The War of the Worlds, as told by videogames
FROM THE ARCHIVES: It’s one of the most influential science fiction stories of all time, but H.G. Wells’ classic has only rarely been adapted into game form. We take a comprehensive look at all who have tried and assess their varying success levels.
Million Onion Hotel is not a normal mobile game
FROM THE ARCHIVES: With credits including Romancing SaGa and Shadows of the Damned to his name, Yoshiro Kimura may not strike you as the kind of game developer to go indie. Here he shares his ambitions as he enters a new era of independent creation.
How do you get bookworms into games?
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Videogames have plenty of antecedents in literature, but text-heavy games have faced an uphill battle gaining recognition in the west. A rough history of where they’ve tried, where they’ve failed, and where they might go next.
There’s an official book about Flappy Bird, for some reason
FROM THE ARCHIVES: This infamous one-man game was only a short-lived App Store phenomenon, but that was long enough for someone to cash in. With some incredulity, we grudgingly admire a work of generational barrel-scraping.
How Sony’s biggest failure led to an indie renaissance
FROM THE ARCHIVES: The PSP Go is not remembered as one of Sony’s better hardware ideas, but it did prove a useful test bed for independent developers. We reflect on PlayStation minis, the indies who made them and the legacy of the program.
The Search for Whales
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Who’s spending a fortune on mobile games? The free-to-play games industry calls them ‘whales’ and often relies on their high-rolling spending for its profitability. But who are the humans involved and why do they do it?
The economic dread of Little Red Lie and Design Home
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Games can be fantasies to help us escape from our dreary lives, but they can also push us to confront hard truths. An essay about the weird parallels to be found between an indie narrative game and some free-to-play mobile property porn slop.
FIFA’s Story Mode Can’t Touch a Homemade Team in PES
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Written as FIFA moved into scripted story content with ‘The Journey’, we make a case for the superiority of the humble, homespun charm of a self-created team on Pro Evolution Soccer. Featuring an ode to the mighty Loughborough FC.
Missing Puts You in the Shoes of a Trafficked Girl
FROM THE ARCHIVES: An interview with Leena Kejriwal and Satyajit Chakrabarty, co-creators of Missing: a videogame project seeking to raise awareness of people trafficking.
The Quiet Adventurers Behind Burly Men at Sea
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Founded by an ex-Pixar animator and a graphic designer, Brain&Brain has stories to tell. We chat to them about the development of Burly Men at Sea and being “allergic to things that are too gamey”.