Thanks to renowned children’s book author Sophie Blackall, and video game co-directors James Turner and Jonathan Biddle, for chatting with me at The New York Times. What happens when a video game leaps into and out of a children’s book—morphing from hand-drawn whimsy to the scary childhood experience of entering…
My latest explainer for the New York Times breaks down the Borderlands video game series for the non-gaming set, in light of the, er, not-so-great 2024 film adaptation. ‘Mad Max’ Energy and Wacky Weapons: A Guide to Borderlands (nytimes.com)
If you’ve only heard about the Fallout franchise because of the 2024 TV series on Amazon Video, my first-ever articles for the New York Times can help you connect the dots on how the series came to be on PCs and gaming consoles–and what to know about the games before…
I’m incredibly proud that I got to chat with longtime game maker Jeff Minter at length for a career-retrospective article. Lots about his personal and professional lives here, I suggest you dive right in: How the iconic Jeff Minter stays inspired after 43 llama-filled years of game development (GameDeveloper.com)
I imagine the game maker who goes by the alias LocalThunk will grant more interviews in the near future, but in the meantime, I am grateful that they made the time to chat with me about one of the most sneakily addictive video games I’ve played in years. The only…
I break down why this video game ranks as one of the best of 2023, and how it benefits from a cast of characters who all share South Asian roots while living in a very modern, American place. This game is a very cool example of how interactive storytelling can…
Longtime geek-culture journalist and critic Stu Horvath put together a pretty incredible book this year, so I summarized its quirkier findings as a primer about the history of “tabletop,” pen-and-paper role-playing games. The below is less of a book review, and more of a sampling of the nerdy depths the…
I’ve covered the retro gaming company Analogue many times in my career, and my latest piece explores its mostly recently revealed product, the Analogue 3D. Thanks to CEO Christopher Taber for speaking frankly to me about what the company is producing, especially while its details are so mum at the…
In honor of The Making of Karateka launching on consoles and PCs this week, I got a chance to interview that game’s creator Jordan Mechner. The Making of Karateka is already a unique kind of “game,” in that it’s really more of a museum exhibit, so our chat digs into…