Author: Daniel Weissenberger

The Simpsons: Hit & Run – Review

Can one game plagiarize another? How similar can one game be to another before that similarity becomes a legal matter? It's a sticky issue, since plagiarism is a literary term, and video games tend to be very short on obviously protectable material such as character, plot, and dialogue. So just how much of a video game's content is intellectual property?

Starsky & Hutch – Review

What exactly is a "concept game?" A concept game is one that, rather than simply being a game that requires players to learn how to operate controls so that they can complete objectives and eventually reach the 'ending', tries to create an overall game "experience," where every element works together to further the illusion. Some games that fall into this genre are the recent Rez, with its bizarre world where light and sound become one, or The Getaway, in which the developers attempted to remove everything characteristic of videogames in order to create the first fully playable movie.

Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights – Review

Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. It has the power to cripple the critical mind, bathing it in the rainbow-colored reminiscences of a bygone era. Who hasn't remembered a certain movie from their childhood with a fondness that far outweighs the film's actual merit? For me, that movie was Krull, the tale of a brave fantasy warrior battling laser-shooting cyborg slugmen with a giant throwing star called "The Glaive." It's not a very good movie. It's taken me years of introspection and therapy, though, to even be able to admit that.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds – Review

In the summer of 2003, gamers bore witness to a spectacular step backwards for the mainstream acceptance of video games. The one-two punch of the unfinished videogame Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness and the unwatchable movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The awful Angel Of Darkness is a perfect example of a game rushed to release. After three years without a new title, the most visible franchise in gaming was in danger of being forgotten.