Author Archives: Adam Maresca

With Friends Like These: Screw Ups and Patterns of Power in the Games Industry

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Adam Maresca

Randy Pitchford is a happy man. Sure, the last couple of major titles he’s overseen as head of Gearbox Software have had their share of detractors, but that’s not going to be any skin off of his nose. If someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation | Tagged Adam Maresca , Aliens , Atari , Ben Kuchera , Borderlands , Call of Duty , Code Hunters , Colonial Marines , Dave Mason , Dickwolves , Duke Nukem Forever , Erik Kain , Eurogamer , Gaspar Lewis , Gearbox , Kotaku , Krahulik , Mike Krahulick , Mike Sacco , New Games Journalims , Obsolescence , Penny Arcade , Randy Pitchford , RapeLay , Simon Parkin , Stephen Totilo , , The Penny Arcade Report , TimeGate , Tiny Tina | Leave a comment

Toys in The Attic: A Thoroughly Modern Reading of Revolution X

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Adam Maresca

History is a series of repeating cycles meshing like gears in varying but finite permutations. The saving grace of this eternally restless sturm und drang is the return of past works to relevance, and the power to mine new meaning … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation , Humour | Tagged Acclaim , Adam Maresca , Aerosmith , CDs , EDI , , Joe Perry , Just Push Play , Lazerdisc , Midway Plaza , Red Dawn , Revolution X , Steven Tyler , Wembley Stadium | 5 Comments

Requiem for Linnaeus: On The Taxonomy of “Game”

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Adam Maresca

  Editor’s Note: Carl Linnaeus was an 18th Century scientist who is considered the father of modern taxonomy, the classification of organisms. One of the issues in the modern critical community for video games that mystifies me the most is … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation | Tagged Adam Maresca , Baby , Bathwater , class , domain , family , Games , Gaspar Lewis , genus , kingdom , Linnaeus , order , phylum , species , Taxonomy | 6 Comments

Fear of Music: The Untold History of Rock Band Network

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Adam Maresca

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on July 5, 2012. We are re-publishing it today with an addendum covering the release of Rock Band Blitz. Due to Rock Band and Guitar Hero ebbing naturally from cultural phenomenon status, rhythm games have had more … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation , Features | Tagged , Adam Maresca , Amazing Baby , Amberian Dawn , Amplitute , Asobi Seksu , Band Hero , Barsuk , Beggars' Gropu , BeMani , Billy Ido , Blondie , Bomb the Music Industry! , Bon Savants , Buckethead , Buffalo Gun , Dance Central , Dance Dance Revolution , Death of the Cool , DJ Hero , DJ Raptor , , DragonForce , Drist , Elite Beat Agents , EMI , Final Fantasy: Theatrhythm , Freestyle Games , Frequency , Fucked Up , Gaspar Lewis , GHTunes , Gitaroo Man , Guitar Hero , , Jordan , Just Dance , Karaoke Revolution , LeetStreet Boys , Lips , Matador , Megasus , MGMT , Neversoft , Parappa the Rapper , Parry Gripp , Polyvinyl , PowerGig: Rise of the Sixstring , RBN Fat Possum , , Rock Band Network , Rock Revolution , Rockband , Rocksmith , ScoreHero , SingStar , Sleater-Kinney , Space Channel 5 , Sub Pop , Surfer Blood , The Dandy Warhols , The New Pornographers , The Smashing Pumpkins , The Tragically Hip , The Walkmen , Through the Fire and the Flames , Tijuana Sweetheart , , Umjammer Lammy , Vib Ribbon | 7 Comments

Hired Guns: The Real Price of Game Violence

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Adam Maresca

Adam Maresca America is slowly recovering from a flashpoint of public violence. Having learned nothing from the warnings of experts in the past, our news media has fostered an environment for a succession of copycats in the slaughter of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation | Tagged Academi , Adam Maresca , Blackwater , Call of Duty , Gaspar Lewis , , Mass grave , Medal of Honor: Warfighter , spin control , Steven Spielberg , Trent Reznor , Xe | Leave a comment

Lost in Space and Time: Perception, Memory, and Tony Hawk

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Adam Maresca

Adam Maresca It should have been so simple. It was billed as a greatest-hits mash-up of two games that were pivotal in the collective game memory of millions. Installments in a series which charted the high water mark of extreme … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation | Tagged Adam Maresca , Dead Kennedys , DVDs , Gaspar Lewis , Goldfinger , H.O.R.S.E. , HD , Ken Overbey , Millencolin , Neversoft , Patrick Dwyer , Primus , reimagining , Robomodo , The Ernies , Timothy Seppala , Tony Hawk , Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X , Unsane , VHS | Leave a comment

Heart of Darkness: E3, Violence, and Context for Outrage

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Adam Maresca

by Adam Maresca To everyone who has been finding some of the content from this year’s E3 to be pushing the boundaries of sexual politics and highly graphic violence: what kept you? In case you think that question was rhetorical, I’ll give you my best guess. It’ll scare your mom! It’ll scare your little sister! It’ll SCARE YOUR DOG. (And also the ESRB.) As a particularly new medium, video games have been the target of moral fervor since the introduction of gory violence, with plenty of memorable flashpoints along the way. Mortal Kombat and Night Trap were hounded by Senator Joe Lieberman, David Grossman demonized imaginary Doom levels in the aftermath of the tragedies of Columbine, Jack Thompson led a failed two-pronged crusade against Grand Theft Auto, and Breivik’s self-implicating statements have name-dropped Call of Duty. We were fortunate in many ways that the vocal opponents of these games chose to resort to Continue reading →

Posted in Features | Tagged Adam Maresca , Call of Duty , Call of Duty: Black Ops II , Crysis 3 , Duke Nukem Forever , E3 , Gaspar Lewis , Grand Theft Auto , Halo 4 Gears of War: Judgment , Hitman:Absolution , Irreversible , Jack Thompson , , Marilyn Manson , Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance , , Randy Pitchford , , , Watch Dogs | Leave a comment

Pandora’s Lunchbox: Deregulating Decency With Dorks’ Dollars

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Adam Maresca

Editor’s Note: The Following Article contains images that, while not genuinely pornographic, would not be a great thing for your boss to see over your shoulder. Please read responsibly. by Adam Maresca Thanks to the likes of open-source funding services like Kickstarter, the “marketplace of ideas” has never been more literal, or more troubling. Though their record is far from perfect, the service recently has come under fire again. This time the cause is the cancellation of the card game Tentacle Bento for, presumably, flagrantly violating the company’s obscenity guidelines. The fact the game tripled its initial goal and ran on the site for quite some time is not the major source of the outcry, though. It’s that the game was pulled from Kickstarter at all. That Which Must Be Preserved At All Costs. Insert Credit’s initial coverage by Brandon Sheffield is one of the main sources of the complaints that got the Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Conversation , Features | Tagged Adam Maresca , Brandon Sheffield , Debug Chamber , First Amendment , , Insert Credit , John Cadice , Marie-Claude Bourbonnais , , , Penny Arcade , , , Turner Diaries | 11 Comments

The State of Music Games

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Adam Maresca

by Adil Sherwani Red-Red-Red-Red-Yellow-Yellow-Green-Green. This is the button sequence for the opening riff to “I Love Rock N Roll,” the first song in the original Guitar Hero. In 2005, this sequence (and the game) ushered in both a new way … Continue reading →

Posted in Features | 6 Comments