Recent content by Tom Rhodes

Click Here for Hot Man Love! "Sex has remained generally unchanged since cavemen were humping in, well, caves. (They apparently enjoyed it.) Up until about 20 years ago, sexual encounters were generally between two (or more) people in a private setting. Then the internet came, and the...

The Curl "He reached in and pulled out the rose. It had rotted in a matter of seconds, or so it seemed. The once lush, green stem had bent inward, drooping in his hand, and the red petals had mostly fallen off, save for a few that looked almost the color of dried blood. Peter's eyes stung with...

How to Build a Holodeck "While we have access to holograms, they are often simplistic, without definition and realism. In addition, even if we could easily produce true-to-life holograms, we can't create force fields capable of forming light into a solid shape. No, we're going to have to get...

Digital Footprints "I decided I needed to see what my fellow classmates were saying about this tragedy, so I went snooping around the usual internet haunts. Not finding much (the news was still fresh), I Googled Mark's name and stumbled upon an online profile of his. He was, apparently, a...

Slouching Toward Black Mesa "The cultural significance of the Half-Life series has been woefully under-examined. Most reviews and interpretations of the game have focused on the gameplay (which is admittedly excellent), the realistic facial systems and its immersive qualities. Less regarded...

Best Little Emulator Ever Made! "In 1998, the "great sweep" took place, shutting down most of the major emulation sites in existence within a six-month period. But they had no preparation for the flood of emulators that appeared in 1999, chief among them bleem! All the major players were...

To Mod or Not to Mod Poor Microsoft. They've been run through the ringer lately. Most recently, they announced that every single Xbox 360 sold has the same defect that can cause the unit to overheat and malfunction, rendering it permanently unusable. Permalink

Helter Skelter David Cross had a special on HBO several years back wherein he commented on how media and violence were being linked together. He said something along the lines of, "What was the name of the violent videogame that Hitler used to play? And the one he distributed to all the German...

Afraid of the Dark Who's afraid of a game? Tom Rhodes is. In "Afraid of the Dark," Rhodes takes us on a trip through his tortured psyche as he attempts to enjoy some of gaming's most intense experiences. Permalink

Unremembering William In a world without games, perhaps we would see other technologies fill the void. Tom Rhodes looks at this possibility, which is rather likely to occur anyway. Permalink

Childhood Lost "In our society, it's all about the new and exciting, the shiny and freshly wrapped, the ones with the multi-million dollar marketing campaign attached to them." Tom Rhodes almost left behind his childhood games, but changed his mind. Permalink

Three Days in Arcadia Some games can envelope the player, drawing them completely into another world for a short, but intense, time. Tom Rhodes tells us of his recurring affair with The Longest Journey, while taking a look at game censhorship, violence, and art along the way. Permalink