The Lies We Tell Age-Gates

I wasn’t really born in 1863. But I just lied and told an age-gate on the website for the game publisher Bethesda that I was. And the dumb thing believed me. (This is how we keep the children safe.) You’ve probably lied to an age-gate, too. But how? I asked this question on Twitter yesterday.…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Josay! thinks about what makes a great final boss. Zarynx explains her moral code as it pertains to playing new games. FrogFro has some personal remembrances of Animal Crossing games throughout the years. And there’s a kid-derived quote from Datacide that’s totally adorable And you…

Guild Wars 2 Antagonizes Dragons With Chocobo Racing

The world of Guild Wars 2 has survived another (the first, technically) year, despite the looming threat of dragons so powerful they could easily destroy the entire world if they so desired. Next week ArenaNet launches the Dragon Bash festival, a month-long celebration packed with events that would make me incredibly cross, were I an…

If the Xbox launch game Halo was, according to Microsoft, “Combat Evolved” and the XBox 360 launch game Geometry Wars was “Retro Evolved” and this Xbox-only new Fantasia game is “Music Evolved”, what other things should Xbox-exclusives evolve? (And why isn’t Forza subtitled Driving Evolved???)

High-Definition Fable Anniversary Coming Later This Year to Xbox 360

Fable Anniversary, an HD remake of the original Fable, is coming this year to the Xbox 360, according to this podcast, released this morning, from Major Nelson and Lionhead Studios’ Ted Timmins. In addition to the visual upgrade, to include better lighting and textures in high definition, the game will get an updated control scheme…

The Next Halo Game Is on Mobile and PC

Hello. It’s 2013. That’s why the next Halo game runs on tablets, has microtransactions and touch controls. It’s a top-down dual-(virtual)-analog shooter. It’s canon, nestling between Halo 3 and Halo 4 It’s all combat chopped into short missions, replete with the mix of shooting, grenade-throwing, melee and equipment that’s been part of the franchise since…

The Next Game From The Makers Of Rock Band Is Fantasia: Music Evolved

If I had the power of Disney’s legendary sorcerer Yen Sid, the first thing I would do is break out the Bruno Mars and take control of the beat, and I would look freaking spectacular doing it. Fantasia: Music Evolved is coming to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, courtesy of the music masters at…

Tales of Festival was Four Hours of Pure Joy For Fans

Each year, Bandai-Namco holds a giant Tales-centric event in Yokohama. This year’s, Tales of Festival 2013, had nearly 12,000 fans in attendance each day. With concerts, new game announcements, and an array of voice actors from across the games, it was an unbelievably entertaining way to spend four hours. On the second day of the…

Double Fine’s Second Kickstarter Is Also A Massive Success

The first time Tim Schafer’s Double Fine studio went on Kickstarter, it broke records. The second time? They’re still printing money. Well. Printing donations. Having asked for $725,000 to complete the company’s second Kickstarter game, strategy title Massive Chalice, they’ve passed the required total with over three weeks to spare. The game’s campaign page doesn’t…

How Shin Megami Tensei IV Stripped Me of My “Gamer Pride”

Like a lot of gamers out there, I take a lot of pride in my skill at video games—perhaps too much. At this point in my life, I’ve been playing video games for close to two-and-a-half decades. Somewhere in my late teens, I decided that I had to master the games I played, not just…

Now You can Buy a Tales Towel… With a Hood!

This past weekend at Tales of Festival 2013, Bandai-Namco displayed an impressive amount of merchandise. Some of it was sold at the event or in stores, other items were prototype items for merchandise scheduled to be released in the coming year. There were posters, programs, wall scrolls, post cards, and T-shirts. There were all kinds…

Spike TV’s Geoff Keighley has either had his Twitter account hacked or he’s suddenly gone giraffe crazy. Hopefully it’s the latter, because giraffes are awesome.

The First Few Hours Of BioShock Infinite Are Perfect For The Oculus Rift

Since using the Oculus Rift I’ve become a little obsessed with it. Part of that obsession involves watching videos of other people using the device, but I have a slight problem with how most of these videos are presented: just the familiar Oculus goggles, no real sense of how it feels or plays. That’s why…

Heaven Is A Device That Lets You Eat A Burger While Playing Games

These contraptions were given away by Burger King in Puerto Rico earlier in the year. Apparently as a joke. But that video is no joke. A device that holds a burger for you – or anything really, you could put chips or a casserole in there – while you’re gaming would be for many a…

A New Deus Ex Game Might Be Coming To E3

In March, Square Enix registered some websites for something called Deus Ex: The Fall. It didn’t raise too many eyebrows at the time because, whatever, dummy and decoy websites get made all the time. But today, only a week out from E3, the official Twitter account of Eidos Montreal – the developers behind Deus Ex:…

2013’s Best Video Game Art Is Beautiful (And Occasionally Bloody)

Into the Pixel is an annual competition which seeks to award and highlight the best video game art in the business. This year’s winners have been announced, and each piece will be showcased during E3 next week. It’s a prestigious competition, one that not only puts the artist and their work on the mantelpiece just…

Are Game (Sniper Rifles) Art?

Bill Doran makes replica video game weapons so good that were they not recreations of things that didn’t actually exist, you’d swear they were the real thing. His latest work is this enormous Halo sniper rifle, which, yeah, looks so much like something Master Chief would actually use it’s hard to believe it’s actually just…

The Last Of Us’ Multiplayer Looks…Yeah

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us has multiplayer. Not that it needs it, but hey, video games. While there’s no official footage of the mode in action, this clip appears to have been prematurely posted (it doesn’t appear to be viewable anymore) by Spanish site Hobby Consolas. Let’s not be too harsh; it’s leaked footage,…

BioShock Infinite’s Hideous Utopia Is Cuter When It’s Made Of LEGO

For a racist stronghold full of nutjobs that you spend most of the game slowly blowing to pieces, BioShock Infinite’s Columbia is still a very pretty thing to look at. Just like this LEGO recreation of part of the city. If you look closely, you’ll see that creator Cool Whip has also built a little…

E3 Is Being Built, Right Now. Here’s What It Looks Like.

Gaming’s biggest show doesn’t kick off until next week, but expert teams of booth fairies and constructobots are already hard at work building E3’s cavernous displays. If only the real show was this spacious. Or quiet. You can see an interactive 3D panorama of the floor below; squint and you can already imagine what each…