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Fellow Tappers, how time flies! Turkeys do not fly. Like chickens and ostriches they are flightless birds. And they will be slaughtered, engorged with bread and spices, overcooked, and consumed en masse this Thursday, as Americans celebrate “Thanksgiving,” which when you think about it doesn’t make sense as a word. Before we continue, I feel …

Hey everyone! Our buddy Armand K, Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming editor lowly writer and lucky dog, somehow found the time to attend IndieCade – the international festival of independent games, now in its fourth year – down in Culver City. He must have had a lot of caffeine in him, because somehow the dude managed …

And so it came to be. Three simple folk from the north of England descended on London’s Earls Court for the 2011 Eurogamer Expo, bright eyed and with high expectations of the gaming goodness on offer. For Lewis it was time to finally play his beloved Guild Wars 2. For Mat, a long awaited chance …

Apologies to all visitors who arrived at Casa de Tap only to find the doors barred in the past couple of weeks. Our host is experiencing an intermittent and mysterious problem, but promises to work it out. Downtimes should be transient. In the interim, if you see anything weird about the site, or it’s down …

I know what you’re thinking. You love the great taste, wholesome values and nutritional benefits of the Alliance of Awesome, but you just don’t have enough ways to absorb or interact with its lovely staff, readers and contributors. You need and crave more. Fear not, discerning gamers of impeccable taste and style. Not only is the Alliance …

I may occasionally bitch about the IGDA, but I am lucky and proud to be a member. The Detroit Chapter has struggled mightily to maintain itself on account of a vast geographical area – we don’t want to splinter into an Ann Arbor Chapter, a Lansing Chapter, an EAST Lansing Chapter, a Grand Rapids Chapter, etc etc etc – and is currently amidst a new period of growth and energy. At our monthly social meetings you get to drink and meet the wonderful game development community of southern Michigan. And thus it was that I met Jacob Elert, who stated without a hint of irony that most people called him Bear. If you ever meet Bear, you will see why. Bear is a big fella; but he’s not a “Gorilla” or an “Elephant,” he’s definitely bearlike. In addition to being bearlike, Bear is a passionate new entry to the game development world, and I enjoyed chatting with him so much that I suggested he toss me an article for Tap. And he did! Today you’ll be getting a bear’s view of what MMOs have meant to the game experience as well as just the market. I think you’ll find it well worth your time. Take it away, Bear!

— S

I first met Amanda Lange about two years ago – until quite recently, she taught Game Design at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Detroit, Michigan, and I had the honor of being invited to speak with one of her classes. I don’t think Amanda expected me to ramble on for an hour and a half, but then again… she didn’t know me at the time. Now she does and is correspondingly more wary.

A longtime member of the International Game Developers Association and supporter of many local efforts and endeavors, Amanda’s moving to a new state soon on account of getting relocated, so we’ll miss her at the Detroit IGDA meetings. In the interim, though, she kindly offered to put together a Celebrity Guest Editorial on a subject that I think many Tap readers have pondered over the years. Take it away, Amanda!

—S

Here at Tap, we occasionally are honored by guest editorials – from game industry celebrities, from people who are awesome, from others. This one falls into the latter category. You all know Armand K, one of our regulars, and a writer for Alliance of Awesome fellow BnB Gaming. No one really likes Armand; we sort …

Today, earthlings, I give you Brandon Perdue: Carnegie-Mellon grad student in Entertainment Technology, nice person, and proto-celebrity. Why proto? Well, Brandon is still learning his craft. He is not a celebrity yet. But I have faith he’ll become one! Probably very soon! Maybe as early as next week!

I met Brandon when I was down in Pittsburgh speaking at CMU on behalf of another Celebrity Guest Editor, Drew Davidson. It was a cool day for me: CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center is awesome; I got to meet students, which I love, and none of them said (out loud) that they wished they hadn’t come to my little workshop. One did leave in the middle. ANYWAY

Brandon was there, and at the end I gave my pitch for Tap, which I always do, and he said he might be interested in contributing. Thereafter we exchanged some emails discussing a paper he was working on (he never said – out loud – that my comments were useless), and once that was done he asked if the offer was still open. And look!

What we have here is an eloquent reflection on a gone-away genre, one that’s dear to many hearts and sorely missed. I think you’ll agree that he has a gift for capturing why we loved them. Take it away, Brandon!

— S

As you may have noticed (or not, we’re still not sure what’s happening) Tap-Repeatedly is experiencing a crisis of aesthetics. Please be patient while we freak out over a private email thread and on the Staff forum. Regular transmissions will resume in the fullness of time. If you have a particular issue or concern, or …