Uncategorized

A Researcher Is Digging Up Largely Forgotten Queer Video Games

In the early 90s, two queer people in the Mission District of San Francisco made games about queer experiences. One was a fantasy role-playing game populated by gay characters, the other a lesbian adventure game. These two developers would never meet. It’s only now, through archival projects like LGBTQ Game Archive, that queer scholars have…

Psyonix has revealed the drop rates for Rocket League’s loot crates. The studio says these haven’t changed since they were first added to the game back in September of 2016, and the rates track closely with various player estimates. The game’s battle pass arrives later this summer.  

Dungeons & Dragons And Magic: The Gathering Get An Official Crossover

In the greatest bit of brand synergy since the Flintstones met the Jetsons, the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering are smashing together in a new D&D book announced today. Out on November 20, the Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica is a D&D lore book set within Ravnica, a massive city from Magic:…

Octopath Traveler‘s Best NPC Is This Reclusive Old Man

Every party member in Octopath Traveler has a special ability that allows them to interact with NPCs throughout the world. Ophilia the cleric and Primrose the dancer can temporarily recruit NPCs into the party and summon them during battles. One unassuming old man is able to unleash Hell upon enemies. I’m pretty sure he’s a…

I’m Okay With 419,826th Place In Mario Odyssey’s Jump Rope Challenge

Every day, we make decisions about the games we will play and the things we will try to do in them. These days, I’m trying to make choices that are smarter, which I hope is the correct way to classify my decision to only try the jump-rope challenge in Super Mario Odyssey once. I only…

The One Piece Manga Is 80 Percent Finished, Says Eiichiro Oda 

The One Piece manga debuted way back in 1997. That was over twenty years ago. Wonder how much more story is left? Twenty percent, it seems. In an interview with Yomiuri, Oda was asked about how the story has gotten long. “It’s because the characters are acting on their own,” Oda explained. “It’s taken twenty…

New Anime Museum Opens In Tokyo

Iconic anime studio Toei Animation is opening a new museum later this month. It’s located in Tokyo and called Toei Animation Museum. Toei, of course, is responsible for the One Piece, Dragon Ball, Galaxy Express 999, Mazinger Z and Sailor Moon anime shows. At the museum’s various exhibits, visitors can learn how anime is made…

A new Digimon game has been announced! Called Digimon Survive, it’s slated for a 2019 release on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. No word yet on an international release. 

See One Piece Voice Actors Bring Luffy And Usopp To Life 

Luffy’s voice actress Mayumi Tanaka and Usopp’s voice actor Kappei Yamaguchi recently suited up in motion-tracking gear. Hijinks ensued. This wasn’t for the anime, but rather, the idea was to turn Luffy and Usopp into virtual YouTubers It’s wild to see them not only do the character’s voices but to have them also do their…

Sea Fog. Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam. By Jim Sheppard | Instagram  JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line! 

We’ve Had Games Done Quick, Now For Games Done Slow

The two Games Done Quick events are an annual highlight of the speedrunning scene, but a new event in Australia is looking to take the opposite approach. Great Games Done Slow will be held in September, and rather than the chaos and stress of trying to play games quickly, players will instead be “encouraged to…

A Very Good Interview With Persona’s Shigenori Soejima

Shigenori Soejima is one of the great artists working in video games, and classics like Persona and Catherine just wouldn’t have been the same without his vision. This short documentary by Archipel is a must for fans of his stuff, going into his history with Atlus, his primary inspirations and how he approaches his art.…

ASCII Doom Is A Shotgun Blast To The Eyeballs

Meet possibly the best and worst way to play DOOM It’s a remake of DOOM in Unity, called 1337d00m. Dario Zubovic, who has released it for free on itch.io, calls it a “hacker’s version of the original DOOM”. “It’s a parody of difficulty sliders in games,” Zubovic said over email, although the mod’s also a…

Quest For Glory Is Kinda Back

The Quest For Glory series, a giant in the history of PC role-playing (and adventure!) games, has been gone for decades. But this month, their creators have returned with what’s basically a new entry. It doesn’t carry the official branding, but Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is a Quest for Glory game through and through. Co-creators…

Fan Comic Illustrates One Of Bloodborne‘s Most Tragic Stories

Bloodborne is a game filled with characters whose tragic histories intertwine with the game world around them, and the tale of Ludwig is one of the saddest ones. A wordless comic by Reddit user yutacustoms conveys it better than I can. I don’t want to spoil it for you, and you should read the entire…

Players Open Black Lotus At Magic Event, Crowd Erupts

Players in a competitive Unlimited draft at Grand Prix Chiba were expecting to open some of the most powerful, and valuable, cards in Magic: The Gathering, but what they got was a Black Lotus. A Black Lotus is one of the most valuable cards in Magic. Although it is played in very few formats of…

The Valley Of Trials Is My Favorite Place In World Of Warcraft 

Creating a new character World of Warcraft might be an unfun exercise in grinding, but it also gives orc players the opportunity to experience the Valley of Trials, my favorite area in the game. I recently re-installed World of Warcraft’s bulky 50GB+, and then I went to my Blizzard account page to activate my subscription. Right…

Fortnite Summer Skirmish Winner Accused Of Cheating, Defended By Epic

Fortnite’s Summer Skirmish is an invite-only esports event that boasts over $8 million in total prize payout across the summer. A winner from Friday’s tournament has been accused of cheating, and developer Epic has come to the player’s defense. In a Reddit thread with over 34,000 upvotes, competitor iDropz_bodies was accused of cheating his way…

Magic: The Gathering Once Had A Foul-Mouthed Educational Muppet  

Game companies often goof up when it comes to marketing their products in ways that portray them as hip or cool, but Magic: The Gathering’s Wuberg, the Magic-playing Muppet, is a high water mark when it comes to completely beefing it Evan Irwin, a host of the Magic Mics podcast, dug up these puppet videos…

Enter The Gungeon’s Big New Update Completely Revitalizes The Game 

Yesterday, Enter the Gungeon finally received its long-awaited Advanced Gungeons & Draguns update, a free second major expansion that completely revitalizes the 2016 game. It feels like Dodge Rolls’ roguelike shoot’em up came out forever ago, but playing it again this week it feels completely new again. Advanced Gungeons & Draguns adds a lot, so…