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Civilization’s Huge 61-Player War Is Just Nuts
As I type this, a computer is simulating the biggest and most destructive conflict Civilization V has ever seen. Over 60 factions are currently waging war, and the world they’re leaving in their wake is a…weird one. Battle Royale Mk II, as it’s called (the first Battle Royale died an agonising death), recently ticked past…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 16, 2015 - Culture
Comic Book Terraforms Mars
Michal Lisowski is an artist from Poland who has worked for companies like Arkane (Dishonored) and Privateer Press (Warmachine). You can see more of Michal’s work at his personal site and ArtStation page To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they’re big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), click…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedMetal Gear Solid V Has A Secret That Seems Impossible To Trigger
Holy shit. Some of the stuff hidden inside Metal Gear Solid V is ridiculous. SPOILERS FOR SECRETS INSIDE METAL GEAR SOLID FOLLOW. SPOILER SHIELDING DOG GO!! Right now, Metal Gear Solid V fans are racking their brains trying to figure out how to trigger a certain datamined scene within Metal Gear Solid V. Nobody has…
By Patricia Hernandez Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedMannequins Slowly Stalk You In Creepy New Horror Game
Mannequins are terrifying, which makes them perfect for a horror game. Late Night Shop is early into development, but I’m sold on the concept. For reasons unknown, players find themselves in a mall late at night, and realize the usually benign mannequins are following you around. The mannequins only move when you’re not looking at…
By Patrick Klepek Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedCelebrate Fifty Years Of Yuji Naka With Five Minutes Of Sonic
One of the key creators of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, programmer extraordinaire and former long-term head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka turns 50 on September 17. One minute for each ten years seems fair. While right now Yuji Naka is preparing for the North American release of his Rodea the Sky Soldier on Wii…
By Mike Fahey Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedAmazing Mario Maker Level Roasts Overly Dramatic Games
We like to play the hero in video games, vowing to always do whatever it takes to save the day. But sometimes, getting the happy ending just isn’t possible. Even in Mario games. Or at least, this is what a lot of hokey games would like us to believe. You’ve gotta check out this hilarious…
By Patricia Hernandez Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
The Captain America Comic Book That Got Frozen in Time
Issue #1 of Captain America: White was supposed to come out seven years ago. It’s out today. Back in 2008, Captain America: White was the next hotly-anticipated project from writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, who’d become a fan-favorite team on the strength of their moody Batman projects. Loeb and Sale went on to…
By Evan Narcisse Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedCrappy Levels Are Not Ruining Super Mario Maker
Hardcore Mario fans are exasperated right now—it’s really difficult to find good Mario Maker levels. Want to play gimmick levels, auto run levels, slight variations on 1-1, and hilariously difficult levels with poor game design? You can find those anywhere in the brand-new Wii U game. It’s flooded with them. I’ve seen blame cast on…
By Patricia Hernandez Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
Podcast: D.C.’s Wary Embrace of Video Games
Although the trauma of congressional hearings in the 1990s and early 2000s over video games published by studios as diverse as Nintendo and Rockstar remains fresh to many game designers, the perception of games and their players is slowly changing in the nation’s capital. On the most recent episode of my podcast, Shall We Play…
By Chris Suellentrop Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
The BBC’s Grand Theft Auto Movie Was Bad
I had high hopes for the BBC’s Grand Theft Auto docudrama, The Gamechangers, which aired last night (and is now available on iPlayer to UK viewers). Here was the BBC spending what looks like quite a lot of money on a film about video games, and getting people who really knew about the games industry…
Keza MacDonald Published September 16, 2015 - Culture
Valve Fixed Counter-Strike‘s Biggest Problem
Thank fucking goodness. As part of a huge update released late yesterday, Valve took aim at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s most egregious problem: awkward, unreliable hitboxes. Hitboxes are what they sound like: they dictate where players can be hit when you shoot at them. For years, players complained that they could, for instance, unload clips into…
By Nathan Grayson Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedFinal Fantasy Adventure Gets Yet Another Remake
Final Fantasy Adventure, which came out in 1991 for the Game Boy and was actually not a Final Fantasy game but instead the predecessor to Secret of Mana, got a remake in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance called Sword of Mana, which isn’t a strict remake but in fact overhauls just about everything from…
By Jason Schreier Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedFallout 4’s SPECIAL Cartoons Are Excellent
I could watch an entire show in this style—it’s so good! Last week, we learned a little bit more about what the S in SPECIAL stands for in Fallout 4. This week, we’re learning more about Perception. For Fallout fans, much of this information will be old hat, but it’s still worth watching. The animations…
By Patricia Hernandez Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
Metal Gear Solid V Fan’s Comic Ending Is Better Than The Real Thing
Metal Gear Solid V is an excellent video game with a terrible ending. You may have heard this before Fortunately, we’ve got fan artists! Illustrator Cody Shaw, who runs all sorts of video game art on his Tumblr, drew this wonderful comic that ties a nice, satisfying bow on The Phantom Pain. It’s got GIANT…
By Jason Schreier Published September 16, 2015 -
UncategorizedFive Video Games That Put My Children Right To Sleep
For some parents all it takes is a cuddle or a short story to send their little darlings into dreamland. Not me. I have to play video games to get the kids to go down. Poor me. Welcome to the second installment of BRB, Kids Are Screaming. It’s been three months since my last confession,…
By Mike Fahey Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
Madden NFL 16’s Best Mode Almost Turns Football Into Hearthstone
Ten years ago, I wrote one of the most wrongheaded articles of my career. In a review of 2005’s Blitz: The League for Slate, I predicted that Madden NFL’s then-new monopoly on the National Football League’s license for video game football would restore variety to the virtual gridiron. Surely the single-minded pursuit of NFL realism…
By Chris Suellentrop Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
The Newest Arkham Knight Comic Makes Some Shrewd Tweaks To Batman Lore
Despite being the titular bad guy in the newest Batman video game, the Arkham Knight was underdeveloped as a major villain. It’s a good thing that a new comic series is convincingly demonstrating how someone very close to the Dark Knight wound up wanting to kill him. Spoilers follow for the plot of Batman: Arkham…
By Evan Narcisse Published September 16, 2015 -
CultureRacist Troll Doesn’t Understand Racism, And Other Trolling Stories
When I asked for your worst (but really best) stories about trolls, I didn’t expect so many stories from trolls. But here we have it: 23 hand-picked stories from your amusing trolling and being-trolled experiences. Suffice it to say that I’ve decided to unplug from the Internet now. Submissions have been edited lightly for clarity.…
By Tina Amini Published September 16, 2015 - Uncategorized
Destiny: The Taken King Kicks Ass So Far
When Destiny first launched, it was a half-baked, punishing game with the barest hint of a story, delivered through crummy dialogue and repetitive missions that tasked you with shooting endless waves of enemies. One year later, everything’s changed. I’ve spent much of the past 24 hours powering through Destiny’s big Year Two expansion, The Taken…
By Jason Schreier Published September 16, 2015