I’m the oldest of four brothers. All of us play games to varying degrees and, as with any family and any medium, our tastes vary. There is only one game that’s ever resonated with all four of us in equal measure: Rhythm Heaven on the Nintendo DS. (more…)
After my father died, I felt adrift. While his illness lingered on, long and terrible, it fell to me as the only child to take care of my mother, the house, his business and a million other things. As miserable and exhausting as that year was, though, it was also imbued with purpose. When the funeral was over and a semblance of normality returned, it suddenly felt like there was so little to occupy my time. (more…)
The phrase “just like family” exists because of an understanding that blood and sacrament aren’t the only adhesives that make people stick together. In the excellent videogame adaption of The Walking Dead, this truth is explored by putting familial connections through their paces. It, like all zombie stories, is the tale of people struggling to survive. The game’s protagonist, Lee, becomes the adoptive father figure of a small girl named Clementine. At first Lee’s protection comes as a kind of moral obligation. Clementine is on her own, her parents likely dead – no good person would leave a child to die at the hands of zombies – but, as the pair suffer through brushes with death (and worse), their connection becomes something else. (more…)
Exactly six years ago I bought a Nintendo Wii – came home from Toys “R” Us, plugged it in. (The box is still there on the floor of my girlhood bedroom, right where I left it in another November.)
“Can you imagine, Al?” my mother asked my father. “In our lifetime?” She was standing around marveling as I – ahem – went bowling.
Then I saw the Wii’s “pacemaker” warning and now I was pushing my adoptive dad out of the room. “Out, out!” I commanded him. I was not going to be the one to murder my father, thank you. (more…)
My life is often dominated by lonely activities. Every weekday morning, I go to an office where I am by myself most of the day. When I go home, I often spend my time writing and editing alone. I eat alone and watch Netflix or Hulu to unwind. For fun, I play videogames, usually alone. (more…)
There are many things that I am thankful for as we come up to the end of 2012. As I am writing this I am sitting at a table in a hotel room with my mom, my sister and my two wonderful nephews while my father and brother-in-law watch TV. On Thanksgiving I saw relatives I haven’t seen in many years, and it was excellent catching up with my aunt and my cousins. (more…)
Family is thicker than blood, except when it comes to science fiction’s two most popular offerings.
Star Wars and Star Trek could use a lesson in family values. Both franchises feature family members who try to kill each other, have children who are abandoned by their parents (or simply cannot get along with the ones they have) and even siblings who lust for one another. (more…)
