There’s a saying about the debut album by the Velvet Underground, the ’67 Warhol/Eno/Reed concoction with the peeling-banana cover: that everyone who bought the record went on to start their own band. Silly, yes, but the lesson — that you don’t need gristle-free chops or a Conservatory degree […]
This interview with Scott Adams, the text adventure pioneer, has him talking about how he uses several keyboards to set up a Hydra in the multiplayer online world of Everquest II. It’s refreshing to hear oldschool game makers talk about their current game obsessions rather than moan about […]
“Jason,” the cartoonist’s bio begins, “was born 38 years ago in Norway. For the moment he lives in Oslo. He still doesn’t know how to drive a car.”
When I visited him in 2003, he was living in a posh, modern mid-rise, its lobby ablaze in polished surfaces that gleamed like gold teeth. A waxed baby grand languished near the concierge’s desk. His apartment on the 10th floor seemed an affront to the cool gloss below: […]
Jeff Chapman started playing Civilization (MicroProse, 1991) when it came out and never stopped. He’s played the strategy turn-based videogame series for the past decade I’ve known him. Far from letting it consume him, he’s balanced his job as editor of History Magazine with a plethora of other […]
Readers of this column may remember a previous interview with Sean Stewart, who was one of the puppetmasters behind the Alternative Reality Game (ARG) The Beast (“Collective Detective,” Sept. 30, 2004). An example of pull marketing, this innovative, puzzle-based narrative based in the world of Spielberg’s A.I. succeeded […]
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The Cultural Gutter 