The Quixotic Engineer

A few weeks ago Mike Walbridge put out a call looking for review writers for a new project. This venture was the expansion and revamping of a gaming website called Snackbar Games where he is the head editor. I expressed an interest, and Mike kindly offered me a job. I’ll now be writing occasional reviews, news posts and commentary over at Snackbar.

My first review of the indie puzzle game World of Goo was posted earlier today, you’ll have to click through to Snackbar to check it out:

Snackbar Games – World of Goo Review

For game reviews to move away from buyer’s guides and toward true criticism, I believe price must no longer be a factor in scoring. Portal is a great game at $20 or $60, even if it’s likely a bad investment in the latter case. However, since I avoided saying it there I’ll say it here: World of Goo is a steal. Spending $20 for one of the best games of the year is a no-brainer. Spending $20 to support indie developers is a no-brainer. Spending $20 for a game released on OSX and Linux is a no-brainer. Please purchase and play this wonderfully creative game, you absolutely will not regret it.

In the latest episode of the Brainy Gamer podcast, Michael and his guests Leigh and Mitch have a fascinating discussion contrasting two recent horror releases: Dead Space and Silent Hill: Homecoming. The consensus is that, while Dead Space is technically impressive and features innovative use of the third person perspective, it lacks the subtle psychological elements of a traditional survival horror title. I’d hate to reduce the impact of their arguments by summarizing them, so you’ll have to listen for yourself if you’re not convinced.

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I first heard of the game Soul Bubbles when Lost Garden suggested that it was “a classic game ill treated by expert reviewers.” His description of the game struck a chord with me, and I was compelled to troll eBay for a copy. However, despite having been released less than a month prior, it was surprisingly difficult to track down. It turns out that Soul Bubbles was a Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive release, had sold poorly and was already out of print.

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This is more of an open question than a well-formed idea, so I’m hoping you all can help me out on this one.

A few weeks ago I read an article by Noel Murray over at the A.V. Club. His synopsis of indie rock band Pavement’s career is worth a read, but the opening paragraph is what that really struck me as insightful:

Here’s how it goes sometimes: A guy likes movies, initially because he’s attracted to story and spectacle, but after a while, he sees so many movies that he starts to get tired of the same kinds of structure and style repeated over and over. So novelty starts to take precedence over quality, and the cineaste starts grooving on such esoteric virtues as slowness and murkiness. Or consider the music buff, who often gets jaded quickly and starts tossing around words like “overproduced” and “middle-of-the-road” to describe songs they can’t abide, while championing acts that traffic in drone and distortion.

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Earlier this month I was contacted by one of my favourite bloggers, Michael Abbott of The Brainy Gamer, about a semi-secret project he was working on called the Gamers Confabulation. He was looking to assemble a pool of bloggers who write about video games, from which he would invite a few every week for an informal round-table discussion on his podcast. Michael described it as a “thoughtful conversation about video games in a casual, lively format aimed at adults.” The list ranged from professional games journalists to motivated enthusiasts like myself. I was thrilled to receive the invitation and hastily accepted.

The flagship episode of the Gamers Confab features Brinstar of Acid for Blood, Manveer Heir of Design Rampage and myself. In it we talk about the culture of SingStar, the big promises made by game designers and how much we love Good Old Games. Thanks again to Michael, Brinstar and Manveer, I had a blast talking with you and I hope you all enjoy listening to us.

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