Discord’s team couldn’t contain their excitement on March 15 when Fortnite’s biggest player, Ninja, and hiphop’s self-proclaimed rap god, Drake, got together to stream. Unlike everyone else, however, the Discord team were celebrating a separate victory that night: Drake becoming a registered Discord user. -Drakewhat is 2018 — austin walker (@austin_walker) March 15, 2018Drake didn’t start off as a Discord user, though. “They were trying to play together while he was on his phone, and at some poi

Back in 2014, when I paid a visit to the GoG offices in Warsaw, Poland, then-CEO Guillaume Rambourg called Maniac Mansion the “holy grail” of classic video games. That title, as well as The Curse of Monkey Island, are now finally on both GoG and Steam, where Maniac Mansion has been available for a while now. Maniac Mansion was the first “SCUMM” game, which refers to a proprietary point-and-click game engine built by Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts) in 1987. (It literally means Script Creation U

Back in 2014, when I paid a visit to the GoG offices in Warsaw, Poland, then-CEO Guillaume Rambourg called Maniac Mansion the “holy grail” of classic video games. That title, as well as The Curse of Monkey Island, are now finally on both GoG and Steam, where Maniac Mansion has been available for a while now. Maniac Mansion was the first “SCUMM” game, which refers to a proprietary point-and-click game engine built by Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts) in 1987. (It literally means Script Creation U

His #1ReasonToBe panel at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco had run into a snag: Half of his panelists couldn’t make it because their visas had been denied by the U.S. State Department. But in the game development world, he’s known as the guy pushing for worldwide diversity in game making. For years, Ismail has traveled the world encouraging underrepresented developers to speak up and let their voices be heard through gaming. “I’ve handled quite some rejections before, but

His #1ReasonToBe panel at this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco had run into a snag: Half of his panelists couldn’t make it because their visas had been denied by the U.S. State Department. But in the game development world, he’s known as the guy pushing for worldwide diversity in game making. For years, Ismail has traveled the world encouraging underrepresented developers to speak up and let their voices be heard through gaming. “I’ve handled quite some rejections before, but

The original arcade version of Punch-Out!! is coming to Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives line, according to a report from Impress Game Watch. Arcade Archives Punch-Out!! The arcade version of Punch-Out!! is being ported to Switch by Hamster, the developer behind other classic arcade ports for Switch, including the original Mario Bros. and VS. Super Mario Bros.

The original arcade version of Punch-Out!! is coming to Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives line, according to a report from Impress Game Watch. Arcade Archives Punch-Out!! The arcade version of Punch-Out!! is being ported to Switch by Hamster, the developer behind other classic arcade ports for Switch, including the original Mario Bros. and VS. Super Mario Bros.

Dragon Ball FighterZ’s quick jump out of the gate proves that, too, with initial sales of 2 million copies. Granted, Dragon Ball FighterZ is using an established franchise, while Blizzard had to create characters from scratch for Overwatch. Dragon Ball Z has transcended nerd culture and made its way to the mainstream, garnering a massive fan base. And that’s what Overwatch and Dragon Ball FighterZ did so well. But the likes of Overwatch and Dragon Ball FighterZ have raised the stakes.

It may be easy to compare Little Dragons Cafe to the first Harvest Moon. It’s hard to gauge whether that’s quite the case, since my time with Little Dragons Cafe was brief. On the surface, Little Dragons Cafe sounds like a hodgepodge of familiar gameplay styles, which make for an interesting combination. That’s a core difference from Harvest Moon (now known as Story of Seasons in the West), as the director tells it. Those characters still have the same cute smiles and big heads as the Harvest Mo

It may be easy to compare Little Dragons Cafe to the first Harvest Moon. It’s hard to gauge whether that’s quite the case, since my time with Little Dragons Cafe was brief. On the surface, Little Dragons Cafe sounds like a hodgepodge of familiar gameplay styles, which make for an interesting combination. That’s a core difference from Harvest Moon (now known as Story of Seasons in the West), as the director tells it. Those characters still have the same cute smiles and big heads as the Harvest Mo

