The critically acclaimed video game sequel Batman: Arkham City is not deserving of its reputation, writes Dan Golding, because it fell foul of outdoing the achievements of the first.
Culture / The Arts / Video Games
video games 
The story of Fez and the ‘smart indie’
The animation in Fez, which resides in a category of video game known as the ‘smart indie’, is a pixel-perfect representation of nostalgic joy but the game itself is hollow, writes Dan Golding.
Wolfenstein 3D, first person industry game-changer, turns 20
PC game Wolfenstein 3D, which turned 20-years-old last week, has had a remarkable influence on video games and they way they are perceived by the general public. Dan Golding blows out the blood-splattered VGA candles.
Switching off the debate: the Breivik trial is not about video games
Plenty of journalists and bloggers will be prompted to write about how video games relate to the Anders Breivik trial. Game On’s Dan Golding explains why he’s not one of them.
Niche and mass cultures collide for a symphony of video games
In a strange collision of mass and niche cultures, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performed video game compositions at a concert in Melbourne last week. Dan Golding was there, plugging himself into a transfixing a symphonic spectacle.
video games Four ways of reading Journey
Journey is about as expressive and aesthetic experience as you’ll find in mainstream video games of 2012. Dan Golding suggests four different ways to read it.
The burden of an ending: why finish video games?
There is a unfair and unreasonable fixation on finishing things in contemporary culture, writes Dan Golding. So in the context of video games, how important is “clocking” one? Does an ending validate our labour?
video games From expert to all-ages: the simplification of video games
Installation, downloads, add-ons, buttons, tweaks. For the uninitiated, video games have a reputation for being a difficult media form but Nintendo have led a movement to make the medium broadly accessible, writes Daniel Golding.
Why youth is still the wrong way to talk about video games
When we say that video games are young, we reinforce a leaden narrative that obscures a complex set of circumstances, writes Daniel Golding.
Video games are not a young media form, so stop saying they are
The most insidious idea about videogames ever to be repeated uncritically is that they are a young media form, writes Dan Golding.
video games Dear Esther — deep, explorative, electrifying
Dear Esther is a video game that treats its environments like theatre, with an impressive understanding of the drama of space, writes Dan Golding.
Video game history as told through Hugo and The Artist
Oscar winning films Hugo and The Artist, which celebrate early cinema, also represent different approaches within the field of video games, writes Dan Golding.
Ziggurat — all about retro-flavoured excess
In the crowded stable of iPhone games, Ziggurat stands apart in its excess and exuberance and taps into a nostalgia for DOS-era games, writes Dan Golding.
Why the mainstream media love videogames that make lots of money
News reports will appear on how Double Fine studios raised one million dollars to make a video game in 24 hours, because money is one of the only ways that the mainstream media understands videogames, writes Dan Golding.
Pachinko: mapping a course through the video games industry
Pachinko Pictures is not an ordinary studio and their new game, Lol-a-Coaster, is not your usual advergame. The company have charted an unusual course through the gaming industry, writes Dan Golding.
video games Driving interrogation: exploring the nuanced landscape of L.A. Noire
Dan Golding is running late. It’s 1947 and he’s supposed to be on the other side of downtown Los Angeles. This is L.A. Noire, the blockbuster thinking man’s video game: slow and unusually contemplative.
