Gamers with Glasses

Also, we're trying out the inclusion of a brief response from the piece's editor at the end; this time around, that's @aguaspoints.bsky.social: "Though Battle Suit Aces is a card game per say, it is really a novel approach at cards as pieces/characters that has a long and storied history in games."

Battle Suit Aces Dares You to Love in Frenzied Times — Gamers with Glasses Loving another human when so much can, and will, go wrong is terrifying. Why give yourself another thing for the world to take? In this review, Wallace Truesdale describes how Battle Suit Aces may h...

What was the last game you played that made you say, "I love this crew"? For @exalclaw.bsky.social, that game is Battle Suit Aces by @team.trinketstudios.com, showcasing "a future where people can love without being driven by fear of the known and unknown."
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/batt...

Next Fest: From Hell to the Megastructure — Gamers with Glasses Next Fest correspondent Sophie Atkinson returns with a cornucopia of demos and recommendations, including a deck-building roguelike with the flavor of Vampire Survivors that’s set in the world of Da...

To all who've been wondering what demos to try: we've got you covered. Next Fest correspondent @skycherry.bsky.social returns with four handpicked recommendations, featuring @astralshiftpro.com, @regularstudio.bsky.social, RageForDragons, and Crimson Dusk.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/gwg-recommen...

Wearing Authority in Hitman — Gamers with Glasses The Hitman series famously has its protagonist change outfits in order to gain access to new areas and finish the mission - but what does this tell us about sociology, psychology, and the power of c...

@mayorhere.bsky.social asks: are the Hitman games really about stealth, or are they more about the social cues that we use to make decisions about authority and compliance?
"Nobody questioned why I was there. The uniform answered that question for them."
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/hit...

(This state of affairs, we regretfully report, is because of Day Jobs. If that's not a Halloween story, I don't know what is.)

Also, you know that old tradition, the Twelve Days of Halloween? Aw man, you forgot this year? Well don't worry, GwG has you covered, because after that one we've still got at least one more article from the series that we started for Halloween.

"That’s not SpongeBob. It’s a Mimikyu. It’s an uncanny husk that has been merely been swathed in the drapery of Bikini Bottom, an object that is all aesthetics and no soul...I recognize that mashups can be meaningful, but I also insist that they are not meaningful inherently."

Everything Is Mimikyu in the AI Slop Era — Gamers with Glasses When “What if this guy was standing next to this other guy” is raised as an intrinsically meaningful question, we get Sora 2. Like Mimikyu’s sorry attempt at disguise, we’ve entered a time in which IP...

Why is SpongeBob in Sonic Racing? What is Spider-Man doing in MtG? What's the deal with Fortnite's Santa Dogg? As @corndruid.bsky.social describes, it all goes back to Mimikyu. Read on to see how IP mashups and the MCU paved the road to the slop factory.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/eve...

Kirby is the Nightmare in Dreamland — Gamers with Glasses For decades, Nintendo has tried to pass horrors beyond human comprehension as adorable cuties. Kirby may be cute while sleeping, but awake, he’s an irrepressible killer who wields the instruments of t...

This Halloween, we invite you to remember the horror that is...Kirby:
"Kirby is a shapeshifter, fueled by the essence of the living beings that he consumes...He shows up, he consumes all, and he leaves, with a trail of corpses in his wake."
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/kir...

Will you believe us if we tell you that this story goes, "Shadow the Hedgehog and a game critic walk into a [coffee] bar," and it isn't a joke? We are speaking 100% literally here. Also, it's a Starbucks story for Halloween with 0 mentions of pumpkin spice.

In a Costume I am Cooler than You! — Gamers with Glasses Luis Aguasvivas falls into Sonic X Shadow Generations, or maybe it’s Shadow that has come through to our reality. What’s Shadow doing in a Starbucks? Will Luis ever manage to actually play a game on h...

"With Mickey Mouse gloves Shadow grabs the steaming drink from the tall frappe and sugary syrup stained counter: 'Thank you again. I know that I am the best – THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM! Glad you see it too.'"
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/son...

Very cool to see @srtrzinski.bsky.social and @aguaspoints.bsky.social's costume pieces featured this week. We assure @quips.bsky.social that yes, the costume party is ongoing!

In a Costume I am Cooler than You! — Gamers with Glasses Luis Aguasvivas falls into Sonic X Shadow Generations, or maybe it’s Shadow that has come through to our reality. What’s Shadow doing in a Starbucks? Will Luis ever manage to actually play a game on h...

For @gamerswithglasses.bsky.social, I wrote about an antihero & Sonic series🦔.

"Ludic experiences... before & after play might be where the true beauty of gaming resides... Games live more potently in the before and after. Few digital games are better case studies of this than the Sonic series."

