Author: Devin
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Apex Legends Accessibility Options Shows other Battle Royales Up
Apex Legends is the latest game to burst onto the battle royale scene, releasing on February 4th. A character-based version of the popular online multiplayer format, Apex is free to play, like many of its counterparts. Players can unlock characters by leveling up or, of course, by buying in-game currency. Each character has their own skills to…
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Indie Appreciation on the Switch
This past holiday season was a good one for the Nintendo Switch. Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, and Pokemon Let’s Go were huge successes. Many a person’s January was spent running through these titles. Now though, it’s February. The holiday excitement has worn off, but there are still weekends to be filled. So what is…
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Streamer Raises Funds with Donkey Kong 64 Charity Stream
On January 18th, Twitch streamer Hbomberguy tweeted “here we go….HERE WE FREAKING GO”. With that simple message, he started a stream that would attract attention from all corners of the world. Out of pure spite for transphobia and compassion for youth in need, a movement began. The Beginning This all began when Hbomberguy decided to…
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Soldier 76, Gay Icon
Blizzard recently brought Soldier: 76 out of the closet. A new short story, Bastet, brings new lore about two fan favorites, Ana and Jack Morrison (or Soldier: 76). This comes a little over two years after Tracer was the first Overwatch character to become canonically LGBT+. In this story, it’s revealed that Jack gave up a life…
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Motion Controls Bring Fitness Home
When Nintendo originally released the Wii in 2006, with it came Wii Fit, Zumba, Just Dance, and a host of other games that were all about getting people up and off the couch. Off the couch and using the fancy new motion controls, that is. Wii Fit Trainer made their mark, still on the Smash roster.…
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The Weirdness of the Ellie Controversy
If you’ve been on the internet in the past week, you may have heard talk about “Ellie.” Ellie started out being the first female player on Second Wind, an Overwatch Contenders team. Contenders is essentially the Minor League of Overwatch esports, and to add a woman to Second Wind was a pretty big deal. The…
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Ashe Announcement Means More of the Same
The creative team at Blizzard Entertainment has done it again! Announced at Blizzcon, a new character is joining the Overwatch roster. Elizabeth Caledonia “Calamity” Ashe (what a name) is the 29th hero. She’s a snarky, badass lady. She founded the Deadlock Gang and rules by the policy “her way or the highway.” She gives more…
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Fortnite Support A Creator Event Gives Fans Time to Shine
Epic Games has announced their Support A Creator event to celebrate Fortnite’s first year. In a nutshell, this event allows content creators to earn money from Fortnite players. These “creators” can include streamers, video makers, cosplayers, and more. Each player can choose a creator to support. Players can change who they’re supporting every two weeks…
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Outcry over Ciri on Netflix’s The Witcher Series is Frustrating and Unsurprising
Another day, another complaint about a character not being white in the same world in which dragons exist. A new shitstorm has hit the internet as a casting call for Ciri in Netflix’s upcoming Witcher series leaked looking for a black, asian, or minority ethnic actress to play the character. Internet Rage To absolutely no…
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What Video Games Teach us About Grief
Video games are an escape for many people from their daily lives. Anxiety, frustration, stress – all these can disappear if just for a moment when playing a great game. Grief is another emotion we often want to scrub away. The Complexities of Grief We are taught that grieving happens in stages. The Kubler-Ross model…
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Lack of Unionization in Gaming is an Issue that Won’t be Going Away
The video game industry is full of creative people who have great love and care for what they do. “Passion” excuses long hours, tight deadlines, and less than ideal working conditions. There’s a saying – if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Poetic as this may be, it…
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Queer Games Bundle Aims to Give New Options to LGBT Gamers
Members of LGBT communities are diverse, beautiful people coming from all walks of life, compromising different identities and values, and sharing so much among so many differences. On the other hand, LGBT representation in video games can be… less than such. While representation has improved, there is still a lot of room to grow; many…