Alden Pham
Readers know Alden Pham by the way he checks a game's completion percentage before saying hello, then asks whether the next update has finished downloading. He still holds a grudge against games that call a menu quick, a habit that began during his years arranging overnight transfers for funeral homes, where every delay had a named cost and none came with a skip button.
Articles by Alden Pham
Controller's Curse: Local Man Marries AI Girlfriend, Divorce Looms Over Lag
A man is divorcing his AI companion, not over a broken heart, but a broken connection – raising complex legal and philosophical questions about love in the digital age.
The Curious Case of the Virtual Pigeon & the Existential Dread of Early Access: A History of Unfinished Business
The perpetually unfinished state of virtual pigeons in early 3D games serves as a surprisingly apt metaphor for the frustrating and often unfulfilled promises of modern Early Access titles.