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Plagiarism Scandal Rocks The Crossword Puzzle Scene
What’s ten letters, and is “the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own?” The professional crossword-puzzle community is enjoying some unexpected (and unpleasant) time in the spotlight this week, after an excellent FiveThirtyEight story made public allegations of plagiarism against crossword editor Timothy Parker, who runs puzzles…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
The Worst Version of Hal Jordan Just Came Back in Green Lantern
Once upon a time, DC Comics’ iconic space superhero went completely unhinged, beat up all his intergalactic peacekeeping comrades and stole the power that let all Green Lanterns fight evil. Now Parallax is back and he’s fighting a Hal Jordan who doesn’t even have a ring anymore. Spoilers follow. 22 years ago, Hal Jordan turned…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 7, 2016 -
CultureSomeone’s Making A First-Person Shooter Out Of Snakes And Ladders
Snakes and Ladders is an ancient Indian board game that you might know better by its Milton-Bradley-ized name, Chutes and Ladders. Somebody is turning it into a first-person shooter, because of course they are. Snakes-N-Ladders: Origins—Episode 1 is the game’s full name, and it’s really… something. The original board game is a playable metaphor for…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 7, 2016 -
CultureDeath Comes For Us All, Uncharted 4 Guy
Today on Highlight Reel we have Uncharted 4 Beta arms, a falling mongoose, a perfect R6: Siege ace, awkward Fallout walking and much more! Watch the video above or on our Youtube page, then talk about your favorite highlight in the comments below. Be sure to check out, like, and share the original videos via…
By Chris Person Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Conor McGregor Needed To Lose
Conor McGregor is one of my favorite fighters. He lost in devastating fashion on Saturday night, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m not a McGregor hater. I’m not laughing because the Irish motormouth, more giant golden wristwatch than man, finally flew too close to the sun. I know a lot of people are, but I’m…
By Nathan Grayson Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedHouse of Cards‘ Newest Video Game Cameo: Agario
With every new season of House of Cards comes a new video game reference. This year’s slate of episodes is no exception. On the fourth season of House of Cards, which went up on Netflix last Friday, embattled president Frank Underwood spends some valuable campaign time with the online multiplayer game Agar.io. In Agar.io, which…
By Jason Schreier Published March 7, 2016 - Reviews
Corsair Void USB Surround Headset Review: Solid Audio, Bummer Microphone
Corsair’s “Void” USB gaming headphones are not actually a black hole of nothingness. They’re just a pair of pretty good headphones; staring into them yields very little. The headset acts as a wired middle-point in Corsair’s line of Void gaming headphones, above their plain wired stereo headphones and below the wireless Void RGB 7.1. The…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Stardew Valley Players Fight Piracy By Buying Pirates The Game
The sweetest game of 2016 also appears to have the nicest fanbase around, judging by what Stardew Valley players have been up to lately. This weekend, farming simulator Stardew Valley became one of the most played games on Steam, with nearly sixty thousand concurrent players at its peak: Steamspy estimates that Stardew Valley has sold…
By Patricia Hernandez Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Updating the story of the developer of Kickstarter success Bear Simulator quitting over internet drama, YouTube personality PewDiePie has made his video review of the game public once more, along with a message about weathering criticism. Read the updated story here.
By Mike Fahey Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedThe Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 Free Content Parade Starts Tomorrow
One of the best things about the first Garden Warfare game was the constant stream of new free content, and Garden Warfare 2 is sticking with that plan. Tomorrow’s “Graveyard Variety Pack” adds a new map, solo missions, gameplay options and one excellent trailer.
By Mike Fahey Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedBlack Desert Online‘s Dynamic Movement Defies MMO Expectations
Climbing, jumping long distances, clambering up ledges? Is this a fantasy MMORPG or an action adventure game? Why not both? Over the weekend I posted video and my impressions of the first 30 minutes of Black Desert Online, mentioning basic movement felt sluggish and unresponsive. Now that I’ve had more time with the parkour-inspired movement…
By Mike Fahey Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedMortal Kombat X Is Letting Console Players Try Its New DLC Characters for Free
This week saw the release of Kombat Pack 2 for the console versions of Mortal Kombat X, which adds Leatherface, Bo Rai Cho, Alien and Tri-Borg. The standalone pack costs $20 but you can try the new characters for free for the next few days. This post originally ran March 4. I’m pulling it up…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Why Everything Keeps Staring At Me In ARK: Survival Evolved
Unlike other games, you can’t really pet stuff in ARK: Survival Evolved. You can, however, make a lot of awkward eye contact. I started playing ARK on PC this weekend, and I noticed that prehistoric beasties just kept walking up and looking at me. Were they trying to remember if we’d met at that party…
By Riley MacLeod Published March 7, 2016 -
CultureDC Super Hero Girls Bring Comic Book Toys To A Brand New Audience
Boys read comic books. Girls play with dolls. Or at least that’s how it used to be in ancient times. Mattel’s new DC Super Hero Girls dolls blur tired old lines both ways, so I recruited my doll-loving wife to help us take a look at the newly-launched line. Growing up in much stupider times…
By Mike Fahey Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedTen Spectacular Ragdoll Fails In GTA V
Watch as Franklin completely breaks GTA V’s missions with nothing but an intense ragdoll. YouTube comedian Criken2 has struck gold with his latest video, where he uses a mod to force Franklin into ragdolling at the worst moments. What follows are a collection of hilarious mission fails that would never be possible under normal conditions.…
By Patricia Hernandez Published March 7, 2016 -
Kotaku EastThink Dark Souls, But with Samurai
Ni-Oh! has been development for over a decade, but if this gameplay is any indication, it’s gonna be worth the wait. The title’s developer, Team Ninja, finally got around to uploading an official version of the Tokyo Game Show footage, which was shown behind closed doors. It reminds me of Dark Souls, but set in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 7, 2016 -
UncategorizedMinecraft is Gorgeous in Unreal Engine 4
What we’ve got here is a “Minecraft-Like Infinite Voxel World” built in Unreal Engine 4. In layman’s terms, it’s a very pretty but limited Minecraft demo running in a triple-A game engine. John Alcatraz, the creator, showcased his Infinite Voxel World on the UE forums last week, and shared it yesterday on r/minecraft. As he…
By András Neltz Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Microsoft Cancels Fable Legends, Mentions ‘Proposed Closure’ of Iconic Game Studio Lionhead
Microsoft has cancelled the latest Fable game and has announced plans to close Lionhead, the legendary studio behind the Fable franchise. Inan update detailing changes to the company’s internal development studios, Microsoft said that they’ll be shutting down Fable Legends and shuttering dev studio Press Play: After much consideration we have decided to cease development…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 7, 2016 - Uncategorized
Custom PS2 Is A Worthy Tribute To Crash Bandicoot 2
The Aku Aku Mask’s looking great on this heavily modified Playstation 2. From the front, modder Vadu Amka’s PS2 looks more like an ancient artifact from an archaeological dig site than a gaming console. But no doubt, that’s the Aku Aku mask from the Crash Bandicoot series, protecting this lucky PS2. To contact the author…
By Gergo Vas Published March 7, 2016