Rec Room

More than Mormons

The big love that dare not speak its name
Despite the comparably juicy family dysfunction it offers, Big Love hasn't achieved the iconic status of its HBO predecessor The Sopranos . Maybe viewers relate better to the mob than to Mormons.

By JOYCE MILLMAN | January 06, 2010

Winter wonderland

Video games start the new year right
Do not adjust your calendar. Christmas has not been moved to March this year.

By MITCH KRPATA | January 04, 2010

Ten years of great sports

Boston's road from Loserville to Title Town
Moments after Adam Vinatieri's field goal split the uprights as the clock expired in the Louisiana Superdome on February 3, 2002, the streets of Boston were in bedlam. Drunk people dangled from trees and hung off lampposts. Motorists leaned on their horns. I saw a guy hug a cop

By MIKE MILIARD | December 22, 2009

2009: Year in video games

Swimming the mainstream
At the end of each year, there's the temptation to identify a common theme among the games that were released.

By MITCH KRPATA | December 22, 2009

Sexiest video-game studs of 2009

The cream of the crop
Video-game characters get more realistic all the time - and by more realistic, we mean sexier. This year offered a plethora of digital delights and graphical innovations, and although developers don't cater to their straight female and gay male audience nearly as much as they could, we still had no shortage of contenders for this list.

By MADDY MYERS | December 18, 2009

Review: Assassin's Creed II

Death in Venice: a macabre Italian getaway
Assassin's Creed II is a macabre Italian getaway

By MITCH KRPATA | December 15, 2009

Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

OId news: nothing super about it
The staggering commercial success the folks at Nintendo have achieved in recent years has made it easy to overlook their more unfortunate habits.

By MITCH KRPATA | December 09, 2009

Review: Left 4 Dead 2

Zombie nation: Valve at the top of its craft
When Valve announced a full-priced sequel to Left 4 Dead only one year after the original, 40,000 frustrated gamers joined an on-line boycott. The boycotters had a point, but they'll miss out if they stand on principle.

By MITCH KRPATA | December 01, 2009

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Hell to play
You're standing in an elevator with men wearing bulletproof vests and wielding machine guns. "No Russian," the leader reminds you, as the doors open to reveal a line of persons waiting at the airport security gate.

By MITCH KRPATA | November 24, 2009

Review: Dragon Age: Origins

BioWare's latest gets lost in the details
BioWare's latest gets lost in the details

By MITCH KRPATA | November 18, 2009

Review: DJ Hero

Hit the decks in DJ Hero
Shortly after DJ Hero ’s release, a couple of craiglist ads popped up from gamers claiming they’ll plug in and play the game at your party for $75 — all you have to provide is the TV and the speakers.

By MADDY MYERS | November 12, 2009

Interview: Leonard Nimoy

Hot Vulcan
If Leonard Nimoy’s acting work had been limited to that deliriously crazy music video for “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” he’d probably still be celebrated by a lot of us.

By ROB TURBOVSKY | November 16, 2009

Review: Borderlands

Gold rush
It’s tempting, and easy, to describe Borderlands solely via comparisons to other games.

By MITCH KRPATA | November 09, 2009

Jason returns

Publisher stuffs game-fixer Tim Donaghy's book idea; Antoine Walker's broke
As next week will feature a Friday the 13th, it’s time to check in on the NBA’s very own Jason, Tim Donaghy.

By MATT TAIBBI | November 04, 2009

Review: A Boy and His Blob

Childhood memories, improved
A Boy and his Blob got its start as a 1989 Nintendo game designed by David Crane, who also designed Pitfall! . This 2009 remake features Miyazaki-inspired art and cel-shaded animation, giving the maps a storybook quality. Unfortunately, the story itself still leaves much to be desired; no further complexity has been layered onto the 1989 game’s backstory.

By MADDY MYERS | October 27, 2009

Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

A real treasure
Nathan Drake walks like a man. Not so much in a macho, John Wayne kind of way — though there is plenty of that in him — but as if he were a real person occupying physical space.

By MITCH KRPATA | October 21, 2009

Review: Brütal Legend

Brutal is one way to put it
The cover of Brütal Legend sports an interesting detail.

By MITCH KRPATA | October 16, 2009

Behind the (local) music

A new show shines a light in the recording studio
“Working in a studio for so many years, we get to work closely with musicians when they are at their most creative — and most vulnerable,” says Marc Bartholomew, audio engineer and co-runner of Hanover Street’s Acadia Recording Company.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | October 07, 2009

Review: Scribblenauts

The pen is not so mighty
If knowledge is power, and words are the vessels for ideas, then the appeal of Scribblenauts is easy to understand.

By MITCH KRPATA | October 07, 2009

Holy landscape!

Ken Burns worships America's spiritual resource
At its core, Ken Burns's PBS 12-hour epic The National Parks: America's Best Idea (nightly on WGBH Channel 2 at 8 pm, from September 27 through October 2) is a selective, initiative by initiative, advocate by advocate, chronicle of the evolution of the National Parks system and the changing roles protected lands have played in American culture since Congress validated Yosemite in 1864.

By CLIF GARBODEN | September 24, 2009