AI: The Future of Gaming

May 03, 2023 by Alexander Swan in Video Games, AI

Chat GPT is making AI the hottest subject right now. I wanted to dive into how AI could help improve or add to a video game without making a whole game into an AI procedurally generated mess. People have tried this idea out with mixed results, and I fully expect some to keep trying repeatedly. No. Dear reader, I want to expand this idea, keep the AI in a contained area of the game design process and use it as a tool to flesh out a part or aspect of the game, turning the AI portion into a USP (Unique selling point), rather than the predecided mess or “AI everything”.

A Short Hike Review - Whimsical fun

March 16, 2023 by Alexander Swan in Video Games

The fantastic Adam “Adamgryu” Robinson-Yu in their first solo game, A Short Hike, puts you in the role of Claire, a young bird who’s gone to Hawk Peak Provincial Park, where her Aunt May is a ranger. After a few short conversations with your auntie, who had thought Claire had already gone to explore the Park, she suggests the only place Claire will get phone service will be at the top of Hawk Peak. From here, the Park is open to the player.

A Mortician's Tale Review - Becoming Death Positive

February 09, 2023 by Alexander Swan

The game greets you, already in your brand-new office, and you play as Charlie a recent graduate. While you rarely say anything, Charlie is more of a vessel for you to experience the world around you. The game's story is mainly told via emails sent to Charlie at the beginning of each day, and while you could easily skip over the emails sent to Charlie, you would be missing out on inside jokes with your colleague Matthew. How you boss Amy likes to mother you. Charlie’s best friend Jen about her life in London working at a museum, and she's just as Death Positive as she hopes to make you the player.

Norco Review - When home that isn't home anymore

January 24, 2023 by Alexander Swan in Video Games

Norco asked, what is it like leaving behind everyone, to leave the place you called home, but when you return, it’s no longer what you remember it being. As someone who’s peering into their 30s with dreed and recently lost the family house, I grew up in due to my parent’s divorce. Returning home isn’t an option outside the town to see friends and family if their still around.

Road 96 Review - An Almost Perfect Experience

October 01, 2021 by Alexander Swan in Video Games, Review

Road 96 was a surprise for me at E3, with the idea that I’ll be playing a teenager looking to escape this country, Petria and that each teen will have a different experience and way to escape than the others.

When starting the game you are given a few multiple-choice questions, before being shown a TV where the overly obnoxious host, Sonya Sanchez, is reporting on the upcoming anniversary of a “terrorist attack”. We then get a montage showing us the main characters of the game, whilst we play several non-talking protagonists. The only recurring characters from teen to teen are: Big John, Alex, Zoe, Stan and Mitch, Fanny, the previously mentioned Sonya Sanchez and Jarod.

Everything Happening With Magic: The Gathering Netflix Series

June 21, 2019 by Alexander Swan in Magic: The Gathering

I was tempted to release this article when it was announced that this series would happen, full of raw emotions and personal thoughts. However, what felt more appropriate was to delete that article, to wait a few weeks and then consume all the news again and come at it with a level head and give all the information in one place and to give my thoughts at the end.

Detective Pikachu Is The Best Film Adaptation Of A Video Game

May 24, 2019 by Alexander Swan in Video Games

Let me be frank with you dear reader, outside of a few film series that came to mind mainly Resident Evil, Lara Croft with Angelina Jolie and whatever trash that Uwe Boll makes. The title, while clickbait, is also very true. I assumed, I was going to be wrong and that a google search was going to correct me and show me a good film that I liked, but had forgotten about. However, I was correct, while some lists did make a case for a few of the Final Fantasy films for me, they ended up being just a compilation of cut scenes.

The Eureka Moment I Had In Poker

May 17, 2019 by Alexander Swan in Poker

That moment when something clicks, when you just understand it, the effect can change you forever in that moment. Everyone has these moments in their life, from studying as a child and understanding a mathematical problem that you were having difficulty with for weeks. To seeing an alternative perspective to a game, where learning it can be easy and that moment when something clicks and you see it on a higher level, that emotion is what I will be talking about.