NaissanceE Archives

The influence of Blame! on videogame architecture is rising

Blame! (1998) is getting everywhere these days. The dark, vast architectural spaces of Tsutomu Nihei’s manga series seem to be steadily rising in popularity, like sentient tower blocks growing stories at a time, casting a deeper and deeper shadow over popular culture. Next year it’ll likely hit the mainstream as an anime film adaptation is coming to Netflix. But perhaps Blame!‘s best utilization isn’t in film but in videogames. There are number of game makers who seem to think so. claustrophobic urban details One of those is Aloft Studios, who revealed last week that they’re working on a game called…

Feature

Why videogames love Alice in Wonderland

The bed is on the ceiling. The faucet is dripping up. A fish floats above you, bleating sonorous pun-filled pronouncements: “The sweet scent of bile hangs like a condemned man.” In the center of the room is a tiny door; on the table, a potion. “I’m constantly observing my declining behavior as if through a looking glass,” the protagonist mutters to himself. I think you might know what happens next. Why do videogames love Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)? Again and again they return to it as a reference point, regardless of genre, regardless of style. What I just described…

News

Mind-Mecca introduces you to the enormous world of inky black cryptology

The dark, cutting lines and enormous Nihei-inspired megastructures of last year’s NaissanceE gouged open a hole. It hit a crest among those using videogames to explore an idea: one that combined wordless, inky concrete cities with abstruse glyph puzzles, all bearing a byzantine approach to structuring their alien mysteries. Nothing is explained in these virtual environments yet they seem to speak through their enormous volumes and chiaroscuro detail. the journey expands to a gigantic machine’s artery There will be more videogames that branch off its hair-raising moments—shimmying around huge chasms, chasing sentient machines through crazed corridors—but it will be NaissanceE…