Unwinnable

The funny thing about all the war games we play is that they’re not really about guns. Sure, they’re full of guns of all shapes and sizes – the more realistic ones probably scratch the same itch for gun nuts that games like Forza do for car enthusiasts. They let you test drive all those makes and models you only read about in magazines or lust over in catalogs. But they’re safe, harmless fantasy fulfillment – the politics are one-dimensional and the gray areas they explore are territory that has been trod grassless by TV and movies. (more…)

It must feel really good to be mad about Mass Effect 3 right now because, though you sound crazy and unreasonable, you’re certainly not alone – you are among a flock of nuts.

For part of 1997 I felt like a crazy person, but I was alone in my craziness. That’s because I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince anyone who would listen that the movie Starship Troopers was a brilliant, biting work of satire that skewered fascism, Beverly Hills 90210 and the contemporary action picture. Nobody was having it. Starship Troopers was CG-laden junk for brain-damaged teenagers. Mastrapa has just been drinking again. (more…)