Active Time Event

Inventio Per Fabula

nostalgia

  • Mina The Hollower: A Tale Of Two Difficulties

    You never know where the day is going to take you at any given moment. As a cynic, however, my suspicions always remain firmly intact of what to expect from any 24 hour period One of the reasons I feel so vindicated in giving Mina the Hollower so many props where props are due, is… Read more

  • Mina The Hollower And The Metaphysical Field Of Divine Aestheticism

    I’m always a advocate for being in the mindset of the here and now: focusing on what’s right in front of you helps to declutter the mind. Besides, the future may not be one of the most reliable sources of comfort one can imagine… My adventures through Mina the Hollower (MtH) continue to be deftly… Read more

  • Mina The Hollower: Getting Off Daddy Ninty’s D

    Politics and philosophy are impossibly interwoven into our every day affairs, and to think otherwise is a delusion of grandeur worthy of only the most misguided of miscreants. That never prevents them from having their depraved versions of fun, however Mina the Hollower (MtH) continues to deliver, even if my betraying mood leads one to… Read more

  • Mina the Hollower: Escaping From The Oppressive Grounds Of Modernity

    In some ways, writing is one of my love languages, as it more or less represents a desire to give back to both the gaming community, and humanity at large, in a moment of surprisingly non-cynical solidarity. It might also be my way of silently acknowledging that every day somehow grows worse than the last,… Read more

  • Mina The Hollower: Existential Dread Of Hedonistic Lament

    There are times in life where everything seems to be going okay for once…and that’s it. You almost get suspicious about the strangely calm nature of the general vibe and sentiment of normality that hangs in the air, that even the slightest hiccup tends to greatly alarm you, as at first paranoid glance, it seems… Read more

  • Mina The Hollower: A Whole Lot Of Depth

    Sometimes, you just got to dig deep down to realize what really matters. The real treasure was all the holes we made along the way My time with Mina the Hollower has been a fruitful one thus far, though I think this definitely falls under the umbrella of thought that says “got a good feeling”… Read more

  • Mina the Hollower: Revealing Bedrock Design

    Some days, even getting out of bed feels as if a nightmarish ordeal, and you just have to summon some grit and bear it. Unless your day is going to look anything like that thing above….then the bed is probably the best place to be Yesterday was a bit of a train wreck, not going… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Licensed To Thrill

    As Mark Twain asserted; history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. This would go a long way in explaining why my philosophical lamentations sound so sing songy Here we are, at the end of all things. At least, at the end of all things GoldenEye 64 related, as we bring to a close a… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: 00 Agent Off- 6v7

    A sentiment I touched upon recently, and one that relates to an age old wisdom, is that the journey is always more interesting than the destination. The gooners know…good lord, do they know Finally out of the deep, dark depths of the Caverns that our winding narrative took us through, GoldenEye 64 reaches its apex… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64:Downstairs Mix-up

    The old saying goes it’s always darkest before the dawn… …and sometimes, *you* continue to persist as the darkest thing sulking about, even after the dawn After the impressively vile and rampantly chaotic liquid shitting episode that any replay of the level Control turns out to be (at least on 00 Agent), we move into… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy

    Though this next bit of darkly shaded humor may mean nothing to you at the moment, after reading this write-up about one of the final missions in GoldenEye, I urge you to go read The Myth of Sisyphus (or at least a tl;dr summary), to truly appreciate the idea behind the premise of this article,… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Speaking The Language; Faux Pas Be Damned

    Sticking the landing is key in any good routine We often end up being victims of our own success After a dreadful mucking about in a metaphoric desert, one overflowing with conceptual sand of a coarse and irritating nature by even the roughest of standards, we gasp dryly for some kind of refreshing sense of… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: I Don’t Like Depots.They’re Coarse And Rough And Irritating…

    We all end up “oofing” every now and then, even the best of us… …it’s only when the oofing continues to persist does it end up turning into a big ole pile of yikes LAST TIME, ON GOLDENEYE Z! 64!, after super sonic racing right through the Archives level, in a fine testament to speedrunning,… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Streets Ahead

    In times of stressful need, one has to have effective ways to blow off some steam, in order to give themselves a little self love, for the sake of cognitive clarity and psychological well being. …cause it’s definitely going to get worse before it gets better After our brief excursion with ATE’s weekly Words of… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Drowning In Minutia

