Review: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to [My] Past

The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past. Shotaro Ishinomori, Nintendo Power Magazine. VIZ Media, May 2015. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Shotaro Ishinomori (mangaka); Dan Owsen (translation); Yukiko Whitley (cover & interior design)
VIZ Media
May 5, 2015

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review contains light spoilers.

So there’s this boy with blonde hair, pointy ears, and a green outfit. If you’ve ever played a Nintendo game, you probably know him: Link, who came to save the Princess Zelda (AKA Jack AKA Tom Cruise). (more…)

Kickstarter of the Week: 14 Days (of Chronic Pain)

Kickstarter of the Week: 14 Days (of Chronic Pain)

14 Days: A game about life with migraines. Graphic design by Evan RowlandChronic pain made a big impact on my childhood, and it continues to impact my adult years. I don’t personally suffer from chronic pain, but those around me do; multiple close family members of mine have migraines and other forms of chronic pain. Many of you who are reading this can probably relate, as a 2011 report by the Institute of Medicine indicates that chronic pain affects about 100 million American adults. Chronic pain is so damaging, yet so amorphous. It’s not only the pain that’s damaging, though—it’s also the isolation. When I was a teen, pain took my mother away from me for days, even weeks at a time. As hard as that was for me, I know now that it was even harder for her. At the time, though, I didn’t understand. I couldn’t relate, I could only react.

Enter 14 Days: A game about life with migraines. Co-designers Hannah Shaffer and Evan Rowland have teamed up with editor Joshua Yearsley to create a two-player game that takes the players through two weeks of life as a migraine sufferer. It’s a narrative game that prompts players to conceptualize and share the experience of chronic pain. That experience, though, is much more than simple pain. Here, their words say it best: (more…)