Payday 2‘s Controversial Microtransactions Aren’t Going Away, Devs Say, But Might Get Changed

It’s been a rough time for Payday 2. Adding microtransactions to a game that promised to never have them, combined with the developer’s inability to respond to any criticism, seemed like it might prove fatal. As an olive branch, the developers have issued a formal apology—a step in the right direction. Lemme catch you up.…

Battlefront Easter Egg Celebrates One of Star Wars’ Best Bloopers

Blink and you’ll miss one of the best easter eggs in Star Wars: Battlefront. Spotted by GamesRadar, here’s a silly background moment that happens in a Battlefront cutscene: Bonk! As Star Wars fans already know, that’s totally a nod to one of the most famous slip-ups in Star Wars. Pay attention to the right side…

Damn, This Halo 5 Snipe Is Dirty

Watch in awe as a Halo 5 player gets absolutely demolished by a ridiculous snipe shot. Holy cow. This clip, uploaded by SingleHaloClips and recorded by 34Miniman, shows what happened to a relentless player who made the mistake of chasing down the wrong person in Halo 5: Not only does 34Miniman use a grenade to…

Our Favorite Holiday Video Game Console Bundles

It’s actually not always that easy to just buy a video game console. Almost every console on offer comes bundled with some game or other. That’s not a bad thing, of course, but it can make the process of picking out a gift a little tricky. When picking a new console as a gift, your…

Monstress Is A Gorgeous Comic Book About Racism, War and Slavery

Everybody has a little bit of caged, writhing terribleness inside of them, frightening for what it can reveal about oneself. Monstress makes that metaphor literal and shows the struggle of one young woman trying to make her demons serve her angels. This article contains mild nudity and other scenes that some readers might find disturbing.…

You Should Try Fallout 4 Without Fast Travel 

For a couple of days now, I’ve been trying an experiment with Fallout 4—and it’s completely transformed my experience with the game. Last week, I read a thought-provoking piece by Tom Chick,who lauded Fallout 4’s geography but lamented that the game’s mechanics undermine that landscape: Bethesda has no interest in addressing the difficult problem of…

Nintendo’s 80s Christmas Parties Sounded Wild

Younger readers were spared the hassle/cost, but older folks will remember that people used to have to make phone calls to get tips and strategies for tough video games. The most famous was Nintendo’s Power Line, and over the weekend the AV Club spoke with three former employees about what life was like working for…

Bloodborne’s DLC Is The Game’s Toughest Challenge Yet

It’s been almost eight months since the release of Bloodborne, From Software’s excellent reinvention of the formula it developed with Demon’s Souls. That formula? Kick your ass until you learn from your mistakes. Bloodborne’s sole DLC, The Old Hunters, doesn’t deviate from this; it’s more hardcore than ever. My plan was to publish a full…

14-Year-Old Sets New Rubik’s Cube World Record Of 4.90 Seconds

Speedcuber Lucas Etter was able to complete the Rubik’s Cube mind-blowingly fast. Solving it in 4.90 seconds is not just one of his bests so far but it’s a new world record. And here’s footage of it, taken at River Hill Fall in Maryland. It basically takes longer for the kids around him to realize…

Replica Fallout Plasma Rifle Looks Hot

The gooifying energy-based weapons of the Fallout games don’t look like the safest things to use. But they sure look neat, especially in real life. Made by cosplayer TheAnti-Lily, at first it might look like 3D art, but the WIP pics below prove that it’s actually wood, PVC pipe bits, electric cables and green lights.…

Up Close, 3D Minecraft Art Gets Pretty Freaky

The above gif progresses as follows: Minecraft 3D art as it’s meant to be viewed, as a 2D-ish render; Minecraft 3D art in-game; Minecraft 3D art in-game, but closer. It’s quite the transformation. The build, made by Tober888 of the MysticAbsents group, is a riff on Roy Lichtenstein’s famous Pop Art piece, the Drowning Girl.…

Time To Eat Fried Leaves in Japan

Yep, it’s fall! The leaves are starting to turn in Osaka. Thank the maples for some of fall’s most beautiful colors—and yummy snacks. The Japanese maple is called “momiji” (もみじ), and Minoo City is famous for its momiji tempura. Minoo is known for its Japanese maples. Check out the city’s manhole cover. [Photo: churateada] So…

The Side of Anime Life You Never See

When you watch anime, you are used to seeing anime characters living and breathing in animated worlds. Let’s change that. According to Japanese Twitter user Kibaichi, All Nationz, and My Game News Flash, folks over on 4chan have been Photoshopping anime characters in, as one anonymous forum member wrote, “places they are not usually seen.”…

The Subtle Ways Anime Changes

We notice the big changes. When characters look quite different or the animation isn’t up to snuff. What about the more subtle ones? We notice those less, but they offer an interesting peek at how animators bring their own style to a work. Over on 2ch, a recent thread featured a series of comparison images…

On the Street. Hong Kong. By Willis Lai. 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!