Culture

Let’s Settle Splatoon’s Mayo vs. Ketchup War, With Science

Splatoon 2′s first post-launch Splatfest kicks off tomorrow, and fans are passionately rallying for their favorite the upcoming Mayo Vs. Ketchup battle. Snacktaku removes passion and common sense from the equation to try and determine a winner using the magic of snack science. Originally posted 8/03/17. Re-upped in honor of this weekend’s encore of Splatoon…

Insignia Project Aims To Resurrect Xbox Live For The Original Xbox

Word emerged Wednesday of a new project, called Insignia, that aims to recreate the original Xbox Live service, potentially restoring online play to many dozens of classic Xbox games that fell offline when the original Xbox Live service (hereafter, “Xbox Live”) closed on April 15, 2010. The project’s announcement on the r/originalxbox subreddit came from…

Overwatch Player Uses New Feature To Fuse Entire Team Into A Single, Hulking Monstrosity

Overwatch is, at its core, a game about teamwork. Individual heroes do their own things—Reinhardt shields, Mercy heals, and Genji dies—but they’re ultimately contributing to a greater whole. One player, Andy Bohan, has gone and made that idea all too literal. I’m talking “end of Akira” literal. As part of the Overwatch public test server’s…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

The weekend is for a long weekend, which is kind of a ripoff when you have to stay inside but is welcome nonetheless. More time to play video games, I guess! I’m probably the only person in the world who has never actually played GTA V, which I always flirted with buying on Steam sale…

Instead of filling downtown Atlanta with anime and gaming cosplayers, this year’s installment of MomoCon is happening online. The popular convention is hosting streaming events on Twitch all weekend, with guests including Suda 51 and David Hayter, exclusive merchandise, and even its own Animal Crossing islands.

Track: Big Decision (Live) | Artist: Elliott Smith | Album: Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition

Pac-Man Is Getting His Own Version Of Super Mario Maker

As part of Pac-Man’s 40th birthday celebrations, Bandai Namco and Amazon just announced Pac-Man Live Studio, a new game that lets you play multiplayer and upload custom maps. While it’ll include the classic, original way to play the game, Live Studio also includes the tools to create your own levels, as well as play them…

Racing Cockpit Makers Use Fake Gran Turismo 7 Logo, Scold Media For Noticing

There’s no such thing as Gran Turismo 7… well, publicly at least. That’s why, when a mysterious logo for the unannounced game showed up in an advertisement for gaming peripherals, fans and reporters took notice. Turns out, the entire fiasco was a mistake on the part of the manufacturer, but the people there who are…

Don’t Talk To Me Or My Son Cloud Strife Ever Again

Max Berthelot is a character designer and illustrator based in Tokyo, who has done work for companies like Level-5. You can see more of Max’s stuff at his ArtStation page

Naughty Dog’s Latest Tweet Is Troll-Proof Thanks To New Twitter Feature

Naughty Dog tweeted out some Last of Us II art with a reminder about the game’s release date today. Thanks to a new Twitter feature, it was one of the first tweets in recent weeks that’s replies weren’t filled with spoilers and vitriol. “Pick up where we left off on June 19,” the tweet read.…

Pac-Man, The Japanese Game That Took Over The World, Turns 40

May 22, 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of a moment that shook the video game industry and profoundly changed the way we play: the debut of Pac-Man, which first hit arcades in Japan on May 22, 1980. Pac-Man is a maze game in which the eponymous hero munches dots while dodging multicolored ghosts, racing for…

These Button-Less Controllers Are An Affront To God

I was minding my own business last night, gaming real hard like I do, when I took a break from blasting away grubs in Gears Tactics to check Twitter. It didn’t take long before for the powers that be punished me for my poor choices by forcing me to look at an old PlayStation controller…

PSA: Civilization VI Is Free On The Epic Games Store Right Now

Everyone likes a good discount, but nothing beats a 100-percent markdown. Each week, for those who don’t know, the Epic Games Store gives out a free game, no strings attached. All you need is an Epic Games Store account. (Okay, fine, so maybe there’s one string.) During the current Mega Sale—a month-long event in which…

It’s Legit Thrilling Watching This Man Solve An Intense Sudoku Puzzle

“I’m not sure I’ve got the adjectives to describe what is going on here,” Sudoku expert Simon Anthony says in an absolutely must-watch video of him solving a Sudoku puzzle. “This is like the universe is singing to us here.” Minutes earlier, he had declared: “This is probably now going to be impossible.” The video…

Borderlands 3‘s Next Big Expansion Will Be A Western

Gearbox announced the third big expansion for Borderlands 3 today. It’s called Bounty of Blood: A Fistful of Redemption. It’s a western (sling those 87 bazillion guns, Vault Hunters) and it’s out on June 25. Announced during today’s episode of “The Borderlands Show,” Bounty of Blood will be all about “revenge and redemption” (like a…

Valorant Will Be Available To Everyone On June 2

Since early April, Valorant, Riot’s new mashup of Counter-Strike and super powers that not even tactical peeking can stand up to, has been in closed beta, available only to those who luck out while watching streamers play on Twitch. In a couple weeks, however, that’s going to change. Per a press release from Riot, Valorant…

How’s It Going?: Positive Thinking Edition

It’s Thursday, which makes it almost Friday. Welcome back to our daily open thread. I was reading an article on CNN this morning about Trump’s roots in Norman Vincent Peale’s brand of positive thinking, a connection I didn’t know much about. The CNN article reads, “But in a way, [Trump spiritual advisor Paula] White perfectly…

This Is The Raymond Amiibo Animal Crossing Fans Deserve

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has blown up since it launched in March, and Raymond, the most sought after villager in the game, has blown up alongside it. Now there’s a fan-made Amiibo honoring his ascendance. Created by Twitter user 5_pandasan, the Amiibo perfectly captures the cat’s refined charm and lowkey asshole-ness (thanks NintendoLife). Pandasan even…

Doom Eternal Losing Controversial Anti-Cheat Software In Next Update

Doom Eternal has only had Denuvo anti-cheat software for a week, and already Id Software has agreed to take it out following the backlash from some PC players. “Despite our best intentions, feedback from players has made it clear that we must re-evaluate our approach to anti-cheat integration,” Marty Stratton, the game’s executive producer, wrote…

Track: Dreams | Artist: The Cranberries | Album: Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?