The Impact Factor

News & Views

3/26/16-4/1/16

It’s no April Fools’ joke: The Impact Factor is here as always to keep you up to date on everything that’s happening in games.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games. Check the links below for stories about manipulation in game design, addressing the walking problem in virtual reality, and a musical analysis of one of 2015’s best soundtracks.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Wrist Grabs and DDoS Attacks

Gino Grieco, Giantbomb

Worth Reading

The quest to solve VR's biggest problem: walking around

Jason Rubin, PC Gamer

Revisiting the enduring horror of Far Cry 2

Lewis Gordon, Kill Screen

The game industry needs to get laid and just chill already

Robert Yang, radiator Design Blog

Designing morally difficult characters

Dan Nagler, GDC, Gamasutra

Emotion, manipulation and the future of game design

Colin Campbell, Polygon

With Comments

An Examination of the Leitmotifs and Their Use to Shape Narrative in UNDERTALE

Jason Yu, Music, Melee, Miscellaneous

Jason Yu provides an in-depth music theory analysis on one of 2015’s best game soundtracks: UNDERTALE. Yu specifically takes a look at the game’s leitmotif, which can be found as early as the introductory sequence. This is a fascinating piece that really dissects how music affects mood and vise versa. Well worth your time.

The Dark Side of Pacifism in 'Undertale'

Nick Dinicola, Pop Matters

UNDERTALE continues to inspire great gaming writing. One of the game’s selling points was that the narrative unfurled over the span of multiple playthroughs and through multiple ways of playing the game. A pacifist approach, many players’ second playthrough, sheds light on many of the mysteries left hanging after completing a ‘neutral’ run. Nick Dinicola uncovers a dark side to this seemingly peaceful approach to playing and writes about it here.

One gamer's quest to achieve the lowest graphics settings

Jody Macgregor, PC Gamer

PC gamers continue to fascinate me. Jody Macgregor spotlights one player who has made it his quest to take the biggest, most beautiful PC games and reduce them to their lowest possible level of graphic fidelity. If nothing else, this article is worth checking out to see just how low polygon count The Wither 3 can get.

Firewatch shows that yes, you can make games for grown-ups

Heather Alexandra, ZAM

My favorite game of the year (so far) continues to fuel amazing discussions about video games. If you check out my review, you’ll find that many of Heather Alexandra’s thoughts echo my own. Firewatch is a game made by adults, featuring adults, for adults. The subtle, human story of two people trying to escape the tumult of real life is phenomenal. I urge other developers to follow Campo Santo’s lead and to be unafraid to make narrative games that are nuanced, difficult or even unresolved. The industry, the art, will be better for it.