Cecilia D'Anastasio

PS4s are getting a big firmware updatetoday. Probably the biggest addition is Play Time Management, which lets PS4 owners manage their kids’ gaming from their PS4, web browser or smartphone—but changes to the PS4’s user interface and menu should please everybody.

In The Game: The Game, It’s You Vs. Pick-Up Artists

Years ago, at an outdoor bar in Brooklyn, my best friend and I were enjoying whiskey drinks when two well-groomed men approached us. Making polite excuses, one told my friend that he needed a woman’s opinion on something. “He’s been dating a girl for three months,” he said, gesturing to his buddy, “and she’s moved…

There Are No Necessary Picks In Overwatch Anymore

“RIP Mercy,” Overwatch players mumbled after the game’s main healer suffered a big nerf on Tuesday. It was a long-coming but controversial change that made the game’s essential hero no longer so. It also sent a firm message to Overwatch’s players—one that the recently-launched Overwatch League is hammering in with each pro match: No hero…

Discord is integrating features from Spotify today, so now, you’ll be able to let your Fortnite buddies know when you’re jamin’ on the latest Cardi B.

The Wii U Is Getting Harder To Find

“Grab a Wii U while you can, because they won’t be around forever,” a Nintendo executive said in a 2016 interview, as the company geared up for the launch of Switch. The Wii U has vanished from retail stores and, now, used games salespeople across the country are saying that they’re not seeing many Wii…

GDC Pulls Award After Outcry Over Atari Co-founder Nolan Bushnell [Update]

A day after saying it would give Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell its 2018 Pioneer Award, the organizers of the Game Developers Conference have pulled the award, saying they will now award it to no one. The quick change followed 18 hours of outcry about Bushnell’s alleged unsavory behavior toward female Atari employees. Those stories have…

Anime Film Mary and The Witch‘s Flower Is Just Okay

The new anime movie Mary and the Witch’s Flower, released earlier this month in the U.S., pitches itself as a whimsical, enchanting film that could fit right in with the Studio Ghibli family of classics. Its dazzling animation almost obscures a plot with holes large enough to fly through with a broom. For kids, that…

I Think I Understand Sports Fans Now

Two winters ago, a high school pal whom I hadn’t seen in several years while he served in Afghanistan was back in New York, and, en route to a night of reconnecting over bowls of warm ramen, he abruptly ruined everything with a suggestion: Let’s go to a sports bar around the corner and watch…

Rampant Hacking Is Hurting Pokemon Go‘s EX Raids

Pokemon Go player Rickey Yaneza stood in New York’s High Line park, built on what was once a stretch of elevated train tracks, waiting for Mewtwo. It was an EX Raid, an invitation-only in-game event where teams of 20 players can fight to take down the game’s strongest Pokemon and, if they win, add it…

Our Top Four Winter 2018 Anime Picks

It’s time to snuggle up to your space heater and load Crunchyroll because, man, does it suck outside and, boy, you have a lot of anime to watch. Winter 2018’s selection of anime is all over the place. My top picks span across horror, slice-of-life and comedy, leaving fantasy and sci-fi by the wayside. You’re…

The Stereotype That Women On Twitch Are ‘Asking For It’

In a dark, blue-lit room last December, a man known as MetaphorSX was live-streaming World of Warcraft on Twitch and, during a break, decided to rate female Twitch streamers along with his viewers. One of his buddies, a World of Warcraft commentator, had just fetched him a new specimen: a young woman, wearing little makeup,…

How SoulCalibur‘s Nightmare Has Changed Over Two Decades

SoulCalibur VI’s second trailer dropped today, offering players a glimpse at the 20-year-old fighting game’s upcoming roster. One constant throughout SoulCalibur’s shifting cast of fighters is the cursed villain Nightmare, whose new design was revealed today. Nightmare is the antagonist of the series and the living avatar of the evil sword Soul Edge. When I…

Pop Team Epic Is Burning Anime To The Ground

A nail-studded bat smashes a TV showing glitched-out anime in the opening of every episode of the new, surreal anime Pop Team Epic. The show tells you straight-up what it’s about: burning anime tropes to the ground. And in the process of destroying everything anime fans know and love, it manages to become something wholly…

Studio Layoffs Put Star Game Designer David Jaffe At A Crossroads

Yesterday, games studio Bartlet Jones was forced to lay off the the majority of its small staff after the publisher of their yet-unannounced game pulled funding. David Jaffe, the veteran games designer who co-heads the studio along with producer Nick Kononelos, told Kotaku that the layoffs “break my heart,” but also said that “this is…

Despite Its Glamour, Overwatch‘s Latest Map Feels Familiar

Today, Blizzard dropped Overwatch’s latest map, a literal carnival of Blizzard references. “Blizzard World” is a theme park about Hearthstone, Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm and Warcraft. Playing it feels a lot like being invited to loud, garish party that you leave feeling just okay. Putting aside cute easter eggs, like a spawn point designed…

The Outline just published an insightful article on how video games can demonize fat people. The feature, which quotes gaming professionals like motion actors and writers, takes a hard look at why fat bodies in games sometimes signal vices.

If You Loved Devilman Crybaby, You’ll Love These Anime, Too

Anime fans are still grappling with this season’s breakout show Devilman Crybaby, one of the most “extra” anime to have ever been made. It’s a rare masterpiece, grabby with its demon-filled story and brash, sometimes shocking sexuality. It’s also the most recent in a long line of masterpieces by director Masaaki Yuasa. Masaaki Yuasa has…

Goblin Fights In D&D Are The Worst

For four decades, players have dutifully sacrificed a large portion of their Dungeons & Dragons games to take turns hitting a goblin with a broadsword. It’s time for us to release ourselves from the thousands of collective hours we’ve spent on D&D’s most tedious chore. Let’s kill off the goblin fight—or at least make them…

VR Chat Players Stop Trolling To Help Man Who Appears To Have Seizure

The virtual world VR Chat bursted into mainstream consciousness with a steady stream of viral memes, but a few days ago, denizens of VR Chat grappled with something much realer than swarms of Knuckles avatars: a player who appeared to suffer a seizure in VR. VR Chat is a social platform reminiscent of Second Life.…

Pokémon Go‘s Best Remaining Trackers [UPDATE]

Pokémon Go has been through the wringer since its troubled release in July, 2016. A major complaint: Players struggle to know which Pokémon are where, so they can hunt ‘em down and scoop ‘em up. That’s why players have flocked to third-party apps that track Pokémon, but also, cut out the wandering and exploring that…