First Principles
We love to talk about historical firsts, but it's fraught with risk. Games in order of appearance, with links to…
Making Mortal Monday
A look back at the short-notice, high-stakes development of the SNES and Genesis ports of Mortal Kombat; the sacrifices and…
The Essence of Hype
A two-minute video originally made for Micro Essay Mixtape volume 1, an anthology of short video essays from a dozen…
Exile: The 8-Bit Metroidvania You've Never Heard Of
Play the Commodore 64 version of Exile in the browser: https://archive.org/details/Exile_Game_1991_Audiogenic_Software_h_Deadline Media BBC Micro photo from GDG Milton KeynesBBC memory map recreated…
Obscure in the West, Big in Japan
Akito Inoue's site, with downloadable data sets, slide decks and links to surveys: https://www.critiqueofgames.net/local_index/ (still available in 2025) More games big…
The First Game Over
Thanks to Ethan Johnson: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ To Kate Willaert: https://www.acriticalhit.com/ And to others from the Gaming Alexandria Discord: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/ Thanks also to…
Revisiting Sony's Notorious PS3 Reveal
The story of Sony's much-maligned E3 2006 keynote. How a series of well-intentioned decisions took them from first to third…
The Mentalist and the Monster: Uri Geller vs. Pokémon
The odd tale of a celebrity, a trading card, a lawsuit, and 20 years of lasting consequences for a beloved…
