Hi everyone, In the last post I mentioned I would be gone for some time as a result of going on vacation. It’s been way longer of a hiatus than I expected, and for good reasons I am happy to say that that hiatus is now extending indefinitely. The main reason for this is that […]
Motivation Through Pacing and Story: Paper Mario and Self-Efficacy
One of the initial goals of writing about games was to connect tidbits learned from studying psychology with instances of good design. Which is why I figured I would do something different with a post about Paper Mario. What I want to do is look at a concept from social psychology I find particularly valuable […]
Crash Team Racing and the Case for Single Player Gameplay in Multiplayer Games
I’ve been writing a lot about Nintendo a lot, and despite there being a reason for that (the overwhelming amount of design genius combined with controversial design choices give me A LOT to think about), I felt like making a post about something completely different. So today I will instead call back to my Playstation […]
Smash Brothers Sequels and the Issue of Bloat
In many ways the following post has a lot of similarities to a recent one I did on Pokemon. We’ll be talking about a franchise that is, unbeknownst perhaps to some who know me, incredibly important to my childhood and a strong favorite. Not only that, but it’s a franchise that has boasted success since […]
Fairness in Games: Why Do We Miss Mario Party?
One of the things I find myself easily writing a lot about when it comes to games is the multiple gaming franchises that, for some reason or another, were great during my childhood but have failed to maintain that fun over future iterations. Things like Paper Mario, for example, where the newer installations have completely […]
Celeste and Narrative: The Strength of Character Development
Today’s post is a combination of two things I’ve been wanting to talk for some time: Celeste and narrative. The first should be an understandable desire. Since its release a couple weeks ago, the indie title Celeste has garnered significant attention given particularly the level of difficulty its challenges involve and the way it gradually […]
How Pokemon Could Evolve
Despite the fact I haven’t talked much about it here, Pokemon is probably up there as one of the most important gaming franchises for me. I don’t necessarily think the games are the best, but even with that knowledge in mind it is very difficult for me to not be excited about the prospect of […]
2017 in Gaming
It’s around that time of the year where every gaming site and channel figures to do a top ten of the year, or a piece on what the biggest game of the year was. In a way, I do intend on joining in on that, but not quite in the same manner. First of all, […]
Making a sequel to Mario 64: Reflections on Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Odyssey
When Super Mario Odyssey was announced, easily one of the most satisfying tidbits of info for a lot of people involved the notion that this game would go after the same type of gameplay as Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. That said, I’m going to be honest: I did not believe Nintendo on this. Given […]
Splatoon 2 and How Nintendo Doesn’t Design for Competitive
I haven’t made it exactly a secret to anyone that I am very into Nintendo as a whole, mainly because of its products but also because I have followed the company for more than half my life. From childhood when I used to follow it dreaming of a job there, to current days where I […]