Michael Hatchett, an A&E
Editor for the Voice, can
If you’re like me, you aren’t fancy. One thing that fancy people do is pair expensive wines with exotic foods. If you ever accidentally stumble into a high-end restaurant, a menu item may read something like “Seared Milksteak in Maple Glaze, pairs well with a glass of Chateau Margaux 1787.” While I’ll never be able to afford anything fancier than a Pop Tart with a glass of Kool-Aid, I really like the idea of pairing certain items together in order to increase one’s enjoyment of them. But instead of big meats and cold drinks, I’ll be pairing books with video games. Each one of these books and games are great in their own right, but when paired together, your experiences of both are heightened.
Fever Pitch/FIFA – This may seem like a bit of an obvious choice, but it’s one of the most rewarding, especially if you know nothing about soccer. Nick Hornby’s 1992 autobiography of his life as a fan of the English football club Arsenal is a fascinating read that perfectly sums up why people become sports fans and why they come to regret that decision almost every year. Unsurprisingly, the best video game to play while reading Fever Pitch is FIFA. It’s often hard for sports simulators to capture the essence, the emotion and heartbreak that so often accompany sports fandom, which is exactly what Fever Pitch provides. If you really want to boost your experience, create a player, sign him to Arsenal and don’t restart any games. If you win, you win and if you lose, you lose.
The Lies of Locke Lamora/Dishonored – As I said earlier, all of the works I mention in this piece are worthy on their own, none more than Scott Lynch’s brilliant medieval fantasy novel The Lies of Locke Lamora. It’s an imaginative story of revenge set in a detailed fantasy world. I can think of no better companion than Bethesda’s action/stealth game Dishonored. While the two worlds in which each work takes place differ (Dishonored is more technologically advanced, Locke Lamora is more exotic), the fast-paced stealth sequences present in both fit together nicely.
Heart of Darkness/Spec ops: The Line – I’m kind of cheating because Spec Ops is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, but the two go together too nicely for me not to mention it. In fact, the less I mention about the connections, the better. Bonus points: Watch Apocalypse Now after you finish both.
