The New Olio

In a Relationship

In real life, relationships are complex. In fact, human interaction of any sort is just about the most elaborate intermingling of social, psychological, and physical frameworks you’ll ever see. This is why successful movies, books, and television shows all focus on character growth and personal relationships; people love to see the intricacies at work. However, these relationships can be molded, contorted into being what we want and, more often, what we don’t want. Through textual mediums such as instant messenger or e-mail, the lack of vocal inflection requires you to…read more

Apr.09

Friendship, Fear, and the Great Unknown

Posted by Tim in Video Games, Writing

I could hear the hollow bellow from above. Even over the unrelenting, roaring wind, I could hear it. I could see the white-hot gaze just ahead. Even through the snowy, sideways haze, I could see it. Against it all, I prayed I was safe. I prayed we were safe. “Oh god oh god,” I heard myself mutter over and over again, waiting for the terror to pass, huddled in the shadows of this rocky remnant. I turned to my companion. But he was gone. Tracks laid were he once stood….read more

Going Backwards: Looking at Uncharted 3

Posted by Tim in Video Games, Writing

You wake up on a train. You notice it’s not moving but neither are you. A wave of pain hits you as you try to stand. Looking down, you see blood. A lot of blood. Your blood. You can see outside the broken window and see that it is snowing, but something is wrong. You start to come out of your daze and sort out what you’re seeing, but suddenly, a crate and then a barrel come flying by your head toward the back of the train. As they burst…read more

Nov.23

QuakeCon Dishonored Demo

Posted by Tim in Video Games

If you aren’t familiar with Dishonored, that’s all right because I wasn’t either. All I knew heading into my QuakeCon demo was that it was a first-person shooter from Arkane Studios and there may or may not be rats. While both of those things are true, there is a whole lot more to Dishonored that just Schrödinger critters. Indeed, Dishonored is a game that takes place in the first-person perspective, but it is less of a shooter and more of a mixed action stealth game. You play as a “supernatural…read more

Aug.10

QuakeCon RAGE Demo

Posted by Tim in Video Games

Judging by everyone I talked to at QuakeCon, I was not alone in almost wholeheartedly writing off id Software‘s upcoming post-apocalyptic first-person shooter Rage. Also judging by everyone I talked to at QuakeCon, I am now not alone in feeling like a damn fool for having done so. Rage is very much an id game when you look at it in the grand scheme of things. It’s certainly hard to quantify why I say that (though it’s also a sentiment John Carmack shared in his keynote this year), but you…read more

Aug.09