Let’s Talk About the Alienware Alpha

Talk of getting a gaming PC has lingering in our house for years. It usually resurfaces in the fall when many of last year’s electronic goodies hit the sale tables, and the discussion has usually taken the same turns. We look at all the pre-made gaming PCs for sale, talk about exactly what games to…

Into the Nexus, I Hardly Knew Thee

I went on a bit of a spending spree around Christmas time. When I was stocking up on supplies for this year’s masquerade, I decided, while I was at it, I might as well buy a whole bunch of Ratchet and Clank figurines. As if that wasn’t enough, I also decided this was a great…

How Gamefly Made Me See Games in a New Light

Earlier this month, my household bid a gracious farewell to Gamefly. We signed up for the service in 2009 and quickly enjoyed having access to a wide array of games for a number of systems.  When we originally became members, we were on Gamefly’s two-games-a-month plan. About two years ago, we downgraded to the one-game-a-month…

Seven Favorite Female Game Characters (Who Aren’t Samus)

In case you’ve failed to look at a calendar during the past two weeks, it’s March, and that means it’s Women’s History Month. Though I’d like to think that we should simply celebrate humanity year-round, this provides some excuse to examine more closely the many contributions women have made to our collective history…of video games!…

The Last Story and the Illusion of Choice

I finally got around to playing The Last Story, a game I had heard good things about from Cary, and it is thanks to her that I decided to pick it up and check it out for myself. I ended up really enjoying the game, but I have often written reviews for games, only for…

We need more etecoons and dachoras in games

The following post originally appear on Geek Force Network, May 24, 2013. Media substitutions have been made in accordance with UWG’s guidelines. Well, not literally. But bear with me here… (And keep reading if that title makes no sense. I swear it will.) I’ve been on something of a Metroid kick lately. Between writing about…

Do You Still Care About Achievements/Trophies?

It’s no secret that a huge amount of gamers love obtaining achievements and trophies. Since their introduction during the last console generation, entire communities and websites have appeared, devoted to helping achievement hunters hear that satisfying ping noise on their TV screen. For a long time, I belonged to this group of people.

Rated “M” for “Might Not Matter?”

A couple days ago, an announcement hit the airwaves that the highly-anticipated Batman: Arkham Knight is going to be rated “M” for mature. (Rocksteady’s previous Batman games, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, as well as WB Games Montreal’s Arkham Origins, were all rated “T” for teen.) In an interview with IGN, Rocksteady’s founder and Arkham…

Duration and Value

Image By Flickr user: Leon Terra (cc) At the time of this writing, details on “The Order: 1886” have just been leaked on YouTube, and most of the discussion going on about the game is centered around its length; currently rumored to be between 3 and 5.5 hours. By posting time (Sunday), the reviews will…