“The impulse to explain is the Achilles’ heel of all genre work, and the most sophisticated artists within every genre know better than to expose their worlds to the sharp knife of intellection.” — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
An artist can respect the backfield of fact before which every human being stands and choose not to address those facts. — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
To create anything — whether a short story or a magazine profile or a film or a sitcom — is to believe, if only… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“Final Fantasy VII awoke American gaming to the possibilities of narrative dynamism and the importance of relatively developed characters—no small inspiration to take from… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“You have agency, yes, but what of it? It is just a game. But when a game does this well, you lose track of… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“There are not many mediums whose Dantes and Homers one can ring up and talk to. With games, one can.” — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“The world, finally, is no longer large, and to ignore it likely requires more effort than to simply take notice.” — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“This is one of the most suspect things about the game form: A game with an involving story and poor gameplay cannot be considered… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
We are no longer worried that children are missing school because of video games, though. We are worried that they are murdering their classmates… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
To create anything… is to believe, if only momentarily, you are capable of magic. — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
Charyn, like Nabokov, is that most fiendish sort of writer-so seductive as to beg imitation, so singular as to make imitation impossible. — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“Hocking was slender in the way that writers and musicians are sometimes slender: not out of any desire or design but rather because his… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“Games such as Mass Effect allow the gamer a freedom of decision that can be evilly enlivening or nobly self-congratulating, but these games become… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“And so, my beloved Kermit, my dear little Hussein, at the moment America changed forever, your father was wandering an ICBM-denuded watseland, nervously monitoring… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
“The impulse to explain is the Achilles’ heel of all genre work, and the most sophisticated artists within every genre know better than to… — Tom Bissell Copy Share Image
