Video games, whatever they may mean to you, are now a part of our shared heritage. At Press Pause to Reflect, we have strived to explore their value as such and come to a fuller understanding of our own, often confusing, culture. Bringing this blog to you for the past year has been a fantastic experience and 2010 looks even brighter. We couldn’t have done it without you, dear readers. Your comments and attention have kept us moving. We’d also like to thank the developers who took the time to talk with us about their experiences breaking ground in the medium. Keep up the good work, we will be watching with great expectation. And a big thanks to the welcoming world of video game bloggers. You’ve all been very friendly, helpful, and we’re grateful for every word and link. Please accept our warmest holiday wishes and best hopes for the new year.
Before we go on vacation, we’ve put together a little compilation of our favorite pieces from our first year as a blog. We hope you’ll look around, and that we’ll see you again in 2010.
Our Purpose
Playing with Art, by Daniel Bullard-Bates, and Josh Raisher’s follow-up serve as something like a thesis statement for Press Pause to Reflect, discussing the special merits of the video game medium.
Nostalgia
C.T. Hutt did some lovely pieces on the death of the arcade, difficulty levels in older video games, and just how much video game swordplay means to him.
Notions
Daniel offered some guidelines on how to extend game play without ruining the game and proposed an idea for a permanent-death horror game.
Complaints
Josh bemoaned the lack of permanence in video game death, C.T. complained about how abysmal the writing was in Gears of War, and Daniel whined that games are too in love with realism.
Praise
C.T. lauded environmental design in video games, Daniel got excited about writers doing a better job of injecting humor into games, and Josh exhibited an unhealthy obsession with Chrono Trigger.
Interviews
Tale of Tales, Jonathan Blow, and Jason Rohrer were all kind enough to answer our questions.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Level Complete: 2009
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I'd just like to say... I appreciate everything you've been putting out there. I've bought a decent pile of games solely based on reading about them here, and I've yet to be disappointed:
ReplyDeleteBorderlands, Gravitation, Uncharted, Scribblenauts, Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed 2, and most recently Flower...
It's been a hell of an interesting time in gaming land recently, and I'm glad you people realize it too. Now, if only I could have Mass Effect 2 tomorrow, all would be right with the world.
Thanks for the kind words! We appreciate your reading and your trust. I've heard a lot of people say that this was not a great year for gaming, but I've certainly had a blast. We'll try our best not to steer you wrong in the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know just what you mean about Mass Effect 2.