portal

Portal's Power: A Narrative Critique

Emily Short, the interactive fiction designer/author, has an interesting look at Portal's story from the perspective of someone who does IF. I always like reading critiques from people who are engaged in the 'gaming' world, though perhaps not in the way we're expecting. It's a thoughtful look at what went right, what went wrong, and maybe why people were so excited about it:

... What we get is maybe a story that's not so much the standard cliché about an AI that gets out of control, but instead about the idea that any AI created would necessarily be emotionally broken, because it would be constructed with killswitches, designed to be disposable, or at least crippled so that it could not threaten the more important human life. If the AI had any urge towards friendship or companionship, that urge would be stifled and perverted by the fact that those around it have absolved themselves ("ethicists agree...") in advance for killing it if necessary.

That's a sad and interesting story, but Portal stops short of completely telling it

She also critiques some aspects of gameplay. It's another take on a game we all know about from a different perspective.

Still Alive [Emily Short's Interactive Fiction]

bioshock

No Gods or Kings: Objectivism in BioShock

By: Brian Crecente

The sunken city of Rapture, a world of art deco aesthetics, neon sales pitches and looming architecture, is home to more than just murderous splicers and lumbering Big Daddys, it's also a surprising breeding ground for introspection.

BioShock may have been conceived as a study in nuance, a place for gamers to discover and explore at their own pace, but its dip into the ethical morass of Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophies has brought her beliefs back into the mainstream spotlight and even piqued the interest of the Ayn Rand Institute's president, Yaron Brook.

Brook, a former member of the Israeli Army military intelligence and award-winning finance professor at Santa Clara University, first took notice of the game when he discovered his 18-year-old son playing it. It's a fact that didn't bother Brook despite his son's objectivist beliefs and the game's not so positive take on the philosophy.

"My son has to find his own way in life," he said. "There are certain games I wouldn't want him to play, like Grand Theft Auto, games that celebrate criminality. But a game that might lead him to think and have him challenge his ideas, I'm fine with.

"Luckily for me he doesn't agree with the game, he still seems to believe in objectivism"

Objectivism as a central theme in BioShock was actually the result of a confluence of ideas and happenstance. The heart of the game started, as do most of Ken Levine's games, as the answer to a problem.

More »

clips

Player Critique of Half-Life 2: Episode One

While looking over Waxy.org's video review of the commentary system from Half-Life 2: Episode One — which, I have to say, I appreciate a hell of a lot more than actually playing with it on — I was whisked over to this fascinating 47:06 long critique of Episode One by just some random British player with a fine arts degree. It's not pretentious, but nor is it boring — the commentary isn't laboriously brilliant, but it is extremely fun to listen to. It's full of spoilers, so if you haven't played Episode One, stay well clear, but there's worse ways to kill an hour this afternoon. Florian Eckhardt