Horror Video Game ‘Silent Hill’ Explores Dark Paradoxes in Normalcy
Inspired by Japanese Buddhism and American pop culture, the grotesque is a metaphor for normalcy in the horror video game Silent Hill.
Games
Indie Game ‘Best Month Ever!’ Navigates Single Motherhood
Indie game Best Month Ever! challenges players to navigate single motherhood – including illness and low wages – in a ruthless capitalistic and patriarchal society.
Nintendo Makes Binge Eating Fun in Kirby’s Dream Buffet
Nintendo’s multi-player Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a playful indulgence for those with a big appetite for quick, colorful, and approachable games.
How Moebius’ Psychedelic Fantasy / Surrealist Art Influenced Video Games
French artist Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, inspired his peers and mass media. In video games especially, his psychedelic fantasy/surrealist art may live on forever.
Undone Apart: Artistry and Philosophy in Graphic Adventure Game ‘Life Is Strange’
Why create such a highly-fictionalized, aestheticized setting as Life Is Strange to express the confusion and contradictions of life?
Found in Translation: A Journey into Adventure Game Heaven’s Vault
In the adventure game Heaven’s Vault, learning an ancient language is akin to discovering and shaping history; you decide how it is written and interpreted.
What Made Mahjong Click with Suburban Americans?
In Annelise Heinz’s cultural history, ‘Mahjong’, the role of games tells more significant stories than simply recording how we use our leisure time.
‘Chrono Trigger’ and Coping with Pandemic Trauma through Video Games
Coping with the COVID-19 shutdown via a video game, where I have control over the apocalyptic outcome, was what I needed. Chrono Trigger delivered.
Culture/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Film/Games/Internet/Lists/Media/Music/SAVE/ IGNORE: popular/Television
5 Negative Effects of Fandom Nostalgia and How to Overcome Them
Fandom, powered by nostalgia, is gigantic, uncloseted, and unfortunately, argumentative.
Composer Ilan Eshkeri Discusses His Soundtrack for the ‘Ghost of Tsushima’ Game
Having composed for blockbuster films and ballet, Ilan Eshkeri discusses how powerful emotional narratives and the opportunity for creative freedom drew him to triple-A video game Ghost of Tsushima.
Books/Culture/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Games/History/Internet/Love in the Time of Coronavirus/Politics/SAVE/ IGNORE: popular/Visual Arts
Coronavirus and the Culture Wars
Infodemics, conspiracies, culture wars – the fault lines beneath the Fractured States of America tremble in this time of Coronavirus global pandemic.