects I do elsewhere.