Tag: Video Games

Doesn’t matter if it’s console games or smart-phone time-wasters, I love to engage in electronic systems. I grew up with an NES, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and N64 before becoming a PC gamer in the late 90s, early 2000s. After that, I dabbled in everything from the Nintendo DSi to Bleem! My old blog was named “Maze Rats” because I always viewed games as a form a self-contained, consensual experiment. You can test your emotional limits while also engage with psychological and tactile manipulation.

Video Game Haiku #22: Vampire Survivors

a Video Game Haiku

Together we stand emanating garlic clouds waiting for treasure.
What Book, Film, Video Game, or Album Lived up to the Hype?

a Conversation

What piece of art “lived up to the hype” or even exceeded your expectations?
How I Made My Hero Section Video

a News Tidbit

This post is primarily to give more information about the video clips I’m using, especially to credit the original videographers. I think it’s important for everyone to give credit where it’s due, especially for artists who are kind enough to donate their craft for our personal use. Also, from a more personal perspective, I don’t…
Another Millennial on Jon Stewart’s Return

a Personal Essay

Jon Stewart made a career of calling out media bias while occasionally falling for the same traps as the mainstream outlets he criticized.
Video Game Haiku #21: Slay the Spire

a Video Game Haiku

The heart is attacked. Each action, a reaction. Do we try again?
Video Game Haiku #8: The Last of Us

a Video Game Haiku

Stray too much off-path, game over. The makers want their story, not yours. Originally published during Lexington Poetry Month 2023
Video Game Haiku #6: Pac-Man

a Video Game Haiku

To chase and be chased. Even if you catch your ghosts, they always come back. Originally published during Lexington Poetry Month 2020.
What’s Your Favorite Video Game?

a Maze Rats Asks

I conducted an informal survey among attendees at the Kentucky Fried Zine Fest and among my Facebook friends. The question I asked was simple: what’s your favorite video game? The responses were varied and insightful. Some people left one-word answers while others gave elaborate responses. I have compiled this into a printable zine that you can download…
How Hate Speech & Video Games Created the Alt-Right

a Logic Dump

In 2005, Steve Bannon got Goldman Sachs to invest $60 million in a World of Warcraft Chinese gold farming company. 1 Bannon eventually took control of the gold farming company, Internet Gaming Entertainment. Even though IGE flopped, Bannon said that these gamers were the pre-cursor to the alt-right. “These guys, these rootless white males, had monster power… It was…
Hate Speech in Online Communities

a Logic Dump

Last week, we examined how hate speech can be used as a way to intimidate and upset opponents. We looked at Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg’s use of the n-word as an example of how, even though he was playing a competitive video game, he wasn’t using it this way. It’s important to look at the reasons…
Spoiler Alert: A Story Summary & Analysis for Metal Gear & Metal Gear 2

a Spoiler Alert

Hideo Kojima’s creative insanity began in the overlooked MSX Metal Gear games with themes expanded in the Metal Gear Solid extended universe.
Fortunate Son: What an NES Game Can Teach About Privilege

a Backlog Video Game Zine

NES economic sim Wall Street Kid perfectly illustrates how anyone can make it in America… with a half a million dollar investment!