Culture

Game Worlds to Take a Vacation in

Have you ever played a game and just thought to yourself: “wow, I would really love to take a vacation in that world”? – Well, we certainly have! Here are our top picks, ten game worlds that would make for a splendid getaway.

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How Persona works

Over the years, the Persona series has developed from a spin-off to a niche title and with Persona 5 Royal at the latest into one of the most accomplished JRPGs to date. Its roots are somewhat tricky to untangle, which is why we want to do that for you. As well as ponder the thematic…

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Summer Game Fest 2022: Mediocre at best

Since E3 is taking an extended vacation, Geoff Keighley has taken it upon himself to fill the summer lull with a major showcase. But does it live up to expectations? We go over the high- and lowlights of Summer Game Fest 2022. Shownotes Summer Game Fest 2022 Full Presentation (GameSpot) Summer Game Fest Showcase 2022: Everything…

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Terrible Marketing Choices

How about we advertise a new game by paying off people’s speeding tickets for one day? Or, even better, how about we showcase a dead goat for some extra PR? Or maybe we plaster the inner city with racist billboards? – Sometimes it is truly impressive what publishers come up with to draw attention to…

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Star Wars Video Games: A Fraught History

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars games thrived under the LucasArts label. Spanning genre and platform alike, there was no shortage of interesting and compelling video game stories told in the broader Star Wars universe. But what happened after Disney bought out Lucasfilm? This week, we explore two very…

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The Tragic Death of the PS Vita

Betraying its name, the PS Vita is pretty much dead. We explore how the Vita went from one of the most promising handhelds ever made to a device even Sony seems to have forgotten. Shownotes PlayStation TV release date, price and compatible games list confirmed (Wesley Yin-Poole) Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PlayStation Vita (PSV)…

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Which Gamer Type Are You?

Six categories, nine vastly different types. This time, we do a bit of introspection, look at what motivates us to play and what we are yearning for by participating in Quantic Foundry’s Gamer Motivation Profile. In our side quests, we then discuss a ten steps guide on how to interpret video games, share our impressions…

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The Best Mashups That Don’t Exist

Say you could cobble together any video game franchises and pair any developer studio with any series. What would you desire to play? Maybe a Silent Hill game by Ninja Theory? Or a Kingdom Hearts authored by Yoko Taro? Or should Level-5 Games finally make the Pokémon game we all desire? Come along and let…

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10 Awesome Easter Eggs

Easter eggs can be so much: from an earthly form of crediting developers to self-reflective humor, up to entire transformations of how a game can be read. We go through some of the most memorable easter eggs in video games. In out side quests we relish in anticipation of Kingdom Hearts 4, discuss Microsoft’s potential push…

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Should We Shun Hogwarts Legacy?

On more than one occasion, J.K. Rowling has proven to be profoundly ignorant to the concerns of trans people. So should we shun Hogwarts Legacy, a promising title with a troubled background? And can we ever hope for the ‘death of the author’ (in the sense of Roland Barthes’ literary theory), if said author is actively…

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