- Uncategorized
Ravnica Got Me Into Magic, And Now We’re Going Back
Magic: The Gathering is a card game, but the storytelling and worldbuilding that goes into informing those cards is basically unmatched across the world of games. They announced this week that the game is going back to the world of Ravnica, and it took me down a nostalgia hole. Each plane of Magic (think “world”)…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published May 19, 2018 - Esports
Turret Will Not Be Denied Its Shot In Pro League of Legends Match
In today’s semifinals between the Flash Wolves and Kingzone, Su “Hanabi” Chia-Hsiang was pushing up to the bottom lane turret when he decided to take his leave for a scrap in the middle area of the map. The turret, scorned but undeterred, shot a parting blast at Hanabi that would eventually be his undoing. Some…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 19, 2018 - CultureShop Contest
‘Shop Contest: Put It On The Switch, Winners!
The wide world of Switch ports got me excited for new things on the platform, so I asked our excellent community image editors to come up with even better ports. I now need all of these to exist. The Switch is the console with infinite possibilities. Those two little controllers and their big screen friend…
By Cameron Kunzelman Published May 19, 2018 - Esports
Go1 Summons The Dragon In Dragon Ball FighterZ Match
The titular Dragon Balls don’t see a lot of actual use in competitive Dragon Ball FighterZ, as the conditions to gather them all and summon the wish-granting dragon aren’t always conducive to a player’s game plan. So when the opportunity to bring out Shenron in a match presents itself, you can bet a player like…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 19, 2018 - Esports
The Weekend In Esports: Midseason Finale
The 2018 Midseason Invitational comes to a close this weekend, marking about the halfway point in the competitive League of Legends season. While Korea’s Kingzone takes on China’s Royal Never Give Up, the rest of the weekend will be packed with a variety of events as well. There are a ton of fighting game events,…
By Eric Van Allen Published May 19, 2018 - Culture
This Week In The Business: Fewer, Bigger, Better, Later
QUOTE | “What we see now is we can launch games whenever we are ready and whenever we want, just because there’s a good appetite for new products on the market thanks to the fact that there are less big games coming to the industry. That gives us the possibility to choose when to launch,…
Brendan Sinclair Published May 19, 2018 - Uncategorized
The Xbox Has Quietly Gotten Some Cool Features
This week, Microsoft revealed the Xbox Adaptive Controller, a new peripheral to help make gaming more accessible. It includes two large, programmable buttons and works in conjunction with a mix of joysticks and other devices like the Quadstick, a controller designed specifically for people living with different forms of paralysis. It’s just the latest in…
By Ethan Gach Published May 18, 2018 - Esports
A Frighteningly Accurate Analysis Of Mario Kart‘s Politics
Wario is a libertarian. Bowser is a fascist. We know this about them, in our hearts, but no one has ever sat down and categorized the political leanings of the Mushroom Kingdom’s best-known residents. Art House Politics has put together a video demarcating the political leanings of each of the characters in Mario Kart 8,…
By Maddy Myers Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
Valve’s Inconsistent Rules On Sexy Steam Games Continue To Baffle Devs [UPDATE]
Developers of games with sexual content are saying that Steam is threatening to remove their games, and they don’t know why. Update, 5/19, 7:52pm—MangaGamer, Huniepot and Lupiesoft have tweeted that they’ve received emails from Valve saying that their games are being re-reviewed for content and they will be informed if there are any specific concerns,…
By Gita Jackson Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
For Honor’s Season Six update is now live. It adds some new skins and weapons to collect as well as reworks to the Orochi and Peacekeeper classes. There’s also a new map, Beachhead, and more importantly, a new event called The Rite of Champions that runs until May 31.
By Ethan Gach Published May 18, 2018 - Culture
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
The weekend is for trying to figure out what to do with the kale I bought to make kale smoothies with before learning that kale smoothies are disgusting. Also, video games. I’ve had a looong week, and the only cure for it is some good old Witcher 3. There are still some question marks left…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 18, 2018 -
UncategorizedRacist Twitch Trolls Defeated By Talking Banana
Mike Nichols just wanted to make a talking banana. A self-described inventor of “useless” things, his original goal was to create an interactive robot for his Twitch viewers to play with. Whatever they typed into chat, the banana would say—while dancing! Then the trolls showed up. Content warning: this article contains references to the n-word.…
By Nathan Grayson Published May 18, 2018 - Esports
Smash Players Plead With Each Other To Please, For The Love Of God, Stop Smelling So Bad
At Jason “RustyTrombone” Husisian’s first Super Smash Bros. tournament at a hotel in Easton, Pennsylvania, he was focused on out-maneuvering his opponent when a nearby attendee’s smell filled his nostrils. “I get a whiff and I legit start coughing,” Husisian recalled. “It smelled like he worked in a crematorium.” His voice getting louder, Husisian continued:…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
Nobody Is Saying How Many People Call of Duty‘s Battle Royale Will Support
When the makers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 announced yesterday that the upcoming game will come with its very own battle royale mode, Blackout, they refrained from answering one big question: How many people will it support? The answer, it appears, is that developer Treyarch just doesn’t know yet. Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds…
By Jason Schreier Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
Pokémon Dev Shares Designs That Didn’t Make It Into Original Games, Inspiring Fan Art
While the original 151 Pokémon are now world-famous, not every monster idea that Game Freak at the time made the cut. Earlier this week, we got a look at some of the creatures that never made it into the game, and fans are giving the designs a new life. The image above was shared via…
By Patricia Hernandez Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
A Game Where You Have To Break Up With Everyone At School
I never realized that breaking up could be fun until I played Heartbreak High Heartbreak High is a PC game due out May 21st in which you play as the most popular kid in school. You’re so popular, in fact, that you’re dating everyone in school at once. During last period the day before vacation,…
By Gita Jackson Published May 18, 2018 - Uncategorized
Here’s A Stat That Distorts The Value Of A Game
From Metacritic scores to How Long To Beat completion times, there are plenty of numbers that players reference when deciding to buy a game. Gaming storefront Green Man Gaming has another metric: Average Cost Per Hour. 2015’s Doom is said to cost $1.24 per hour. Frostpunk is $4.57 an hour. These are strange numbers that…
By Heather Alexandra Published May 18, 2018 - CultureKotaku Game Diary
I Love Complaining About Destiny 2 While Playing Destiny 2
I love the feeling of getting back into Destiny. No matter how long I’m away, picking it back up again is like slipping my hand into a well-worn baseball glove. After hundreds of hours exploring planets and killing everything in sight, things like the light double-click of the jump button to glide while sprinting as…
By Ethan Gach Published May 18, 2018