A Closed World Analysis, or: Procedural Rhetoric

(This entry was written for SNHU's GAM-205 class in the Fall 2017 semester.)

    For this week, I want to talk about 'Procedural Rhetoric' and how it's used in the game A Closed World.

    A Closed World has you playing a young adult of indeterminate gender (the game asks your gender, but it changes a few minor details) who is in a deep relationship with someone else in the village in which they both live. However, the player's beloved becomes tired of the oppressive attitude the other villagers have toward their relationship and goes into the forest. According to the other villagers, it's a place of no return filled with demons and a beast that would destroy the village. Unsurprisingly, your character goes into the forest as well, seeking to find their beloved and reach the other side.

This War of Mine Analysis, or: Persuasive Games

(This entry was written for SNHU's GAM-205 class in the Fall 2017 semester.)

    This week's entry is about persuasive games. The topic of persuasive games can be a bit misleading. It's not about games that convince you to spend your life savings on their in-game currency so you can, I don't know, be a pretend celebrity with the help of a in-game representation of Kim Kardashian. No, persuasive games are games that attempt to convey a message about real life issues through the gameplay. A good example of this would be This War of Mine, by 11 bit studios.

Sorry, unknown graffiti artist. Boatmurdered was several years ago.

World of Warcraft Analysis pt. 3, or: Examining Death Rituals in WoW

(This entry was written for SNHU's GAM-205 class in the Fall 2017 semester.)

    Before we start, I would like to bring up the return of Bubsy, of all things. For reasons unknown, the company behind the revival of the Giana sisters decided to bring the Bubster back in a $30 purchase. As a fan of Arcade Pit (Sundays at 8PM EST,) I naturally had to watch as Smight and TieTuesday, two streamers from Something Awful, played through it on Halloween. They both got through the game in just under an hour, and they both wound up returning it. It's kind of sad that they'd bring Bubsy back in a game that feels so generic and short, but at least that Space Funeral-inspired 'Bubsy' RPG (based off of this blog) has a decent shot at being better than the new Bubsy. Yes, the concept for the character and game is...unusual, but somehow, a transgender not-Bubsy makes more sense to me than Sexy Shelob, and those are both characters I never thought I'd encounter. Crazy world, huh?

    And now for the main article

    Today, I'm talking about death.

A topic that Nethack players know way too much about.