You wouldn’t be able to pause your video games today without Jerry Lawson

Lawson was a pioneering black engineer back when it was even harder in Silicon Valley.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/imokruok/you-wouldnt-be-able-to-pause-your-video-games-today-without-jerry-lawson

Cave Story's Masterful Game Design - A Longform Analysis

In this analysis we'll look at why Cave Story does everything right with its game and level design. It teaches the player step-by-step to face its biggest challenges and constantly nudges the player in the right direction through its story and characters instead of with annoying tutorials. Just two guys who love video games and insane conversation. Like, favorite, subscribe, yada yada, and send us feedback! Thanks for watching!
Read more: http://snapzu.com/PrismDragon/cave-storys-masterful-game-design-a-longform-analysis

Comfy, Country-Life RPG Stardew Valley Now Available

Developer Concernedape has released their country-life RPG, Stardew Valley. The game is now available on PC, for $14.99. In Stardew Valley, you...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/PrismDragon/comfy-country-life-rpg-stardew-valley-now-available

Nintendo vs. Video Game Rentals

Gaming Historian tells the history of Nintendo's battle against the rental industry, including their lawsuit against Blockbuster Video.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/melaniee/nintendo-vs-video-game-rentals

What a creepy photo of Mark Zuckerberg says about our dystopian tech future

In the photo, Mark Zuckerberg is half-smiling, dazed, as if he can’t quite fathom the spectacle he has achieved. He’s striding past his peons, heel-toe down the carpeted center aisle, as they swivel and grimace, oblivious to his presence, in their own virtual realities. Later, when the assembled journalists take the headsets off — they’re Samsung Gear VR headsets, for the record, and this is the Mobile World Congress in Spain...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/ckshenn/what-a-creepy-photo-of-mark-zuckerberg-says-about-our-dystopian-tech-future

The DeanBeat: The joy of covering video games for 25 years

I've returned from another pilgrimage to the DICE Summit, the elite game industry event in Las Vegas. I've never missed one of these gatherings in 16 years, even during times when I paid for the trip out of my own pocket. I go because I love writing about the video game industry -- and because I've enjoyed this dream job of writing about games for decades.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/cone/the-deanbeat-the-joy-of-covering-video-games-for-25years

Mark Zuckerberg: Virtual reality can become the most social platform

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance at Samsung’s Mobile World Congress press conference Sunday to talk up progress in virtual reality and to promote VR in the future as “the most social platform.” Facebook, of course, paid some $2 billion in 2014 to buy Oculus which has been working with Samsung on its Gear VR consumer headsets. In fact, Zuckerberg appeared on stage during the MWC event just after audience...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/hxxp/mark-zuckerberg-virtual-reality-can-become-the-most-social-platform

► WTF Is... - Street Fighter V ?

TotalBiscuit takes a look at the newest fighting game from Capcom, which releases in an unfinished state.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/wtf-is-street-fighter-v

XCOM 2 Angry Review

AngryJoe reviews the latest game in his favorite franchise of all time, XCOM!
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/xcom-2-angry-review

CRASH: The Year Video Games Died

Read more: http://snapzu.com/wildcard/crash-the-year-video-games-died

Bastion Complete Soundtrack OST

Read more: http://snapzu.com/timex/bastion-complete-soundtrack-ost

Video Games Are Broken, Reviews Are Broken, And Things Have To Change

Fellow gamers, our favorite entertainment industry is in trouble. It has become the victim of irresponsible reviews and blind trust. It is being disabled by apathy and undeserved forgiveness. Something’s gotta give, and it might as well start with the press. “Wait, aren’t you press?” you’re asking. Yes, and in the past I’ve committed some of the things I’m about to rail against because I’m not perfect, but I’m trying my best to course-correct and do...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/manix/video-games-are-broken-reviews-are-broken-and-things-have-to-change

MaximumVR - Gameplay

VR HTC Vive version of our game Maximum Override out on Steam. Right now you select a mission from your alien overlords, then drop into a city to destroy. Humans will eventually attack back with tanks, attack helicopters, and giant anti-kaiju robots. You'll defend yourself by throwing cars at helicopters, breathing fire, or just attacking with giant fists.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/socialiguana/maximumvr-gameplay

Science Explains Why You’re A Devious Cheating Conniver

If one of your buddies tends to win at games, watch out for that guy. I’m not saying he could be a cheating bastid: Science is.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/sjvn/science-explains-why-youre-a-devious-cheating-conniver

Hearthstone and community: Inside Blizzard's radical new approach to working with players

