Is gambling a kind of play, or a narcotic trap for the soul?

My father was hopelessly, joyously addicted to gambling and I his moral critic. Why did I end up playing pro blackjack?
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Dino55/is-gambling-a-kind-of-play-or-a-narcotic-trap-for-the-soul

► WTF Is... - Darkest Dungeon ?

TotalBiscuit takes a look at the recently released turn-based dungeon crawler from Red Hook Studios.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/wtf-is-darkest-dungeon

Chess forbidden in Islam, rules Saudi mufti, but issue not black and white

Game likely to take on status of minor vices such as music after Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh says it encourages gambling
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/chess-forbidden-in-islam-rules-saudi-mufti-but-issue-not-black-and-white

Lawsuit against Oculus founder can proceed, judge rules

A California U.S District Court has ruled that Oculus founder and Rift VR headset inventor Luckey Palmer must face a lawsuit filed by a former employer. U.S. District Court judge William Alsup (U.S. District Court, Northern District of California) in San Francisco ruled on Saturday that a breach of contract claim could proceed against Oculus founder Palmer Luckey. But it wasn’t a clean-cut victory for Total Recall Technologies; Judge Alsup also dismissed several claims including fraud.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/TNY/lawsuit-against-oculus-founder-can-proceed-judge-rules

Strategic Butt Coverings

Tropes vs Women in Video Games (Season Two, Episode One)
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/strategic-butt-coverings

► WTF Is... - Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak ?

TotalBiscuit takes a look at the newest RTS from Blackbird Interactive.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/wtf-is-homeworld-deserts-of-kharak

Why ESPN is finally getting serious about esports

Radio host Colin Cowherd doesn't like it, but corporations that specialize in traditional sports are taking more and more interest in competitive gaming. And now that includes Disney's flagship cable sports network.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/sjvn/why-espn-is-finally-getting-serious-aboutesports

John Romero creates and releases a new Doom level 21 years later | Games | Geek.com

It’s been over 20 years since the release of the seminal first person shooter, Doom. Even after all of these years, dedicated fans are still engaged, with the DoomWorld modding community continuing to [...]
Read more: http://snapzu.com/lostwonder/john-romero-creates-and-releases-a-new-doom-level-21-years-later-games-geekcom

Your life is Tetris, stop playing it like chess

You can play your life like Tetris or maybe like a chess, are you playing the game wrong?
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zgb/your-life-is-tetris-stop-playing-it-like-chess

Goldman Sachs says VR will be bigger than TV in 10 years

In an analyst note published on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs predicted that the virtual reality (VR) market will outpace the TV market in annual revenue by 2025.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/goldman-sachs-says-vr-will-be-bigger-than-tv-in-10-years

The game industry of Iran

“The leaders of [Israel] threaten us with military action,” the Iranian supreme leader proclaims as a gleaming white missile prepares to launch. “But I think most of them know — and if they don’t, they should — that if they lay a finger on us, the Islamic Republic of Iran will raze them to the ground.” One loading screen later, the missile is airborne. The player must chaperone their little white capsule of doom through what’s intended to be the Israeli port city of Haifa...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/tukka/the-game-industry-of-iran

RIP Hugh Walker, 1949 – 2016

My dad, Hugh Walker, died on Saturday. He was 66, and it was a complete shock. Obviously I’m still shattered by it all, but it’s important to me to celebrate the extraordinary person he was, and his impact on my life, as soon as I can. And when it comes to our relationship, gaming was always a feature. By John Walker.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/rip-hugh-walker-1949-2016

Time to get real: massively complex online worlds transcend gaming

For all the legions of programmers coding the movement of individual blades of grass, and all the advances in processing power and VR, the simulated worlds of online gaming still behave nothing like the real one. It's not just the proliferation of enchanted objects and implausible weaponry. It's something more fundamental. "Say I drop an object on the floor. I leave the room and come back. In 99 percent off MMOs [massively multiplayer online games], it's just vanished without explanation,"...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/time-to-get-real-massively-complex-online-worlds-transcend-gaming

Playing for Time

Ryan Green is making a game that is as broken—as confounding, unresolved, and tragically beautiful—as the world itself. By Jason Tanz.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/playing-for-time

What Happens When a Video Game’s World Ends?

When massively multiplayer online games go offline, they reveal glimpses of the apocalypse. By Will Partin.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/what-happens-when-a-video-games-world-ends

Black Desert World Boss Desert Dragon Ver. 2 Update and Deaths

PearlAbyss updated the Desert Dragon today by supersizing it, more attacks, damage up, and other stuff. I got Rekt 4 times RIP! I believe you need around 1500 HP to survive the one shot. It takes roughly 10-30minutes to kill depending on how many players are in the area.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/PrismDragon/black-desert-world-boss-desert-dragon-ver-2-update-and-deaths

MapleStory 2 Online Piano and Guitar Mabinogi Music

The NPC sold some Mabinogi Sheets, players can also make their own music in the game. I'll post some other random Anime music later.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/PrismDragon/maplestory-2-online-piano-and-guitar-mabinogi-music

What is the "jack" in "jackpot"?

