The “pretty girl fights back against marginalized individuals” is a reactionary idea that’s meant to reinforce the standard high school hierarchy. So many people — no matter where you were in the pecking order — had an aggressive, hostile shell during high school. That’s because high school is horrible. And the lie about the popular kids having their best years during high school is just that: a lie. The Heathers reboot itself may be better than the trailer suggests, but this is a horrible way t

The Emoji Movie, Transformers: The Last Knight and Fifty Shades Darker are the clear favorites to take home the most awards for being absolutely terrible. Transformers: The Last Knight leads the nomination pool with nine nominees, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Actor for Mark Wahlberg. Sony’s terrifying movie about personalized emoji, The Emoji Movie, also received its fair share of nominations. WORST PICTUREBaywatchThe Emoji MovieFifty Shades DarkerThe MummyTransformers: The

The Emoji Movie, Transformers: The Last Knight and Fifty Shades Darker are the clear favorites to take home the most awards for being absolutely terrible. Transformers: The Last Knight leads the nomination pool with nine nominees, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Actor for Mark Wahlberg. Sony’s terrifying movie about personalized emoji, The Emoji Movie, also received its fair share of nominations. WORST PICTUREBaywatchThe Emoji MovieFifty Shades DarkerThe MummyTransformers: The

“Virtual reality will be a super-drug,” in Ready Player One, says Stephen Spielberg in the latest featurette for Warner Bros. Pictures’ movie based on the book by Ernest Cline. Oasis is populated by a generation of super-millennials; kids who literally dropped out, tuned in and digitized new virtual selves when human economic development failed to give them room. And all those kids love Deloreans and E.T. and The Goonies and Madballs and Thundercats and Battletoads and Night Rider. “Cline is suc

“Virtual reality will be a super-drug,” in Ready Player One, says Stephen Spielberg in the latest featurette for Warner Bros. Pictures’ movie based on the book by Ernest Cline. Oasis is populated by a generation of super-millennials; kids who literally dropped out, tuned in and digitized new virtual selves when human economic development failed to give them room. And all those kids love Deloreans and E.T. and The Goonies and Madballs and Thundercats and Battletoads and Night Rider. “Cline is suc

Acclaimed game designer Yuji Naka announced on Twitter this morning that he was joining Square Enix. Naka left Sega in 2006 to start his own independent studio, Prope. Naka didn’t announce what he’ll be working on at Square Enix, but said his goal was to create an enjoyable game. Just a quick note to let you know, I joined SQUARE ENIX in January. I’m joining game development as before, and strive to develop games at SQUARE ENIX.

Basic though it is, the pinstriped design presents some challenges for the makers of baseball video games. Baseball at Major League Baseball Advanced Media were debating last fall how best to bring the Yankees’ uniform to life in the game. Baseball, a 1980s franchise that MLBAM resurrected in 2014 amid dire circumstances in the baseball video game market. Take-Two bought its way into the field by signing such a contract with Major League Baseball in January 2005. Baseball can be traced back to a

Basic though it is, the pinstriped design presents some challenges for the makers of baseball video games. Baseball at Major League Baseball Advanced Media were debating last fall how best to bring the Yankees’ uniform to life in the game. Baseball, a 1980s franchise that MLBAM resurrected in 2014 amid dire circumstances in the baseball video game market. Take-Two bought its way into the field by signing such a contract with Major League Baseball in January 2005. Baseball can be traced back to a

Last week, I got some play time with Civilization 6’s forthcoming expansion, Rise and Fall. I managed to win a golden age by building a city near a natural wonder and earning a Great Person. The enemy AI in Civilization games is notoriously fickle. Apart from a few aesthetic changes, like the city menu, Rise and Fall adds to the general complexity of Civilization 6, offering some genuinely interesting ideas and a real sense of peril. We’ll have more on this when Civilization 6: Rise and Fall lau

