"The Escapist Issue #18: Otaku" Now Available

The new issue of the Escapist Magazine centers on Otaku - "self-professed, obsessed, garden variety geek[iness]." Pat Miller examines labels and cultural gaming differences in I Can't Believe it's Not Gaming; Allen Varney explores the strange and wonderful world of Asian games in The Asian Weird and tries to figure out how degrees of authenticity make or break strange games, then paraphrases Bruce Sterling in advising game designers to get weird; John Szczepaniak reviews Mother/Earthbound games (Japanese series that imitates American life) ; John Tynes just doesn't get Nintendo, contrasting popular Nintendo titles with smoother Japanese games from Sega and Playstation. Read it at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/18