Culture

‘We Moved Too Quickly’: Blizzard President Apologizes For Hong Kong Incident

Before Blizzcon’s opening ceremony, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack somberly addressed the crowd with an apology for Blizzard’s harsh punishment of Hearthstone esports pro Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai. “Blizzard had the opportunity to bring the world together in a tough Hearthstone esports moment about a month ago and we did not,” said Brack. “We moved…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for baking a cake. I think I could stand to eat a whole cake. I haven’t gotten very far in The Outer Worlds, so I’d like to spend more time with that. I’ve also been playing a lot of Lonely Mountains, which is so fun, even though I spend most of my…

How To Spot Fake Classic Video Games

Fake classic games are everywhere: At the flea market, in your local game store, on eBay, and maybe even mixed in with your own collection. The bootleggers who make them are churning them out, meaning that the market will only become more saturated with them as the years go by. If you’re going to collect…

Track: Hometown | Artist: French 79 | Album: Joshua 

Inspired by Death Stranding. Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands. By Jesse Dijk | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

The Outer Worlds Does Colorblind Gaming Right

It’s cool that many modern games include colorblind options, so that those who struggle to differentiate between various hues can still enjoy the experience to the fullest. It’s even cooler, though, when a game is designed from the ground up with that support in mind. Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer shared this info in a Tweet earlier…

Disco Elysium’s Voice Acting Is Good Enough Not To Skip

I recently picked up Disco Elysium, an introspective detective game that launched on PC a couple of weeks ago. Like many people who have sat down with the game, I’ve found it very engrossing. It’s so engrossing that I’m not barreling through the dialogue as fast as I can read it, which I usually do.…

You Can Thank The Developer Of Everything For This Creepy Instagram Filter

David OReilly, developer of Mountain and Everything, is now making terrifying Instagram filters. OReilly creates work that one might call “weird,” as either a compliment or an insult. Mountain is a simulation game in an extremely literal sense. It simulates a mountain, which changes over time, as more and more stuff appears on it and…

Let’s Talk About Sports Video Games

Yesterday, the World Series ended with a stunning Game 7 victory by the Washington Nationals over the Houston Astros. It’s the sort of thing you watch sports for, a dramatic finish to a long, beautiful season. Now comes the difficult task of deleting MLB The Show 19 from my hard drive, and considering putting some…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Is She Only Dating Me For My Money?

Hello, you electric angels of the Abyss, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column to help you get the BOO-ty call you’ve been waiting for on Halloween. This week, we’re going to get into the spirit of things by talking about relationship fears. What do you do when you’re afraid that…

Track: Corner | Artist: Iri | Album: Juice 

Sunset. Suncheon, South Korea. By Christian Mata | Instagram JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

What If World War Two Tanks, But Also Mechs

Emerson Tung is a concept artist at id Software, home of Doom and Wolfenstein We’ve featured Tung’s work before back in 2013, but his recent series of “Tankhead” pieces—which also include aircraft and battleships—are so damn good I thought it was time for another showcase. Oh, and if you’re as into these designs as I…

Save Time In The Outer Worlds By Being A Huge Dumbass

There are all kinds of speedrunning strategies out there, from finding ways outside the boundaries of the game world to manipulating seemingly random elements for favorable outcomes. Some of the most interesting utilize legitimate gameplay mechanics in interesting ways. In The Outer Worlds, for instance, a decent chunk of time can be saved by simply…

Steam Is Now Asking Users To Re-Review Games After Playing Them Some More

There are plenty of reasons to distrust any given individual Steam review. It might be obsessively hyper-focused on a relatively slight issue or, god forbid, a game taking a political stance. It might be part of a review bomb. It might be a meme. Now, though, Valve has taken aim at one of its system’s…

AI Masters StarCraft II, Ranked Higher Than 99.8% Of Human Players

DeepMind’s AlphaStar artificial intelligence was recently put to work trying to master the real-time complexities of Blizzard’s StarCraft II. Which it successfully managed in just over six weeks, becoming the first non-human to reach the rank of Grandmaster in the game. The AI was first tasked with watching human players to study their (our?) movements,…

Hilarious Mod Lets Waluigi Run Mario Kart Races On Foot

There’s a new modification for Mario Kart Wii on the internet that takes Waluigi off his motorcycle and challenges him to run races on foot. After messing around with it, I’ve come to the conclusion that Waluigi is just too damn powerful. This mod uses Waluigi’s model and animations from Mario Party 9 to craft an…

I Made A Radical (Literally) Playlist For The Outer Worlds

Whenever I really love a piece of media, I make a mixtape of songs that remind me of it. As soon as I finished The Outer Worlds, I began compiling my mixtape. There’s something nice about having a compilation of songs that take you back to a tone and a mood, since it allows you…

Track: Real Wild Child | Artist: Iggy Pop | Album: Blah-Blah-Blah

Sony Has Shipped 102 Million PS4s

The PlayStation 5 might be on the horizon, but the PS4 continues its impressive run. As of September 30, Sony has shipped 102.8 million PlayStation 4 consoles, surpassing even the Nintendo Wii. Sony announced the news in its most recent financial statements, revealing that 2.8 PlayStation 4s were moved in the last quarter. Twitter user…