    An old turn of phrase suggests one “stop to smell the roses”. Whoever said this never stopped to consider the possibility of one having taken a shit in the flower bed before you got there, and now you’re profusely gagging after taking a huge whiff of floral asshole Today, on our continuing replay of GoldenEye… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: The Phantom Pains Of Fallen Empires

    In the grand scheme of things, context takes on many forms; one child’s energetic playtime may be an adult’s calming respite. There even existed a store, way back in the 20th century that even allowed consumers to rent such “context” Powering on through our replay of GoldenEye 64, and now that we have safely escaped… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: The Game Where Everything’s Made Up And The Points Don’t Matter

    Andy Warhol was reportedly quoted as declaring the following: “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” Look no further than Simpsons shitposting for an example of the cursed standard repetition lay bare, as the recursive nature of history repeating itself sees the very fabric of social connection begin to deteriorate,… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Das Bond

    They say never judge a book by its cover. People say a lot of stupid fucking things, don’t they? As we move forward with our replay of GoldenEye 64, after a brief excursion into totally off the map, extra canonical bullshit territory, with our trapesing through the terrifying terrain that troublingly terrorizes with titanic thermonbaric… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: The Hallowed Halls Of Hollow Men

    Amdist the bombast and the bullet holes, the violence born of national woes, stands tall and proud the human spirit, with all of their eloquent prose. Well, if it’s true what they say about people being made in “god’s image”, then god is just some freak ass gooner chud pumping loads to Power Rangers porn… Read more

  • Goldeneye 64: Cool Is The Rule

    “Men are more governed by their passions then reason”, a paraphrasing of a sentiment expressed by philosopher David Hume. In the realm of gaming, this loosely translates to: hang the sense of it, ask yourself the real question: is it cool? Cool happens when your heart is in the right place Dovetailing from my last… Read more

  • Goldeneye 64: Surface Level Affairs

    Flirting with disaster is always more fun when you’re the one holding the ace up your sleeve. After I used the word disaster, Reagan popped into my mind. How peculiar… As we continue on with our little soiree behind the iron curtain, and sally forth with our “Bonding Experience” as we replay Goldeneye 64, we… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Content Exceeds Commerce

    The quote from The Big Lebowski sums it up pretty well: “Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes…the bar eats you.” A friendly reminder that life is full of ups and downs, strikes and gutters, and you’ve just got to take them as they come, and maintain your sense of chill and calm no matter… Read more

  • GoldenEye 64: Being Quiet In A Really Loud Way

    The design ethics of GoldenEye 64 brings to mind that quote from Futurama: “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.” And other times, expectations are just too damn ridiculous to begin with Continuing on from yesterday, where I finally made my triumphant return to the world of the… Read more

  • Goldeneye 64: Getting Shot Off A Train Of Thought

    In a justified moment of reverence to the likes of Thomas Edison, “I’ve not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Adjusted expectations are vital to a healthy state of mind There is no avoiding the reality that this article represents a “shaking of the cobwebs off” kind of moment, as I took… Read more

  • MKW: The Accursed Love Triangle Of The Demon Named Nostalgia

    In the process of finding oneself, experimentation is necessary. Have the confidence to be the monster under someone else’s bed My track record of analysis in most regards remains firmly anchored in the realm of proven standard, though I would be remiss of authenticity if I wasn’t honest about how utterly baffled I am at… Read more

  • Expedition 33: The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions

    Sometimes, the most important thing we can do in a day is make a mistake, in order to learn from it for future prosperity. When life gives you grapples, make grappleade My time with Expedition 33 (E33) has been an enjoyable one, and while I still have a ways to go before I finish the… Read more

  • E33: Are There Any Good Faith Arguments In The Face Of AI Usage?

