Historical Influences in Gaming: Emperor of the Fading Suns
I've been meaning to do an articleon games that have a tendency tolead people to monarchism (whichwill end up being a list of ParadoxStudio games) but in the meantimeI wanted…
Gaming
Home on the Open World Range
A recent article in the Journal of Internet Research described a study that came to the conclusion that open-world games (OWGs) “may offer unique cognitive escapism opportunities, potentially leading to…
Jurassic Park: Some Thoughts About the Franchise Part 2
Charles Darwin knew the score. In Chapter 11 of his famous and brilliant book, The Origin of Species, published in 1859, he wrote, “We can clearly understand why a species…
Jurassic Park: Some Thoughts About the Franchise Part 1
There’s one particular scene in the first Jurassic Park movie, about twenty minutes in, when Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler see the dinosaurs walking wild in the open…
Toying With Townscaper
As a longtime gamer, I am always looking for new forms of computer and online entertainment for my PC. This week I discovered Townscaper and picked it up while it…
Musings on Computer Gaming, Storytelling, and Seniors
Every day, for an hour or two, I kill demons. Or I build houses and shopping malls. Sometimes I command armies in battle. Or fly an airplane into a foreign…
Synecdoche, Universe
In the delightfully quirky, postmodern film, Synecdoche, New York, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a movie director obsessed with creating a set that realistically represents New York City for…
A private room where customers deliver bags of cash
Liberals believed Dirty Money involved “victimless crimes” so they chose to tolerate illegal behaviour that provided a boost to economic activity. The Campbell/Clark Governments were more interested in gaining political…
Ruled by criminals?
Before July 18, 2017, if British Columbia was not ruled by criminals, it was ruled by people who turned blind eyes to criminality. Attorney General David Eby issued a statement…
Be opinionated, first be informed
In response to my earlier post about crime statistics, a person using the name “Harald” submitted this comment: Try not to forget that the NDP brought casinos to BC, and…
Microsoft killed solitaire for me
Solitaire – also known as Klondike and Patience – is a very popular game on computers. So popular, in fact that a version of this 200-year-old card game has been…
News not fit to print
A Wall Street Journal story, repeated by The Australian and Financial News, other Rupert Murdoch News Corp properties, is apparently not worthy of coverage by Canadian media. I found no…
The WOW Factor
After two years away from the game, I was recently convinced by a friend to return to World of Warcraft again and play in the fantasy universe of WOW. At…
Banished: Sandbox Gaming at Its Best
Banished is a medieval-style city building game, along the lines of SimCity, but with several significant differences. While not as slick or comprehensive as SimCity, it still provides a compelling,…
Ready, fire, aim
Andrew MacLeod provided the title above in a Thursday Tweet linking to his column in The Tyee. Slots on Ferries a Complicated Bet, Warned Finance Ministry: “After Transportation Minister Todd…
World of Tanks
Tanks are a long distance weapon, you know. They are best used in concert with one another to provide cover and overwatch fire, and are best placed in a covered…
UPDATED: Mini Metro High Score
Mini Metro by Dinosaur Polo Club High Score Saturday 3 May, 2014 2000 Riders Delivered 7 Lines 5 Tunnels 1 Increased Capacity Line 3 Double Rail Lines Previous High Score…
Money laundering and casinos, who knew?
CTV Vancouver: Money laundering rampant in casinos, April 10, 2014 “Confidential documents are shedding light on a host of suspicious behaviour at B.C. casinos, where patrons routinely carry bags loaded…
BL2: Resistance is futile
I tried to resist. I really did. I avoided it for more than a year, skillfully averting my eyes from the store shelves where it sat, ignoring the emails with…