Author: Nic Reuben

  • 5 Star Wars Games That Needed More Porgs

    5 Star Wars Games That Needed More Porgs

    With all the recent furor around Star Wars: Battlefront 2, it’s easy to forget how many other Star Wars games we’ve had over the years. Some of them were great. Some were terrible. All of them, without fail, would have benefited immensely from the inclusion of Porgs. All the Porgs. All the time. Porgs. Shadows…

  • 5 Best Lizards from Shadow of The Colossus

    5 Best Lizards from Shadow of The Colossus

    Ok, deep breath. SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS REMAKE. SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS REMAKE. SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS REMAKE. Right, now that that’s over, I’d just like to point out that I am a completely impartial journalist who would in no way willingly contribute to the enthusiast press’s proliferation of hype culture which ultimately harms the…

  • Videogames vs. ADHD

    Videogames vs. ADHD

    Continuing this week’s unofficial theme of “scientific research to prove the haters wrong” (Stephanie coined that one in her piece showing the links between IQ and gaming), we’re now seeing evidence that gaming can be beneficial for children with ADHD. Also, just being within a hundred feet of one is enough to give you genuine…

  • I’m Glad Wolfenstein 2 Didn’t Let Me Fight Hitler

    I’m Glad Wolfenstein 2 Didn’t Let Me Fight Hitler

    What I remember about my first visit to Berlin is: Evening air so humid my vest clings to my torso. Lukewarm bottled water. Icy Berliner Pilsner. A young Turkish girl beatboxes on the bus to the city centre.  Cigarette smoke, falafel wraps and Jägermeister. Graffiti that tells me ‘Berlin is Poor but Sexy’. Graffiti that…

  • 5 Times the Princess Saved *Your* Useless Ass

    5 Times the Princess Saved *Your* Useless Ass

    Is it worth it? let me work it put that established narrative convention down, flip it and reverse it …. I am so, so sorry for that. Here’s five times the princess saved you. Saskia saves Geralt – The Witcher 2 If you first came along to the series with The Witcher 3, you never…

  • Biomutant Looks Effing Adorable

    Biomutant Looks Effing Adorable

    If all games were downloaded instead of manufactured, we’d save 2.4 billion gallons of crude oil – over four times Italy’s yearly consumption. Just one takeaway from an infographic published last year by Big Fish games. It’s always inspiring to see how far games have come, but as with any consumer good, more sales means…

  • 5 Deeply Insecure Donkey Kong Images

    5 Deeply Insecure Donkey Kong Images

    Hey you, have 5 pictures of Donkey Kong that reveal a deeply insecure, broken ape, sheltering under a protective veil of hyper masculinity, because Tuesday. There is An Idea of Donkey Kong This masterpiece is from Donkey Kong ’94. You’ll notice that even during peak capturing hours, he still finds time to put on his…

  • 5 Things You Can Achieve by Abusing Game Developers
  • 5 Feel-Good Games to Help With the Winter Blues

    5 Feel-Good Games to Help With the Winter Blues

    Seasonal Affective Disorder – also known as S.A.D – affects about six percent of the population. As the days get shorter, reduced sunlight can mess with levels of serotonin – the neurotransmitter that the brain uses for mood regulation. This can lead to reduced energy, sleep troubles, feelings of anxiety or hopelessness, and other symptoms…

  • A Bestiary of Delphic Feels

    A Bestiary of Delphic Feels

    If you’re yet to read Nathalie Lawhead’s blog on her experiences showcasing interactive zine Everything is Going to be Ok at Day of the Devs, do that thing now, and come back. Yeah, me too. It’s this that got jammed in my craw the hardest: “What the fuck is this, what the hell, weird ass game,…

  • Wolfenstein 2: Do Nazi Lives Matter?

    Wolfenstein 2: Do Nazi Lives Matter?

    Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is not a truly great Wolfenstein game, but it feels like a rung on the ladder to one. It carries the franchise’s history like a millstone carved from a beloved pet rock.  Unflinchingly self-conscious; at once brazen and apologetic.  The Wolfenstein name is both a slashed Achilles heel, and the…

  • Empathy for the Devil: Destiny 2’s Manifest Destiny

    Empathy for the Devil: Destiny 2’s Manifest Destiny

    Previously we looked at plain toast, microwave burritos, and how Destiny 2‘s Guardians are basically Mussolini with blue mohawks. It was a grand old adventure, aside from all the brain aneurysms. This time, we go into detail about FashQuest‘s unfortunate portrayal of its alien races. If the idea that art created by humans might reasonably serve as…

  • Don’t Make Love: Sex, Death, and Mantises

    Don’t Make Love: Sex, Death, and Mantises

    ‘At once victors and vanquished’ is a fairly unusual juxtaposition for a game. Often, you fulfil the conditions of a win state, get dragged along through the firework display of congratulatory cutscenes, cup your willing hands before you to receive the gold-hewn power star of definitive success. Tragedy is a peripheral concern like air and…

  • It’s Not Your Fault You’re Fascist, Destiny 2

    It’s Not Your Fault You’re Fascist, Destiny 2

    I’ve always found the term ‘hate symbol’ misleading. Symbols, like technology, plain toast, and Jaheira from Baldur’s Gate are true neutral. We can charge them with significance or repurpose them, the same way we can use microwaves to heat burritos or build death-rays. Unless you’re Geralt of Rivia, though, a sign with no context is powerless.…

  • Elizabeth LaPensée on Thunderbird Strike, Eco Terrorism, and Other Bad Behavior

    Elizabeth LaPensée on Thunderbird Strike, Eco Terrorism, and Other Bad Behavior

    Recently, the lobbying group Energy Builders released a statement accusing the 2D side scroller Thunderbird Strike of attempting to ‘encourage eco-terrorism or other bad behavior’. Naturally, the alarmist press lapped it up with all the predictable zeal of a Pavlovian pooch. Boundary-pushing design and unique auteurial vision is a major draw of the indiesphere, but rarely…

  • Revisiting Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Best Scene

    Revisiting Horizon: Zero Dawn’s Best Scene

    Yay! Horizon Zero Dawn is temporarily relevant again thanks to some new DLC and a Monster Hunter: World crossover, which means I have a flimsy excuse to effusively gush over my favourite part of the game. Spoiler alert: It does not involve robots, dinosaurs, or any combination thereof. This is the point where an apparition of my…