Sure, A More Open Steam Could Be Chaos. It Could Also Be Amazing.

When even Gabe Newell calls the approval process behind what content goes on Steam a “dictatorship,” hell, when even Gabe Newell calls the Steam storefront “boring”—well, that’s when you know there’s a problem. Judging from his recent talks, though, it sounds as if Valve hopes to change that—there is the possibility of Valve stepping back…

The Most Amazing Snow Levels And Zones In Video Games

Barring timed underwater escort missions, snow levels, with all their slippery ice and falling rocks (not to mention the fog), are probably the deadliest. Yet it’s easy to find enjoyable—or at least memorable—ones, even if we disregard games where the entire setting is snowy (We’re looking at you, Skyrim). Assault On The Control Room (Halo:…

Watch Heavy Rain‘s Creator Talk About How Gaming Needs To Grow Up

Yesterday at DICE, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls creator David Cage gave a provocative talk titled “The Peter Pan Syndrome: The Industry That Refused to Grow Up.” Stephen’s already written up the salient points of the talk, and now you can watch the talk in its entirety online. So, sit back and watch one…

She Lost Her Father, But Journey Helped Her Cope

Last year’s standout PS3 game Journey was an emotional experience for many. That was certainly the case for Sophia, a 15-year-old who wrote the above letter to one of the game’s creators, Jenova Chen, about how Journey helped her cope with the loss of her father. Chen read the letter aloud today at the DICE…

Ancient Egypt? The Civil War? Pirates? It’s Time For Some Rampant Assassin’s Creed Speculation

Earlier today, Ubisoft announced that the Assassin’s Creed series would be getting a new game in “fiscal 2014” that would feature a new protagonist and a new setting. “Very interesting,” you may say, twirling your mustache and reaching for your prognostication hat. “Very interesting, indeed.” I’ve got my wild speculation hat on (it’s like a…

From the Director of Rush Hour and X-Men the Last Stand: FarmVille the Animated Series

Oh calm down, FarmVille fans, it’s not like Brett Ratner is directing the upcoming 30-minute cartoon series based on your Facebook obsession. According to the Wall Street Journal he’s just producing the show, so it might still be good. Now before everyone jumps to Ratner’s defense, let me just say that I admire the man…

This Catchy Devil May Cry Rap Won’t Brainwash You, Don’t Worry

Here’s KadeshFlow with a tribute to the new Devil May Cry—it’s pretty good! This song is but one of many gaming-themed flows he has up on his YouTube page, including another one where he’s cosplaying as Link while spitting about The Legend of Zelda. See below. You can check out more of his music if…

A Mind-Boggling 30-Year Collection of Video Games Can Be Yours for Only $550,000

Have you kept every video game, console or accessory you’ve ever bought or owned? You probably haven’t. But, try to imagine if you did. How many things would that be? A couple hundred? Somewhere in the 1000s, maybe? One guy in Italy has you, all your friends and probably a bunch of strangers you don’t…

Activision-Blizzard sold 12 million copies of Diablo III, the company said today in an investors’ report.

Warren Spector Doesn’t Think Lollipop Chainsaw Should Have Been Made

Warren Spector, one of the most respected game designers out there and the lead creator of the revered Deus Ex, did something unusual for a game designer today. At a talk at the DICE convention in Las Vegas, he named a name… or at least he let one of his slides name the name of…

The Latest Crysis 3 trailer has collapsing dams, space-explosions, and Muse’s wimpy Queens of the Stone Age impression.

Two Quotes That Help Warren Spector Assess Where He’s At Right Now

Legendary game designer Warren Spector was talking at the DICE convention in Las Vegas today, but didn’t want to talk about his departure from Disney and the shuttering of his studio. He wanted to talk about the “graying of gaming” or at least about his journey though gaming. But the elephant is in the room,…

You Can Visit Heaven with Mega Man, Sam Fisher and Brain Age in This Week’s Nintendo Download

Comparatively speaking, it’s not that often that you get to engage in wanton bloodshed in a game released for Nintendo platforms. (Well, you can creatively interpret Mario’s adventures in an ultra-violent way, if you wanted.) So, The Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2—where you can kick guys to bloody bits—is a departure from…

Robie Taught Me a Thing or Two About Brick-Breaking

As I played through the first few levels of Viral’s new Facebook brick-breaking game, Robie, I was annoyed by the game’s assumption that there was anything about the genre I was unaware of that would require interrupting my play for a tutorial. Then I learned how to bend the ball to my will. There must…

Curious about the life of an artist? Check out Art Game, the latest from Pippin Barr, the guy who made Epic Sax Game

Demons, High Schools, And Sex: Just Another Day At Atlus Games

Sex sells. Except when it doesn’t. Two years ago, when the people at Atlus tried to convince big-box stores to distribute their newest game, Catherine, they found that companies like Walmart and Target weren’t interested in selling sex. Store reps were turned off by the game’s box art, which features a shirtless man trapped inside…

It seems that we’re collectively slacking on Halo 4, so 343 Industries dropped hints on Easter eggs nobody has found.

FarmVille 2 Gothic Revival Workshop Recipes: Everything You Need to Know

Our look at the new Gothic Revival theme in FarmVille 2 continues with a complete guide to the Crafting Workshop recipes that have also been released in this theme. There are three new recipes in all, some of which will be required if you’d like to finish the game’s Florist Table feature. You do want…

EA’s incredibly popular (and profitable) free mobile game The Simpson’s: Tapped Out is finally available for Android

The Next Assassin’s Creed Will Get A Total Overhaul: New Character, New Time Period, Coming Next Fiscal Year

Ubisoft announced that a new Assassin’s Creed game featuring a new hero and time period will be coming in fiscal year 2014, which could be anywhere from this October to next September April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014. Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot promised a major leap forward for the Assassin’s Creed franchise and indicated…