Where is the "Authentic" LGBTQ Content in Games?

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) annually awards various types of media for outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and issues. Wh...

We Need to Talk About the Opulent Armor Lore in Destiny 2

Destiny 2 has always had great lore. While the game’s main plot lines sometimes fall short, the stories and bits of worldbuilding we get from equipment are always fascinating. Tying this...

Why Games Need Better Non-Player Characters

Of all of the various epithets hurled around by right-wing internet users, “NPC” is the least immediately obvious in its meaning. “Cuck” is pretty straightforward, as is “SJW.” But what does it mean t...

Formal: 76 Flies In the Face of Overwatch’s Hopeful Future

Until recently, Soldier: 76 wasn’t actually a soldier. Not like the ones we’d find in our world. He was another cartoonish character in the futuristic world of Overwatch.

Dororo is a Trans Icon

Gender non-conforming characters are quite common in anime. Ones that are actually handled well, though? That’s a little more unusual. There’s a reason transphobic slurs are flung around so freely in...

How Rascal the Raccoon Literally Took Over Japan

Japan is the uncontested champion of the cute animal mascot scene. Of course, there are the overseas hits like Hello Kitty and Pikachu, but one you might not be aware of is Rascal the Raccoon. This cu...

How to Cook a Game of Thrones Finale Feast

Photography by Elizabeth Szypulski

Commander Keen Died on Mars: A Conspiracy Theory

I genuinely never expected Bethesda to bring back Commander Keen. Outside of a Game Boy Color one-off, the series has been dormant for almost 20 years. The original Commander Keen is bas...

Bungie Explains Veil Containment Lore, Says More Are Coming

Completing the Parting the Veil quest — an extension of Destiny 2: Lightfall‘s story made available in Season of the Deep — unlocks the Veil Containment lore mission ...

FFXIV's "Equilibrium" Tells A Tragic Story You May Have Missed

Final Fantasy XIV is an Eden for lorehounds like myself. Square Enix’s massively popular MMORPG has so many stories, tales, and chronicles stuffed into every crevice that it practically leaks a...

How a Sims 2 Port Turned Into a Silent Hill Game for Kids

The 2000s was the Wild West for wacky spin-offs. Atlantis: The Lost Empire became an FPS, Eragon was adapted into a hack-and-slash, and a 2005 port of The Sims 2 for Nintend...

What Exactly is the Pokemon "Ironmon" Challenge?

For a long time, Pokemon challenge runs have tried to up the difficulty of the game. The classic example is the Nuzlocke, a ruleset that forces players to only catch the first Pokemon they en...

Dopamine Fasting, Addiction, and Video Games

Have you ever tried to take a break from something you habitually use or do? I’m not talking about like, a heavy drug or alcohol addiction here, but say, trying to cut out refined sugar or to use soci...

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I Am Going to Shoot the Spider Out of a Cannon in Destiny 2

The Season of Plunder is underway, and it sees our Guardians working with a ragtag crew to take down the recently un-frozen Eramis, the Eliksni warrior who was the big boss of Beyond Light

How Should Destiny 2 End?

Endings aren’t something we often talk about when it comes to live games. But everything ends, and presumably Destiny 2 will wrap up at some point before the heat death of the unive...

Throwback Thursday: The Magic Schoolbus CD-ROM Games

When I was a kid, I adored the The Magic School Bus. The television series based on the original children’s books aired from 1994 to 1997, and I was the perfect age to be e...

What Does Degendering Video Game Character Creators Get Us?

Character creators in video games have always had limitations reflective of their designers’ priorities. Whether it’s specific hair types, body sizes, or disabilities, something or someone ends up bei...

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5 Destiny Collabs I Want to See After the Nerf Gjallarhorn

In a move that has forever muddled the SEO for calls to weaken the famous Destiny weapon, Bungie is releasing an actual NERF Gjallarhorn. It isn’t the first time the company has par...