A Cynic's Guide to Star Trek: Voyager

The years haven’t been terribly kind to Star Trek: Voyager, which marked its 25th anniversary this month. It’s sort of the Weezer “Green Album” to Deep Space Nine’s Pinkerton. Both shows...

We Asked a Zoologist to Risk Assess these Animal Crossing Combos

Throughout the years, Animal Crossing has brought together nearly 500 villagers from across the animal kingdom. The player’s sleepy little village hosts all sorts of different species up and...

If Emet-Selch, Architect of the Ascians, Whose True Name Is Hades Was Your Boyfriend

If Emet-Selch, architect of the Ascians, whose true name is Hades was your boyfriend, you could always improve your self-esteem with the knowledge that you’re likely a better person than him. Because...

The Four Faces of Doki Doki Literature Club

This article contains discussion of mental illness, self-harm, and suicide.

The Strange Tale of Rockstar's Cancelled "E" Rated Austin Powers Kart Racer

More than twenty years after the first movie was released, it’s strange to recall that Austin Powers was once a staggeringly popular franchise. These days, we tend to think of the unfrozen secr...

The Wild World of Animal Crossing Speedrunning

For most of us, Animal Crossing represents a much-needed escape from our fast-paced day to day lives. In Nintendo’s idyllic series, we can take a relaxing stroll through a digital neighbourhood...

A Year, Give Or Take, In Video Game Feelings

The unspoken assumption at the end of 2019 is that everyone is connected all the time. The stream of personal information up and content down flows uninterrupted, without caveats. There are no bottlen...

Destiny 2's Big Vex Invasion Dies with a Mighty "Ehhhhhh"

For nearly two months now, I have worked alongside my fellow Guardians to procure special supplies for Ikora’s dangerous/brilliant Vex gate project at the Tower. We have dismantled tens (if not hundre...

Dragon Age: Blue Wraith Continues a Fan-Favorite Character's Story

Whenever I fall in love with a game, I always find myself wishing for more. More adventures, more character interaction, more everything. Fanfiction and art can step in here, but sometimes the Video G...

How a Deaf Player Continues to Climb the Ranks of PUBG Mobile

When online multiplayer gaming really kicked off during the last console generation, sales of “gaming” headsets exploded. FPS titles ruled the roost, and not only did a good headset allow people to co...

Why Does S Come Before A in Video Game Rankings?

Once confined to fighting game communities and action titles, the concept of tier lists has at this point achieved meme status. You’ve probably seen one online in the past week, whether it’s ranking <...

20 Years Later, eXistenZ is Still the Best Video Game Movie Ever Made

In March 1999, The Matrix was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. A month later, David Cronenberg released eXistenZ. The film begins similarly to the Wa...

What Makes a Good Actual Play Podcast?

My Druid and Paladin both had kids, so they’re basically out, and I can’t run a game with just a Warlock and a Wizard, that’s ridiculous. I moved away from Chicago anyway so the superhero team of Bobb...

Sonic Youth: The History and Impact of Crush 40

Sonic the Hedgehog has an interesting musical history: the original Genesis titles were vibrant and memorable, Sonic X’s English dub theme song originated the memetic “Gotta go fast” line, and...

I Played Disco Elysium as an Absolutely Gigantic Fascist

Kim Kitsuragi is not the protagonist of Disco Elysium, and for that he is more or less a living saint. A middle-aged, no-nonsense cop in Coke bottle glasses and a sweet orange bomber jacket, he...

From Star Trek to Superwholock: A Brief History of Fanfiction

Throughout my high school years, I had my big anime awakening via Full Metal Panic!, and around the same time, I discovered and developed my love for the Ace Attorney game series. What d...

How I Fell Out Of Love With Games

I’ll never forget Christmas morning when I was 12 years old. I can still remember ripping the red Santa hat-adorned wrapping paper open, unsheathing the Super Nintendo inside. My screams and yelps wer...

How Shovel Knight Became The Stan Lee of Indie Game Cameos

Anyone who’s played enough indie games in the last six years has likely encountered Shovel Knight in some form or fashion. Maybe they shot the breeze with him in Yooka-Laylee. Perhaps...

I Was a Dark Souls Griefer

The first time I was invaded in Dark Souls was right before my third boss. Fog walls appeared closing off the route back to safety, and then a message notified me that a dark spirit had invaded...

Why People Want to Pet the Dog

The apocalypse is getting softer. 2016’s The Division was a loot shooter which encouraged players to shoot actual looters in the back as they scrounged for life-saving supplies. 2019’s The D...