Russian Doll is not the first TV show or movie to contemplate our overall purpose in the universe, or lack thereof, whilst trapped in a time loop.
However, the show offers some insightful perspective about the power of playing out the same experiences over and over again – whether in a real world or a videogame.
while Switch Sports football is not exactly a simulation of the beautiful game, it can be pretty evocative at recreating the childish thrill of running around fields trying to feel important with an misplaced, overambitious diving headers.
It is charming to know that, as of May 2022, Anthem continues to live on for a dwindling number of players. But at what point is it that we should consider an online ‘live service’ game is truly dead? Is it a matter of ensuring that servers are still running, or of people giving a shit?
When released in 1984, the lightgun shooter Hogan’s Alley gave gamers a crude means of shooting an approximation of a generic bad guy through their screen. Yet after decades of software and hardware development, the sophistication of more modern first person shooters still ultimately hinges on the simplistic and cathartic appeal of blasting away and blowing up wrong ‘uns.
Whether or not we one day find ourselves playing through an all encompassing, multi-brand Super Sonic Chocobo Team Cash Kart or not, Super Mario Kart has now effectively spawned an entire genre of racing games. But can any title that seeks to emulate Mario Kart ever truly break from the mould of their source material and do we really want them to?
For a game with an almost absurdist approach to progress, meaning and purpose, what does Elden Rings tell us about games and those who play them in the early 21st century?
Just about every videogame released over the last few decades has used music in some form or other – but how exactly can you make a videogame into a musical in a way that effectively combines sound, actions and emotion?
In asking a player to be both a counterweight as well as literal and figurative support for their real world partner, the co-op robot exploration game Biped can be a thrilling, if frustrating experience for duos and couples to play through.
In forcing two players to try and overcome gravity, disgruntled household appliances and dynamic camera angles together, it is not just the story of EA’s It Takes Two that ask players to think about what works and doesn’t work in their relationship.
In the modern era of gaming, ending the main campaign or scripted narrative of a videogame is not always its end.
squareblind 