-
CultureBlack Is Magic: How Magic: The Gathering Is Transforming One Teacher’s Game Club
On the wall in Mike Lawton’s classroom rests a cardboard cut-out of a Black man. It’s not Martin Luther King Jr. or any other famous Black figure from history—it’s a mage—dark skinned and powerful-looking as a spell shoots from his fingertips. It’s Teferi, one of Magic: The Gathering’s most powerful main characters known as Planeswalkers,…
By Ash Parrish Published April 13, 2021 -
OpinionMarvel, Give Me A Dora Milaje Video Game Already
Marvel Studios, Disney, whoever’s in charge of licensing Marvel properties nowadays, come, let me bend your ear for I have a proposition that is guaranteed to increase your already-incalculable fortune. Are you ready to hear my 1000% foolproof money printing idea? Here goes: Dora Milaje video game. If that declaration wasn’t enough to sell you,…
By Ash Parrish Published April 12, 2021 -
CultureKorean Overwatch League Player Shares His Experience With Anti-Asian Racism In America
As opening day for the fourth season of the Overwatch League looms, Korean players on North American teams are dealing with the precipitous rise in anti-Asian racism. On April 5, Eui-Seok “Fearless” Lee, main tank for the Dallas Fuel, talked about his experience being Korean and living in America on his Twitch channel. “Being Asian…
By Ash Parrish Published April 9, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsOddworld: Soulstorm Has More Heart And Less Farts
My name is Abe, and I have to save my friends. I’m locked in a multi-level, two-dimensional room. In the distance, I see my buddies, all 200 of them, climbing a ladder that will lead them to safety and where. they can reach the lock that will free me. Suddenly, a loud crackling noise alerts…
By Ash Parrish Published April 9, 2021 -
CultureLil Nas X Released A Cheeky Video Game About Twerking
Lil Nax X—prolific Tweeter, former country music superstar, and current Lord of Hell—has released a new video game that celebrates his current chart-topping hit, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Called Twerk Hero, the game stars Lil Nas X and directs players to use the mouse to move his jiggle physics’d booty to hit scrolling…
By Ash Parrish Published April 7, 2021 -
OpinionHey, Magic: The Gathering, Your Story Is Doing Great Without The Racist Tropes
Ever since Jordan Peele gave us Get Out, there’s been a trend in pop culture entertainment that upsets the shit outta me—everything (and oh my Lord, do I mean everything) is centered on Black Pain. It feels like the only shows or movies that prominently feature Black people involved in fantastical or heroic shit has…
By Ash Parrish Published April 6, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsGod I Wish That Were Me
Resident Evil Village comes out May 7.
By Ash Parrish Published April 2, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsNier Replicant Gets Off To A Really Slow Start
After playing and being thoroughly wrecked by Nier: Automata, I was curious if Nier: Replicant ver.1.22474487139… the “version up” (since according to the developers it’s not a remake or a remaster) of the original Nier would inspire similar emotional devastation. I have dim memories of the first game. I remember the gruff dad and the…
By Ash Parrish Published March 29, 2021 -
CultureSonicFox Showed Up To A Mortal Kombat Event In Typical SonicFox Fashion
Yesterday the WePlay Esports Ultimate Fighting League kicked off a live Mortal Kombat 11 tournament featuring a handful of international players including Dominique “SonicFox” McLean. The opening ceremony was like any typical esports event, complete with a DJ and the kombatants (official term, Ed Boon says it’s required) standing solemnly on stage before the karnage…
By Ash Parrish Published March 26, 2021 -
CultureYou Can Now Only Buy 60 Days Of Game Time In World Of Warcraft
Yesterday Blizzard announced they would be removing the 30, 90, and 180-day game time purchase options from World of Warcraft, leaving only the 60-day option. “We recently conducted a review on the available services in all currencies. Based on this, we have decided to alter the available Game Time options in the Blizzard Shop,” Blizzard…
By Ash Parrish Published March 26, 2021 -
EsportsSoon You’ll Be Able To Clip Overwatch League Highlights On YouTube
Today, the Overwatch League announced changes to the way fans can watch its streams. Last season, the Overwatch League drastically changed its viewership options switching platforms from Twitch to YouTube. The move was unpopular with fans as YouTube lacked many features that made Twitch viewership unique and engaging. On Twitch, you could earn tokens for…
By Ash Parrish Published March 25, 2021 -
CultureBlizzard Isn’t Making Any More Skins For Overwatch League MVPs
After this year, the Overwatch League will no longer create special skins to honor the League’s MVP. Earlier today, the Overwatch League announced the release of two special Overwatch skins celebrating the San Francisco Shock’s second championship win and Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim earning 2020’s MVP award. But tucked into the announcement on the Overwatch League…
By Ash Parrish Published March 23, 2021 -
EsportsI, A Hater, Can Only Endorse One Of Overwatch’s Two Latest Limited Edition Skins
The fourth season of the Overwatch League is almost upon us which means it’s time to release a new MVP skin. Starting today until April 6th, you can purchase Echo’s Good vs. Evil skin made in honor of 2020’s Overwatch MVP—and my second-favorite Shanghai Dragon—Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim. Every year, the Overwatch League releases a skin…
By Ash Parrish Published March 23, 2021 -
CultureOdds and EndsLiliana Vess, Noted Magic: The Gathering Girlboss, Now Teaches Kids At Strixhaven
As the Kaldheim cycle comes to a close, Wizards of the Coast has started to tease cards from Strixhaven, Magic: The Gathering’s forthcoming magical academy-themed set. I don’t pay too much attention to card teases, preferring—somewhat unwisely—to go into a new set completely unaware of what might turn up and picking cards in the moment.…
By Ash Parrish Published March 23, 2021 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryFinal Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Is Even More Heartbreaking In French
I do not speak a lick of French, and yet the first thing I did upon (finally) unlocking Heavensward, Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion, was switch to French audio. It was a recommendation of a dear friend who’s further into her first journey through FF14 than I am. Neck-deep in Heavensward’s main story quest, (I…
By Ash Parrish Published March 22, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsMagic: Legends Makes Diablo-Style Combat Feel Like, Well, Magic
In the past, every month or so my partner and I would follow the instructions on the box and “gather” with our friends to play Magic: The Gathering. We’d have a casual sealed draft of whatever the latest set was, and at the end of the (at times very long) night, the winner walked home…
By Ash Parrish Published March 18, 2021 -
OpinionGaming Didn’t Get Me Through It
Before lockdown started, I had another job with a company that made what became the world’s most sought-after product: hand sanitizer. Working there before everything shut down was like watching a car crash in slow motion. Every day, my coworkers would whisper about the spread of the virus, retelling news stories about so many new…
By Ash Parrish Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureAnimal Crossing Horror Short Getting Full-Length Feature
Don’t Peek, a six-minute horror movie about a monster trying to escape from Animal Crossing into the real world, premiered this week at SXSW Online and will soon be coming to a theater near you in full-length form. Reported in Deadline, Don’t Peek, directed by Julian Terry and uploaded to YouTube back in October before…
By Ash Parrish Published March 18, 2021 -
CultureActivision Blizzard Esports Announces Layoffs [Update]
Activision Blizzard Esports will lay off around 50 employees, according to a report released today by Sports Business Journal. UPDATE: Reports suggest the total figure of laid-off employees is actually closer to 190. The layoffs come as a cost-saving and restructuring measure, according to the company. While the company emphasized the pandemic as a cause…
By Ash Parrish Published March 16, 2021
Ash Parrish
Ash Parrish's posts