Konami’s high-definition remake of action mecha game Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR and Windows PC via Steam in September 2018, Konami announced today. Alongside a new release window, Konami also released a new trailer for Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner — Mars that compares the 2018 remaster to its predecessors: the original PlayStation 2 game and the 2009 Zone of the Enders HD Collection version released on PlayStation 3. Konami announced

Konami’s high-definition remake of action mecha game Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR and Windows PC via Steam in September 2018, Konami announced today. Alongside a new release window, Konami also released a new trailer for Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner — Mars that compares the 2018 remaster to its predecessors: the original PlayStation 2 game and the 2009 Zone of the Enders HD Collection version released on PlayStation 3. Konami announced

The founder of Toys R Us died today. Bloomberg reported that Lazarus died Thursday in New York, quoting a family friend and a former chairman of the company. Lazarus had been chief executive of Toys R Us from its first store in the Maryland suburbs of Washington until 1994. Toys R Us also attracted an adolescent cool with its smooth entry into video game sales as the Nintendo Entertainment System resurrected the market in the late 1980s. Toys R Us was acquired in a leveraged buyout by three hedg

The founder of Toys R Us died today. Bloomberg reported that Lazarus died Thursday in New York, quoting a family friend and a former chairman of the company. Lazarus had been chief executive of Toys R Us from its first store in the Maryland suburbs of Washington until 1994. Toys R Us also attracted an adolescent cool with its smooth entry into video game sales as the Nintendo Entertainment System resurrected the market in the late 1980s. Toys R Us was acquired in a leveraged buyout by three hedg

Part of Rare’s decision to build anti-toxicity measures directly into Sea of Thieves’ core design can be seen almost immediately upon playing. Hagen spoke about design strategy at GDC 2018 today in a panel on empowering players and combating multiplayer toxicity. This enables players to decide what type of punishment best suits unruly players, Hagen said, while also encouraging people to get into the spirit of role-playing and keeping in tune with the game. “Scuttle Ship” is another option for S

Part of Rare’s decision to build anti-toxicity measures directly into Sea of Thieves’ core design can be seen almost immediately upon playing. Hagen spoke about design strategy at GDC 2018 today in a panel on empowering players and combating multiplayer toxicity. This enables players to decide what type of punishment best suits unruly players, Hagen said, while also encouraging people to get into the spirit of role-playing and keeping in tune with the game. “Scuttle Ship” is another option for S

For those among us who prefer to play on their own, or just can’t rustle up a group, don’t worry: Sea of Thieves is a perfectly viable solo experience. Sea of Thieves is relatively content-light at launch, and most of your time will be centered around collecting things for three factions. The solo player gets to watch their proficiency grow, and things that were once frustrating fade away. In fact, solo experience makes you the perfect tour guide when your friends start playing. If you’ve been e

For those among us who prefer to play on their own, or just can’t rustle up a group, don’t worry: Sea of Thieves is a perfectly viable solo experience. Sea of Thieves is relatively content-light at launch, and most of your time will be centered around collecting things for three factions. The solo player gets to watch their proficiency grow, and things that were once frustrating fade away. In fact, solo experience makes you the perfect tour guide when your friends start playing. If you’ve been e

This is a skull cloud, and it’s Sea of Thieves’ invitation to sail to a fort. Gold skeletons . Plant skeletons . Unlike the gold skeletons, plant skeletons are strengthened by water, but swords deal extra damage to them. Unlike the gold skeletons, plant skeletons are strengthened by water, but swords deal extra damage to them.

The biggest question I had going into Ready Player One was, absent any and all pop culture references, could the film stand on its own? Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is colorful, frenetic and fun. Ready Player One is unapologetically a commercial action movie designed to put spectacle first. The driving force of Ready Player One is to find the Easter egg. Watts’ obsessions are less about pop culture writ large and more about the pop culture that Halliday consumed.