General Video Game Theory
“What Is It Like to Be a Gamer?” A speech on the value of video games.
Watch a speech I delivered at Harvard this January on the social value of video games.
Critical Review
Critical Review: Xenoblade and Leibniz.
With Xenoblade X releasing tomorrow, I revisit and update my work on Xenoblade Chronicles.
General Video Game Theory
“Listen to My Story”: The Problem of Storytelling in Virtual Reality.
A defense of why video games might be better at telling stories than VR ever could be.
Bloodborne
“Bloodborne,” Lovecraft, and the Dangerous Idea.
"Bloodborne" isn't just inspired by H.P. Lovecraft: it represents an entirely new level of Lovecraftian horror.
Deus Ex
Self-Guided Evolution: What “Deus Ex” and “Flowers for Algernon” teach about personal development.
Deus Ex and Flowers for Algernon may have more practical life advice for you than you imagine.
Xenoblade Chronicles
Video Games versus Cinema: Comparing “Xenoblade Chronicles” to “Stranger than Fiction.”
Are there some stories that can ONLY be coherently told through the medium of video games? Read on to find out.
Dishonored
When are Dunwall and Scotland like your School? Throwback Analysis of “Dishonored,” Part III.
The one chance you might get to read a critique of education based on video games and theater.
Dishonored
The Bard and Bethesda: Throwback Analysis of “Dishonored,” Part II.
How is Corvo Attano like Macbeth? The second part in my older work on "Dishonored" has the answer.
A Comprehensive Theory of Majora's Mask
This is why Anju and Kafei are the most important citizens of Termina.
In the last of my analyses of the original "Majora's Mask," I argue that Anju and Kafei are central to the game's artistic value.
A Comprehensive Theory of Majora's Mask
“A soldier who has no heart”: understanding the Elegy of Emptiness.
"With a Terrible Fate" takes on the Elegy of Emptiness, inspiration of the infamous "BEN drowned."