    Exhaustion gets the best of all of us, and sometimes, one is too tired to even realize one is too tired. How I looked yesterday trying to finish my article on time Yesterday was a complete shit show, and I’m surprised everything turned out as well as it did. I’m guessing due to burning the… Read more

  • How Hell Frames The Devil’s Advocacy Of Gambling On The Parry

    The presence of good does not magically negate the simultaneity of bad by proxy. You’ll have trouble decking the halls once you catch these hands There remains a wealth of content ahead of me in Expedition 33 (E33), of this, I have no doubts. What, with the game mirroring most of the magical machinations a… Read more

  • E33: IF More Of US Cared, It Would Lighten The Load For Everyone

    They say it’s always darkest before the dawn… Yet for others, it remains perpetual fucking midnight As I continue to trek through the misery and mire of Expedition 33 (E33), it must not be understated the importance the game puts on the valuable beauty of impermanence, in not taking for granted what is here today,… Read more

  • Expedition 33: The Jeering Jurisprudence Of Jank Ball

    Depending on one’s outlook of what December entails, “the holiday spirit” looks a whole lot different for some people than it does for others. As in, some people feel as if the holiday spirit has evil intent, having violently entered their body, and are now in immediate need of an exorcist to expel the yuletide… Read more

  • Expedition 33: Playfully Meandering Through Grim Disaster

    If you’re anything like me, you’ve accidentally become a master at tripping over the finish line. The home stretch be like that some times Upon further reflection, the article I posted on the 7th, had a ridiculous irony in being titled “Something Beautiful, But Annihilating, as it ended up being a bit chunky, even after… Read more

  • E33: Memories Bring Diamonds And Rust

    The familiar doesn’t always mean favorable. So very tried of outdated standards…. Expedition 33 (E33) continues to deliver in most ways fathomable, not fixing what isn’t broken about the old school way of doing things, yet mediating some of the less favorable elements that haunted turn based RPGs of old. These kinds of moments always… Read more

  • A Saintly Yesteryear Ordains The Nostalgic New Guard

    One must find effective ways to mitigate stress in these trying yuletide times, in whatever form that takes. Violence is never the answer…until it is. After what started out as a more somber reflection on the introductory moments to Expedition 33 (E33), I then surprised myself with budding thoughts of a bizarrely warm nature, in… Read more

  • A Fantasy Reborn…Finally

    Even if one finds this time of year cringey, it’s still important to share in the holiday spirit of what matters most. Maladaptive coping mechanisms and trauma induced humor, for example Having finally launched myself into Expedition 33 (E33), after ruminating on when the time was right to commence such an endeavor, I figured ending… Read more

  • A Paradoxical Immortalization Of An Ideological Faux Pas

    The greatest value one can harvest from the garden of history, is the fruitful lessons that come to bear when given a second glance. Though we are often haunted by the mistakes of our shared history by those who refuse educational standard There is something to be said of the worth of adversity, and the… Read more

  • Which Video Games Make The Cut To Be On Your Mount Rushmore Of Gaming?

    Time and tide wait for no man. Even the rare individuals who have mastered “time management”, as it were… My years as a freelance writer have taken me through many years of bizarre madness, and it’s quite an odd pretense to look back and consider everything behind me at this point. One of the demented… Read more

  • Speedrunning Nostalgia: Silent Hill 4 Zigged When Resident Evil 4 Zagged

    It almost seems redundant to be excited for October and Halloween to arrive in bringing the seasonal scaries with them, considering how positively horrifying the everyday happens to be as of late. R.I.P anxiety sufferers Yesterday’s post was an attempt at being more reminiscent about a subject that I’m similar parts excited to discuss as… Read more

  • Chicken Nugget Gaming

    Sometimes, the truth hurts. This is a great time to remind people that pain is technically helpful, as it is an important signifier that something hurts for a reason, or else there in fact, would not be any indication of pain to deal with Reading this article about Silent Hill: f conjures up so many… Read more

  • Words of Wisdom: Sharing in “The Lack”

    Sometimes, it can feel like we are losing control of our own mind, or similarly, that some terrifyingly vital part of reality that makes it all work is just…missing. Not seen here: a terrifyingly vital part of reality missing: I.E. safety Which is why today’s words of wisdom are Sharing in “The Lack”, which is… Read more

  • Writing About Writing About Video Games (feat. Postmodernism)

    Sometimes, success can not only be a confusing moment, but a messy one. Just ask the man who invented the reverse bear trap for a good example of what I mean Depending on my mood when I sit down and write, the fingers start frantically tapping, and the words just seemingly fly onto the screen.… Read more

  • Video Game Philosophy: Nostalgia Is A Mad Beast

    Memory can be a cruel mistress, leading us to believe we had something so beautiful, only to stare blankly into the cold face of reality upon a wayward return with the hopeful zest everything would be as we left it, and we are both amazingly correct and terrifyingly wrong at the same time. Not all… Read more