Video Games for the Uninitiated

British Literature, Internet Goodness. Tue, Feb 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm

Themes: Articles, Video

These links have been bouncing around my bookmark folders for a while, so I thought I’d share.

Game Explanations for Beginners via Popmatters is a cool overview of the basics and history of gameplay. The author gets a bit philosophical towards the end, and his jokes are aimed at established gamers, so I’m not sure who his audience is…
Samorost 2 is an odd amalgam of adventure and puzzle genres. The game isn’t difficult, but the art is amazing. (After a quick Google search and 30 minutes of play I bring you Samorost [the Original]. Also cool.)
Reading’s good, too!
I am not an avid gameplayer, but I was completely blown away by World of Goo. The same author wrote the story, created the art, composed the music, and designed the program. Great design tour here.
More to come as I dig.

One Response to “Video Games for the Uninitiated”

Wesley says:

May 11, 2009 at 10:22 pm

I know that this post is pretty old, but you should take a look at Bioshock if you haven’t:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcZgcy9lbUU&feature=related
This is one of those games that redefines a genre, and what we consider art. From Wikipedia, “Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival horror games, and is described by the developers and Levine as a “spiritual successor” to their previous titles in the System Shock series.”
Other than that, all you need to know is that it takes place in 1950s chicago…Underwater

Wesley says:

May 11, 2009 at 10:22 pm

I know that this post is pretty old, but you should take a look at Bioshock if you haven’t:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcZgcy9lbUU&feature=related
This is one of those games that redefines a genre, and what we consider art. From Wikipedia, “Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival horror games, and is described by the developers and Levine as a “spiritual successor” to their previous titles in the System Shock series.”
Other than that, all you need to know is that it takes place in 1950s chicago…Underwater