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...
Gaming Nostalgia
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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...
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Back When Cheat Codes Were Built Into Games
I still remember the first cheat code I ever learned. It wasn’t even from a magazine or the internet—those weren’t really options for me back...
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Gaming Urban Legends and Playground Rumors I Believed
You know what I miss about the pre-internet gaming era? The mystery. The whispered secrets. The absolutely bonkers rumors that would spread through the playground...
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Collectathon Games: Why I Spent Hours Gathering Digital Junk
You know you’ve reached a certain point in your adult life when you catch yourself thinking, “I once spent four hours hunting for a golden...
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Exploring the Gothic Horror of Castlevania
Halloween, 1989. While other teenagers were out causing trouble or attending parties, I was hunched in the blue glow of my bedroom TV, sweaty-palmed...
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The Rise and Fall of Guitar Hero and Rock Band
I first encountered Guitar Hero at a Best Buy in 2006. I was there to pick up a replacement power cord for my aging PlayStation...
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The Lost Art of Video Game Instruction Manuals
I still have them all in a plastic storage bin in my basement—every single video game manual I’ve managed to hold onto over the past...
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Legacy of Kain: The Forgotten Vampire Epic That Deserves a Comeback
I first encountered Legacy of Kain in the most appropriately gothic way possible—during a thunderstorm that had knocked out the power in most of...
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The Quests of Kings Quest
My first brush with Daventry came courtesy of my dad, who wasn’t exactly what you’d call a “gamer.” He was an accountant who viewed...