Costume party! "Leave your body and soul at the door"

Kirby is the Nightmare in Dreamland — Gamers with Glasses For decades, Nintendo has tried to pass horrors beyond human comprehension as adorable cuties. Kirby may be cute while sleeping, but awake, he’s an irrepressible killer who wields the instruments of t...

I think that @srtrzinski.bsky.social is going to be okay, as long as Kirby doesn't come barreling through the door.

In a Costume I am Cooler than You! — Gamers with Glasses Luis Aguasvivas falls into Sonic X Shadow Generations, or maybe it’s Shadow that has come through to our reality. What’s Shadow doing in a Starbucks? Will Luis ever manage to actually play a game on h...

Someone has to get on the floor first, and that person is @aguaspoints.bsky.social. He's dancing with Shadow.

Presenting: Costume Party — Gamers with Glasses Welcome to the GwG Costume Party! We’ve got custom skins, bleeding over from game worlds and real worlds. We’ve got dressing up for laughs and we have blank faces that can become anyone or anything. H...

We are throwing a party and you are invited.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/hal...

"It might sound strange to compare an indie prison game to classic works like Animal Farm or Maus, but Back to the Dawn taps into the same principle these stories use—sometimes seeing humanity through non-human faces helps us recognize uncomfortable truths more clearly."

Back to the Dawn Review: Anthropomorphism as Social Commentary — Gamers with Glasses Back to the Dawn  by Metal Head Games succeeds because it understands something that effective anthropomorphic storytelling has always known: non-human characters don't make serious themes less s...

We're at it again! @mayorhere.bsky.social reviews Back to the Dawn by Metal Head Games, a game that uses anthropomorphism as a powerful estrangement tool through which to explore institutional power dynamics.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/back...

They say the NES is 40 today. Read what that means for the man.

Come for the great stuff in the roundup, stay for that critical chaser (feat. @corndruid.bsky.social, @srtrzinski.bsky.social, @aguaspoints.bsky.social, and @aetataureate.bsky.social)!

Other topics include parenting as gamers, archiving live service games, and fixing the Nintendo Wii with the power of flame. Join us on a journey through a century of Fortnite Studies as we dig into the Let’s Play edition of Leaves of Grass and wander this grainy JPEG with the Ohio State Minotaur.

The Gamers with Glasses Show, Episode 35: Who Is the Donkey Kong? — Gamers with Glasses In this episode, Nate and Samantha set out to recap and wrap up our summer series on games, childhood, and nostalgia, and end up…somewhere else. We cover all the deep questions, like, “Does nostalgia ...

Nate and Samantha set out to recap and wrap up our summer series on games, childhood, and nostalgia, and end up…somewhere else. We cover all the deep questions, like, “Do any of us leave childhood unscathed?”; and, “Isn’t Assassin’s Creed just Sly Cooper?”
www.gamerswithglasses.com/gwgpodcast/t...

and @corndruid.bsky.social: "... the plumber stomps the winged turtle and feasts upon the stars."

@aguaspoints.bsky.social: "Every time I think about you hopping across the Mushroom Kingdom, I think about getting to ride a Yoshi. This is not fair. Why are there no Yoshis in the real world?"

Also featuring @srtrzinski.bsky.social: "I immediately envisioned a future world where people took an 'Introduction to Mario' course and examined his characterization, the plots of his games, and his evolution over time."

Super Midlife Brothers: Thoughts on Mario at Forty — Gamers with Glasses It’s-a Mario’s birthday! Sort of. So here’s a Mario bonanza from your friends at Gamers with Glasses, which in typical fashion includes a scientific* study on Mario and the zodiac, elegiac expressions...

Featuring @aetataureate.bsky.social: "In a volunteer survey, we found almost no significant correlation between the zodiac sign and the favorite Mario items of respondents."
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/sup...

Super Midlife Brothers: Thoughts on Mario at Forty — Gamers with Glasses It’s-a Mario’s birthday! Sort of. So here’s a Mario bonanza from your friends at Gamers with Glasses, which in typical fashion includes a scientific* study on Mario and the zodiac, elegiac expressions...

Mario fought his way to forty, so we fixed a fancy fête. Enjoy the Super Mario Zodiac, new directions in Mario Studies, crying over fake Yoshi, and, of course, André Breton.
www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/sup...

My Defunded Friendly Neighborhood — Gamers with Glasses In the horror game My Friendly Neighborhood , the puppets from a children’s show become monsters after a long period of neglect. Samantha Trzinski explores what we stand to lose, as parents, children...

Hey there new folks! We had some good stuff in September (like www.gamerswithglasses.com/features/my-..., www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/vile..., and www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/blip...). We've got plenty cooked up for October, too.

Check out this week's edition for a GwG triple play, feat. @srtrzinski.bsky.social, @mayorhere.bsky.social, and @patfio.bsky.social!