RE// Bioshock Infinite

Review Score //  ★★★★★

By // Olivia

System // 2013 PC/Steam (also available on: Mac, Xbox 360, PS3)

A Game By // Irrational Games

PROLOGUE

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Although Bioshock Infinite's launch night ended plausibly for me with Steam's servers being unable to handle the weight of what is colloquially referred to as 'a shit-load' of rabid pc-believers hoping to play as well, I only wanted to see it more. I had Infinite in media black-out, I knew I was going to play it, so I had only consumed little bits & pieces of released information during its marketing process, usually by accident. I'd been present for both of the previous Bioshock games in the series (BS2 not completed), so I had high hopes for Irrational's next foray into the crazy reality inside Ken Levine's head. Mr. Levine is the creative director & co-founder of Irrational Games, & one of my major inspirations as a writer. He has been called "Storyteller of the Decade" which I'm not sure I agree with since I haven't thought about it for like a week yet, but he's definitely a contender. (Game Informer Staff, "Best Storytellers of the Decade." Game Informer, #212, December 2010)

RE// The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf

Review Score// 4★
By// Nicole
System// Mac/Steam
Game by// 

So The Witcher isn't a new game by any means—the game was release in 2007 and the Enhanced Edition was released in 2008—but it was definitely new to me when I purchased it on Steam as part of their Winter Sale. It was bundled with Witcher 2 for $9.98—A STEAL. Fast-forward a few months and I wouldn't actually be able to play the Witcher 2 on my Mac, but that's a story for another article. What I can say is that the enjoyment I got out playing The Witcher on it's own was worth way more than $9.98 so it was still an amazing deal.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Mary

MARY

Occupation// Modern Muse at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// UNKNOWN

Specialization// PS3 games, shooters, story, specs/mods/stats, music composition, weapons

System Alignment// PS3

Favorite Genres// FPS, action/adventure, fighting

Top 3 Favorite Games// COD, Soul Calibur, Borderlands 2

Heroes// Harry Gregson-Williams, Handsome Jack

Highest Stats// INT, DEX, PER

Highest Skills// Run (with a knife... everyone knows you run faster with a knife), ADS, BOOM! headshot

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A perpetual student: that pretty much sums up my life. With a Criminal Justice degree and a Psychology degree almost under my belt, it's hard to find time to do much else. When I'm not at school I'm either at work or playing video games. While I may not plan to have a future in the gaming world, I am still an avid gamer with an opinion to share.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Lisa

LISA SEIKO

Occupation// Dandere Demon at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// UNKNOWN

Specialization// Survival Horror

System Alignment// Dreamcast, Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox 360

Favorite Genres// survival/horror, side-scroller, fighting, RPG

Top 3 Favorite Games// Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Heroes// Batman, Jill Valentine, Tingle, Suzumiya Haruhi, Carl Sagan

Highest Stats// WIS, INT, DEX

Highest Skills// Sniper, Barter, Sneak

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I'm an old-school gamer in favor of playing games multiple times. I love the survival horror genre (thanks, Konami), but I have been known to kick ass in fighting and RPG games. Comics and anime take up a big chunk of my life, but I'm willing to play and review games for the Glitchcraft team!

EDITOR CHARSHEET Nicole

NICOLE

Occupation// Dungeon Dilettante at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// missdilettante.tumblr
Specialization// Steam for Mac, RPGs
System Alignment// Mac/Steam, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, NES
Favorite Genre// RPG, new age survival horror
Top 3 Favorite Games// The Last Express, The Elder Scrolls, Legend of Zelda
Heroes// Jordan Mechner, Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins, Link, John Marston, Geralt of Rivia
Highest Stats// CHA, DEX, WIS
Highest Skills// Bluff, Stealth, Lockpicking

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I’ve been a gamer since my dad brought home our NES when I was a small child, and probably cut my teeth on some old Mac games even before that. My preference is for RPGs. I’m a sucker for any game with character customization, especially if I can be a female. If you’ll allow me to spend an hour on that shit, I will play your game. But if you’ve already got a great character with an amazing story, I love that too. Lately, I am also a sucker for these new psychological survival horror games like Amnesia. I want to be scared and I want my only option to be to run away and hide, because that’s what I’d do in real life.

INDIE RAVE// Bastion

Review Score // 5 ★
By // Jessica
System // PC (Steam)
A Game By // Supergiant Games

As a sucker for both post-apocalyptic settings and platform games in general, Bastion was quick to grab my attention. Like Polytron’s FEZ, I had to repress the urge run out and buy an Xbox just to experience playing this game (for fear of decimating my student budget for the next month). I not-so-patiently waited for the Steam release and picked up a copy via HumbleBundle. With my philanthropy out of the way, I cleared my schedule and settled in for an uninterrupted Bastion experience.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Emerie

EMERIE MARIE 

Occupation// Neptunian Princess at Glitchcraft; aspiring game writer
Digital Dungeons// Viva La Genesis -- personal blog
Specialization// female protagonists, story building, character development
System Alignment// XBox 360
Favorite Genre// RPG, action-adventure, fighting games
Top 3 Favorite Games// Tomb Raider franchise, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Dante's Inferno
Heroes// Lara Croft, Samus Aran
Highest Stats// CHR, INT, STR
Highest Skills// Perform, Sleight of Hand, Survival

