The Weekend In Esports: The Summer Grinds On

Outside of some fighting tournaments, this weekend’s goings-on are mostly confined to play within each game’s respective summer league. You’ll find teams from across the likes of Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Counter-Strike focused on grinding out victories in their respective tables, while in the world of fighting games pros face-off in New England,…

The Yakuza Developers Are Working On A Fist Of The North Star Game

Beginning as a manga back in the early 80s, Fist of the North Star is basically Japanese Mad Max. As such it’s a perfect subject for the stylish sensibilities of the developers behind Sega’s Yakuza games. The game was announced earlier today during a live-stream event which showed off a trailer and story details for…

This Week In The Business: Microsoft Tries To Crackdown On A Bad Habit

QUOTE | “I think in the past we have made the mistake of announcing some exclusives a little bit too early. We’re trying to learn from that mistake and do better, so we have a bit that’s in development now that we’re not talking about.” – Microsoft Studios Publishing GM Shannon Loftis points to the…

Beast Battle Simulator Makes Your Flame-Thrower Polar Bear Dreams Come True

T-rexes with lasers and shotguns. Polar bears with flamethrowers. Some might laugh at these outrageous possibilities, decrying them as “unrealistic.” But in Beast Battle Simulator, these wild dreams are a reality. In this physics-based battle game, players choose from a variety of arenas such as deserts and tundras. You can pick an array of animals…

Overwatch‘s Mercy Is More Deadly Now, But She’s Still A Healer

Mercy is a Valkyrie now, and she’s not taking anybody’s crap. Yesterday, Blizzard revealed a surprising overhaul of Overwatch’s most straightforward healer, replacing her uber-powerful resurrection ult—which could potentially bring her whole team back from the brink—with “Valkyrie,” an ult that lets her soar around with a giant clip of super-powered bullets as well as…

Taylor Swift’s New Song Is Basically An Alternate Reality Game, And I Hate It

Taylor Swift’s new single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” feels like a shitty alternate reality game that you unravel to find out more lore. This tale begins in 2009, where rapper Kanye West was publicly very mean to Swift at MTV’s Video Music Awards. They publicly made up in 2015. West then included a…

A Very Realistic Video Game Simulation Of Mayweather vs McGregor

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and UFC megastar Conor McGregor are gonna “fight” tomorrow. Since it’s a boxing match, Mayweather will almost certainly beat McGregor bloody and then use McGregor’s hair to mop up his own bodily fluids. To alleviate that inevitable disappointment and test the two fighters’ true skills, I put on a series of…

Three Years Of Writing About Destiny

I’ve written more about Destiny than any other video game I’ve ever played. I’ve reviewed every expansion. I’ve written at length about raids and guns and competitive arenas. I’ve written about the community’s often tortured emotional relationship with the game, as well as my own. With Destiny 2 looming on the horizon, I decided to…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Weekends are for making up for last week’s lousy meal prep by toning down your learning to cook ambitions a little. Also, video games. I’ve had a lot of conversations about games I haven’t finished this week. There are so many excellent games I’ve yet to see the end of (including, I cannot believe I’m…

UFC Champ Jon Jones’ Steroid Scandal Causes Game Dev Jon Jones’ Twitter To Explode

Tuesday evening, it was announced that UFC light heavyweight champion and greatest fighter of all time candidate Jon Jones failed a drug test. Again. This pissed off legions of fans, a contingent of whom have been taking it out on a game developer named Jon Jones, who—just to be clear—is not a disgraced UFC champion.…

Thousands of People Say They’re Going To Run Like Naruto This Weekend

A minute watching a kid run can speak volumes about how much anime they consume. Are their arms thrust out behind them? Is their head down, their back bent over, their legs churning along a diagonal axis? And are they wearing a headband with a swirly metal thing? If so, that kid is running the…

An Unsettling Game Where You Convince AI To Let You Erase Them

Localhost is a disquieting adventure game where you interrogate some artificial intelligence, think about death and lie to your boss. In Localhost, you play as a network administrator on the first day of their job. You’re asked to go down to the shop and wipe some hard drives that have been corrupted, but in order…

Three Pro Players’ Strategies For Mastering Magic: The Gathering’s Modern Format

Magic: The Gathering’s Modern format is one of the most beloved ways to play the game. Its pool of over 11,000 cards offers players a huge variety of powerful strategies to pilot to success. Some players use it to dominate others. Some use it to tinker. Talk to top pros and you’ll hear about a…

The Internet Has A ‘Cringe’ Problem, And It Hurts Kids The Most 

Being vulnerable and honest on the internet is difficult enough for most of us, but for kids, living a life online can be hellish. Grown-ass adults love to bully naive kids online, and it happens all the time. In the latest episode of Fave This, a new podcast/YouTube show hosted by Gita Jackson and me,…

An Assassin’s Creed logo has been hiding in a Final Fantasy XV trailer since last October, hinting at the collaboration that Ubisoft and Square Enix announced yesterday. Ubisoft says there are also Final Fantasy easter eggs in the AC Origins announcement trailer and in this week’s Gamescom CGI trailer. Well done, video game publishers.

Battlegrounds Tournament Rules Result In Confusing Upset

The Gamescom PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Invitational hopes to prove that the popular battle royale game has what it takes to become an esport, poor camerawork aside. But as the tournament continues, quirky tactics and unorthodox wins have raised questions about the rules. Each match of the tournament is broken up into three rounds, with winners decided…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: How Can I Have More Casual Hookups?

Hello all you Twitternet meat hordes, and welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating advice column whose pre-orders are only available at 1 AM. This week, it’s all about sex: who wants it, who doesn’t, where to find it and whether deciding to wait on it is a losing proposition when it comes to…

Developers Put Popular Horror Game On Pirate Bay For Players Who Can’t Afford It

On torrent site The Pirate Bay, typically the domain of illegal rips of media, one username among dozens uploading the horror game Darkwood stands out: the game’s publisher. Today, the Poland-based Acid Wizard Studio uploaded their own game for free with “no catch, no added pirate hats for characters,” their torrent description reads. A lot…