Gaming

Best Video Games of 2021

Best Video Games of 2021

Please Stop Putting Stamina Bars in Every Video Game

Please Stop Putting Stamina Bars in Every Video Game

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Spiritfarer: How Being Broken Makes a Game More Beautiful

By Jef Rouner
Oct 8, 2021

Warning: Spoilers for Spiritfarer. Spiritfarer was released in 2020, but the updates that have continued to drop mean that just now in 2021 do I really feel the game is finished. Despite that, the title kind of remains slightly broken, but in a weird way it enhances the overarching themes...
Theory: Dr. Mario is Mario and Luigi’s Dad

By Jef Rouner
Oct 1, 2021

With the recent announcement of a Super Mario movie, I’ve been thinking more and more about the Super Mario mythology. Specifically, how does a plumber with super jumping abilities who mostly serves as a one-man splinter cell in a magic kingdom have time to also sometimes be a doctor? My theory:...
Growing Up Poor and the Art of Video Game Item Hoarding

By Jef Rouner
Jul 27, 2021

Something comedian Robin Tran said has stuck hard with me: “I think there’s a lot of unexamined panic from fearing scarcity and it comes up in random ways, not using items in video games, not throwing away leftovers.” That sentence hit me like a train because I grew up poor...
Comicpalooza Returns, With Mandalorians and Lokis Galore

By Pete Vonder Haar
Jul 18, 2021

Fan conventions used to be the domain of — in the words of Grace from Ferris Bueller's Day Off — geeks and dweebies (and to a lesser extent, wastoids and dickheads). Having attended gaming cons in the early '80s, I can personally attest to the overwhelming unkempt white maleness of such...
This Is The Way ... To Comicpalooza 2021

By Pete Vonder Haar
Jul 15, 2021

Delta variant be damned, American (and Houston) are pushing to return to something resembling normalcy, and that means the return of our beloved Comicpalooza. The event was canceled last year, thanks to COVID, but returns in somewhat abbreviated fashion for 2021 (Saturday and Sunday only this year, with more outdoor...
5 Things A Metroidvania Needs

By Jef Rouner
Jul 5, 2021

Metroidvania is a term used to describe a certain sub-genre of video games that mimic the style of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. In general, they are non-linear, two-dimensional side-scrolling action games that have a focus on exploring a huge area that is unlocked with power-ups. I’ve...
Five Nights at Freddy’s Creator Defends Anti-LGBT Political Donations

By Jef Rouner
Jun 15, 2021

Scott Cawthon, the Houston-born/Austin-based creator of the hit horror game series Five Nights At Freddy’s, is a major donor to Republican politicians. Records from Open Secrets show that since 2015 he has made $42,204 in contributions, almost all of them to Republican candidates. The sole exception is former Hawaii Representative...
5 Things I Hated About Resident Evil: Village

By Jef Rouner
May 18, 2021

For the record, I think Resident Evil: Village is utterly brilliant. It’s terrifying, fun to play, and certainly breathing new life into a franchise that has been limping along on nostalgia for a decade. The thing is, when a game is really, really good, it actually makes the flaws even...
Console Woes Could Mean a Growing Gaming Wealth Gap

By Jef Rouner
Apr 27, 2021

I got a PlayStation 5, but I’m still really unhappy with how I did. Originally, I was going to use part of my first stimulus check in 2020 to set-up a pre-order for the system at GameStop like I did with my PS4. Delays in getting that check meant I...
Revisiting Resident Evil 7 Ahead of Village

By Jef Rouner
Apr 14, 2021

I was obsessed with Resident Evil as a teenager to the point that I got into at least one screaming argument with my brother over a plot point in a spin-off novel (Caliban Cove, represent). As the series moved away from its survival horror roots into a more military tactical...
Controversial “Arab Murder Simulator” Coming to Consoles

By Jef Rouner
Apr 12, 2021

Six Days in Fallujah, a game that is being referred to as an “Arab murder simulator,” is being released on consoles after years of controversy and backlash. Games where American soldiers kill endless waves of Arab enemy combatants are nothing new, and even make up some major franchises like Call...
10 Essential Games to Buy Before the PS3 Store Shuts Down

By Jef Rouner
Apr 5, 2021

Sony has announced that they will be closing down their PS3 online store on August 27. As someone that still plays their PS3 regularly, this is a sore blow, especially because there are still a lot of games on the system that have not been added to the PS4 and...
I Saw Black Clouds Revolutionizes Adventure Games With One Basic Trick

By Jef Rouner
Mar 30, 2021

We’re living in a full motion video game renaissance that doesn’t get enough credit. After the novelty of games like Night Trap and Phantasmagoria in the ‘90s wore off, developers moved onto increasingly photorealistic animation instead of using live actors. Over the last five years, the genre has been getting...
Five Reasons to Get Excited About the New Life Is Strange

By Jef Rouner
Mar 24, 2021

During last week’s Square Enix Live event, the company announced the fourth installment in their Life is Strange series, subtitled True Colors, would be released on September 10 this year. Some of the revealed aspects give me hope that the series might finally be back on the right track. Despite...
Mobile Games Are Both Predatory and Helpful to Mental Illness

By Jef Rouner
Jan 28, 2021

I have a love-hate relationship with free-to-play mobile games. On the one hand they are absolutely predatory in a way that might actually get them regulated by the government as gambling. On the other, they help me deal with mental illness the way nothing else does. My game of choice...
A Look Back at the ‘70s Houston Monopoly Knock-Off

By Jef Rouner
Jan 18, 2021

Have you ever wanted to play as a rich developer in Houston in the 1970s? No, probably not. Two major oil crises did a number on old H-Town, but that didn’t stop Groovy Games from publishing a Monopoly knock-off in 1977 that at least let people pretend they were tycoons...
5 Most Disappointing Video Games of 2020

By Jef Rouner
Dec 21, 2020

Before we get started, let’s be clear on something. Disappointing does not necessarily mean “bad.” In fact, some of the games in this list are quite good overall. It’s just that for one reason or another they failed to live up to their hype or let themselves get bogged down...
2020 Video Games of the Year

By Jef Rouner
Dec 14, 2020

Gaming had a rough year in 2020. With many studios shutting down or delaying production on titles due to the COVID pandemic, as well as the ramp up to a new console generation launch, some loss in quantity and quality was to be expected. That said, we still got some...
Casino Mogul Adelson Hires Big-Time Texas Lobbyists

By Jef Rouner
Dec 3, 2020

Gambling in Texas has never seemed more like a pipe dream, but the owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino, Sheldon Adelson, has spared no expense when it comes to hiring major lobbyists in the state. In a recent filing, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation listed ten lobbyists that Adelson...
Yes, There are Already COVID-19 Video Games

By Jef Rouner
Jun 4, 2020

One of the great things about the massive indie game scene is that it’s possible to get video games based on real-world events as they are happening. Granted, these are often as cheap and quick as a punk song, but it’s still rather remarkable that a medium with a famously...