The Story of the Infamous 1979 ‘Alien’ Action Figure
When I was six years old, my dad drove the family down to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Being young, adventurous adults, my parents wanted to check out a number of attractions that absolutely terrified my little brain, film-based rides like Jaws, Earthquake, The Tower of Terror, and so on. But nothing left a stronger…
Breath of Fire II and the Afterlife of Digital Ghosts
A version of this piece originally appeared at ZEAL in 2017. It is the mid-90s and you are at the video store on a Friday night, the air swirling with the smells of buttered popcorn and plastic VHS cases. CRT screens suspended from the ceiling play one of the latest releases, the list of titles enumerated…
The Shrouded Origins of “The Helicopter Game”
If you’re of a certain age, there’s a good chance you’ve played the Flash helicopter game. You know the one — you’re piloting a helicopter down a tunnel, avoiding obstacles and seeing how far you can go. It’s extremely straightforward, using only one button. You hold the mouse to ascend, and release it to let…
Lessons from Running My First Game of Vampire: The Masquerade
I only ever played Vampire: The Masquerade once growing up. It was disastrous — I mean, we were in junior high, and none of us were emotionally mature enough to handle the game. We were used to playing games like Rifts, more straightforward titles about powerful heroes going on daring adventures. I’m not even sure how we got…