Monthly Archives: October 2009

Culture, Gaming, Jack Thompson, Maundering, Opinion, Violence

The basic unit of group disagreement

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It’s extremely rare that any two people possess the same basic beliefs and priorities. It might be so rare, that it doesn’t actually happen at all. We’re all at least partially aware that if you dig deep enough, any superficial resemblance in the beliefs and priorities of any two people is fundamentally erased.

That doesn’t stop us giving each-other crap because someone fails to precisely conform with our views. I’ll be talking some more about that, but right now, I’m going to talk about Jack Thompson.

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2D Boy, Games, Gaming, Video Games, World of Goo

World of Goo birthday sale

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Independent games hit, World of Goo, has just turned one year old. While it’s normally US$20, 2D Boy are having a sale, where you pay… whatever the heck you want. Paypal and cards are accepted.

That’s a good deal (but if you’re not familiar with the game, grab the demo and try it out first).

World of Goo is available for Windows, Linux and Mac, and the birthday deal is on until October 25.

Grab it or the demo from here.

Culture, F.E.A.R., Film, Games, Gaming, Horror, Opinion, Penumbra, Penumbra: Black Plague, Penumbra: Overture, Penumbra: Requiem, Project Eden, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., The Path, Video Games

A few words about horror

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Fragiles (2005)

Horror. It’s difficult to actually even define what it actually is, and it overlaps into so many other spheres that it isn’t really easy to define what it is not. I’ve talked about a few horror-themed games, and I’ll be talking about some more later, so now is as good a time as any to talk a bit about it.

Many of the masters of horror have managed solid efforts, without shocks, scares, or blood. When I think of horror, I think of it not as something that frightens us, but something that unsettles us.

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A King of Shreds and Patches, Culture, Games, Gaming, Horror, Inform 7, Interactive Fiction, Play It Now

Play it now – A King of Shreds and Patches

Play It Now! It’s the early 1600’s, the plague is in town (again), business could be better, and Shakespeare’s gearing up for a new play at the Globe. You’ve got a dinner invitation from an old acquaintance, whose lively and ribald tales stand to brighten things up .

Well, you’d think. In fact, you’ll be lucky to make it through the week with your sanity.

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Adult Content, Australia, Censorship, Culture, Film, Games, Gaming, Law, Media, Michael Atkinson, Opinion, Television, Video Games, Violence

Vulnerable adults

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As you’re probably aware, Australia doesn’t have an 18+ rating for video games (though it does for other types of media such as films and publications). It’s not a stretch to see why. At the time the legislation was applied to video games, such games were the province of the young, and it is only recently that they’ve grown up, right?

Wrong.

From their inception, video games (particularly computer games) were played by all ages.

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ffdshow, Games, Gaming, How To, Scrapland, System Shock 2

Fixing the black screen

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If you’re a Windows gamer, you’ve very likely had the issue where you’ve installed a game (including, but not limited to, Scrapland or System Shock 2), and when you start up the game, you get a black screen. Maybe there’s sound, maybe not. Maybe the application works except for the video – and maybe it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, you often have to use control-alt-delete to break out and kill the process.

There’s a bunch of possible causes, but one of the most common ones is easy to fix.

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