Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Tag: video.games

  • A Nascent Medium

    I saw this article a couple of days ago; the criticism of Hollywood’s treatment of race in the universally-panned Avatar: The Last Airbender (and throughout history) is well-done and thought-provoking. One comment the author makes in passing got me thinking in an entirely new direction: storytelling in video games. In talking about the recent Prince…

  • Gaming’s Bigger Picture: Correcting Tim Buckey

    I may not be the biggest fan of Tim Buckey’s opinions or comic, but there are so many things wrong in his latest post lambasting the “sense of entitlement” among gamers that I was compelled to respond. I can always rely on Tim to roll out some of the most rampant industry fallacies, so deconstructing…

  • Whoopsie

    Remember Ubisoft’s amazing new DRM scheme? The one that would stop all those nefarious “pirates” by forcing legitimate purchasers of Ubisoft games to be constantly online? Yeah, well, it got cracked. Mere hours after the release, at that. I know it’s a bit of a potshot, but I just couldn’t resist. It didn’t take a…

  • Conventional Foolery

    Ever since Ubisoft decided that forcing users to constantly “phone home” over the internet was a great way to stop unauthorized sharing of their games, the tired old DRM debate has been experiencing yet another flareup. I was rather disappointed with the treatment the issue got by a few of the webcomics I follow: While…

  • RPG Origins

    When I was a kid I was told that role-playing games were the first ominous step toward declaring allegiance to Satan himself, and,  being young and naïve, I embraced the whole sordid tale. Instead of playing Dungeons and Dragons or Baldur’s Gate, I spent a lot of time outside having rollicking adventures as an audacious…

  • Selene Amell

    Selene was the first character I created for Dragon Age: Origins, and was somewhat inspired by the Sitians in the world of the Poison Study novels. Her face is very loosely based on Candice Swanepoel. For those who are interested, I used the Dragon Age Toolset for the additional face customization options as well as…

  • This Was a Triumph

    All too often my weekends pass by in a blur of responsibilities, visiting families, and going places that, after ensuring I am sufficiently dizzy, cruelly abandons me on Monday morning. I am left drinking coffee and asking myself just where that time went, and how long is it until Friday again? In a refreshing inversion,…

  • A Little Customer Service Goes a Long Way

    The mantra of running a successful business in the 21st century is to “connect with fans and give them a reason to buy.” Successful companies take the time to provide quality service to each of their customers, knowing that building loyalty is more important than short-term bottom lines. Zynga, the startup responsible for the majority…