For my first contribution to the popular Dutch magazine KijK, I interviewed Jayne Gackenbach, PhD. She has extensive experience in the field of dream research and is currently conducting research into the relationship between gaming and dreaming.

We talked about dream research, nightmares, gamers’ abilities to enjoy their bad dreams and the possible benefits of playing games for traumatized war veterans. Interesting stuff, to say the least.

Read all about it in KijK, issue #9, 2010 (in shops until August 26th, 2010).

Everyone even remotely interested in games is aware of the E3, one of the biggest game shows out there. 2010 proved to be a special year, with lots of new hardware, as well as the birth of a new trend in gaming: 3D. It was my first E3 and my first trip to America. You can safely say it was one hell of an experience.

The crew. From left to right: Jon Racasa, Vlad Micu, Sonic, Gerthein Boersma, Jesse Zuurmond. Snezana Nedeski took this shot.

Gerthein Boersma, editor at [N]Gamer, and myself shared a room in Koreatown. We arrived a few days prior to the conference itself and the big presentations, so we got to check out some tourist highlights. Even though it was fun to see some of the world-famous landmarks, Los Angeles as a city did not really stuck with me.

Of course, I wasn’t there to play tourist. The E3 itself was everything I expected it to be. Outrageously commercial, big in every way you can imagine, and awesome. You can check out my coverage at Bashers, albeit it in Dutch. My articles deal with Microsoft’s weird Kinect show, Bulletstorm’s fresh gameplay, my thoughts on some of the big publishers’ presentations, the Nintendo 3DS, and the new Guitar Hero/Rock Band-games.

All in all it was an experience worth remembering. I certainly hope it wasn’t my last E3. For now, enjoy some of the shots our great photographer Jon Racasa took.

Nintendo hired a bunch of girls to show the eager crowd their new handheld, the 3DS.

Artists performing at Activision's ridiculously expensive "preview event".

Eminem performing at Activision's ridiculously expensive "preview event".

Professional skate- and snowboarder Shaun White promoting his new game.

The obligatory boothbabe shot.

The city of Utrecht hosted one of the Netherlands’ main gaming events; The Festival of Games. This two day event highlights the current state of both the Dutch as well as the international game industry.

Professionals from all sorts of disciplines gave presentations about their insights and experiences. There was enough opportunity to network, make a deal and – of course – playing games. I mainly focused on the conference, so I saw quite some presentations those two days.

Luckily, almost every one was well worth my time. Highlights were Ian Livingstone (about his long and inspiring career), David Tisserand of Sony (about the do’s and don’t of playtesting) and Kellee Santiago of ThatGameCompany (about the importance of iteration in Flower’s development).

Read all about it here (Dutch).

I never Stockholm was this magnificent. On a trip to visit my friend Niels de Wit in Sweden’s capital, I was struck by the architecture, nature, cleanliness and people. If you ever happen to find yourself somewhere near this city, be sure to check it out.

Yes, this is the real deal. In Stockholm for an episode of the popular show Top Gear.

It’s no secret I adore EA’s Skate-series. It leaves Tony Hawk standing in deep, dark shadows. The third iteration is by far the best, mainly due to its online and team support. Skateboarding is a social sport, and developer EA Black Box is fully aware of that.

Food for thought: by now I think EA should not release a new Skate-game the next years. Instead, new content and enduring online support must keep this third game alive for some time coming.

Heavy Rain is an extraordinary game. In terms of storytelling and gameplay, it does (or tries to do) things that are never done before. Also, and that’s the premise of my article, it reveals the limitations of today’s controllers. The emotional impact of pressing buttons shrinks, as one button, say R1, cradles a baby at one time, but kills a man another moment. Also, it begs the question of control. Who is really in control, when what you do onscreen, is limited to a specific set of buttons?

These are interesting questions, and Heavy Rain’s uniqueness is underlined by the fact the game reveals the importance of such queries. It forces us to think outside the box. Should controllers be simplified? Or maybe even disappear altogether?

Yeah! Now that I picked up my BA-certificate at the University of Amsterdam, I’m officially graduated! Looking back at the past years, I realize I have to consider myself lucky, having made the right choice right away.

Media & Culture certainly has its flaws, but the skills I learned and the people I met, have proven to be of great importance. Also, I’m better aware of my capabilities, my shortcomings, and – most importantly – my ambitions. Cheers to that!

Reviews: SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 (PSP), Super Monkey Ball 2 (iPhone), Bad Company 2 (Multi)

Rather than spending a post to every preview or review I write, I shall – as of now – summarize two or more (p)reviews in a single post. I have done quite some work for Eurogamer.nl the past weeks, mainly consisting of (p)reviews.

First up is a review: SOCOM: US Navy Seals: Fireteam Bravo 3 (they really should start coming up with a shorter name). This PSP-shooter shines when it comes to competitive multiplayer, but the singleplayer isn’t challenging enough, to say the least. Furthermore, I’m beginning to wonder when (or even if) people will realize Sony’s handheld is just not equipped to convey compelling first-person shooter experiences.

Read the full article here (Dutch).

On to the second review: Super Monkey Ball 2, an iPhone-game by Sega. The iPhone turns out to be a perfect platform for the Monkey Ball-series. By tilting your phone, you have to guide Aiai and friends to the goal. It is as simple as entertaining, but does lack in terms of variety.

Read the full article here (Dutch).

Halo: Reach is a game a lot of people are excited about, so I decided to write a preview. I don’t like it when previews simply summarize the aspects of an upcoming game. Instead, I approached Reach as the next episode of a story that has forced its way into popular culture in a way few games have. To illustrate this; some people have actually compared Halo with the Star Wars-saga.

Read the full article here (Dutch).

Some of you will not be surprised when I say that I’m a fanboy when it comes to EA’s Skate. While writing a preview about the upcoming Skate 3, I tried to find a balance between my enthusiasm and a more neutral point of view. The result is an article about the decline of Tony Hawk’s games and the reasons behind the rise and success of EA’s Skate-series.

Read the full article here (Dutch).

Finally, I reviewed Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I wasn’t very pleased with the first Bad Company, especially due to its terrible singleplayer. The singleplayer has improved greatly over the past few years, but it’s still mediocre. Luckily, the multiplayer is absolutely phenomenal. The classical Battlefield-concept has been perfected over the years, and the result is an awesome experience.

Read the full article here (Dutch).

During Gamelab #3, a gaming-related event hosted by Blammo (creators of the popular Dutch gameshow Gamekings), one presentation sparked my interest. Tristan Lambert, co-founder at Vertigo Games, spoke about their new game, Adam’s Venture. Their new project is inspired by Christian values, but looks like a Triple A-title. This odd combination inspired me to interview Tristan.

During the interview we spoke about Vertigo Games’ past, Christianity in video games and the lack of quality in this genre. Also, Tristan explained why he thought the distribution system as we know it, blocks projects like Adam’s Venture. All in all, it was a great interview, both entertaining and insightful.

Read the full interview here (Dutch).

A preview of Rockstar San Diego’s Red Dead Redemption aired yesterday at Eurogamer Netherlands. I wrote the article not only to highlight some of the cool features Redemption has to offer (a brilliant western vibe, for one) but also to shed some light on the displeased wives and other obstacles Rockstar has to overcome. But I think I am not alone in stating that we should all look forward to April, because that’s when we can get our hands dirty ‘n dusty with Red Dead Redemption, a game that will revive the western genre.

Read the full article here (Dutch)