When it comes to the best video games of 2023, it was all about revisiting familiar realms. Whether it was through sequels, returning franchises, or long-awaited remakes, the pleasure was finding new things to enjoy in old games. Larian Studios created a breakout hit based on one of the most …
Read More »The Fight Tearing the Game Awards Apart
Geoff Keighley had a lot to talk about. Onstage at this year’s Game Awards, the host, who is also the event’s creator and producer, took an in-person and online audience through hours of trailers, announcements, celebrity appearances, and awards. His event has become, almost by default, the biggest show in …
Read More »The Death of E3 Signals the End of Gaming’s Most Extravagant Era
E3 is finished, for good this time. The Entertainment Software Association confirmed today that the event will not be happening in 2024 or any time thereafter, bringing 28 years of the video game industry’s most prolific trade event to a sudden, unceremonious end. E3’s demise isn’t wholly unexpected. The annual …
Read More »Sony’s New Access Controller Reveals a Big Problem in Adaptive Gaming
For the past five years, engineers at Sony have been developing the PlayStation 5’s answer to the Xbox Adaptive Controller, finally completing a triumvirate of accessibility-focused controllers for all three current-gen consoles, including the Nintendo-licensed Hori Flex. The palm-sized, turtle-shaped Access controller arrives three years into the lifecycle of the …
Read More »Video Games That Encourage Human Interaction Can Build Better Vibes
Gamers have long been stigmatized as lonely weirdos. Some of that has been deserved—ask anyone who’s had a bunch of children shout horrible slurs at them during a match of Call Of Duty. But some leaders in the gaming industry want to push back against that narrative by creating games …
Read More »The 'Grand Theft Auto VI' Trailer Is Here. And It’s Already Causing Mayhem
The first trailer for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto VI has arrived, and it’s promising a new female protagonist. More of a teaser than anything, the trailer introduces viewers to Lucia, a woman who blames her incarceration on “bad luck, I guess.” To say Grand Theft Auto VI is hotly …
Read More »How 'Baldur's Gate 3' Became the Horniest Game of the Year
In a subreddit dedicated to Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons–based role-playing game, a player posed an important question: “I know you probably heard this here more times than I can count but seriously, why is everyone so horny?” There was a practical element to this …
Read More »The Future of Game Accessibility Is Surprisingly Simple
For months before Starfield’s release, the silence that surrounded its accessibility features said more than Bethesda may have liked. This was only exacerbated when, pressed on the subject by Kinda Funny Games, Todd Howard put the onus on the Xbox Adaptive Controller and a limited “large font mode” to carry …
Read More »‘Super Mario RPG’ Is Still One of Nintendo’s Best, Most Bizarre Games
There’s a scene early in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars where Mario, alongside his new friend Mallow—a “frog” who looks like a cotton candy cloud wearing pants—is hunting down a thief. Toad, faithful servant of the Mushroom Kingdom, reports a sighting, then scoffs at the question of …
Read More »Nintendo Is Ready to Take On Hollywood
Link is moving from Hyrule to Hollywood. Coming off the $1.3 billion success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo announced Wednesday that it’s working on a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. The video game developer said that although it “will take time” until the movie hits theaters, …
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