If nothing else, The Witness—the next title from Braid creator Jonathan Blow—is going to be meticulously detailed. After offering insight about the footsteps, a new development blog post talks about the trees going into the puzzle-exploration game.

I Played The New Animal Crossing With The People Who Made It

I’m a lucky gamer. I get to play games with the people who make them. I know it’s the job and that it’s usually tied to selling something, to puffing up a preview or what have you, but, hey, it’s also fun. It’s odd, too. You’re in this virtual world with the people who made…

Why Voice Actors Matter

If Ubisoft wanted me to pay loads of money for Splinter Cell: Blacklist DLC, then they’d offer an audio track of Michael Ironside doing all the Sam Fisher dialogue. Charge me $20. I’d pay it. Seriously. Back when the first Splinter Cell game came out, I never thought I’d ever care about what Sam Fisher…

Don’t Freak Out About That The Last of Us “Spoiler” You Saw Just Yet

Last week, I was chatting with my boss Stephen about The Last of Us. We were both playing through the game, and he was acting as a sounding board as I worked on my review. Suddenly, I got a worrying text from him: “A reader just let me know some asshole is in our comments…

This Isn’t The Trailer For The New Smash Bros. Game, But It Should Be

Okay, so this “trailer” for the new Smash Bros by seinfeldspitstain is not in any way real. But who cares about that? The sheer ridiculousness of badly rendered Smash characters is worth watching anyway; it’s so silly. Silly, and yet I’d totally play this. (Via Nick Robinson) Super Smash Bros. Universe – E3 2013 Trailer…

The Biggest Storylines Of E3 For JRPG Fans

E3 is next week, and while it’s easy to get distracted by the dubsteppy shooters and flashy next-gen engines, the important news, of course, revolves around JRPGs. Yep, my favorite part of the show every year is getting to wander the floor and find hidden Japanese gems (and/or accidentally convince Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime to leak…

Monkey Island Creator’s New Pirate Adventure Is A Puzzle Masterpiece

Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty is a one part match-three puzzles, one part silly pirate role-playing game, and maybe a quarter part musical extravaganza. It’s the sort of ridiculous combination that has Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert written all over it, which is fortunate, as he’s one of the…

The Moneysaver: Saints Row IV, Guild Wars, Into Darkness, Huge PC Sale

Full price, ain’t nobody got time for that. Out of nowhere, we’ve got one of the biggest PC sections we’ve ever had today, with Gamefly, uPlay, GOG, Steam, Green Man Gaming, and Amazon all putting up some extremely aggressive prices. The Gamefly sale in particular features some truly insane deals In other news, we’ve got…

Microsoft Denies Participation In PRISM Data-Gathering Scheme

Yesterday was an unusually troubling day for online privacy. Microsoft clarified the potentially problematic privacy settings for the Kinect video and audio sensor that must be plugged into the Xbox One for it to operate. And yet according to a stunning, unrelated report, Microsoft has also been offering up its users’ data to the NSA…

The Next Game from the ‘Splosion Man Folks Is an Xbox One Launch Title

Updates about LocoCycle—the next game from the creators of The Maw and The Gunstringer—have been few and far in between. But it looks like we’ll be seeing more of the vehicular adventure next week since LocoCycle has been confirmed as an Xbox One launch title. The game’s going to be on the 360, too, but…

A little bit of The Binding of Isaac, a lil’ bit of Diablo, and a whole lotta “this is why you can’t leave children alone,” Our Darker Purpose has the player work their way up a dangerous orphanage in the hopes of figuring out why the adults have disappeared. Seems sinister. Here’s the Kickstarter.

This Novel Might Have the Most Neurotic Superhero Origin Story Ever

Superheroes don’t start out super. It’s a hoary trope that’s a key part of every adventurer’s origin story. Superheroes don’t have to be penciled onto the printed page, either. In the right hands, words alone can make the powers and responsibilities of a gifted protector come to life in a mind of a reader. League…

Investigation: A Video Game Studio From Hell

Seven-day work weeks. Sexist decisions. An office environment so toxic, employees are terrified to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. That’s the atmosphere at the Florida-based game development studio Trendy Entertainment, according to current and former employees. Trendy is responsible for a popular tower defense game called Dungeon Defenders and is currently working…

That previously announced Scorpion DLC for the Injustice superhero fighting game will be out next week on June 11th. It’ll cost 400 MS Microsoft Points on Xbox Live or $4.99 on PlayStation Network.

The Mad Rush For Skylanders: Swap Force Begins October 13

Okay parents, we’ve been through this twice before; this time we get it right. The latest installment of the franchise your children go crazy for is officially launching on October 13 in North America and October 18 in Europe. You should probably be taking notes. Skylanders: Swap Force features 32 completely new characters — 16…

People Lost All of These Gaming Systems on the New York City Subway

I’ve lived in New York City my entire life and I’ve never lost anything terribly significant in the city’s underground subways. A scarf or a hat, maybe. Never lost a phone but I understand why that would suck. But losing an entire Xbox 360 console? That would be the worst. And, as you can see…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: DanimalCart think that this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo is one to be excited about. PyramidHeadCrab keeps on asking about favorite things in various categories; this time, he wants to know your most beloved video game console. And GiantBoyDetective regales readers with a rundown of obscure…

You Didn’t Ask For This Deus Ex, But You Might Want It Anyway

It might not be on the platform you wanted it to be on, but you have to admit Deus Ex: The Fall looks pretty sweet. A lot of folks were angry over the revelation earlier this week that the next game in the Deus Ex series was coming to iOS and Android devices. After years…

Three Short Comic Strips About Being a Female Game Journalist

Game critic Cara Ellison and artist Elizabeth Simins have collaborated on a trio of strips that they’re calling “New Strong Female Games Journalists.” We’re happy to debut them for you today. Ellison and Simins are here to make us think and to make us chuckle about anything game-related, really. But for starters, they’ve got this…

Thief Slips Us Another Dark, Gorgeous, And Gameplay-Free Trailer

Recently revealed to (still) be in development for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as well as the PC, the troubled Thief isn’t making me feel any better by releasing another incredibly pretty-but-pointless cinematic trailer on the eve of E3. Initially I thought it was the same trailer we posted back in April, what with…