In From Pixels to Polygons, we examine classic game franchises that have survived the long transition from the 8- or 16-bit era to the current console generation. This time, Chris Dominowski and Jeff deSolla take on Namco’s long-running Tales series of JRPGs.
While the West prefers its action-RPGs to be open-world, narrative-light romps that emphasize freedom, Japan has another take, and no series embodies these goals quite like the Tales series. From its SNES debut to the most recent releases, the series has made many adjustments to try to find its footing in a shifting JRPG landscape. READ MORE
Laura Kate Dale is a games journalist, co-founder of the website IndieHaven and creator of the upcoming title You Are The Reason. Staff writer Chris Dominowski talked to her about the state of gender diversity in games, how it affects both the fields of games creation and journalism and some games that incorporate gender diversity in thoughtful ways.
Chris Dominowski, Snackbar Games: You have been in games journalism for quite a while, and in that time, you have been pretty prolific in your work. What made you want to get into games journalism, and what inspired you to help start IndieHaven?
Laura Kate Dale: Video games were always something I have had an interest in. At a very young age, I was given a Super NES by my older brother as a birthday present, and there was just something about that as an antisocial child who wasn’t very good with other people. It was a really good place to have adventures and interact with other people — even if they weren’t real. For me, it was just a nice escape, and a way to have some fun even if I wasn’t good with talking with other people. READ MORE
After months of brief gameplay teasers at previous press events, Nintendo finally allowed fans and media a shot at playing Super Smash Bros. for Wii U for themselves. We tested out the new title to see how it compares to the previous games, check out the new fighters and analyze how it will play in the competitive Smash scene. READ MORE
One of the biggest headline Xbox One exclusives shown off by Microsoft this week was Sunset Overdrive. The main reasons the game has been getting attention are its bright color palette and energetic gameplay. Also, it’s being developed by Insomniac Games, whose work up until this point has been almost entirely exclusive to PlayStation platforms. That’s all well and good, but there was something about the teaser trailer shown at Microsoft’s briefing this year that struck me in a very unexpected way. Not anything specifically about the game, but instead a line spoken by its protagonist:
“Can you survive the many dangers? Can you help others survive? Can you save Sunset City? Can you? For the love of God, can you? Of course you can – it’s a f–– video game.” READ MORE
In the early ’80s the home computer market flourished, with dozens of machines from myriad manufacturers, each with unique hardware gimmicks and software libraries. It was the Wild West of computing, seeing rapid expansion alongside a total lack of order. Big names like Atari, Commodore, Sinclair and IBM made their mark on the fledgling market in this era, competing to prove who had the machine with the most muscle.
One benchmark with which they could measure their computers’ strengths was gaming. READ MORE
