Retro Game Remakes: When They Work and When They Don’t
The first time I encountered a remake of a game I loved, I was standing in a GameStop in 2002, staring at a copy of...
-
-
Resident Evil 4 Remake: How Capcom Reinvented a Classic
I still remember the first time I played the original Resident Evil 4. It was 2005, I was in my late twenties, and I’d called...
-
The Simple Joy of Tetris: Why I’m Still Playing 30 Years Later
My first Tetris experience happened in the back seat of my parents’ Oldsmobile during a cross-country road trip in the summer of 1990. My brother...
-
Crash Bandicoot: PlayStation’s Mascot Icon
Gaming in the 90s was awesome, especially if like me, you did most of your growing up in that decade. It was a time when...
-
5 Party Video Games That Will Make You the Life of the Party
My transformation from “that weird guy with too many game consoles” to “the guy who throws awesome parties” happened gradually, almost accidentally. It started back...
-
When Video Games Become Board Games: Hits and Misses
My game shelf has a split personality. On one side sits my carefully organized video game collection—chronologically arranged by console, with special editions and imports...
-
The Psychology Behind Boss Fight Design: Why We Love to Hate Them
I’ve destroyed my share of controllers over the years. There was the Super Nintendo controller that met its end against my bedroom wall after my...
-
The Golden Age of LAN Parties: Gaming Before Broadband
I can still feel the burning in my shoulders from lugging that massive beige CRT monitor up the narrow staircase to Tom’s parents’ basement. Thirty-two...
-
Gaming with Significant Others: From Reluctant Players to Co-op Partners
The most nerve-wracking boss battle I’ve ever faced wasn’t against Sephiroth or Ganon or even that impossible Ninja Gaiden bird. It was the moment I...
-
Broken Sword: The Point-and-Click Mystery That Hooked Me
I was working at Software Etc. in 1996 when Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (or Circle of Blood, as it was called in...
