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Former NFL Player Recovers From Video Game Addiction, Returns to Pro Football
Former All-American defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock was, in 2007, a high profile rookie on the Indianapolis Colts’ roster. By 2008, he was out of the NFL, not because his body was damaged, but because he was addicted to playing Call of Duty No, seriously. Pitcock’s inability to stop playing his Xbox 360, in particular Activision’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Our Lady of the Mushroom Kingdom Turns Mario Into Religious Iconography
French artist Soasig Chamaillard has taken some standard images of Catholic worship – statues of Mary – and jazzed them up a little, adding a pop culture focus to something that was once purely spiritual. While some may rightly find these a little offensive (you have been warned), others will find them oddly charming. Except…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Star Wars Meets Total Recall in the Crossover of my Dreams
Oh man. You know that Skyrim x Star Wars fantasy helmet from yesterday? The one for a charity drive? Take a look at this one, from the same showcase. It’s the same premise: take Boba Fett’s helmet and do something else with it. Only this one’s gone a little more left-field and has blended the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Everything You Need to Know About the Wii U, at a Glance
Need to know the fundamentals of Nintendo’s upcoming console but don’t like, I don’t know, scrolling? Or looking at tables? This infographic, listing all the Wii U’s publicly-released specs, has you covered. It comes courtesy of Nintendo Europe, and breaks down both exterior components as well as some of the console’s internal specs. Wii U…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
Awful Things Happen When You Try to Make a Video About Video Game Stereotypes
Anita Sarkeesian thought it would be a good idea to make a video series called Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. It would be about, well, the tropes developers resort to when portraying women in video games. Stuff like armour that doesn’t actually cover anything To help market the idea, she set up a Kickstarter…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 12, 2012 -
I Want to Have Dinner with Terry Gross
Don’t you? Man, we would talk about the most interesting things, she would read excepts from my acclaimed book about jazz and video games, and I bet the food would be better than what I eat most days. In this video from a little while ago, Mike Birbiglia gets to live the dream, following the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 11, 2012 -
Comparing Assassin’s Creed III on PS3 and Wii U
That might seem an odd thing to ask given we’re still months away from the game’s release, but thanks to the fact Ubisoft showed the same level at E3 on the two consoles, we can actually get a good (if early, and imperfect) look at how the Wii U is shaping up as far as…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 11, 2012 -
The First Official LEGO Haunted House Arrives in September, and It Is Glorious
There has never been an official LEGO Haunted House before? That grievous oversight gets fixed this September with a $179.99 addition to the new LEGO Monster Hunters line. Behold its majesty Packed with more than 2,000 pieces including six ghastly minifigs, the “Haunted House” set is so massive (and expensive) it’ll only be available for…
By Mike Fahey Published June 11, 2012 -
The Amish Are Gonna Be Furious When They Play the New Family Guy Game
When the barns are done being raised and the butter churned, there’s nothing the Amish love doing more than settling down in front of their carved wooden televisions and acting out scenes from the latest video games. In Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse the joke’s on them, and boy will they be irate. Back…
By Mike Fahey Published June 11, 2012 -
Falling in Love With Falling in Games
“This isn’t flying. This is falling with style.” Gravity is a pernicious reminder of our physical limits. It’s the thing that keeps us rooted to the ground, it pulls our bodies downwards, makes us slow, ages us. The dream of flight, then, is a rejection of that limitation—see me? I can fly, man. I’m free,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 11, 2012 -
How Dragon Age II Helped One Young Gamer Come To Terms With Coming Out of the Closet
When we get mired in arguing over whether or not games are harmful to impressionable young players, it’s easy to forget that sometimes, they can be amazingly inspirational, or even helpful. The BioWare blog regularly runs interviews with the writers, producers, and artists who make their games. This week, Dragon Age and Star Wars: The…
By Kate Cox Published June 11, 2012 -
Persona 4 Golden Takes Bonus Music Content to a New Level
I’m a big fan of the music of the Persona series. In fact, I like it so much that I’ll listen to it outside of the game. Here, Atlus’s Aram Jabbari walks us through the copious extras that P4 Golden will bundle in with the main game. I have to say, as a somewhat recently…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 11, 2012 -
Street Fighter Producer Says Capcom ‘Didn’t Even Acknowledge’ His Harrowing Hospital Visit
Popular Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinoro Ono says even after he worked himself to the point of exhaustion and took a terrifying trip to the hospital several months ago, Capcom put him back to work at breakneck speed. Speaking to Eurogamer’s Simon Parkin at Capcom’s Captivate event last month, Ono paints a grim picture of…
By Jason Schreier Published June 11, 2012 -
You’ll ‘Want To Protect’ The New, Less Curvy Lara Croft
In the past, Lara Croft didn’t need protecting. She was a fearless daredevil, a crack shot in short shorts with enough attitude to scare off a pack of bloodthirsty gorillas. But in the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, things will be different. She hasn’t become that woman yet. And executive producer Ron Rosenberg says you’ll want…
By Jason Schreier Published June 11, 2012 -
Blizzard To Start Meting Out Sweet Ban-Justice to Diablo III Cheaters
Diablo III has its share of annoyances—lost progress due to connection difficulties, the delayed auction house, hackers stealing your gear… but the most annoying of all may well be cheaters. In an update on the Diablo III blog ominously titled “Cheating in Diablo III”, Blizzard has drawn a line in the sand. They’re about to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 11, 2012 -
We Are Scared Right Now: What Today’s Video Games Say About The Moment We Live In
A society leaves behind a pretty decent map of its psychology in the culture it creates. For example, the 1950s brought us a number of science fiction films that remain cultural touchstones to this day. And as any undergraduate student taking a Film Studies 101 course can tell you, a huge number of those movies…
By Kate Cox Published June 11, 2012 -
Rejoice: Apples to Apples‘ Hilarious Evil Twin is Once More Available for Purchase
Surely you know about Cards Against Humanity, right? It’s the super-funny, twisted version of Apples to Apples that replaces A2A‘s commonplace nouns and adjectives with more current, offensive, and plain bizarre options. (See here, a card I had in a recent game that makes the kind of high-quality obscure reference that sets the game apart.)…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 11, 2012 -
Great Moments in Gaming Humor: A Romantic Evening with Barret Wallace
Cloud Strife has it tough. Not only does he have to help prevent the end of the world, he’s got to do it while juggling the affections of three women, and one incredibly manly man. Who should Cloud choose? The strong and independent Tifa? The mysterious and innocent Aeris? The mischievous Yuffie? Or will he…
By Mike Fahey Published June 11, 2012 -
A My Little Pony E3 Would Have Been a Fine E3 Indeed
You know what was missing from E3 2012? The same thing that’s been missing from E3 for the past couple of years: My Little Pony. YouTuber LeFrenchBrony envisions an E3 where Reggie Fils-Amie took the stage at Nintendo’s E3 presser and was met by the deafening sound of thousands of stomping hooves. While the Friendship…
By Mike Fahey Published June 11, 2012