Author: Benjamin Fitzgerald
-
Video Game Violence – A Personal Reflection
Video games often get a bad rap. They are subjected constantly to a stream of criticism from many sources. They are accused of wasting time, encouraging violence or laziness, derided as simple entertainment – the list goes on. In particular, though, many people seem to believe that video game violence makes people violent. Sociologists and…
-
Last Token Gaming Hall of Fame Review – Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (1996)
Developer: Revolution Software Publisher: Virgin Interactive Release Date: September 30, 1996 (PC), January 31, 1998 (PlayStation) Genre: Point-and-click adventure, mystery Mode: Single-player Rating: T for Teen “Paris in the fall: the last months of the year, and the end of the millennium. The city holds many memories for me: of cafes, of music, of love – and of…
-
Retro Review – Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero (1992, Sierra On-Line, PC)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald I love role-playing games; I love adventure games. They are my two favorite genres of video game. Naturally, when I heard about the old Quest for Glory series by Sierra from the ‘90s, I was very excited. I bought the whole series in a single volume. So far, I have played the…
-
Hall of Fame Review – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Developer: BioWare Publisher: LucasArts Release Date: July 15, 2003 (Xbox), November 19, 2003 (PC) Genre: Science fiction, role-playing Mode: Single-player Rating: T for Teen BioWare has done wonders for the world of role-playing games. They entered the world of cRPGs in a big way with Baldur’s Gate and its sequel,…
-
What’s the Point of Casual Games?
by Benjamin Fitzgerald Have you ever sat at your computer, bored into a stupor, only to find yourself engrossed in Minesweeper half an hour later? Or have you ever wandered into a nickel arcade, found an old Pac-Man machine and gone crazy? If you have, I hate to break it to you: you’re a…
-
A Tactical Combat Game Worthy of Star Trek
by Benjamin Fitzgerald ***To continue my coverage of Star Trek computer games, I turn my attention to one of Interplay’s most critically acclaimed titles, Star Trek: Starfleet Command.*** Except for the latter half of Deep Space Nine, Star Trek has never really been about space battles. Starship battles played a prominent role in only four…
-
Indie Piñata Review – Desktop Dungeons
by Benjamin Fitzerald Desktop Dungeons is one of the games I bought through Indie Piñata. Part roguelike dungeon crawl and part lighthearted kingdom building, Desktop Dungeons offers many hours of light-hearted yet grueling entertainment. It has a pretty steep learning curve, but there are a lot of tutorials to help you learn the game…