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tronella's review against another edition
3.0
A short story collection themed around the concept of bugs in video games. Interesting idea but variable in execution. The Sims-based story was really boring.
nattropaic's review against another edition
4.0
There are some earnest misses, but you can see the digi-hypnotic cliffs of Jeff Noon from standing at, say, Aevee Bee’s “Good Losers Are Pretty” (the closer, my fav).
kgagne's review against another edition
4.0
What if our video game characters were self-aware? Or what if we lived inside a video game? It's a theme that has surprisingly long legs, as evidenced by the quality of the 13 stories that compose this anthology.
I found myself most enjoying the stories that clearly referenced specific games or genres — especially Alois Wittwer's "A Perfect Apple", examining life in the town of Animal Crossing. Also notable are Ian Miles Cheong's "The Hierarchy of Needs", which parodies the fruitlessness of achieving a high score in a game like Galaga; Shelley Du's contemplation of free will in a fantasy RPG, "See You on the Other Side"; and "Patched Up", Ryan Morning's look at MOBA character types hamstrung by bugs and glitches.
Although the anthology starts and ends weak, there are enough gems in the middle to raise the sum of the parts above average. What a bizarre and enjoyable collection.
I found myself most enjoying the stories that clearly referenced specific games or genres — especially Alois Wittwer's "A Perfect Apple", examining life in the town of Animal Crossing. Also notable are Ian Miles Cheong's "The Hierarchy of Needs", which parodies the fruitlessness of achieving a high score in a game like Galaga; Shelley Du's contemplation of free will in a fantasy RPG, "See You on the Other Side"; and "Patched Up", Ryan Morning's look at MOBA character types hamstrung by bugs and glitches.
Although the anthology starts and ends weak, there are enough gems in the middle to raise the sum of the parts above average. What a bizarre and enjoyable collection.
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