the Andrew Bailey

In case I haven't made this clear, this is a reminder.

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game. It's kind of like the old ones, but made about 5 years ago. The game is set in a robotic city surrounded by a large junkyard. I would not call it a robot apocalypse, as there are no humans, animals, or evidence of them anywhere. The story is about a robot fighting against a gang who want to blow the city up.

This is the first Star Wars game I've ever played. I remember borrowing it from a friend about 10 years ago. Between him and his family, they probably had all the Star Wars games ever released up to that point.

Darwinia is a game that I've been playing off and on for the past 10 years. It feels like a blast from the past, but it tries to be even more old school.

Recently, Electronic Arts closed Maxis. Maxis made such games as SimCity and it's hugely successful spinoff, The Sims. People are going around being all sad about it. Yes, people are losing their jobs, and that is bad. But from the perspective of the gaming industry's health, I think it's a good thing. With the recent reveal of Electronic Access by Original Systems, I started thinking about this cycle. Survival of the fittest applies to the game industry too.

I remember when Enslaved: Odyssey to the West first came out. Somehow it looked interesting to me. Then I saw that it was only on Xbox. That was the first time I threatened to get a game if it came out on PC. Three years later, it did, so I ponied up some money a few months later. I only now got around to it, and I'm glad I did.

Bioshock 2 is a game that I never thought I would play or even own. It's also a game that doesn't need to exist. It's a sequel to a not-RPG that summed everything up on it's own. I found the whole thing a little surreal, but mostly dissonant, and free of emotional sense.