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Brief Review of Jedi: Fallen Order

Jedi: Fallen Order is a genuinely good game. Certainly not without its flaws, and it definitely took some time for it to hit its stride, but once it does it just gets better and better right up til the end. It obviously borrows a ton from Sekiro and souls; this is not necessarily a bad thing but because it has such similar mechanics and game play structure it is hard not to make comparisons. That bein g said, it certainly does not have the technical polish or depth of Sekiro, this can be a little frustrating as some of the defensive windows and hit boxes can be a little odd and that isn't helped by the fact that there is not a uniform difficulty so your mileage may vary on this issue. In addition, perhaps the game's biggest problem is that it has a ton of technical issues. I only had one hard crash, but frame rate would very often drop in combat and there was a good deal of screen tearing and both texture pop and asset loading issues from time to time. In some of the more impre...
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Microtransactions and Agenda Setting

          For the last twenty three years, the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, or E3 for short, has been held as a trade show that annually rallies the entire video game industry. Organized by the Entertainment Software Association, E3 has brought together multibillion dollar game studios, burgeoning independent developers, Youtube and Twitch streamers, and all manner of video game media outlets both global and domestic to share and celebrate video games as well as display emerging hardware and software developments for the coming year. E3 has grown rapidly and so has its outreach and appeal. As it was once a small gathering of developers, almost entirely unknown and exclusive only to those who worked in the industry, as of 2017, it is now a massive event open to any gamers willing to spend the money and make the trip to LA for a chance to occupy the same space as their favorite developers and the newest games. E3 is easily the most important and influent...
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The Death of the Author and "The Witcher 3"

        In October of 2007, Polish video game studio CD Projekt Red, released the first game in a series of revolutionary story-driven, role-playing experiences. The Witcher , as it came to be known in the U.S. was certainly not an instant success. However, it did present a myriad of new ideas to enhance the frontier of interactive storytelling. Throughout the game, players are constantly assaulted by moral quandaries in which good and bad cannot always be defined; this makes the player wholly responsible for their interpretation of the issues in this world and the ramifications of their actions; made all the more real when the setting is based on a best-selling Polish novel series of the same name by author Andrzej Sapkowski. According to CD Projekt Red’s website, this basis gave the game “credibility, authority, and exceptional cohesiveness.” Fast forward to 2018, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , is one of the most celebrated games of our time. Released in 2015, Th...
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Psychological Processing of Video Games

           We define media as any means of cultivation, conveyance, or expression; essentially, any means by which we communicate. The International Society for Presence Research, ISPR, defines presence as “a psychological state or subjective perception in which even though part or all of an individual’s current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology, part or all of the individual’s perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience” (Lombard, 2018). It is my understanding that this definition refers to presence as a sensation or experience that is felt through media technology, without the sense that the sensation or experience is being mediated. A medium that creates a strong sense of presence would be communicating with its audience in the most direct way possible, as there is no feeling of dissociation or disconnection because the audience cannot perceive any means of conveyance ot...
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Textual Analysis of "Playing Hard"

             I can’t think of many documentaries that have connected with me so strongly the way Playing Hard has. As impressed as I was that Jean-Simon Chartier took it upon himself to write, direct, and produce a documentary which expounds upon the process of creating a video game - a process that I felt more people needed to know about - it is not as though I found this particular documentary to be an overwhelming achievement of narrative or cinematic storytelling. Playing Hard connected with me because of the particular story it told and the journeys of the people spotlighted throughout the film. In addition, 2017’s For Honor – the making of which is the central story of this film - is a video game that I still regularly engage with and is one that I consider to be highly innovative in its design and the way that its gameplay strongly communicates the themes of its narrative. It is easily one of my absolute favorite games of this console gene...
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Cultural Differences in Interactive Storytelling

The conclusion to my independent study analyzing interactive storytelling styles across different cultures. Size = 1416 words 15.7kb Date - 11/22/15 Medium - Microsoft Word Geoffrey Epstein Independent Study Conclusion paper 11/22/15             The purpose of my independent study was to analyze three different examples of interactive storytelling from three separate cultures in order to understand the distinctions between the way each culture handles storytelling through an interactive medium. I hoped to understand the effects of storytelling in each culture, which thematic elements are most significant, and how each culture translates their beliefs into modern works. I chose to analyze  Tales of Xillia , from the Japanese Namco Tales Studio;  Bioshock , and to a lesser extent  Bioshock: Infinite , from American game developers Irrational Games; and  The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , from Polish studio C...
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