Games Writing and Discussion
It goes without saying that Backloggd is the foremost Lyceum for video game discussion and debate on the internet. However, some significant writing on the topic of video games has taken place beyond our walls. This list is an attempt to catalog games writing external to the site that is worth your time - either for its content or historical significance.
Recommendations very much welcome!
Recommendations very much welcome!
57 Games
Indie Entertainment - Liz Ryerson
FUCK MARIO - Liz Ryerson
why should i love them - Liz Ryerson
It's Not Coming Back - Tevis Thompson
Why It's Rude to Suck at Warcraft - Dan Olson
1997 Developer Interviews - Kunihiko Nakata, Hiroaki Nakagawa, Yoichi Hayashi
That Dragon, Cancer—Exploring End of Life Through an Unwinnable Video Game - Keegan O’Hern, BA; David S. Lakomy; Daniel P. Mahoney, MD
A Maze of Murderscapes: Metroid II - S.R. Holiwell
Level up: how PlayStation infiltrated youth culture - Keith Stuart and Steve Boxer
Final Fantasy 7 - An Oral History - Matt Leone
Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of First-Person Shooters - David Craddock
Racism and Shadow the Hedgehog - Peter Wilson
Who does video game boobs best? PS3 or 360? - Rober Ebert
I Had A Dream - Chris Crawford
All Their Engines - Tara Hillegeist
The History of Gradius - ChrisB Crisps
Guardian Heroes – 1996 Developer Interview - Tetsuhiko Kikuchi
Death, Inevitability, and Ray Bradbury - Jacob Geller
Ideology and the Virtual City - Videogames, Power Fantasies and Neoliberalism - Jon Bailes
I Am The Horrible Goose That Lives In The Town - Daniel Lavery
No Cartridge Blog - Trevor Strunk
How Videogames Express Ideas - Matthew Weise
Hideo Kojima - Tim Rogers
Interview with the wolfgirl, Agness Kaku - John Szczepaniak
Driving Off the Map: A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2 - James Clinton Howell, Jerel Smith
Collision Detection is Hard: The Story of Alf - Nicole Express
A Response to Dick Tree - CirclMastr
Neoliberalism and Doom - Jonas Čeika
Street Fighter 2: An Oral History - Matt Leone
A Conversation with Keiji Yamagishi - Mohammed Taher
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Review - Jeff Gerstmann
Thoughts on Until Dawn - Thomas Grip, Frictional Games
Super Mario 64 – 1996 Developer Interviews - Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka
Retrospectives, Critiques and Explorations - Noah Caldwell-Gervais
Waluigi, the Gamma Caste: A Brave New (Mario) World - Fred Dinenage
More Critical Perspectives on Waluigi - Dr. Imogen Clarke, Dr. Jamie Upton
Critical Perspectives on Waluigi - Franck Ribery, Jenny Powell, Lucy Pinder
action button dot net - tim rogers, ben hornsby, theodore troops, ario barzan, brandon parker, et al.
Doom I & II - Edge Magazine
21 Comments
from my mgs2 review:
HG101 interview with Agness Kaku
there's also a lot of other great HG101 interviews, some of which I'm sure have been lost to time
How Videogames Express Ideas - Matthew Weise
Driving Off the Map: A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2
there's also a tim rogers interview with kojima that I reference in that review but I don't want to relink all seven pages
Trevor Strunk's work is not something I've dived into outside of a few No Cartridge episodes here and there but I've heard his book Story Mode: Video Games and the Interplay Between Consoles and Culture is very good
long-form video essays are generally too self-indulgent for me but I'm using this Monster Hunter 2 Dos retrospective by Jakob for an upcoming review, as I find the dissection of its immersive mechanics rather profound. I have numerous things I disagree with him on and his solemn affect can be irritating but it sheds light on a game truly apart from anything else in the medium
also some good interview channels:
Cutscenes
Archipel
HG101 interview with Agness Kaku
there's also a lot of other great HG101 interviews, some of which I'm sure have been lost to time
How Videogames Express Ideas - Matthew Weise
Driving Off the Map: A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2
there's also a tim rogers interview with kojima that I reference in that review but I don't want to relink all seven pages
Trevor Strunk's work is not something I've dived into outside of a few No Cartridge episodes here and there but I've heard his book Story Mode: Video Games and the Interplay Between Consoles and Culture is very good
long-form video essays are generally too self-indulgent for me but I'm using this Monster Hunter 2 Dos retrospective by Jakob for an upcoming review, as I find the dissection of its immersive mechanics rather profound. I have numerous things I disagree with him on and his solemn affect can be irritating but it sheds light on a game truly apart from anything else in the medium
also some good interview channels:
Cutscenes
Archipel
shouting out my favorite gaming-related video essay: WHAT'S THE POINT IN LIVING? by Curly Brace
Oh this is actually a much better way to layout this listtype than what I was doing, thanks.
