The Surprising Return of a Forgotten Nintendo Game
Slate · 4 minMetroid is a fan-favorite series. So why has it taken almost two decades for this sequel to arrive?
Gaming
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Tabletop Reads: 21 Great Articles About Board Games
Pocket · 3 minFrom the dark roots of The Game of Life to the real-life operation inspired by Operation, these stories take you deep into the worlds of your favorite board games.
Remember When Multiplayer Gaming Needed Envelopes and Stamps?
WIRED · 12 minThe history of play-by-mail includes bribes, forgeries, and games that took years to finish.
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The 15 greatest video games of the 80s – ranked!
The Guardian · 7 minThe 1980s were crammed with wonderful adventure games – The Hobbit, King’s Quest, Leather Goddesses of Phobos – but the first point-and-click title to be designed by comic genius Ron Gilbert using the SCUMM scripting language is the classic that busted out of the genre ghetto.
Inside The ‘World’s Largest’ Video Game Cheating Empire
VICE · 14 minThe cheat-making group known as "Chicken Drumstick" made more than $70 million selling cheats for PUBG Mobile. This is the story of its rise and fall.
Four Games to Play If You’re Burned Out on Animal Crossing
The New York Times · 7 minIt’s been over a year since the early days of shelter-in-place and social distancing drove everyone to find adventures in their own homes. Video games offered an easy escape from all of the stress and uncertainty, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons arrived at the perfect moment in March 2020.
I Insist You Play Mass Effect As a Woman
Slate · 4 minNow that Mass Effect Legendary Edition, the remaster of BioWare’s groundbreaking space trilogy, is out, the video game series likely to reach a whole lot of first-time players—especially considering the current drought in new game releases.
Knockout City is the best team-deathmatch game we’ve played in years
Ars Technica · 18 minKnockout City is the best team-deathmatch game I've played in years. It celebrates and elevates the genre's roots in ways that make me think I've somehow reinstalled my old Voodoo2 GPU. And the game elevates this familiar format all under the guise of family-friendly dodgeball.
The best games for Nintendo Switch
Engadget · 12 minJust five years ago, Nintendo was at a crossroads. The Wii U was languishing well in third place in the console wars and, after considerable pressure, the company was making its first tentative steps into mobile gaming with Miitomo and Super Mario Run.
Elon Musk's brain-chip company, Neuralink, released a video of a monkey playing video games with its mind
Business Insider · 3 minElon Musk finally got to show off his monkey. Musk has boasted about Neuralink's tests on primates before, but this is the first time the company has put one on display. During a presentation in 2019, Musk said the company had enabled a monkey to "control a computer with its brain."
For some, Wii Fit’s legacy is body shame
Polygon · 8 minNintendo wants to make exercise easy and fun. At least, that’s the message the company tries to broadcast through health-conscientious developments like step counters and memory games.
Why are game makers creating new Game Boy games in 2021?
Ars Technica · 6 minHere's an unavoidable fact: the original Nintendo Game Boy is reaching middle age. The world may have moved on to sleeker, less bulky technology since Nintendo's first portable landed in shopping malls and mom-and-pop electronics stores back in 1989.
Three days of pain: how I built a gaming PC
The Guardian · 6 minIt’s just like building Lego, they said. Enjoy the process, they said. You’ll have such a feeling of accomplishment when it’s finished. This is what friends and colleagues told me when I set out to build a PC. It did not quite go that way.
"I Need to Explain to You Just How Dire America's Pokémon Card Crisis Is"
VICE · 9 minPokémon cards aren't just expensive. Card grading services are being completely overwhelmed in an “avalanche of cardboard.”
Why today feels like a quiet turning point for video games
Polygon · 4 minIndustry-changing shifts are easier to spot in hindsight, long after hundreds of little decisions steered video games into a new epoch. The parallel rise of downloadable content, post-launch patches, and in-app purchases happened over years. Today is different.
“Don’t You Dare Go Hollow”: How the Ultra-Challenging ‘Dark Souls’ Became a Pandemic Balm
The Ringer · 17 minAt the spiritual nadir of one of the darkest years in recent history, I found solace in one the most trying video games ever Over several hours I had slogged my way through the Iron Keep, making mental note of the Alonne Knights, the Ironclad Soldiers, the Greatbow Knights—the fucking Greatbow Kni
New indie board games build worlds without capitalism or colonialism
The Conversation · 5 minThinking through alternatives to life under capitalism, the vestiges of colonialism or the catastrophic impacts of climate change is hard but necessary work. But could it also be play?
The Original Kings of Esports
The Atlantic · 9 minBlack players pioneered what we now call esports. The industry hasn’t paid them back. Jason Cole didn’t own a computer, but he was fairly certain that he was the best Street Fighter player in California.
Special Report: The Inside Story of Blizzard's Departures and a Company at a Crossroads
IGN · 27 minThe news came as a shock, but it also wasn’t exactly a surprise. One month ago, Jeff Kaplan announced that he would be leaving Blizzard. His departure ended a 19 year career at Blizzard in which he helped develop two of the most important games ever made — World of Warcraft and Overwatch.
‘A wonderful escape’: the rise of gaming parents – and grandparents
The Guardian · 4 minVideo game popularity soared during the pandemic, as people sought distraction and ways to connect with loved ones.
In a World Let Loose, Video Game Makers Are ‘Doubling Down’
The New York Times · 5 minThe companies won big when the pandemic forced people indoors. In a risky bet, they aren’t slowing down even as behaviors shift again. At the height of the pandemic, people stuck indoors passed the time by playing tons of video games.
How student-designed video games made me rethink how I teach history
The Conversation · 4 minImagine you’re a young samurai in Japan in 1701. You have to make a difficult choice between an impoverished life in exile, or the prospect of almost certain death while trying to avenge the death of your dishonored lord. Which do you choose?
How Disney took over video games after closing all of its studios
Polygon · 5 minE3 2021 takes place June 12-15 as a re-imagined, all-virtual online event. Nintendo, Xbox, Bethesda, Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco, Ubisoft, Capcom, and others will deliver new video game announcements, trailers, release dates, and more.