Mike Fahey

New Game From The Developers Of Her Story Is An Unsettling Trip Through Stolen NSA Footage

Telling Lies, the latest work of interactive fiction from Her Story creator Sam Barlow, invites players to curl up in front of their computer and comb through hours of leaked fictional National Security Agency footage. Mostly, that involves watching the game’s characters via their webcams and other video sources, everything having been captured without their…

Sweary’s Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise launches on July 10 for the Nintendo Switch. Agent Francis York Morgan returns to track down a serial killer in the fictional town of Le Carré. The opening credits, seen in the video above, set the tone for surreal horror hijinks. Can’t wait.

My Video Game Ate My Homework Is A Sweet Graphic Novel About Games And Growing Up

In My Video Game Ate My Homework, a new middle-grade graphic novel from DC Comics and writer/illustrator Dustin Hansen, 13-year-old Dewey Jenkins’ science project is sucked into a malfunctioning virtual reality game console. Dewey and friends must navigate a digital role-playing adventure to retrieve the project and save Dewey from summer school. Check out an…

PSA: Beware Of Massive The Last Of Us II Spoilers From Apparent Leak [Update]

The wait for Naughty Dog’s indefinitely delayed sequel to The Last of Us just got a lot more frustrating. Footage allegedly captured from a near-final build of The Last of Us II was leaked on YouTube over the weekend, causing a cascade of major plot spoilers to flood social media channels and game forums. Update:…

Sakura Wars’ Dramatic Intro Makes The Mech Battles Better

It took me an hour and a half to get to the first mech combat portion of Sakura Wars, the soft reboot of Sega’s long-running role-playing game series coming to PlayStation 4 on April 28. The first 90 minutes of the game is all about getting to know the characters and circumstances of this unique…

Gorgeous Handmade Arcade Machines For Your Keyboard

The artisan keycap crafters at Jelly Key have outdone themselves with their latest project, a series of retro arcade machine caps with 3D gaming scenes rendered beneath translucent resin. Artisan keycaps are basically mechanical keyboard jewelry. They are sculpted bits of plastic, resin, and clay meant to accent colorful letters, numbers, and symbols, allowing the…

The Trials Of Mana Remake Proves Square Enix Can Faithfully Redo A Classic ’90s RPG

The second high-definition remake of a 90s-era Square Enix role-playing game coming out this month is much more faithful to the original than Final Fantasy VII. Beneath Trials of Mana’s cartoonish 3D makeover and questionable voice acting, it’s the same simple, satisfying action RPG it’s always been. This piece was first published on April 22,…

Trials Of Mana‘s Healer Talks Like A Baby And Pwease, No

There are six playable characters in the Trials of Mana HD remake that comes out this week. The only dedicated healer among them is Charlotte, the diminutive granddaughter of the Priest of Light. I’d rather my party die a thousand deaths than be subjected to her insipidly cutesy baby-talk. It’s a widdle too uwu. When…

I Need Much More Of Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Dancing Mini-Game

Don’t leave a rhythm game fan hanging here, Square Enix. The Final Fantasy VII Remake dancing mini-game is too good to be limited to a practice round and one spectacular sequence. Cloud needs to move his body right. As I played through Final Fantasy VII Remake, former (sniff) co-worker Jason Schreier kept asking me where…

Like a ray of sunlight piercing the cloudy sky she comes, spreading joy to rhythm game loving Switch owners everwhere. Hatsune Miku Project Diva: Mega Mix for the Nintendo Switch launches on May 15 with 101 songs and more on the way. In case you could not tell, this news makes me incredibly happy. Soon…

The New Animated Mortal Kombat Movie Is Just As Brutal As The Games

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, the new film from Warner Bros. Animation, begins with dozens of ninja being torn limb from limb. Hanzo “Scorpion” Hasashi’s young son is viciously slayed while the titular ninja helplessly watches. Fans of the fighting game’s over-the-top violence will be… pleased? This might get a little gross, folks. The first…

Blizzard Extends World of Warcraft’s Double XP Event After Fan Outcry

With players in the game forums and Reddit clamoring for an extension, World of Warcraft’s double experience point event, originally scheduled to end on Monday, will now last right up until the pre-patch for the game’s Shadowlands expansion. The Winds of Wisdom buff grants all World of Warcraft characters 100 percent bonus experience for killing…

Games Done Quick Is Holding A Speedrun Marathon For Coronavrius Relief

This year’s Summer Games Done Quick charity event has been pushed back to August due to covid-19 concerns, but you can’t keep a good group of speedrunners down. Starting today and running through Sunday, Corona Relief Done Quick is an online speedrunning marathon benefitting global response organization Direct Relief. Sounds like the perfect way to…

Beat up your friends when Streets of Rage 4 launches on April 30. Along with four-player co-op the game also features Battle Mode, where up to four players can hit and kick each other until only one remains. Check out this morning’s post on the PlayStation Blog for more details.

Kirby’s Art Book Is Beautiful, Just Like Kirby

I wouldn’t say what the world needs now is a 272-page book of Kirby artwork, but it certainly can’t hurt. Published by Viz Media in English earlier this week, the Kirby Art & Style Collection is a $30 hardbound tome filled with official art, concept art, box art, and sketches spanning 25 years of Kirby…

Kaliber Gaming’s Opto-Mechanical Keyboard Looks Sharp, Literally

I don’t normally go for gaming keyboards with fancy shapes, but there’s something sleek and dangerous about Kaliber Gaming’s HVER Pro X optical-mechanical gaming keyboard. It’s probably the jagged sheet of aluminum screwed atop its otherwise unassuming plastic frame. The underside of the$90 HVER Pro X is the black plastic rectangle of a keyboard base.…

Mangamo Is A Nice New Way To Read A Lot Of Manga

Launching today for iOS and coming soon to Android, Mangamo is a $4.99 monthly subscription service that aims to serve up hundreds of volumes of Japanese comics in a completely legal and creator-supporting way, which is a lovely idea. There are many manga subscription services out there, each with their pros and cons. Some cater…

Pokémon Rumble Rush Ends Service In July

Mobile pocket monster battling game Pokémon Rumble Rush launched less than a year ago to universal agreement that it is indeed a game with Pokémon in it. It’s shutting down for good on July 22. A simplified mobile version of a game series that was already pretty basic, Pokémon Rumble Rush never had a lot…

Covid-19 Concerns Delay Final Fantasy XIV‘s Next Big Update

Originally scheduled for release in mid-June, Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers’ update 5.3 is being pushed back several weeks due to issues stemming from the covid-19 crisis. In a letter to the community, game director Naoki Yoshida detailed the difficulties involved with managing MMO development during a global pandemic. Update 5.25, which introduced new relic hunts…

The Difference Between Final Fantasy VII’s Easy And Normal Modes Is Too Drastic

Combat in Final Fantasy VII Remake, especially when facing powerful boss battles, involves juggling normal and special attacks, destructive and healing magics, and strategically exploiting enemy weaknesses. Unless you’re playing in easy mode. Then it’s just button-mashing bullshit. I spent 40 hours playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake, mostly on normal mode, the highest difficulty…