Teddy Papes

Gaming make us aware of life’s social commodities

From genuine interpersonal relationships to the art of the pickup, the gaming of life is an inevitability. We may overtly participate in it, or it may take place beneath the surface of our awareness, but we are constantly playing with the systems of social interaction and society. Being polite, dona

Halo 4 took pointers from Ico

It’s tempting to dismiss Halo 4 as purely a workout for the adrenal glands, but it has a softer side hidden beneath the battle rifles and pulse grenades. Its characters were not just iterations of Hollywood’s collection of Johns (Rambo, MccLane, Connor), but were influenced particularly by a progeny

Dark Souls director pranks devotees hilariously

If you were ravenously consuming prerelease information for Dark Souls like I was, then you probably stumbled across a helpful nugget from its director Hidetaka Miyazaki: start with the Pendant. You see, there were a few different “gifts” the player could receive at the start of their game. Each had

Games for school, and for life

A panel at last week’s ExPlay Festival in Bath analyzed educational videogames and their potential. Each speaker brought a new perspective to the discussion: Force Of Habit founder Nick Dymond talked about working with a professor of microbiology on Tempest-style game Dysbiosis, which teaches player

The game that will help you get into college

As far as my parents are concerned, my college applications were delivered months before they were due. In reality, I adhered to a strict policy of delivering them in the 24 hour window before their deadlines (and I’d hazard a guess that this limited their quality). If only Mission: Admission had ex