BB 640

Burned Book Christmas Sale

The Burned Book Is on SaleEnjoy the gift of dark fantasy this Christmas! Dark, not grim, fantasy for the book lover on your listDelight the avid readers in your family, or treat yourself, with the first thrilling book in the epic Arkwright Cycle!This week, get The Burned Book in digital…
December 20, 2024No Comments
Jack Conte - Neopatronage

Jack Conte and Neopatronage: A New Creative Economy

Unless you've been living in a cave on Mars, you're aware that the entertainment industry is in flux. Disruptive tech innovations, corporate screwups, and the path of least resistance becoming a slippery slope have destroyed the old paradigm. Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon, addressed this upheaval in his keynote speech…
December 18, 20242 Comments
Brandon Sanderson BackerKit

Sanderson’s Flaw: The Trouble With Constantly Dynamic Characters

Brandon Sanderson is widely respected as a meticulous world builder, an innovative storyteller, and a prolific writer. Over the past two decades he's made his name as a crafter of ultra-refined magic systems and dynamic characters. But no methodology is flawless, and new writers can learn just as much from…
December 17, 20246 Comments
Walk Away

The Illusion of Choice and the Responsibility to Walk Away

A recent exchange online captured a recurring tension in the debate raging around entertainment and consumer culture. One side argues that people don't actually want good products—they want easy products. Ease of access governs most consumer decisions, which is why streaming services, retail giants, and movie franchises dominate the market.…
December 16, 202410 Comments
Bathroom Mirror

It Came Through the Bathroom Mirror

Girls at sleepovers daring each other to repeat the name "Bloody Mary", Southern mansions where they cover the looking glass as someone lies dying, myths of doom befalling those who stare too long at their own reflections ... Some of the oldest grim legends involve the allure and mystery of…
December 12, 2024No Comments
Taco Bell Decades Menu

Reviewbrah Discovers Food Ground Zero

For the past several years now, we've catalogued various cultural phenomena under the umbrella heading Ground Zero. Whether in movies, comic books, or anime, it's well-documented that consumers could no longer expect new iterations of popular IPs to improve on their predecessors, starting in 1997. Nor did Ground Zero happen…
December 11, 202418 Comments
Mall Comeback

Can the Mall Make a Comeback?

For decades, shopping malls were more than just commercial zones. They were social hubs, cultural hotbeds, and even fonts of information. Time was, if you wanted to know the next hot game's release date or keep up with current trends, you headed down to the mall and marinated in the…
December 10, 20249 Comments
Bloodstained retro

Should AAA Studios Revisit Retro Style Games?

The AAA video game industry stands at a turning point. Facing runaway development costs, dwindling consumer trust, and rising market instability, big studios must adapt to a rapidly changing market. Could the answer lie in the unlikeliest of places: reviving retro-style games? That idea may not be as far-fetched as…
December 9, 202418 Comments