Paleogamer's Page

The Illusion of Choice

In my last few posts I have been talking about stories in games and how the best games have stories that follow the classic, epic pattern of the Hero's Journey. The downside to this is that, despite being the "hero" of the story, as players we aren't really telling our stories. Instead, we are simply actors in someone else's story; improvisational actors in an outline created by someone else. Several people have gi… Continue

Posted on July 18th, 2008 at 8:27am — 3 Comments

Acting as a player, or playing an actor?

Whenever you read a book or comic you are reading the story as it was created by the writer. You may picture the characters a certain way or hear them speaking in a certain voice but you are still seeing the creator's story. Television and movies are the same way. What you see is the story as envisioned by the director and the characters as brought to life by the actors and actresses playing the roles, but again… Continue

Posted on July 9th, 2008 at 12:40pm — 3 Comments

The Hero With a Thousand Avatars

Think back over the games you have played for a moment and think of what your strongest memories from them are. You may remember the time you defeated a particularly difficult boss or when you finally pwned your friend for the first time, but most of these memories are probably of some particular scene or event. Maybe you remember when the resonance cascade started after Gordon Freeman placed the sample in the tes… Continue

Posted on July 3rd, 2008 at 9:32am — 4 Comments

From Russia (more or less) With Love

While my last few blogs may make it appear that I am some sort of curmudgeon who just wants all those damn kids to stay off his LAN, I actually have been having some gaming fun. I'm currently playing several games that I am enjoying, both of which are from eastern European developers. Both came out last year so many of you may already have seen them, but I thought I would throw out my impressions anyway.… Continue

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 at 12:26pm — 2 Comments

Playing with myself

Us Paleogamers never seem to have enough time to game; there always seems to be something else pressing on us for time. For example, within the last few months my wife and I spent several weeks in Europe, our daughter was on break from college and we spent time with her, spring completely sprung here in Atlanta so I have been involved with yard work and the like and there is the continual press of work and other… Continue

Posted on June 25th, 2008 at 11:30am — 4 Comments