The smoke rolled in just after I finished Life is Strange: Before the Storm episode one, a reminder that huge swathes of the Pacific Northwest are burning. Washington and Oregon are swallowed up by thick clouds of smoke that look like the rain we’re famous for, except it’s hot and dry and terrible, and in…
WWAC’s PAX West Awards: Smooching Our Way Through The Show Floor
This year’s PAX West was a whirlwind, as always. With three of our writers on site for most of the convention, we decided it was in everyone’s best interests to wrap our favorites up in one tidy article, spotlighting the individual achievements of each.
Get Your Game On Wednesday: Women, Wheels, And Consentacle
Howdy, gaming lovelies! Yesterday was some incarnation of #NationalVideoGameDay, possibly a real holiday, but more possibly a social media consumerism ploy. In any case, I say any reason to celebrate! Hopefully, you treated yourself to a nice round of special game time. If not, just make up your own National Video Game Day and celebrate…
Making the Cut: Defending The Jill Sandwich, Barry Burton Style
Making the Cut is a recurring series in which we defend the notoriously bad things we love about video games. Wonky mechanics, goofy cutscenes, poor characterization—we love it all, and we’re going to tell you why. I love the Jill sandwich scene, because I love Barry Burton.
VR’s Potential For Meaningful Accessibility: An Interview with Polyarc Games
VR is quickly becoming the next big thing in gaming with more than 1.6 million consoles sold in 2016 and will bring in $7 billion in industry revenue by the end of 2017. This is an industry shift that allows startups to emerge with revolutionary ideas in a new kind of interactive world yet to…
Hella Big Shoes To Fill: Deck Nine Games’ Zak Garriss on Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Life is Strange is one of the breakout hits of 2015. Brought to you by Dontnod, the creators of Remember Me, Life is Strange put players in control of Max Caulfield, a teenager with time-travel powers, as she navigates returning to her hometown in the midst of a Twin Peaks-esque mystery.
Old Man’s Journey Asks Players to Balance Family and Following Their Dreams
It’s a tale as old as time: boy meets girl, boy starts a beautiful family… boy leaves them behind to go sailing for 10+ years?
Emojiam Combines The Beauty of Emojis With The Challenge of Quick Game Design
Emojiam has a simple premise: make a game in seven days based on a design document written in emojis. Participants were free to interpret the document as they wished, skipping some sections if desired, so long as the game was in some way inspired by the document.
Remakes, Remasters, and the Myth of Gamer Illegitimacy
I often say that I’ve been playing games since I was a toddler, but that’s a lie. I grew up poor; we didn’t have money for luxuries like video games and especially not consoles, so while I trained my thumbs on Super Mario Bros. and spent countless hours exploring Donkey Kong Country, after that everything…
Get Your Game On Wednesday: Welcome to the Church of Hanzo
Welcome to Wednesday! I’ve been sinking my teeth into NieR: Automata and a second Ladykiller in a Bind playthrough—this time learning more about the Boy—while the rest of the gaming world is drowning in daddies. Will I ever catch up on the hot gaming trend of the day? Probably not, but I’m always on top…
Get Your Game on Wednesday: The Return of Atari
Happy Wednesday, gaming lovelies! It’s been a while since I’ve crashed your screens. This week’s column brings on the nostalgia of my youth, pokes fun at the gaming industry and other fun news you can use. Read on for more!
Love the Tortall Books? Play These Five Games
Tamora Pierce, the author who created Tortall, has been critical to my growth as a writer and a person. (I should have known I was non-binary when I tried to bind my chest like Alanna, but also still wanted to be a girl!) Loving Tortall as much as I do means that I’m always on…