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Literary critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge once proposed that if authors impart “human interest and a semblance of truth” into an otherwise far-fetched story, readers could temporarily suspend disbelief.  Over the years, this theory has been ...

There are a handful of compelling reasons to explain why Intelligent Systems’ exemplary Fire Emblem franchise hasn’t made a comprehensive impact on Western players. Whereas the series’ inaugural title, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari ...

Despite an ever-shrinking amount of physical space as well as a dwindling number of television inputs, a Dreamcast remains a permanent fixture in the office. The reason for its enduring residency is simple: the console ...

In 2008’s The Dark Knight, Alfred offers up an astute analysis of the Joker’s motivations to Bruce Wayne- “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”  With an unmatched conflagration algorithm which let players ...

Even for enthusiasts of other Japanese role-playing games, the Shin Megami Tensei series can be initially off-putting. From the pistol-like evokers which teen protagonists point to their heads in SMT: Persona 3 to the Jungian ...

If you invited Black Ops protagonist Frank Woods over for dinner, he’d likely make an atrocious first impression.  After peppering expletives into his demands for liquor and placing his dusty sidearm on a spotless end ...

The adaptation of a triple-A console franchise into portable form is often a thankless undertaking. Typically, primary development studios are able to articulate original ambitions through the capabilities of home systems. For the portable edition, ...

Across the previous two generations of console hardware, collections of cherished coin-op games were commonplace. Then, digital delivery came along and, save from the superb Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, shifted the paradigm from disk-based compendium ...

One of my greatest grievances with console gaming has been the dumbing down of simulations. In an attempt to court a broader audience, once complex franchises such as Dragon Age, Splinter Cell and DiRT have ...

Predictably, a number of critics were dismissive of 2011’s Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures. Built around the concept of purchasing real-world figurines that were capable of transforming into in-game characters, the title was depicted as little more ...