Possibly not exactly what you're looking for, but this on Untitled Goose Game is my favourite piece of video games writing: https://www.thechatner.com/p/i-am-the-horrible-goose-that-lives?s=09
"'Kentucky Route Zero' Pays Off on Nine Years of Hope and Doubt" - Austin Walker https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvgjma/kentucky-route-zero-pays-off-on-nine-years-of-hope-and-doubt-review
"Outer Wilds: Death, Inevitability, and Ray Bradbury" - Jacob Geller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-yTZFi-_eY&t=810s
idk if it counts, but Shmuplations is a tremendous resource for translated interviews
Just saw the Mario 64 link- I think the Guardian Heroes Interview with Tetsuhiko Kikuchi is nice piece about the relationship between developers and players.
The History of Gradius - Complete Series by ChrisB Crisps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk7-X8ZxP7I
I'm not sure if this is exactly highbrow essay material but it's a good overview of the Gradius series going over its development and legacy over the years from an underrated youtuber. He has also made other series retrospectives.
I'm not sure if this is exactly highbrow essay material but it's a good overview of the Gradius series going over its development and legacy over the years from an underrated youtuber. He has also made other series retrospectives.
Too many to list but I love everything Carolyn Petit writes and her piece on TLoU2 was fantastic: https://carolynpetit.medium.com/broken-people-broken-worlds-thoughts-on-the-last-of-us-part-ii-a012de5d2acf
https://bulletpointsmonthly.com/2020/08/08/all-their-engines-by-tara-hillegeist
"I Had a Dream" - Chris Crawford
https://youtu.be/CBrj4S24074
"I Had a Dream" - Chris Crawford
https://youtu.be/CBrj4S24074
How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit - https://youtu.be/JmwbYl6f11c
Best list in this website BY A VERY LONG SHOT!!!! Thank you so much!!!! ❤
PS: You're only taking suggestions in english? I do know a bunch of links of good discussions in pt-BR and spanish.
PS: You're only taking suggestions in english? I do know a bunch of links of good discussions in pt-BR and spanish.
More than happy to take suggestions in any language!
I spent a bit of time doing research for That Dragon, Cancer, and found this article:
That Dragon, Cancer—Exploring End of Life Through an Unwinnable Video Game
I also found a Masters Thesis discussing the role of death in video games, and taking close examinations at three games in particular (Spiritfarer, A Mortician's Tale, and That Dragon, Cancer) to analyze how they handled death differently:
Representation of Death in Independent Videogames: Providing a Space for Meaningful Death Reflection
Hope this is what you're looking for!
That Dragon, Cancer—Exploring End of Life Through an Unwinnable Video Game
I also found a Masters Thesis discussing the role of death in video games, and taking close examinations at three games in particular (Spiritfarer, A Mortician's Tale, and That Dragon, Cancer) to analyze how they handled death differently:
Representation of Death in Independent Videogames: Providing a Space for Meaningful Death Reflection
Hope this is what you're looking for!
These are all great suggestions Drax, thank you
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No problem if the writing is just about general games vs. an individual title! The games are just used to add new entires to the list. Thank you for your suggestions.
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Detchibe
2 years ago
Super Mario Bros. vs. Super Mario Bros. vs. Super Mario Bros. - Nathan Altice
When SimCity got serious: the story of Maxis Business Simulations and SimRefinery - Phil Salvador
The Secret Developers of the Video Game Industry - Matt Leone
Square's PlayOnline Game Launching Service Showed Us a Better Internet Is Possible - Dia Lacina
Bookshelf, Bookcase, Bookcase-Like: A Case Study in Game Storage Design - Marco Arnaudo
Collision Detection is Hard: The Story of Alf - Nicole Express