Hellblade’s Design Captures The Trauma Of Loss

Focusing on themes of grief and trauma, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice employs a number of level design and mechanical tricks to help players empathize with the main character’s struggle. We take a closer look in this critical video. SPOILERS AHEAD Transcript: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice tells the story of a warrior on a quest to revive her dead…

Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, As Told By Steam Reviews

Life Is Strange is back with a prequel, Before The Storm. It hasn’t disappointed fans, who are documenting the feels it gave them all over the Steam reviews. I was a little worried about Before The Storm. I didn’t think we needed a prequel, Chloe’s new voice actor sounded a little off, and I was…

Destiny 2 Players Fume Over One-Time-Use Shaders (And Microtransactions) [UPDATE]

Destiny 2, a video game apology for all the time we wasted in Destiny 1, is excellent in many ways. But the game has one new quirk that’s infuriated players across the world: Shaders can now only be used once. Shaders, in Destiny parlance, are special items that change the coloring of your gear. In…

Rockstar Announces L.A. Noire For Switch, PS4, Xbox One, VR

The detective game L.A. Noire is coming to Switch, Rockstar said today, blowing the minds of Nintendo fans everywhere. Also, it’s coming to PS4, Xbox One, and HTC Vive. This new version of the game will be out on November 14. The HTC Vive version will feature only seven of the game’s cases, while the…

One Piece Spoiler Websites Lead To Arrests 

In what’s being called a “first” for Japan, several individuals have been arrested for allegedly uploading One Piece spoilers before the manga officially went on sale. According to ANN, NHK and Sankei (via Anime News Network and Tokyo Reporter), 30 year-old Yo Uehara, 23 year-old Shizuka Nagaya, and 31 year-old Ryoji Hottai were arrested for allegedly…

Xbox One S Sold As Ultra HD Blu-ray Player In Japan 

Yes, things are terrible for the Xbox One in Japan. Everybody knows that. But did you know that one major retailer is selling the console as an Ultra HD Blu-ray player? It’s true. The Bic Camera in Yurakucho, one of the biggest electronics stores in Tokyo, is selling the Xbox One S as first and…

Here’s a cool video tribute to Half-Life 2: Episode 3 by Anomalous Materials. Oh, what could have been.

Cute Little Things

Jan-Wah Li is a games artist who has worked with companies like Nintendo, Disney and Ubisoft. Below you’ll find an interesting selection of work, because Li is a bit of a generalist, having done everything from traditional concept art to UI work. Which explains why you’re seeing things like menu screens. You can see more…

Evangelion Sneakers Are Surprisingly Tasteful

There’s an official Evangelion x New Balance line of sneakers coming out in Japan and China this weekend. There’ll be four colours available, each in a very subtle scheme, while they’ll also come in nice padded zip-up boxes that feature Evangelion imagery. They’ll go on sale for around USD$100. More pics at Hypebeast

If NBA Teams Had Pokémon In Their Logos

Like very few of us, deezlobs wondered what the NBA would look like if every team had a Pokémon for a mascot instead of bridges and wolves and tiny little Irish men. Then he went and drew it The full collection is here. Some are a bit of a stretch, but others—like Milwaukee and Orlando—are…

Engineers Are Trying To Save The Miiverse Before It’s Gone Forever

With the impending demise of Nintendo’s Miiverse, some users are resorting to manually saving their images. Others, though, are looking for a solution that’s a little more comprehensive. Drastic Actions (aka Tim Miller), an engineer, began work the other day on an archiver designed to trawl the Miiverse and save it before it’s lost forever.…

Hearthstone’s All-Powerful Druid Class Is Finally Getting Nerfed

Since the launch of the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion, competitive Hearthstone play has been in a bit of a turbulent state, mostly thanks to the overwhelming (and often rage-inducing) dominance of the game’s Druid class. Well, Blizzard has heard the community’s complaints, and Druid nerfs are finally on their way. But they’ll come…

Fine Print Raises Questions About Shadow Of War Memorial DLC

Last week’s feel-good news that Shadow Of War developer Monolith is commemorating the game’s late executive producer Michael Forgey with a piece of charitable DLC has taken a turn amid concerns of where some of the proceeds are going. Forgey died of cancer on March 3, and in advance of the release of the new…

Nintendo Designer Explains Why Salmon Run Isn’t Always Available

It’s super annoying that Splatoon 2‘s maps rotate, or that you can’t play Salmon Run all the time. One of the two Western designers at Nintendo says it comes down to the vastly different ways the Japanese developers approach game design. Jordan Amaro is a game designer at Nintendo’s Kyoto studio, and, “one of only…