lost in games

The third Episode of the FGS Podcast is now online. Check out my discussion with Marios on Flower, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Demo and Saints Row 2.

 LINK!

N’Gai Croal is leaving Newsweek (link - his last post). I don’t really know what he will be doing from now on but i really hope he stays within the videogames industry. Videogames need N’Gai’s and other serious journalists’ influence to keep maturing as a medium.

The way i play and see games has changed a lot in the last couple of years as i have tried to keep myself thinking of what i am doing and feeling during a game. It’s not just about enjoying the moments in games now but also trying to understand why. In these couple of years games journalism and critique has started to move beyond reviews. Now people with great writing and thinking skills, who are not just kids who play games for a living, have started to influence the way we see games.

I think a leading figure in this “movement” has been N’Gai. He has always been able to ask the questions to both developers and gamers that were always waiting under the surface but never asked. I remember one post about Manhunt on the PSP. He found the game to be average and had many games lined up to play. Yet he was really hooked on it and could not undestand why. He wanted to know what qualities it had that were not obvious but yet sufficient to keep him playing.

As i was playing Freedom Fighters and Beyond Good & Evil (both of course better than average) recently i kept asking myself, why do i like these games? For the most part i could not answer my own questions beyond that it had cute graphics, tight controls and a friendly user interface. The usual checklist. I could not find the words to explain what i was feeling and thinking. But at least now i am aware of it.

As we ourselves mature it’s important to not be just gamers but also critical gamers. I think people like N’Gai have to take the credit for this new way of thinking about games.

Another weekly release list blog post published on OnThisIsland. LINK