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Mark Filipowich's Member Blogs
In the Third Person: Against Player Authority  |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 02:06:00 EST in
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| The critical consensus is that the main character in a game has to be an extension of the player. The world must be at the player’s disposal, and the world must be built around player choice. This “me-first” approach to video game storytelling is limited. |
| Read More... | 3 Comments |
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The Inelegance of the Video Game Satire |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Sat, 08 Dec 2012 05:09:00 EST in
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| Seven Psychopaths and Drive were able to use the conventions of their genre to criticize the fundamental operations of it. I bring up these movies because they’re great at doing what video games have been trying and failing to do, especially recently. |
| Read More... | 15 Comments |
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The New Age: Reflections on Dragon Age |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:33:00 EDT in
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| Bioware has announced the third installment in their highly regarded Dragon Age series. While they've kept most details about the next title close to the chest so far, it offers an opportunity to look back at where the series has been. |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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The Value of the Soldier in Tryst |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 02:38:00 EDT in
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| For all the game's effort to be like StarCraft, one of the most unique things about Tryst is how valuable each individual unit is. |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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One Dimension: Women's Bodies in 'Tekken' |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:10:00 EDT in
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| Tekken is supposed to feature fighters from all over the world, representing unique styles indicative of their region, appearance, and personality. But for featuring a huge array of playable characters, most of the women fit into only one body type. |
| Read More... | 19 Comments |
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Remembering Fun: A Look Back at 'Prince of Persia: Sands of Time' |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 02:08:00 EDT in
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| If games are to be taken seriously, they can't be making serious things "fun." However, infusing darker, edgier, and more serious elements into contemporary design philosophy should still not come at the expense of fun. |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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Existing Above the Law in Video Games |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 01:22:00 EDT in
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| Games rarely have a parallel to social laws, at least not a parallel that holds any meaning. Social law, in games, doesn’t exist, except in how the protagonist is either above or exempt from it. |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
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Forced Failure and the Undignified Hero |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 03:43:00 EDT in
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| When a hero fails in a game, it usually means a game over or that an earlier save state can overwrite that failure from ever happening. What games don’t often do is force players into a situation where there is no right answer. |
| Read More... | 18 Comments |
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Cable TV of Thrones: Why Game of Thrones Doesn't Work as a Game |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 01:24:00 EDT in
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| From a marketing standpoint, basing a game off Game of Thrones seems intuitive. The problem that nobody seems to have considered is that the kingdom of Westeros is a miserable place that nobody should want to be in. |
| Read More... | 9 Comments |
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Displacement in Final Fantasy VII |
| Posted by Mark Filipowich on Sun, 08 Jul 2012 02:35:00 EDT in
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| Final Fantasy VII presents a world eating itself from the inside out, it illuminates the cracks in what appeared to be a stable point in time. Final Fantasy VII, while ultimately hopeful, presents a fragmented world of displaced people. |
| Read More... | 10 Comments |
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