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Onion AV Club To Cover Video Games

An anonymous reader writes "The Onion AV Club, the entertainment section of the satirical periodical The Onion, has expanded its coverage of movies, music and books to include reviews of video games. Also, they will host a game history column by Wil Wheaton: "Each week, [Wheaton] will take a look back to games past with his Games Of Our Lives column, reaching beyond Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to find the dusty arcade games and worn-out cartridges that paved the way for the games of today." The first expanded issue posted yesterday, featuring an interview with industry legends Will Wright (The Sims, SimCity) and Howard Scott Warshaw (Atari)."

6 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Good ol Will Wheaton by Mr.Dippy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I like to think of him as Wil Wheaton the Author, not Wil Wheaton the 15 year old kid who played a character on Star Trek. Although this is how he got his start, that was ages ago. Let it go and embrace the here and now. Pick up Just a Geek and your view of him will change...hopefully for the better.

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    -Dipster
  2. Re:Good ol Will Wheaton by hal2814 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Funny, I think of him as Wil Wheaton the kid who was in the movie with River Pheonix, Corey Feldman, and the Sliders kid who used to be fat but isn't anymore. And just so you know, he got his start long before ST:TNG.

    I am interested in reading what he has to say about classic video games.

  3. History of Sim City by SpottedKuh · · Score: 4, Informative

    Regarding the interview with Will Wright -- I found this really neat page discussing the history of the old-school Sim City franchise (prior to Sim City 4, that is): http://www.sc3000.com/knowledge/history_contents.c fm

    Who else still has the disks for Sim City Classic? :)

  4. We Want Will by Lu+Xun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Good idea, but too short; if he's going to lift the lid on some forgotten but important games, I'd like more detail, and perhaps a screenshot or three. Right now it's more like a clip than a full review, and I imagine that a lot of the games he'll be covering deserve more than a few comments and a picture of the cartridge.

    --
    That's not a soda... it's a caffeine delivery device!
  5. Satire in gaming by tiktok · · Score: 3, Funny

    If The Onion is going to write about video games, then I suggest that games.slashdot.org write about satire! The first article could be something like: "Area Man Saves Princess" or "Productivity in White House Drops After Bush Installs Bejeweled On Presidential Network" self promoting gaming satire: Software Pirate Disappointed With Latest Game Releases

    1. Re:Satire in gaming by UWC · · Score: 3, Insightful
      For clarity, the Onion AV Club is pretty much serious treatment of various media from an unabashed Gen X point of view.

      The weekly features are generally interviews with people important to various bits of an assortment of subcultures, media subgenres, and so on. The rest tends to be reviews of new movies, DVDs, books, and music, with one or two recurring humorous columns (e.g. "Commentary Tracks of the Damned" and now Wheaton's new column), but even those are just cynical treatments of actual media.

      Just thought I'd try to clear that up, as the name "The Onion" is generally linked to satire/parody.