Last week, I got some play time with Civilization 6’s forthcoming expansion, Rise and Fall. I managed to win a golden age by building a city near a natural wonder and earning a Great Person. The enemy AI in Civilization games is notoriously fickle. Apart from a few aesthetic changes, like the city menu, Rise and Fall adds to the general complexity of Civilization 6, offering some genuinely interesting ideas and a real sense of peril. We’ll have more on this when Civilization 6: Rise and Fall lau

You can win a round of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds without firing a single shot. One of the earliest videos I could find of a pacifist win comes from last May, when a YouTuber with the handle KurtJMac won his chicken dinner while crawling through the grass in broad daylight. Another interesting example of a bloodless win was posted on Reddit just yesterday. User TWPMercury was well stocked with medical supplies when they wedged their character inside a nook in a cliff face. If you’ve got a fav

You can win a round of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds without firing a single shot. One of the earliest videos I could find of a pacifist win comes from last May, when a YouTuber with the handle KurtJMac won his chicken dinner while crawling through the grass in broad daylight. Another interesting example of a bloodless win was posted on Reddit just yesterday. User TWPMercury was well stocked with medical supplies when they wedged their character inside a nook in a cliff face. If you’ve got a fav

The work of H.P. Lovecraft led to the creation of the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of non-fiction stories about nameless, ageless beings of pure power and hatred. Also, one of Lovecraft’s poems is remarkably close in rhythm to a Billy Joel song. Lovecraft’s “Nemesis” has the same meter as Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” Waiting to be plucked from the obscurity of existence from the slumbering gods whose name we dare not speak.

The work of H.P. Lovecraft led to the creation of the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of non-fiction stories about nameless, ageless beings of pure power and hatred. Also, one of Lovecraft’s poems is remarkably close in rhythm to a Billy Joel song. Lovecraft’s “Nemesis” has the same meter as Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” Waiting to be plucked from the obscurity of existence from the slumbering gods whose name we dare not speak.

The “pretty girl fights back against marginalized individuals” is a reactionary idea that’s meant to reinforce the standard high school hierarchy. So many people — no matter where you were in the pecking order — had an aggressive, hostile shell during high school. That’s because high school is horrible. And the lie about the popular kids having their best years during high school is just that: a lie. The Heathers reboot itself may be better than the trailer suggests, but this is a horrible way t

Acclaimed game designer Yuji Naka announced on Twitter this morning that he was joining Square Enix. Naka left Sega in 2006 to start his own independent studio, Prope. Naka didn’t announce what he’ll be working on at Square Enix, but said his goal was to create an enjoyable game. Just a quick note to let you know, I joined SQUARE ENIX in January. I’m joining game development as before, and strive to develop games at SQUARE ENIX.

According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, “Labo is unlike anything we’ve done before.” However, the idea of a physical build-and-play toy that interacts with electronics isn’t especially new. Labo is just another toy in a long line of toys that might sneakily teach your kids engineering skills without them realizing it. Buy it here: Amazon | LittleBits | WalmartBloxelsThis is definitely the kids toy I’m most tempted to buy for myself. Buy Anki Overdrive here: Amazon | Best Buy

According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, “Labo is unlike anything we’ve done before.” However, the idea of a physical build-and-play toy that interacts with electronics isn’t especially new. Labo is just another toy in a long line of toys that might sneakily teach your kids engineering skills without them realizing it. Buy it here: Amazon | LittleBits | WalmartBloxelsThis is definitely the kids toy I’m most tempted to buy for myself. Buy Anki Overdrive here: Amazon | Best Buy

Day three starts on Jan. 20 at 10:00 a.m. EST, and every match will be broadcast live on the ELeague Twitch channel. Perhaps we are seeing a new class of elite CS:GO teams rise up, and what better place than in a group stage that ELeague is calling New Legends. Day three might be the perfect time for these teams to retake their place as some of the best in the world. This is their first meeting of 2018, and with SK looking shakier than usual, FaZe has the chance to cement itself as the world’s b

If you didn’t keep P.T. A Silent Hills P.T. The fan-made remake is in an alpha state, but it is downloadable and playable. Here’s video of it in action (from a developer’s toolkit; the action gets going at the one-minute mark). was, of course, short for “playable teaser,” for a Silent Hills reboot.