I recently learned that March 2023 is the twentieth anniversary of Freelancer. Developed by Digital Anvil and published by Microsoft Game Studios, Freelancer never seemed to be as popular as I feel it deserves. I loved it back in college during the mid-2000s and still consider it one of my favorite games. In honor ofContinue reading “Freelancer at 20”
Tag Archives: sci-fi
A 2D Deus Ex – Dex
I found Dex years ago on a Steam Sale and played through it over a weekend. Cyberpunk as a genre is my jam. Dex looked right up my alley with good-looking 2D sprites and gameplay that promised to be a stripped-down riff on Deus Ex, possibly my favorite game of all time. I was happyContinue reading “A 2D Deus Ex – Dex”
A Very Belter Christmas – The Expanse/Christmas Mashup You didn’t Know You Wanted
In December 2021, Jim Jones and A. Ron Hubbard wrote and commissioned their own very own fanfic audio-drama, A Very Belter Christmas. Set in The Expanse universe, it is a professional production with talented voice actors and is a must-listen for all fans of The Expanse. Very little knowledge about the books or show isContinue reading “A Very Belter Christmas – The Expanse/Christmas Mashup You didn’t Know You Wanted”
An Unearned Heel-Turn? Loki S01E04
An adventure needs conflict and conflict often means bad guys. Over the past few episodes Loki set up the Time Variance Authority as a potentially evil organization and then came out swinging in episode four. Good bureaucracies don’t kidnap young girls and drag them in front of a judge to be deleted from the timeline.Continue reading “An Unearned Heel-Turn? Loki S01E04”
So Hitler was right? – Loki S01E01
Isn’t that the idea posited by the Time Variance Authority in the first episode of Loki? The timeline has happened because it is the timeline that is supposed to happen and if things go off the timeline the TVA travels back in time to get things back on track. Hitler was they first thing IContinue reading “So Hitler was right? – Loki S01E01”
What makes a good name drop? – Batman Beyond S02E23
Fair warning, Season 2, Episode 23 of Batman Beyond, Sentries of the Last Cosmos is not a great episode. The plot is pretty dumb, the set-pieces uninspired, and the animation weak. But it has one thing going for it; two name drops. There is a reference to Jar-Jar Binks and another to Philip K. Dick.Continue reading “What makes a good name drop? – Batman Beyond S02E23”
Fatherhood in Context – Batman Beyond S02E19
At the risk of sounding like a crazy men’s rights advocate, I think media has a responsibility to normalize positive fatherhood on screen. The media we consume shapes us in innumerable ways and the low bar set by on-screen fathers in the 80s and 90s is happily going the way of the dodo. Even so,Continue reading “Fatherhood in Context – Batman Beyond S02E19”
Alternative Fighting Forces – Freelancer
Video game writing is not great literature. No matter how deep is the lore or how many codex entries can be found, a good book will always be a better read than a good game. That is not to say game writing is drek, The Elder Scrolls franchise is full of pretty good short stories.Continue reading “Alternative Fighting Forces – Freelancer”
Not Enough of a Good Thing – Way Station
Too often I’ll finish a novel and think, “I wish that was just a little shorter. If the editor could have excised twenty or so pages I feel it would be a tighter story.” Very rarely do I feel a book would be improved by more. Way Station by Clifford D. Simak is one ofContinue reading “Not Enough of a Good Thing – Way Station”
He should have put a Ringworld on it
As part of my goal to read all the Hugo Award winning novels, two nights ago I finished reading Ringworld by Larry Niven. It also won the Locus and Nebula Awards so if I ever go down those rabbit holes I already have one in the bank. Like most of these award-winning SF novels fromContinue reading “He should have put a Ringworld on it”
The Keasy Depot 