Archive
The complete Open Letters Monthly Archive.
A gutted world, a shattered helmet, a battle lost before you ever joined it ... in "Halo: Reach," the franchise delves into the mythology underpinning all heroic narrative, and still manages to deliver some fun.
Read MoreIn the gaming memoir "Unplugged," one man grapples with the story of his own addiction to video games.
Read MoreThe new Hollywood extravaganza "Prince of Persia" is based on a video game with long history. Fitting, then, that our gamer-expert Phillip A. Lobo should review them both.
Read MoreHi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to game we go as Phillip Lobo delves into the subterranean pleasures of Dwarfortress
Read MoreOver the last weekend in Boston, thousands of video gamers gathered for PAX East, one of the largest East Coast gatherings of, er, their kind. Intrepid Phillip Lobo was on the scene.
Read MoreUnlike its predecessor, Mass Effect 2 makes being a jerk a rewarding experience--Phillip A. Lobo explores the paradoxes of the Enlightenment, and the complicated morality of being bad.
Read MoreIf names like "Number Muncher," "The Oregon Trail," and of course "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" prompt nostalgic smiles for you, you'll love this affectionate look at educational video games
Read MorePhillip A. Lobo leaps from the classic 1970s game Zork to Andrew Hussie's webcomic MS Paint Adventures in his nostalgia-inducing discussion of the allures of interactive fiction computer games
Read MoreIn Assassin’s Creed II, the player plays a player playing a player, all hunting for buried memories and hidden clues to the nature of identity. Philip A. Lobo explains.
Read MoreTropico 3 tempts its players to become petty, manipulative tyrants; Phillip A. Lobo will permit you (unworthy though you are) of reading his musings on the game.
Read MoreDoes the latest Halo game portend the fracturing of history and the death of narrative, or is it just a really cool game? Phillip A. Lobo explains, naturally.
Read MoreThe blips and whistles of Mario’s soundtrack have evolved into grand strings and horns. Phillip A. Lobo assays how real music has come to video games, and vice versa.
Read MoreThey live, love, strive, and thrive, but they don’t scrimp, save, hate, or discriminate – is it rapturous capitalism, or virtual virtue? Phillip A. Lobo plays The Sims.
Read More“It’s an energy field that connects us all” Obi-wan Kenobi has told us, and Phillip Lobo attests to the truth of it in his review of the latest Star Wars MMO.
Read MoreBefore Arthas was a character in a new novel, he was a character in a video game (World of Warcraft, naturally) – which makes him fair game for our gaming expert, Phillip Lobo.
Read MoreYou’d think any brand of movie that could produce Super Mario Bros. would have no advocates left, but you’d be wrong! Our gaming expert Phillip A. Lobo diagnoses the problem to date and charts a new path for video game movies.
Read MoreNotorious for its violence and misogyny, or misunderstood for its biting social commentary? Grand Theft Auto IV polarizes; video game docent Phillip A. Lobo attempts to broker a meeting.
Read MoreCulture critics decry video games – including 2K’s BioShock – as mindless, pointless haphazard wastes of time. Phillip A. Lobo offers one fan’s spirited rebuttal.
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