This is the personal blog of Chris Bowring. He started it as a semi-professional, video game enthusiast, content creator / university student. He went through a few awkward years where he interviewed game developers on podcasts, wrote political commentaries and championed the need for mental health awareness. Now he's teamed up with some other guys, started this company, and talks in the third person. To find out what narrative driven games Chris and Quiet Stories are developing, follow this blog or check out Quiet Stories on Twitter (@OurQuietStories), Instagram (@quiet_games_mag) or Facebook (Quiet Stories).
These white walls hold me captive. I thought as long as I was incarcerated the darkness would not be able to penetrate the white walls. But it seeps through. Like a disease it constantly spreads. Looking to infect everyone and everything. Not even the white walls can hold back the darkness. Eventually it will consume me.
I’m scared. My words are being forgotten, my patience is utterly exhausted, my will is being disregarded and my pain and I are betrothed to one another.
Pandora – 1817
Dark clouds circled the sky above the small village. The clouds swallowed up all light and soon the entire village was either standing in the grey cobblestone streets and dirty alleys or poking their heads out windows and doorways looking up in curiosity and awe.
Although I am not Maori myself, it is a big part of my home countries culture, and so I wanted to dissect it’s place in the world of video games. Both historically and in the future.
Hello Neighbor is not my kind of game. Every gamer has their personal preferences, whether it be platform, genre or franchise related. I personally don’t enjoy puzzle games. Light puzzle elements are ok, but a game that at every step of the way challenges your reasoning and problem solving skills is not enjoyable. There isn’t a big enough payoff, at least in my opinion. I also for the most part don’t play survival horror games. As I’ve grown older I’ve delved a little deeper into spookier titles. Outlast was good and I thoroughly enjoyed Resident Evil 7, but I wouldn’t exactly call myself a glutton for the genre.
If the only thing you love more than video games is cars, then this article is not for you. There are plenty of fantastic racing games for those who enjoy the genre. From the Forza Motorsport series, to the Horizon series, to the Gran Turismo series. Each of these franchises produce games that have a keen attention for detail, recreating the tiniest nuances of the drivable vehicles, with customization options galore.
But what if you don’t like cars? What if driving is just a way to get from point A to point B? You don’t know your exhaust pipe from your brake pads, or what the difference is between a V6 and a V8. If so you’re in good company. I’ve compiled a list of 5 great modern racing games, for people who don’t like racing games.
Continue reading “5 Racing Games for People who Don’t Give a F**K About Racing”
We often don’t reflect on our personal culture in a thoughtful and questioning way. Yet our culture defines nearly all aspects of our lives. Culture, “ranks what is important, furnishes attitudes about what things are appropriate, and dictates behavior,” (Varner & Beamer, 2011, p. 10). There are so many things that can be attributed to and relevant to what we perceive our culture to be. I was born in New Zealand, have lived in New Zealand my whole life, yet my parents are British immigrants. I’m a white male, I’m not religious and I personify many of the traditional Kiwi male stereotypes. When I think of my ethnic culture, I refer to myself as a New Zealander.
Whether you’re grinding in an RPG or playing round after round of a multiplayer time killer, we can all think of a few games that suck up hours of our day. But what if you don’t have such a lengthy period of free time. Maybe you’ve got half an hour before you have to go to class, or only 15 minutes for lunch, or perhaps you get 20 minutes in before bed.
Continue reading “3 Games that are Great in 15 minute Chunks”
I wouldn’t be a gamer if I had grown up before the 2000’s.
I could start this piece off in a variety of ways. Why are arcade games dying? Why is the Souls series so successful? Why are gamers and games themselves fundamentally different now, compared to how they once were?
But instead I will start off with a personal example. I was born in 1996. So by the time I understood what video games were and finally convinced Santa (my parents) to get me a gaming console for Christmas, we were already a few years into the PS2’s life cycle…
Continue reading “I Wouldn’t be a Gamer if I Grew up in the 90’s”
With the launch of Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds we have seen numerous games try and jump on the battle royal style band wagon. Fortnite was the first of the PUBG clones, and with the meteoric success they have found, they certainly weren’t the last. However following trends or trying to mimic popular games doesn’t always end in success. So let’s take a look at 5 games that tried to copy great games, but ended up disappointing.
Quiet Stories 