Recent content by Robert Buerkle

Tetramino, Falling Tetris is a masterpiece of gaming art. Robert Buerkle outlines exactly why the Russian puzzle game should rank among the quintessential works of art of the 20th Century. Read Full Article

True enough, raynaa -- I'm very much falling back on colloquial rather than clinical usage of "schizophrenic" here. Much like people use "psycho" to mean someone weird or obsessive rather than genuinely psychotic, and much like half my students tell me "I'm ADD" to mean "I'm not good at...

Schizophrenic Storytelling Perspective switches from first- to second- to third-person all within the first five minutes of Max Payne. Robert Buerkle examines this unique phenomenon in videogames and how the blend creates a positive roleplaying experience. Read Full Article

I think one of the things that fascinates me about the current usages of replay is the point that Clemenstation made -- that in many cases, games seem to be designed with an assumption that the player will fail several times, such that levels are built to assume some degree of foresight. Of...

Digital Déjà Vu The halting gameplay of Mirror's Edge may have initially frustrated some players, but it could also be the game's chief pleasure. Robert Buerkle examines the first-person free-runner through the lens of another story about experiencing the same moments over and over again...

The Truthiness of Simulation What makes game worlds so compelling? Is it their ever growing realism, or is it something else? Robert Buerkle investigates how games draw us in to their uniquely truthy reality. Read Full Article