Author Archives: Joonas Laakso

Aug 25 0 comments
culture

Art

I can’t believe I’m back blogging after more than a month of working and playing games and not blogging, just to add a couple of cents to the “are games art?” debate. This good article on Hellmode has sparked a lively conversation. Can’t remember if it was Cliff Bleszinski or Leigh Alexander who ignited it. [...]

Jul 20 0 comments
PC

Flashpunk

I’ve been learning my way around ActionScript 3 and the Flashpunk library for the past few days, inspired by a flight to Los Angeles some months back, and stumbling to the Flash Game Dojo. This is my first foray to hobbyist game making in several years. It feels good to be creating stuff again. (I’ve [...]

Jul 16 0 comments
PC

King’s Bounty: The Legend

Complexity can be appealing. Steven Johnson explained it to me first in Everything Bad Is Good For You: videogames are appealing in large part because they’re hard. When you set playing a new game, you often have very little idea of how it all hangs together. Figuring out the system is a large part of [...]

Jul 14 0 comments
roleplaying

Remember Tomorrow

Remember Tomorrow is a new game by BoxNinja, aka Gregor Hutton, the author of Threesixteen (3:16). It’s available both in print and as a PDF. While cyberpunk roleplaying games exist, they are nothing like the works that inspired them. Cyberpunk games tend to be about accumulating stuff, blowing up people and to a lesser degree, [...]

Jul 13 0 comments
blog

Dusty Gamer circa 451 posts

Courtesy of Wordle.net, a portrait of this site. I last did this just about 100 posts ago.

Jul 12 0 comments
PSP

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

I never learned how to play Metal Gear despite finishing several titles from the series. Peace Walker teaches you how to play Metal Gear properly, and it feels good to finally be on even terms with the series. It’s quite simple, really: all the missions are split into short segments and you can choose to [...]

Jul 11 0 comments
DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360

What I’ve been playing this summer (part II)

Alan Wake (Xbox 360) Alan Wake finally came out and for me, it was well worth the wait. Top of the line storytelling all through, with unparalleled pacing and cinematic conventions. Great setting, great writing, great characters and good gameplay. It could have used a bit more variety in the combat mechanics towards the end, [...]

Jul 07 0 comments
PC, PS2, roleplaying, tabletop games

What I’ve been playing this summer (part I)

Dark Heresy (tabletop) Who knows, maybe I should see some people during the summer, too. The campaign has started off strong and I’m beginning to get a good ol’ RPG buzz. Who knew playing space fascists could be so much fun? Space Hulk (tabletop) It’s still a great game. Descent (tabletop) It satisfies my dungeon [...]

Jun 20 0 comments
DS, PS3, Xbox 360

E3 2010

I went to my first Electronic Entertainment Expo this year. Los Angeles was loud, slow and relatively cold, with only the rioting Lakers fans generating some excitement outside of the show. I don’t much care for the city. We stayed in Santa Monica, which is a lot nicer, but the over one-hour transits on the [...]

Mar 29 0 comments
PC, roleplaying

The Witcher

I’m not talking about the sequel and no, it’s not 2007 (or 2008, when the Enhanced Edition was released) all over again. I have a bit of a backlog I’m trying to clear here. Clearing old PC titles is good for the wallet and if you pick your moment right in the technological curve, delightful, [...]