Mike Fahey

How’s It Going? Toy Edition

It’s day two of my reign as “How’s It Going?” curator, and I’ve already broken out the toys. Welcome back to our daily open thread. Yesterday I talked about my bed desk, the relatively small space that serves as my work/living space. It’s stacked with wires and electronics, game consoles and gadgets, but that doesn’t…

Happy 20th Anniversary To My Favorite Final Fantasy

In 2000, after a pair of PlayStation games that were more science fiction than swords and sorcery, I wanted a Final Fantasy that skewed heavily towards classic fantasy fare. Final Fantasy IX, released on July 7, 2000, in Japan, was exactly the game I was looking for. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi said Final Fantasy…

A Controller Built For Xbox Game Streaming

Planning on using Xbox Game Streaming to play games on your Android phone or tablet? Third-party controller makers 8BitDo have a gamepad for that. The SN30 Pro is a pocket-sized Bluetooth Xbox One controller built with Xbox cloud gaming in mind. As cool as it is to carry around a full-size Xbox One controller to…

Fans of over-the-top shooting and stabbing rejoice, Shadow Warrior 3 is coming in 2021. While we’ll get our first look at gameplay for Flying Wild Hog’s latest game during this weekend’s Devolver Direct stream, a cute bunny gets bloodied in today’s teaser trailer, which should hold us over until then.

How’s It Going: Bedside Edition

A new week has begun, and Fahey’s subbing for Riley. Welcome back to our daily open thread … in bed. These past couple of months have been pretty weird for me. Due to my paralysisand complications from having to stay in bed all the time, I have to stay in bed all the time. I…

That’s One Way To Make A Custom Switch Pinball Controller

Joy-Con shoulder buttons don’t make very comfortable pinball flipper controls. That’s why Nerds&Makers’ Tommy Williamson harnessed the power of creativity and 3D printing to create the SwitchPin, a TV-spanning Joy-Con dock the sole purpose of which is to turn two buttons into two other buttons. I am not disparaging Williamson’s pinball pursuits. Sometimes two buttons…

Transformers Meets Back To The Future With A Robot DeLorean

Meet Gigawatt. He’s a robot that transforms into the iconic DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future. Hasbro made Gigawatt to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the science fiction classic. It was either this, or the train from Back to the Future 3. I think Hasbro chose wisely. Every iconic vehicle deserves a Transformer.…

Nier Creator’s Fairy Tale RPG Is So Grim It’s Silly

In SINoALICE, a new mobile RPG for iOS and Android directed by Nier creator Yoko Taro, fairy tale characters brutally murder everyone and everything in order to somehow revive their authors and make their bloodiest wishes come true. At first it’s shocking. Then it’s silly. Little Red Riding Hood just wants to play all day,…

Hackers Are Defacing Roblox Avatars With Trump Paraphernalia

Players of kId-friendly creative place space are discovering their accounts have become inadvertently political, as hackers dress hundreds of users up in pseudo-MAGA gear and inject Donald Trump 2020 campaign messages into their user profiles. “Ask your parents to vote for Trump this year! #MAGA2020” is the message appearing in more than 1,500 Roblox user…

The day after its debut trailer leaked courtesy of the Microsoft Store, Crysis Remastered and its trailer have been delayed indefinitely in order to work on game improvements. The news, delivered via the official Crysis Twitter, indicates that negative fan feedback following yesterday’s leak factored into the decision. Bummer. 

Final Fantasy XIV‘s ‘Reflections In Crystal’ Update Arrives On August 11

Originally due in June before being pushed back multiple times due to covid-19 related concerns, Final Fantasy XIV’s next big update, “Reflections in Crystal,” is finally on track for an August 11 release. According to the latest letter from the producer published on theFinal Fantasy XIV Lodestone website, the developers were originally aiming at a…

Cicadas And Beetles Invade Animal Crossing: New Horizons Today

Today is the beginning of July, when swarms of cicadas, bunches of big beetles, and schools of new fish start showing up on Northern Hemisphere islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nets up, people. Growing up, cicadas were one of the sure signs of summer. The massive bastards would start showing up on trees around…

Media Molecule’s miraculous creation tool becomes even more miraculous on June 22, when Dreams adds support for PlayStation VR. Not only will dreamers be able to create virtual reality content, but new tools will also allow them to create and sculpt objects in VR, adding a degree of immersion to playing and creating.

Harmonix’s Fuser Is A Different Way To Mix Music And Gaming

Coming this fall to PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One from Harmonix and NCSoft, Fuser is the ultimate freestyle DJ simulator. It casts the player as an up-and-coming disc jockey, gives them access to over 100 pop, rap, country, and rock songs, and drops them into spectacular arenas to play a music-mixing game of Simon…

The Microsoft Store Reveals Crysis Remastered A Day Early [Update]

Hot off of its unofficial reveal of Star Wars: Squadrons earlier this month, the Microsoft St0re’s page for Crysis Remastered is live, showing off screenshots, a new trailer, and a release date of July 23. The official reveal for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch game is still scheduled for tomorrow. Update: Now…

Fortnite Is Finally Out Of Early Access

Nearly three years after the launch of Fortnite: Save the World—the original survival defense game barely anyone played and not the battle royale afterthought that became a worldwide sensation—Epic Games is ripping off that early access bandaid and declaring Save the World a real, premium game. Battle Royale and Creative are losing their early access…

The Star Wars Episode I: Racer Remaster Is A Little Ugly, But I Love It

The excellent 1999 racing game Star Wars Episode I: Racer received an HD re-release for Switch and PlayStation 4 last week. It’s hideous in the unique way that only sharpened-up ‘90s-era 3D games can be, and I adore it. Episode I: Racer expanded upon one of the few shining moments in Star Wars: Episode I…

26 Years Later, Classic Adventure Beneath A Steel Sky Gets The Sequel It Deserves

Way back in 1994, Revolution Software released Beneath a Steel Sky, a cyberpunk point-and-click adventure game collaboration between Broken Sword creator Charles Cecil and comic artist and Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons. I spent the weekend with Beyond a Steel Sky, a sequel I’ve been waiting over two and a half decades to play. In adventure…

The Couchmaster Is A Great Desk Substitute For Bedbound Gamers

Nerdytec’s Couchmaster Cycon is a USB-powered lapboard propped up by a pair of comfy memory foam cushions. As the name implies, it’s meant to be a couch-based PC gaming solution. I’ve been using it in my hospital bed for six months. They should call it the Bedmaster. Maybe not. Due to me being paralyzed from…

Ninjala‘s Cute Shinobi (Literally) Kick Ass And Chew Bubble Gum

In my first match of Ninjala, Gung-Ho Online Entertainment’s free-to-play brawler for the Switch, my baby Hatsune Miku-looking character smacked around my kid-sized competition with a giant bat made of bubble gum, beat up random robots, was transformed into a pile of poop, and then exploded. I am not exactly sure what happened. I got…