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Outside the circle of people who develop games, a game “Jam” event isn’t really a well-understood phenomenon. When I told friends I was going to be participating in a weekend-long game event, their assumption, perhaps a natural one, was that I was going to be spending an entire weekend playing games. These sort of marathons have become more common. Often they’re done for entertainment; other times, to raise money for charity. I think overall, a weekend of playing games is more easily comprehended than the strange animal that is a game jam: a one-weekend development event.

Slow and steady wins the race, my friends, and I have slowly and steadily been failing to make much progress in From Software’s bleakly brilliant Dark Souls, as my report here will attest. But it’s about the journey, not the destination, and thus do I share with you more of the journey. I promise, you’ll …

About five years ago, on the message board 4chan, a Japanese artist posted a charming but strange concept illustration. The picture depicted five girls, envisioned as the potential love interests in a Japanese-style visual romance novel. So far, so ordinary, but there’s a twist: all of the young women had a unique disability. One was …

When I think back over the last twelve months of my gaming year, the word that instantly springs to my mind is “change”. I began 2011 the same way I’ve started and ended the last fifteen years; as an exclusively console gamer. But mid way through this particular year something changed. I built my own …

In our previous episode, a stalwart hero named Steerpike (actually his name is Ste, because it’s really irritating entering letters into the PS3 with thumbsticks) died 133 times while accomplishing essentially nothing at all. That installment took me to about October 12, so an even week of play since Dark Souls released. I’ve been writing …

I’ve got this trudging, bloviating, pedagogical article about the Souls games cooking, one that includes references to Kierkegaard and “Non-Campbellian Heroism,” but I figured I’d start with a series you guys might actually find fun to read. I have a bit of a thing for Demon’s Souls, and for Dark Souls, and I’ve been keeping …

For the last eighteen months, one game has dominated my thoughts and industry interests more than any other. That game was Batman: Arkham City, follow up to 2009′s roaring success Arkham Asylum. Praised for its tight Metroidvania design and original plot penned by long time Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum placed us into the …

I’m an omnivorous gamer. When I’m not behind the computer screen, you might find me behind the “DM’s screen,” running a game of Dungeons & Dragons. And as a Dungeon Master, I’m familiar with a lot of the tricks that DMs use to keep a Dungeons & Dragons game exciting. A prolific source of roleplaying-game-related and other …

It’s strange watching the rise of player versus player (PvP) prominence within massively multiplayer games. First exposed to the concept in Ultima Online when out in the wilds of Britannia, I’ve watched it evolve from what was a seemingly a recreational activity when not questing or exploring, to it taking pride of place as a must have …

My recent trip to GDC Online in Austin, TX, reminded me how much I hate traveling by airplane.  Being crammed into an aluminum tube with a hundred other people, after waiting uncomfortably for hours, after being frisked, maybe, is just not my idea of convenient.  I’d rather drive. But this also made me return to …