A War in Space and its Aftermath
Rock Paper Shotgun reports in depth on a war in EVE Online’s space and its fallout.
On Diplomacy
“If you’ve ever heard of Diplomacy, chances are you know it as “the game that ruins friendships.” It’s also likely you’ve never finished an entire game. That’s because Diplomacy requires seven players and seven or eight hours to complete. Games played by postal mail, the way most played […]
The Many Faces of Ra.One
Mainstream Hindi cinema doesn’t particularly gravitate towards making superhero films. It hardly needs to, given what physical feats the average film hero can pull off anyway. But like many parts of the world, Indian audiences certainly have a taste for American-style superhero films, so home-grown characters pop up, […]
“Hollywood Gave Up On You: The Summer Blockbuster Movies of 2016”
Friend of the Gutter Jessica Ritchey writes about 2016’s summer blockbusters: “And it matters more than it might seem that Hollywood has lost its nerve and touch in making blockbusters. Pop culture is how a society of diverse people talk to each to other—finding common idioms no matter […]
All Alone in “No Man’s Sky”
“It has been said that video games are best understood by the verbs they invite. No Man’s Sky is built on four primary actions: explore, fight, trade, survive. They are familiar verbs, for players, but, couched in the near-endless variety of this playpen, they remain brightly alluring. Repetitiveness […]
“Inside the Artificial Universe that Creates Itself”
Roc Morin explores the making of No Man’s Sky. “Physicists still debate whether our own universe is deterministic or random. While some scientists believe that quantum mechanics almost certainly involves indeterminacy, Albert Einstein famously favored the opposing position, saying, ‘God does not play dice.’ No Man’s Sky does […]
The Cultural Gutter 