It’s possible to love a video game. To be devoted to it, to value what it does for you, and how it makes you feel. To want the best for it. Not in the same way you love a person — or at least, I hope not. But take a look at any major fan convention for video games, movies, TV, or almost anything that develops a subculture, and you can see this love is real, active, and powerful. And of course, profitable. And if it’s possible to love a video game, then of course it’s possible to fall out of love. To feel disconnected from what first drew you to it. To realize that it isn’t giving you everything it once did, and you can’t give it what it needs from you. Especially if what it needs is regular digital purchases in order to get a competitive advantage in gameplay. I loved Overwatch once. I don’t anymore. How that happened is, I think, worth examining. This Dear John letter is a broad history of the game Overwatch itself, and its relationship with both its own players and the company that made it. The honeymoon phase In 2016, Overwatch was a big deal. A Team Fortress 2-style team shooter, made by the people who brought us Starcraft and Diablo, with incredible character designs that looked like Pixar had decided to reboot G.I. Joe? Players couldn’t get enough of it. And indeed, for the first couple of years Overwatch was a 600-pound Winston of the gaming landscape, dominating game coverage, showing up constantly on Let’s Plays, and causing an excited... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2022-11-01 15:51:22 UTC ]
“You Made Me Love You” collects short stories from throughout Wideman’s acclaimed career. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-26 20:23:09 UTC ]
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Revered children's book editor and author Ann K. Beneduce, who had a guiding hand in launching the careers of Eric Carle and many other authors and illustrators, died on March 18 in Princeton, N.J. She was 102. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Whether it’s vampires or werewolves or mysterious patterns in wallpaper, writers of Gothic short stories have used all sorts of horrors and frights to chill our blood, ever since the horror short story developed in the early nineteenth century. Below, we pick ten of the very best Gothic horror... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-03-18 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Short, fun erotic short stories that will leave you wanting more! Check out the best erotic short stories that you need to pick ASAP. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-03-05 11:35:00 UTC ]
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‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ is one of the best-known and most widely studied short stories written by the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Subtitled ‘A Parable’, the story originally appeared in a gift book titled The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836, before being collected in Hawthorne’s... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-02-27 15:00:46 UTC ]
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I also love the way that surreality and exaggeration can work in short stories in ways that they don’t often in novels. The wilder the conceit, the harder it is to sustain, like it’s rocket fuel. The post Resisting the Easy Impulse: Te-Ping Chen in Conversation with Brenda Peynado appeared first... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 10:59:07 UTC ]
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Charles Dickens (1812-70) is best-known for his fifteen novels and for shorter books like A Christmas Carol. However, Dickens’s was a restless talent, and during his publishing career that spanned more than thirty-five years, he also wrote countless articles, essays, and short stories. Although... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-02-25 15:00:13 UTC ]
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What stands out in Ernest Hemingway’s short stories is their humanity, their feeling for human fragility. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-02-20 11:00:00 UTC ]
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In short stories like “The Immortals” and novels like “The Listeners,” Mr. Gunn helped prepare readers for the future. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-11 17:10:44 UTC ]
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There’s so much contemporary fiction released every day, it’s hard to keep track—and it’s hard to know which works will still be remembered in a year and which will slip into obscurity. Luckily, we have George Saunders to guide us. In an interview with Los Angeles Review of Books, Saunders was... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-05 16:37:34 UTC ]
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At the Southern Review of Books, Justin Evans reflects on Breece D’J Pancake‘s celebrated collection of short stories from 1984, published five years after his death. “The stories of Breece D’J Pancake, by their own merit, are remarkably tied to the rural home of their author,” Evans writes.... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-01-29 21:30:19 UTC ]
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Exploring the diversity of The Atlantic’s original fiction: Your weekly guide to the best in books Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2021-01-29 15:30:00 UTC ]
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In this ambitious anthology, short stories sit at various intersections of smolder and technical accomplishment. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-01-23 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Do you like the Best American series? Of course you do! Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, travel writing, to food writing. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-19 15:00:26 UTC ]
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University of East Anglia publisher Boiler House Press is to publish Ben Pester’s debut short story collection Am I in the Right Place? Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-13 04:00:35 UTC ]
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Publisher Martine Paulais wants her new French publishing house, L'Ourse brune, to produce 'beautiful books' of short stories. The post France: A New Small Press in Normandy Champions Short Stories appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-01-07 15:21:11 UTC ]
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Translating novels, short stories, and poetry into English in a way that remains true to their original form can take years, even decades of dedication. And then there is the job of persuading the Anglophone publishing world to take chances. Translators’ labor is ultimately rewarding for readers... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-12-31 12:00:00 UTC ]
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These free holiday romance short stories are ready for you! Choose the magic of kisses under the mistletoe and read them right away. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-12-24 11:34:00 UTC ]
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News and Events Photo by Wendy Call / www.wendycall.com Deadline for Applications: Thursday, January 7, 2021 Call for Applications: Two series co-editors, one with expertise in Asian literatures and one with expertise in Middle Eastern and/or... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-09 14:16:34 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Sonia Nimr / Source: TAMER Institute for Community Education This whirlwind adventure begins with protagonist Qamar’s birth and follows her life along the titular wondrous journeys around the Mediterranean. Less novel than novella,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-12-07 20:34:56 UTC ]
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