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Absolutely Scrabulous!

Thomas McDonald — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:00:00 -0500

There’s a game that’s become part of my daily regime. It’s one of the first things I do after firing up the laptop over my morning coffee and the last thing I do before shutting down the laptop with an evening gin. It never takes more than a few minutes, and I do it throughout the day, like answering email. In fact, it is answering email, except with little lettered tiles.

Yes, I am completely addicted to Scrabulous (www.scrabulous.com). Email games are certainly nothing new, but good, well-supported, free email games that a wide variety of people can play without any initial purchase are pretty rare.

Scrab on, after the jump!

Sons of Minesweeper

Thomas McDonald — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:00:00 -0500

So is PC gaming hosed? That seems to be the case for games that a) are not massively multiplayer, b) don’t have “Sims” in the title, or c) aren’t played by your mom.

But it’s not really as dire as all that. Mass Effect actually made it to number 2, and Sins of a Solar Empire to number 9, on the current NPD PC sales charts.

Those numbers, however, don’t reflect where PC owners are really gettin’ their game on: with casual games. Remember when you would say you were a PC gamer and people would say, “Yeah, me too,” and you’d ask what they played, and they’d say, “Minesweeper and Solitaire.” And you’d chuckle. Good times!

More after the jump.

Videogame Violence: A Fair and Balanced Study?

Thomas MacDonald — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:26:18 -0500

We’re at a point in history when, if gamers are to maintain credibility, we need to acknowledge both the good and bad in our passion. Grand Theft Childhood ($25, Simon & Schuster) by Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson is a fair and comprehensive study of games and violence, and we would do well to pay attention to its conclusions.

Those conclusions, and Tom's own, after the jump.

Game Theory: Return of the King

Thomas McDonald — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:20:57 -0600

Unreal Tournament 3 brings some delicious new innovations to the multiplayer shooter genre.

Game Theory: Symphonies of Destruction

Thomas McDonald — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:47:19 -0600

We're nearly drowning in top-notch fragfests!

Game Theory: Game/Art

Thomas McDonald — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:07:00 -0600

In which we try to decide if Bioshock counts as Art. Pitchforks and torches provided for your convenience.

Game Theory: The Wii Effect

Thomas McDonald — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:36:14 -0500

Will the Wii bring millions of fresh-faced newbs to gaming, or does its appeal lack crossover power?

Game Theory: Rainbow 5 1/2

Thomas McDonald — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:56:22 -0500

When games shift from PCs to consoles, in-depth content goes right with them. Case-in-point -- Rainbow Six: Vegas.