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A writer, blogger, and actor from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Currently in the midst of planning a cross country move to California to pursue a career in screenwriting and game development.  Has a penchant for pink, glitter, pirates, and badass female protagonists.  Life goal is to become a real life Lara Croft.  But sparklier.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Jessica

JESSICA KATE 

Occupation// DOSferatu at Glitchcraft;
Digital Dungeons// noxxynerd.tumblr - school work and inspiration; noxxynerd/deviantart
Specialization// PC games, story/writing, concept art
System Alignment// PC/Steam, Xbox 360
Favorite Genre// RPG, adventure-platformer, puzzle-platformer, action-adventure
Top 3 Favorite Games// Final Fantasy 7, Metroid, Mass Effect
Heroes// Phil Fish, Remko Troost, Edmund McMillun, Dean Dodrill, Derek Yu, John Carmack, Jon Blow, Levi Hopkins, Matt Rhodes, Greg Kasavin, William Gibson
Highest Stats// CHA,WIS, DEX
Highest Skills// Diplomacy, Bluff, Perception

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Snarky introvert and game design student from Melbourne, Australia. I have a massive nerd-on for amazing RPGs and quirky indie games. Anything that can successfully combine epic storytelling, a decent challenge and interesting gameplay always gets the thumbs-up from me. I've got plans to jump into indie game development myself in the near future, pray the gaming gods bless me in my quest!

POSTMORTEM// PAX East 2013

By // Nicole

PAX East is a very magical event. I attended my first PAX last year in Boston. I remember being in awe of how easy it was to talk to everyone—how comfortable everybody seemed with just being themselves and engaging with others. Being someone who, as a rule, avoids human contact as much as possible, I amaze myself at PAX. This year I again found myself engaging people based on overheard conversations, feeling confident that no one at PAX would take offense at my eavesdropping habits. As well, people engaged us effortlessly in the same fashion. The thing about PAX is that everyone at PAX is your friend—unless they are line cutters: I fucking hate line cutters.

POSTMORTEM// PAX 2013

By // Olivia

I've actually lost track of how many times that I have attended the Penny Arcade Expo; approximately two in Seattle, & four in Boston. Although I loved PAX Prime, there's something inexplicable about the Boston expo that makes it my favorite of the two. I sojourn to PAX East yearly to learn from panels by industry professionals, meet game developers & network with people that have similar philosophies & goals as myself. Every year I always run out of business cards & bring home my holder filled with those of others. This isn't coverage of PAX East, per se - it's a very selective perspective of the event.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Olivia

OLIVIA MARIE
Est. 1985

Occupation// Secret Unicorn at Glitchcraft; Creative Director at Machine Dreams
Digital Dungeons// oliviamariehamilton.com - art portfolio; pixelSLAVE - game art blog; leviathen/deviantart
Specialization// PC games, UI, story/writing
System Alignment// PC/Steam, Gameboy
Favorite Genres// sidescroller, hacknslash/brawler, rpg, Metroidvania
Top 3 Favorite Games// Castlevania: SOTN, Final Fantasy Tactics, Pokemon
Heroes// Megaman, Strider Hiryu, Ryu Hayabusa, John Carmack, Cevat Yerli, Dean Dodrill, Jeff Gertsmann, Toru Nakayama, Team Meat, Phil Fish, Jon Blow, Hideo Kojima
Highest Stats// CHA, INT, DEX
Highest Skills// Run, Jump, Decapitate

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I'm a life-long gamer, wannabe-game-designer & shameless infoholic. I've never sold or traded any game/console I've ever owned. As a kid, I collected game magazines from Gamefan to PSM, & I always thought that I'd end up as an editor for one. I looked up to game journalists that I thought were honest & felt true to themselves, hoping I'd turn out that way myself someday. During high school, I got the idea to be a game designer instead. I gave it a shot academically, but I chose the wrong college & dropped out of their faulty program (AIT). Since then, I have been pursuing a career in UI design, & I am looking to get contract work for various art types, including ui/character/item design & concept art (contact me!).

I play a range of games for multiple systems (also MTG & tabletop), but my heart is definitely in indie retro-gaming. I game daily, or navigate for my video-game-slave boyfriend; I also have a habit of demanding my friends play for me. I can play games psychically! I watch anime, collect sparkly dice, Japanese art books & plastic figurines; my zen is arranging them obsessive-compulsively on a bookshelf amongst a massive disk library. I started this blog to give a voice to the new generation of awesome lady-gamers, while establishing some credibility in the game world. & so I can guiltlessly have as many game-centric pajama parties as I want & call them "research." Where's the margaritas?

Oh I also do all the graphics & coding for Glitchcraft, to name one of many sites. I'm the creator of  Machine Dreams & Black Sun Games. Machine Dreams devotedly combines visions of the past with glimpses into the future, to the singularity & back. Our games are both aspects of ourselves & reflections of the world around us. We are currently assembling a team for our first game (send resume).