Writing

Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer, Austin.com. Jack tries to turn a folktale into an epic, but the results are inconsistent.
Growing Pains for Greek Cuisine at Santorini Cafe, Austin.com. The recently opened Santorini Cafe isn’t ready for prime time.
Borderlands 2: A Tiny Bit Racist?, GamerSushi. Over the weekend, an argument/discussion broke out on Twitter between Anthony Burch, lead writer for Borderlands 2, and Mike Sacco, a (now former) game designer at Cryptozoic, about Borderlands 2′s Tiny Tina, a character that Sacco felt was “problematic”.
Achievements: Unlocking Negative Gameplay?, GamerSushi. Achievements have definitely had a huge impact on the way I play games. A few years ago I played Oblivion well past the point of enjoyment because I knew for a fact that if I just played long enough I could get all the achievements.
DmC, Dye Jobs and Death Threats, GamerSushi. Issues of entitlement are common throughout the internet in situations where fans and/or consumers have a direct line to content creators but misunderstand the level of control granted in that relationship.

Burning Love, Kazka Press, October 2012. When Nate came back as a toaster, panic was his first response.
The Blue Door I need you to go downtown, to that little restaurant we used to go to. The Italian one, the one your mother liked so much. I almost proposed to you there, did you know that?
The Day Riots When I stumble out the door of my apartment into the mid-day glare, the sun feels closer than it has ever been, and I imagine it burning off the sea in great clouds of steam.
Eggs This time it was a puzzle piece. I watched, fascinated, as its edges began to curl in the crackling oil. I saw, perhaps, the leg of a small dog.
A Following At first, she only existed in the corner of my eye, in that part where nothing is quite real.
A Sister I had a sister once. Three years younger than me, with long, skinny arms and legs, and eyes greener than pine needles. I never liked her very much, except when she was quiet, which was hardly ever.

Tomb Raider, GamerSushi. Gritty reboots are fashionable these days, but does that mean you should give Tomb Raider the time of day?
Hotline Miami, GamerSushi. It’s 1989 in Miami and you are a mask-wearing hired killer in this trippy, addictive game.
Mind MGMT, Volume 1: The Manager by Matt Kindt, Full of Words. I like that Kindt did something original with his style, but I had a hard time accepting the art as a stylistic choice instead of something that just felt a bit amateurish.
FEZ by Polytron Corporation, GamerSushi. FEZ takes the basic building blocks of the side-scrolling platformer and subtly builds on them in new and interesting ways.
Wild Thing by Josh Bazell, Full of Words. Everything I liked about Wild Thing tells me that Bazell is a great author to watch. The problems I had may just be the symptoms of the dreaded sophomore slump that seems to affect so many great artists.
The Postmortal by Drew Magary, Full of Words. If you happen to smile while reading The Postmortal, I imagine it will be a mirthless rictus intermingled with horror rather than anything signifying amusement.

Knifepoint KAREN: Yeah. The whole thing is… (Pause.) It all feels so unreal to me. I mean, I remembered being kidnapped, but it’s blurry, and there are chunks of time right before and after that I just don’t… have anymore.
Living in Concussion DAVIS: I had another attack today. The attack was either longer in duration or more intense… I can’t tell which. Estimated time was anywhere from five seconds in length to fifteen minutes. Time seems to stretch and bend depending on where I stand in the room.
Sweeten the Punch FATHER: We need a change. (Pause) We’ve gotten too used to the same-old, same-old, the daily grind, whatever you want to call it. Tonight is meat-loaf night, because every Thursday night is meatloaf night. But I don’t want meat-loaf anymore.

Jeff James