Articles by Anthony John Agnello | | The A.V. Club

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The Gameological Society The Dungeons & Dragons arcade games betray their namesake, and that’s okay

A lousy D&D adaptation can still be a great game.

May 13, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society What might have been: 9 games that were dramatically revamped in development

Making games is a messy business, but the mess can be fascinating.

April 17, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society How a strange Japanese robot-war dating game gets Harlem mostly wrong but kind of right

Sometimes even the weirdest cocktail brings out the essence of its ingredients.

March 31, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The homey Lego City Undercover avoids the sprawl of Grand Theft Auto

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

March 18, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The co-creator of Dyad tells us why Super Mario Bros. is the only good game story ever

“The realism of image and sound is not valuable.”

March 12, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society Kenji Eno, surrealist game designer, 1970-2013

Dead at 42, the cult icon leaves behind a legacy of humor and compassion.

March 3, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society Why more games should shut up already

Yes, Mario, we know. It's a-you.

February 11, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The Devil May Cry reboot is a game of adolescence writ large

It's your teenage years all over again. Except this time you're a demon hunter. And hot.

January 22, 2013 | 11:59am -
The Gameological Society Designer Charles Amis says games have entered the Uncanny Valley Of Choice

The designer of Artizens takes us on a tour.

January 14, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society R.I.P. PlayStation 2: 2000-2012

A eulogy for the PlayStation 2, the last of the single-purpose gizmos.

January 9, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The first level of Ninja Gaiden resolves to swear off excess—but resolutions are hard to keep

In the 2004 reboot of its flagship series, Team Ninja created tension by shedding its boobs-and-blood excess—briefly.

January 1, 2013 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The end of a classic Ridge Racer game evokes the art of drawing a perfect circle

If it's good enough for the Pope, it's good enough for R4: Ridge Racer Type 4.

December 9, 2012 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society Invader Zim creator Jhonen Vasquez on the PlayStation Vita and gaming snobbery

The cartoonist talks about the difficulty of making moments matter in games and how to make a cartoon and love it.

December 6, 2012 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society The developers of Demon’s Souls and Gears Of War talk about the art of control

Examining the still-elusive process of translating player intent to in-game action.

September 25, 2012 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society Bionic Commando and Umihara Kawase Shun grapple for the sky

Reality ruins few fantasies quite like it ruins the grappling hook. It’s all so clear in your head: You toss this enormous metal spike up a building, then can climb the rope, free of elevator and stair tyranny.

September 24, 2012 | 11:59pm -
The Gameological Society How a Bionic Commando tower stage exemplified Capcom’s early aspirations

A fledgling game studio learns to send a more sophisticated message than “CONGRATULATION YOUR EVERY DUTY FINISHED.”

August 21, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Tell us what you’re playing this weekend—indie rocker Rob Crow did

Thanks to the existence of internet comments, now you can, too!

August 3, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Allo Darlin’ lead singer Elizabeth Morris tells us what she’s playing this weekend

Share your weekend gaming plans in the comments.

July 27, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society The ending of Enslaved: Odyssey To The West sells a blissful version of slavery

Anthony John Agnello looks at the strange, dissonant ending to a 2010 adaptation of Journey To The West

July 24, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Maniac Mansion creator Ron Gilbert on the uncertain timing of comedy in games

A series of interviews with gaming comedy icons concludes with Ron Gilbert, creator of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island.

July 17, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Is this thing on?: 13 games with tin-eared voice recognition

The games in this Inventory can hear you; they're just not listening.

July 12, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Portal 2 head writer Erik Wolpaw on last-minute rewrites and creating surprise in a sequel

The Valve veteran and former game critic talks about stepping away from the cake and last-minute rewrites to the ending of Portal 2.

July 10, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society This month’s Best Of Sawbuck Gamer has 12 free or cheap games you can play right now

Kill untold hours of time with this month's selections from our daily Sawbuck Gamer reviews.

July 3, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society You Don’t Know Jack’s head writer on mixing trivia with satire and the story behind that ill-fated TV version

Our series of interviews with icons of video game comedy continues with Steve Heinrich, who has overseen the writing of You Don't Know Jack since its original heyday in the 1990s.

July 2, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society The creator of Leisure Suit Larry says a hero can never be as funny as a schlub

In a new interview miniseries featuring icons of gaming comedy, the wit behind a classic lounge-lizard satire series talks about the puzzle-oriented audiences of the '80s and his joke-writing method (or lack thereof).

June 26, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society Videogame writer Rhianna Pratchett on why so many videogame stories are awful

The former game critic and <i>Overlord</i> writer talks about transitioning to the other side of the fence, the evolving process of game stories, and her dreams of becoming a mermaid.

June 21, 2012 | 12:00am -
The Gameological Society You know I’m gonna be like you, Dad: 18 delinquent fathers in videogames

On the eve of Father's Day, we pay tribute to gaming's daddy issues.

June 14, 2012 | 9:30am -
The Gameological Society Mario goes to the Kremlin: 14 games that stoke Cold War fears

In Soviet Russia, game reinforces binary geopolitical worldview of you.

May 15, 2012 | 9:30am -
The Gameological Society Moms play games, too—most of them do, anyway

The Gameological moms tell us what they’ve been playing.

May 11, 2012 | 9:30am -

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