penumbra

Now I'll never be able to watch the Normandy jumping through a mass relay without thinking about sex. I can't say if this ruined any further mass effect games for me or made them even more awesome.

In Penny Arcade today they mentioned D and D was also banned because it leads to fantasies of escape. C. S. Lewis once jokingly said that "the most common enemies of escapism are jailors", and I guess this proves it.

The controls could use some work. They're good for performing slick free-running moves, but not so great at allowing precise movement. Still, I definitely give the game points for style.

I share Bill Watterson's (of Calvin and Hobbes) opinion that "high art" is defined by the piece itself, and not by its medium.

Another interesting thing is that in the whole "video games as an artform" debate, everybody seems to focus only on the storylines and artwork of games. I think that the gameplay itself can be an artform. For example, think about a Zelda dungeon. Imagine how much creativity it must have taken to come up with all those different puzzles, and lay them out so all works (ie, you can't get to the boss key and boss room without having to do anything else). IMO that qualifies as art.

I voted for Digital Unrest, because when I'm not a video game nerd, I'm a science nerd. And also because that drawing of Miyamoto is hilarious.