Kill Screen Archives: Jason Johnson

Bullish Stupidity

May 9 Essays

Black Undead Damnation

Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption is the latest videogame to host an urban legend. A house on a hill is said to be haunted—in reality—so we went ghost hunting.

May 2 Reviews

There She Blows

What does Nintendo's new role-playing saga have in common with a sad, dying whale? The list spans the creature's hide.

Apr 25 Profiles

Poisonous Paragraphs

The transgender community has found an unlikely folk hero in Poison, a sexed-up Street Fighter character. Jason Johnson traces her murky evolution from concept sketch to rallying point.

Apr 17 Essays

Gunning With Scissors

How can we understand a world coded in language? William S. Burroughs had some violent ideas in the form of handguns, scissors, and word games.

Apr 13 Reviews

Bullish Stupidity

Jeff Minter's new fruit 'em up Five a Day is profoundly stupid. Here's why it dodges skill and statistics, and goes straight to the soul.

Apr 2 Essays

The Legend of Donkey-Woman

When your game breaks all the time, will you give up or will you play along? We go looking for guts and glitches in the Wild West.

Mar 28 Essays

Going Overboard

Some fear heights; others, going outside. Jason Johnson is afraid of fish, which makes even the most innocent and childproof videogames horrible things.

Mar 21 Essays

Rise of the Superhumans

Today the most dedicated videogame players hack the computers to do the work for them. We take an inside look at the world of tool-assisted speedruns, where Mario and Mega Man defy even more logic.

Mar 7 Reviews

The Longest Hate Story Ever Told

Christine Love's visual novel Analogue: A Hate Story points the way to a new literature, and a better world, while dwelling on the shortcomings on the past and present.

Mar 2 Interviews

When is a croaking frog important? A dialogue between composer David Kanaga and Jason Johnson about finding the music of games in their objects and their play, and reaching higher states of consciousness (through art).

Feb 27 Essays

Shining in the Darkness

Jason Johnson looks into the world of audio games—videogames designed for the visually impaired—and finds a medium racing to catch up with modern times. If the zombie first-person shooter Swamp is any indication, games for the blind may herald an unforeseen future for videogames and technology.

Feb 17 Essays

Occupy Fortune Street

Nintendo's cheerful take on Monopoly found an untimely release in America last December. Jason Johnson digs into the financial game and finds himself overpowered by Mushroom Kingdom denizens who seem blessed by advantages he can't see, but feels tearing a hole in his savings.

Feb 13 Essays

Will the Real Gamer Please Stand Up?

What's in a name? The word "gamer" is used to connote men and women who enjoy videogames, and it contains the perilous highs and lowest lows of human experience. Jason Johnson argues that it's time to leave the term behind.

Jan 25 Interviews

Luke Schneider

Luke Schneider, the solo member of the Radiangames studio, talks with Jason Johnson about the solitude of leaving a major gaming studio and going it alone as an indie.

Jan 17 Essays

Why I Drink the Purple Rain

What is it about the hardest challenges that draw us in? Jason Johnson talks about the infamous Japanese arcade game Mushihemesama Futari and the kind of enjoyment that can only be found in "bullet hell."

Jan 10 Reviews

Review: Sonic Generations

Jason Johnson steps onto Sega's newest roller coaster, and discusses which parts make him want to step off.

Jan 5 Essays

The Year in ADHD

Looking at his favorite games from 2011, Jason Johnson wonders why gaming is becoming like web surfing, if the internet is really destroying his attention span, and if he should even care.

Dec 29 Articles

Flash Forward: Grow Cannon

A virtual pet for crazy people is what this is. Assuming anyone is crazy enough to figure that out.

Dec 26 Articles

Flash Forward: Foot Step

In our inaugural Flash Forward column, about all things browser, Flash, and otherwise tab-able and clickable, Jason Johnson writes on the transcendent joy of getting stepped on by a giant boot made of squares.

Dec 19 Reviews

Review: Kirby Mass Attack

In a move fit for the Twitter and app generation, Kirby gets shattered into tiny—but formidable—pieces. Jason Johnson reviews what may be his Nintendo DS swansong.

Dec 14 Interviews

James Silva: I Will Destroy Anyone Who Gets in My Way

James Silva, the one-man studio behind the gory cult classics I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 and the Dishwasher series, talks to us about why he's squeamish, high school band fiascos, and what he'll do if you try to collaborate.

Dec 12 Reviews

Review: Super Crossfire

Luke Schneider's new take on Space Invaders has one twist, and that's all that it needs. Jason Johnson weighs in on the virtue of simplicity.

Dec 8 Reviews

Review: Scoregasm

A new entry in an overloaded genre, the twin-stick shooter, Scoregasm suggests that when mathematical formulas cease to surprise, only art may differentiate them.

Dec 5 Essays

The Illogical End

Are all games the sum of their rules and systems? According to the field of ludology, the formal logic of a game is where its soul resides. Jason Johnson argues that bridging the gap between system and meaning is a more tenuous proposition than ludologists acknowledge. Read the first of this three-part series.