To: Brian From: Stephen Re: What Is This, A Chain Gang? https://kotaku.com/what-is-this-a-chain-gang-5431068 Poor Luke, sweating through his attempts to act out a real life version of Harvest Moon (minus the dating…. there’s dating in Harvest Moon, right? Married Mr. Plunkett doesn’t need that). What’s the most video-game-like activity you’ve ever done? I think mine is riding a zipline in Belize on my honeymoon. You see, I’m defining “most video-game-like” as something that is uncommon in my day-to-day life but common in games. It’s a ratio thing. There isn’t much ziplining in my day-to-day activities, except when I need to get to the office printer quickly.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); We reviewed the Avatar movie this morning. Specifically, I reviewed it. Lots of good feedback there, though some did question why a movie review was posted on Ye Olde Gaming Blogge. (Quick aside: I Yono all app don’t think I’ll ever get used to the Old English spelling of “blog.”) So here’s a reader asking me why we reviewed the movie. I replied: Fair question. We define ourselves as covering the news and culture of video games. Avatar is so closely associated with gaming culture and concepts, that we felt it was a movie that was appropriate for us to review. As you can see above, I wrote it with an eye on how it is relevant to gaming. Rest assured there is plenty of other content planned for the day that is explicitly about video games. But would argue that this review is easily within our mandate to cover gaming culture. That seems reasonable, no? If people who know so little about video games are going to accuse this movie or that as being “just like a video game,” then we the people who have a clue about games might as well contribute to cinematic society and weigh in. I presented a gaming slant on Avatar, and, hey it was fun. I’m up for doing more. But Yono all app not less gaming coverage of course. So yeah, tell me what that most-game-like thing you’ve ever done in real life is. Driving a forklift does not count, because Shenmue wasn’t much of a game. Yono all app What you missed today Avatar Movie Review: The Blue Future Of Video Games iPhone Chart Toppers: N.O.V.A. Takes Down Waldo BioShock 2 Preview: Maybe It Was Needed After All Pretty Pictures From BioShock 2 The 2009 Video Game Year In Review Starts Here… Now A 2009 View From The Top: One Man’s Year Making Assassin’s Creed II 5th Cell’s Jeremiah Slaczka Draws Your Questions During This Week’s Podcast 2009 In Review: The Controversies https://kotaku.com/avatar-movie-review-the-blue-future-of-video-games-5431246