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Catharsis Is Not Enough

by Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh

Originally published in, I believe, the October issue of Play Magazine.

A new study of gamer health, conducted by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory and Andrews Universities and published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, observes a correlation between extensive videogame use, obesity, and depression.

The expectation going in was that gamers would tend to have a higher body mass index, and “a greater number of poor mental health days” than non-gamers; after studying 552 adults in and around Seattle, that assumption looks pretty much true.

( Continue reading )

(August 31st, 2009 @ 1:16pm)



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Having played through for the first time in some while:

Braid is about emptiness and a driving need, and about the effects of following that ambition — of constantly chasing some external ideal rather than constructing one’s own happiness.

Which ties in pretty well to the game’s philosophy and attitude toward game design. And also into his reluctance to objectify the game, to tell people what to make of it.

In typological terms, you could say it’s about the conflict between Ni and Te.

(August 19th, 2009 @ 1:30am)



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No, it doesn’t bear much scrutiny.

My one professor who was on my wavelength — every time she addressed me, it was by my full name. Until then I tended to omit the Rössel, and generally avoided my name when I could. Early on she mused over the class register. “Ba-da-dum, ba-da-dah. You’ve got two dactyls,” she said. “One more,” I said, “and I’ll be a pterodactyl.” She took about five minutes to recover.

(August 13th, 2009 @ 10:31pm)



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Tea Bread

Do this.

3 cups flour, 1 cup warm water, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/8 cup oil, about 2-1/4 tsp yeast (one packet, if that’s your style), dash of salt, spritz of molasses.

Dissolve the sugar in the water, and add the yeast. Let it bloom and fizz, then mix in the salt and oil. After that, add one cup of flour at a time until you’ve got a nice clump of bread dough. Then proceed as usual: get out a floured board, knead until it’s kneaded, stick it in an oiled bowl with a cloth for an hour. Then pull it out and beat it up some more (it’s got a great, fleshy texture by now), shape it into a rough rectangle, and flump it into an oiled bread pan. Try to make sure any folds are hidden underneath. Let that sit until it has risen impressively enough above the rim, use a knife to cut a slit down the center, drizzle a miserly line of molasses down the cut, and stick it in a 350-degree oven for half an hour.

Serve toasted, with boysenberry jam.

Not complex, but it’s a winner!

(August 11th, 2009 @ 12:20am)



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The Numbers Game

My problem with math is always the arithmetic. I don’t have the short-term memory for it. I have the calculator here, and I think, “one and a quarter.” By the time that message gets to my fingers it has morphed to “one and a half.” Which in this case makes six inches of difference.

(August 9th, 2009 @ 5:45am)



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