Cecilia D'Anastasio

Kind Words Is A Game Where You Send Confessional Letters To Online Strangers

“I always read the stuff people send me the wrong way,” a stranger on Kind Words, a new PC game where you write and receive confessional letters. “I read it as if they are upset with me and don’t want to talk to me. They’ve always told me this isn’t how they feel, but I…

Pewdiepie Rescinds $50,000 Pledge To Jewish Charity After Fans Spread Conspiracy Theories

After Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg pledged to make a plush donation of $50,000 to the Anti-Defamation League, an advocacy group founded to combat anti-Semitism, hundreds of his fans went into full conspiracy theory mode, questioning whether he had been blackmailed into doing so. Kjellberg, who has been subject to controversy in the past for making anti-Semitic…

We Are Starting To Suspect That ‘National Video Games Day’ Might Be A Nonsense Holiday

Did you know that today is National Video Games Day? We didn’t. In fact, we are getting an inkling that this might not be a real holiday. This piece was first published on September 12, 2017. We’re bumping it today because National Video Games Day is, supposedly, still a thing Kotaku found out earlier today,…

PewDiePie Has To Explain That His $50,000 Pledge To An Anti-Hate Group Is Legit

In a video yesterday, Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg announced a generous $50,000 donation to the Anti-Defamation League, a 100-year-old advocacy organization founded to combat anti-Semitism. Kjellberg, who was celebrating his 100,000,000-follower touchstone on YouTube, explained in his video that “I feel like I’ve finally come to terms with the responsibility I have as a creator—about 100,000,000…

World of Warcraft Players Are Migrating From Fan Servers To WoW Classic

“I couldn’t help it,” said Ash, one of the dedicated World of Warcraft fans who’d helped manage illicit fan servers for years, of his decision to play Blizzard’s official World of Warcraft Classic. “I just wanted to stop working on privately owned projects and focus on myself for once. And that’s what I did… For…

Confessions Of A Teenaged Strip-Mall GameStop Delinquent

Everybody at the strip was convinced that Caleb had stolen the cash. We were leaned back in uncomfortable metal chairs that left dents in our legs, sitting around a table littered with menthol cigarette butts. “The strip” was a strip mall, sterile and unexceptional, home to a Starbucks, a Cold Stone, a Chipotle, a GameStop.…

Fire Emblem‘s ‘Lost Items’ Mechanic Is So Annoying

Even in the fantasy world of Fire Emblem, there is no way the students of Garreg Mach Monastery are so forgetful that I, as their teacher, need to ferry 100 of their lost items around a school campus at all times in hopes of finding their owners. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a mechanic for that,…

‘Attack Bastion’ Stops Being A Joke When Overwatch Pros Use It

For a solid three years, “attack Bastion” was a meme in Overwatch, referring to the idea of using the semi-stationary hero on an offensive play. Now, it’s a serious strategy for serious pro players for when some serious money is on the line. The turret hero Bastion is not very mobile and does the most…

Banjo And Kazooie Are A Puzzle In Smash Ultimate

At long last, Banjo and Kazooie are in Super Smash Bros. “At long last,” I say, because the bear and Breegull duo have been some of the most requested additions to Nintendo’s mascot-based fighter for years. As players puzzle their way through the fighters’ toolkit, they’ve come across a couple surprises and not as many…

The State Of Overwatch In 2019

Overwatch is a game with gravity. Assembled from the scraps of the never-released MMORPG Titan by one of the most trusted game companies of all time, the first-person team shooter was always too big too fail. And since its release three years ago, its publisher Blizzard has continued feeding it, nourishing and fluffing its feathers,…

Fatal Fury‘s Terry Is Coming To Super Smash Bros.

“Who the hell is Terry?” thousands of Super Smash Bros. fans all asked in unison just one moment ago. Well, according to Nintendo, he’s your next Smash fighter! Also, you know, a 30-year-old video game character from another well-respected franchise. Today’s Nintendo Direct brought news of the fourth highly anticipated Smash fighter. Terry Bogard is…

Carole & Tuesday Is A Must-Watch Anime With The Catchiest Music

Early on in Carole & Tuesday, runaway rich girl Tuesday and orphan Carole drag bloated bags of laundry to a laundromat on a terraformed Mars. Inside, watching the machines spin, the broke aspiring musicians begin tapping on the ground and drumming on their plastic stools. Round and round, the dancing laundry / Let’s lose our…

Track: Coming Down From Outer Space | Artist: Acid King | Album: Middle Of Nowhere, Center Of Everywhere

I Can’t Convince My Friends That Overcooked 2 Is Fun, Not Stressful

No game is more controversial among my friends than Overcooked 2, a relatively innocuous game about cooking, plating and serving food. Overcooked 2’s saccharine art style and upbeat ukulele soundtrack are a thin cover for is deeply stressful gameplay. For me, this is a draw; for everyone else who comes to my apartment, Overcooked 2…

YouTuber Jared “ProJared” Knabenbauer has posted a video denying allegations from three months ago that he supposedly had exchanged nude photos with two underage fans. Knabenbauer acknowledged that he did exchange nude photos with other fans, clarified that this was “consensual,” although there was a “power imbalance” between himself and his fans.

Dungeons & Deceptions: The First D&D Players Push Back On The Legend Of Gary Gygax

Everybody calls Rob Kuntz last, he says. Those who want to know about the history of Dungeons & Dragons start with co-creator Gary Gygax’s kids, one of Gygax’s biographers, or D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast. As they’re wrapping things up, they might get around to dialing up Kuntz, a 63-year-old game designer. And once…

Report: Contractors Have Listened To Inadvertently Recorded Audio From Xbox Owners’ Homes

Microsoft contractors working on Xbox have gained access to audio recordings of Xbox owners’ home life, a Vice Motherboard report revealed today. According to the report, accidentally triggered Xbox voice commands would result in audio recordings stored by Microsoft, which contractors could hear. The report, titled “Microsoft Contractors Listened to Xbox Owners in Their Homes,”…

‘My Word Means Something’: Indie Dev Elaborates On His Viral Decision To Reject Epic Store Exclusivity

In late July, Wlad Marhulets, the solo developer behind just-released horror game Darq, received the golden ticket: an email from Epic Games asking if he’d like Darq sold on their hugely popular online store. It’s a deal a lot of other game developers have taken. Steam’s game store takes 30 percent of games’ sales and gives…

The lovely and resourceful Claire Saffitz of Bon Appétit fame attempted homemade, gourmet Pocky yesterday. Can you believe she’d never even tried it before?

Track: Hold Me In | Artist: Bent Knee | Album: You Know What They Mean