As you probably guessed, jackpot is a simple compound, joining jack and pot. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) first cites jackpot in an 1881 edition of the Harvard Lampoon. Originally, this jackpot was won not in lottery games but in poker, specifically a version of draw poker known as Jack Pots.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/what-is-the-jack-in-jackpot

flOw - The original free game of microbial life

Before it was a Playstation game, flOw was a part of Jenova Chen's Master's thesis. Your microbial character can move deeper in the water and consume other creatures - or not, as some may be aggressive.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/LacquerCritic/flow-the-original-free-game-of-microbial-life

HTC CEO Cher Wang: "We had to rethink phones as a company. VR is more important."

The struggling smartphone maker's CEO tells Madhumita Murgia what went wrong
Read more: http://snapzu.com/picklefingers/htc-ceo-cher-wang-we-had-to-rethink-phones-as-a-company-vr-is-more-important

Ready Player None

Talking to Jonathan Blow about his new game, The Witness. By Michael Thomsen.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/ready-player-none

'He's On Fire': The True Story Behind 'NBA Jam'

"He's heating up ... he's on fire!" How could we forget the sounds of our all-time favorite basketball video game? We take you into the creation of “NBA Jam,” and introduce you to the game’s idiosyncratic creators.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/jedlicka/hes-on-fire-the-true-story-behind-nba-jam

Let's test the new Oculus Rift!

Time to put the new Oculus Rift through its paces.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/manix/lets-test-the-new-oculus-rift

OSVR is even better than the Oculus Rift and half the cost

VR headsets have exploded onto the scene, but one, the open source Hacker Dev Kit, has been quietly building a following for a year, and it's time to shine.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Appaloosa/osvr-is-even-better-than-the-oculus-rift-and-half-the-cost

This ring is also the world's smallest chest set

The tiny board, made from fossil ivory and ebony, flips up on wincy hinges to reveal 32 minuscule chess pieces. The ring itself is sterling silver, and there's only one of them, made by Arduosity, who notes "I can tell you it is impossible, near impossible to set up."
Read more: http://snapzu.com/canuck/this-ring-is-also-the-worlds-smallest-chest-set

Super Mario on Wheelchair

Read more: http://snapzu.com/rawlings/super-mario-on-wheelchair

Why I Won't Be Buying an Oculus Rift

When the $599 price for Facebook’s Oculus Rift was revealed this morning, I was honestly a little shocked the virtual reality headset would run that high. The price might not sound like too much for some people, but consider this: you’ll also need a PC that will likely cost you around $900 to run it, if we were to factor in the price with this earlier statement by Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. But that would likely get you the barebones requirements, so PCWorld's...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/timex/why-i-wont-be-buying-an-oculus-rift

I’m not buying a virtual reality device in 2016 and it has nothing to do with the price

I recently built a pretty beefy computer to play games with the hope that a virtual reality headset would be coming soon…
Read more: http://snapzu.com/gtwy/im-not-buying-a-virtual-reality-device-in-2016-and-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-price

Rise Of The Tomb Raider Coming To PC This Month

Read more: http://snapzu.com/HandOfKarma/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-coming-to-pc-this-month

I will now talk about Oculus Rift for 27 minutes

TotalBiscuit brings you a video essay on the newly released Oculus Rift.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/i-will-now-talk-about-oculus-rift-for-27-minutes

Pinball wizard calls it a day and sells off his collection

One of Australia's biggest collections of pinball machines, jukeboxes and arcade games is for sale in Hobart.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Dino55/pinball-wizard-calls-it-a-day-and-sells-off-his-collection

Facebook Delays Launch of Oculus Touch

Oculus Rift Remains on track for a Q1 launch, but the Touch controllers have been delayed until later in 2016.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wondaROY/facebook-delays-launch-of-oculus-touch

Fans Boo Konami for Banning Hideo Kojima from The Game Awards

Finally, people see Konami for what it is
Read more: http://snapzu.com/willyb321/fans-boo-konami-for-banning-hideo-kojima-from-the-game-awards

$30,000 gaming PC that 7 people can play on at the same time

Read more: http://ift.tt/1PIdewo

Kid Racks Up $5,900 Bill on Dad's iPad Playing Jurassic World

As long as there are smartphones and tablets, games geared for kids, and kids with enough time on their hands (and creativity) to thwart their parents' security measures, there will always be kids racking up huge charges on their parents' accounts. That's just the nature of the child-parent relationship, we feel. The latest in the "you spent what on my what" saga comes from West Sussex, England. According to The Metro, Mohamed Shugaa recently found that his seven-year-old son...
Read more: http://ift.tt/1RZ8xzK