How much strain does online gaming put on the Internet?
The answer might surprise you.
Yannick Lejacq
Rain and the rise of the "precious indie game" sub-genre
Oscar bait comes to videogames.
Racial supremacy? Economic oppression? BioShock Infinite’s Ken Levine digs into America’s seedy past
Why do we accept floating cities, but never singing maidens?
BioShock Infinite creator Ken Levine talks Occupy Wall Street and how his game almost wasn’t
We chat with an exhausted Ken Levine just before the launch of the third installment of BioShock.
Tomb Raider writer Rhianna Pratchett on why every kill can’t be the first and why she hoped to make Lara Croft gay
In the second part of our conversation, the Tomb Raider penner walks us through the treacherous jungle of gender politics, reflects on whether we’re ready for “braver” characters, and postulates on Lara Croft’s other selves.
Tomb Raider writer Rhianna Pratchett on creating "men with boobs" and writing a vulnerable Lara Croft
Lara Croft’s influence on modern videogames is incalculable. So the potential outcome of a reimagining of her character and corresponding hero’s journey was understandably inestimable. After several months of controversy surrounding alleged depictions of rape in the new Tomb Raider, the game was fin
With its "Full Spectrum" conference, Electronics Arts is reaching for the LGBT rainbow.
“If you set out to make a gay video game that would be the worst video game ever.”
Review: Devil May Cry is a sexually-frustrated mess. It’s still a lot of fun.
Should we feel self-conscious about playing a game with rampant erotic juvenalia and giant demon fetuses roaming about? That question should answer itself, but, well, it’s complicated…
"Why is the player on the side of killing?": a conversation with the writer of Far Cry 3
How Jeffrey Yohalem took a AAA franchise and made a game about the violent escapism of his generation.
The Kill Screen Review: Warfighter, the last refuge of a scoundrel
EA’s new military adventure teaches us what it means to be an American hero.
A conversation with Ian Dallas, creator of The Unfinished Swan
His game, now out on PSN, is the most anticipated indie game of 2012. Here’s what he had to say about testing, writing, and bugging out.
The Kill Screen Review: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Firaxis’ remake of the PC gaming classic lets you fail, and there is beauty in failure.
Will interactive sex tech replace the human touch?
The new wave of sex toys are well-designed, interactive, and forward-looking. They could also render your best moves obsolete.
We talked to the guy who is remaking XCOM, finally
A conversation with Enemy Unknown lead designer Jake Solomon.
The Kill Screen Review: Papo y Yo
The new addiction parable Papo y Yo dredges up a painful experience from Yannick LeJacq’s past
Another World?
Why do videogames value failure more than we do? We talk to philosopher and queer theorist Jack Halberstam about financial failure, the queerness of computer-generated films, and where videogames have yet to change.
The Sounds of Violence
When did demons get so soft? The sound designer of Diablo III Joseph Lawrence tells us how the squishy sounds of hell came from spaghetti, gunpowder, raw meat, and more.
War Is Hell. Except When It’s Fun.
Spec Ops: The Line promises to challenge us with moral dilemmas. But the game ultimately offers as much critique on a morally decrepit genre, the modern military shooter, as it does the hardships of war.
New Mass Effect 3 Endings Don’t Bring Closure
If any videogame developers still doubted the Anonymous adage “the internet is here,” the explosive protest against Mass Effect 3’s ending that brought the legendary BioWare studio to its knees has left them forever humbled. Since its release this past March, the final act of the acclaimed Mass Effe
Love and Chaos
Since its release in March, Mass Effect 3 has come under fire for everything from its ending to the inclusion of a gay male Commander Shepard. But what really made the game’s fans and critics so upset? In honor of Pride Day, we examine the series’ finale and the complicated sexuality of its protagon
Are Military Shooters Finally Getting Their Apocalypse Now?
Yager’s military shooter, Spec Ops: The Line, cites Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness as its influences. Can a videogame about shooting make its player feel not just the physical conflict of war, but the moral conflict as well? We talk to the lead designer about the setting and the role of horror
Why Diablo III’s bugs are making gamers so angry.
Starting with Valve releasing Steam as a necessary tie-in product to activate Half-Life 2, videogame companies have developed a habit of using titanic releases to push forward new and controversial forms of digital rights management (DRM). Proponents and PR folks both claim that these will ultimatel
How a Photographer Recovered the Seedy Glory Days of Times Square Arcades.
In 1983, Bill Butterworth began shooting his local arcades in the dangerous, sex-driven halls of Times Square. We talk to Hilton Ruiz about the upcoming book of Butterworth’s photography he discovered and edited, what it’s like to be a child among prostitutes and pimps, and why NBA Jam killed the ar
In Diablo III, Hell is Other Demons.
Twelve years have passed, and once again Blizzard is inviting players to revisit Hell in Diablo III. We brave the journey and wonder what has changed since we last made this trek.
A Father’s Bottle, A Child’s Pain, and A Grown Man’s Memory
How did Vander Caballero, the youngest member of a wealthy South American family, deal with a childhood littered with alchoholism and abuse? He created the world of Papo y Yo, an upcoming PSN puzzler in the form of autobiography set in a favela.