Star Trek is a story about humanity. Our hopes, our dreams, our strengths and our weaknesses. At its core, it’s about being better versions of ourselves.
That doesn’t quite mean everyone in this storybook galaxy is benevolent. (more…)
My mother shows enough passing interest in my gaming habit that when she pays a visit she’ll sit down on the couch and crochet while I play videogames. So it was that mom was a spectator for a session of Fallout 3 and one of the vilest displays I can act out in any videogame I own. My character, Vault Boy, laid into a human raider with his combat shotgun, a shotgun with a drum barrel that required no pumping action and had a deep ammunition magazine.
When the raider fell, Vault Boy walked over to the corpse and reloaded his weapon. Vault Boy then proceeded to blow off the corpse’s head, arms and legs, in that order. The coup de grace was a barrage of shells loosed into the chest of the deceased. The body exploded into bloody chunks strewn on the ground. And my mother asked me “Why are you shooting someone who’s already dead?” (more…)
Here’s something: I lived in a frat house for three months.
It wasn’t as bad as you might guess. Actually, it was nice. I only got two parking tickets that summer. I also read several issues of Men’s Health, cover-to-cover, on the toilet. It was a type of tourism. (“I’m in here!” I’d shout from my toilet’s stall, absolutely panicked anytime I heard the bathroom door open. In a frat house you can never predict when and how someone will be naked.) (more…)
I’ve been known to play a mean game of Super Smash Bros. I can recall numerous occasions where friends have cursed like sailors at me, calling me a cheater over my tactics and in some cases probably coming close to throwing controllers. I use Kirby almost exclusively (and anyone that’s played enough Smash Bros. knows how much of a pain in the ass he can be), though every so often if I’m playing with friends that have enough of Melee or Brawl’s roster unlocked I’ll show Mr. Game & Watch some love, too.
For all the fan service the Smash Bros. series has shown Nintendo lovers over the years, I find it sad that Waluigi has never made the cut as a playable character. Luigi’s self-proclaimed rival in purple overalls is in just about every other company spin-off title, from Mario Super Sluggers to Fortune Street to the just-released Mario Tennis Open. So what gives, Nintendo? (more…)
We met the kid in Moonglow. He was one of those young gamers who makes up for a lack of attention at home by being as obnoxious and annoying as possible in-game. We were a trio of the righteous: Tura Satana, Wayne Newton and T’Larion the Ranger of Rohan. It wasn’t hard to be righteous in Ultima Online, one of the first proper MMOs. Those who refrained from killing and robbing those weaker than them were good guys by default. All you had to do was mind your own business and you were, measurably, a better human being than most other people on your server. (more…)
Long in advance of the whole Before Watchmen kerfuffle, I had the opportunity to interview Alan Moore for the local Brooklyn literary journal, Slice Magazine. (more…)
When one thinks of an antagonist, the image most often conjured is of villains like Dracula, Doctor Doom or even King Joffrey. Wrapped in a cloak, standing in front of a mullioned window – a shadowy line envelops half of his face as he plots against his foe.
However, the antagonist is not always so easy to spot. Perhaps he is a desperate man, searching for the meaning of existence? Maybe she’s lost, consumed by her life’s pain and disappointment – punishing the world? Could the villain in question be a disillusioned soldier, given over to the forces of Hell? (more…)
