This is the end...

This is the end, my only friend, the end... The Three-Headed Monkey closes; its 60 posts will remain on the Internet until the end of times (or until blogger decides to pull the switch). I will keep writing about video games, the current research project, and whatever is coming after that, but not here. So, it's not really an end, it's more like a change of venue. I'll invite all of you, people of the Internet, to my new home: danielmuriel.com....

Video games and guilty pleasures: suffering desires

Today I am going to embed the video of my participation at the IV Conference on Sociology of the Ordinary (website in Spanish), which was held in Madrid on 4-5 May 2016. My talk was on how video games are able to articulate desires in more complex ways, given their biotechnological and prosthetic nature; I focused specifically on what I call suffering desires, that is, our attraction to activities that potentially make us suffer....

Some thoughts on... Life is Strange

Today, some thoughts on Life is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment, 2015). Chronicle of an announced disaster Life is Strange tells us a tale of an announced disaster. It is to a great extent a tragedy, and like in every tragedy the hiatus is the most important part, that is, what happens in the narrative journey that leads us to the inevitable ending. In that journey the game deals with ordinary, yet thorny, issues such as the transition...

Some thoughts on... The Park

Today, some thoughts on The Park (Funcom, 2015). The anguish of the parent If we decided to create a list with what we consider our universal fears - those fears we can claim almost without a doubt that everybody experiences regardless of their cultural and historical contexts, I am certain that the fear of losing our children would be among them. Not only am I alluding to the terrible experience - always traumatic - of their passing, but...

Interviews - Pawel Miechowski on This War of Mine

Today, the exceptional Pawel Miechowski - Senior Writer at 11 Bit Studios - on This War of Mine. Daniel Muriel: Could you tell me something about yourself, about your academic and professional background? And why did you end up working in the videogame industry? Pawel: Because my older brother does so [Laughter]. We’ve been working on games since ages together. I’m doing it since high school. Pretty much...

Some thoughts on... Papers, Please

Today, some thoughts on Papers, Please (Lucas Pope, 2013). The frontier as the limit of the human condition In recent weeks, we have sadly witnessed an endless amount of news, images and discourses on the Syrian refugee crisis. In fact, we all know it is not a new phenomenon. It is the new version of a story told for the thousandth time, which narrates the tale of those human beings who seek something very simple but,...

Some thoughts on... Among the Sleep

Today, some thoughts on Among the Sleep (Krillbite Studio, 2014). The horrors of the quotidian Among the Sleep (Krillbite Studio, 2014) is based on an interesting premise: we play the role of a toddler, which essentially determines our skills and point of view in the game. Not only is it about a matter of perspective (looking the world from below) or abilities (as toddlers, we will face difficulties opening doors, reaching...

Interviews - Mark Foster on Titan Souls

That day was pouring down in Manchester. I was going to meet an indie developer at Takk, a café in the Northern Quarter, the Mancunian version of hipster-land. I entered the café, which was reasonably busy. The number of Macs per square metre was high as expected. I ordered an Earl Grey tea, as any British gentleman would have done. A nice conversation with a nice lad in a nice environment was about to happen. Today, the great Mark Foster...