The Economics of Odin Sphere

Odin Sphere is a cult classic PS2 action/rpg that's known for being one of the most gorgeous games to come out in its generation.

When discussing games like this, it's easy to focus on the story or the combat, but those aren't the reasons why I enjoy it.  For me, the draw of Odin Sphere is that it's the best farming game I have ever played.

What video games bring to Art, part 1

Much has been said about whether video games count as art or not.  People commonly point to games like Braid or Bioshock as examples of video games that qualify as pieces of art.  While I agree with this classification, I have the belief that most people (especially non-gamers) look at these games and see them as art because of their stories or their visual style.  However, these are traits that can be found in most other forms of media.  Bioshock could certainly have worked as a film.  What I would like to discuss right now are the qualities that video games bring to the art world that are not found in other types of art.

This is a bit difficult, since everyone has a different definition of the word art.  What I'll focus on is a key aspect of art: the communication of emotions to a person through the art object.

Balance and Pacing in Civilization and Crusader Kings II

I just bought Crusader Kings II and have been playing it obsessively the past few days.  It does a lot of things right with its game design, especially compared to other large-scale strategy games.

Let's talk about one of the classics of the genre: Civilization.  I've played many Civ games and I've had great fun with them, but there are always a few annoyances that have stayed in the series.