It's a Tuesday morning in September 2015, and the sun is beating down on Blizzard's Orange County, California, campus, as it usually does. Inside one of the heavily air-conditioned buildings,...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/hearthstone-and-community-inside-blizzards-radical-new-approach-to-working-with-players

With Firewatch, Olly Moss Brings His Subversive Touch to Video Games

A self-taught graphic designer pushes back against the industry’s stale visuals. By Simon Parkin.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/AdelleChattre/with-firewatch-olly-moss-brings-his-subversive-touch-to-video-games

Soldiers of Fortune

Read more: http://snapzu.com/mtnrg/soldiers-of-fortune

Layers of Fear is what happens when a one-trick pony repeatedly lunges at you

In one of the most memorable scene in Poltergeist, JoBeth Williams is in the kitchen. When the camera follows her standing back up, all the chairs have been arranged in an elaborate stack atop the table. Layers of Fear loves this moment, but it doesn’t understand it. It accompanies its tricks with loud noises. It uses them over and over again. It makes the same mistake as lots of bad horror by confusing being startled with fear. There aren’t many layers to being startled. I count one.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/Zeus/layers-of-fear-is-what-happens-when-a-one-trick-pony-repeatedly-lunges-at-you

► WTF Is... - Firewatch ?

TotalBiscuit takes a look at the first person mystery game from Campo Santo.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/wtf-is-firewatch

Amazon will waive game engine restrictions in the event of a zombie outbreak

Amazon announced a new game engine called Lumberyard yesterday. It's based on the powerful CryEngine and is completely free for developers to use — it's just that they have to buy any necessary cloud services from Amazon, which is already the leader in the space. Sounds like an okay deal for some, right? Well, as ever, it's worth reading the small print. Turns out that certain uses are restricted; Lumberyard is "not intended for use...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wetwilly87/amazon-will-waive-game-engine-restrictions-in-the-event-of-a-zombie-outbreak

Who will be the George Lucas of VR? Film schools just started teaching it

Special effects pioneer Dennis Muren proclaimed the 1980 classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back the hardest film he ever worked on, because “we had to train people to do work that we barely knew how to do.” That’s a conundrum creative types face: How do you do what’s never been done? Star Wars creator George Lucas and the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) team Muren worked with on the film ended up making their own machines and their own programming.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/geoleo/who-will-be-the-george-lucas-of-vr-film-schools-just-started-teaching-it

Shiek

JoeHoganArt's DeviantArt Gallery
Read more: http://snapzu.com/mtnrg/shiek

GameTrailers shuts down after 13 years

GameTrailers is no more, the site announced today after 13 years in business. The unfortunate news was officially announced via the website's social media feeds, and was later confirmed by both Editor-in-Chief Brandon Jones and Associate Editor Ben Moore. The website continued to publish new content until word of the closure broke earlier today, as Moore notes employees were only informed they "would be let go ... mere hours ago."
Read more: http://snapzu.com/baron778/gametrailers-shuts-down-after-13-years

The game industry of South Africa

Ruan Gates, a third-year game design student at Witwatersrand University, is lost in the dirt roads of Johannesburg. He’s trying to make it back to campus, where Wits is hosting a presentation on mobile game design. His GPS picks up the location, but each route it maps leads to a metal gate. He's in Northgate, an upper middle-class suburb. Every house is walled off and topped with barbed wire and advertisements for private security companies...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wondaROY/the-game-industry-of-south-africa

Why online daily fantasy sports are mostly a loser’s game

With 57 million players in North America alone, daily fantasy sports have exploded over the last year; sites like Fanduel and Draftkings have earned billion-dollar valuations. But whether it’s a form of gambling or a game of skill has come up for debate in a host of states. On top of that, most of the profits seem to be won by a tiny fraction of elite players. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/why-online-daily-fantasy-sports-are-mostly-a-losers-game

[Hearthstone] Wild & Standard - Winners & Losers

What will Hearthstone look like once the Wild & Standard leagues begin?
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/hearthstone-wild-standard-winners-losers

After 13 Years, Yahoo Games Finally Folds

Yahoo! Games, the once-hopping online game hub best known for its simulacrum of classic board and card games, is shutting down. The news was buried amidst major changes for the company: As we reported Tuesday, Yahoo will lay off roughly 15 percent of the company, downsize across the board, and shutter many offerings, including its TV efforts.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/zritic/after-13-years-yahoo-games-finally-folds

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is free on Origin

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is free to download and keep on Origin. The 2012 racing game is the latest in EA's On the House promotion offering up hits from the publisher's past. Previous On the House offerings have included Dead Space, Battlefield 3, Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Command & Conquer Red Alert 2. Need for Speed: Most Wanted was Criterion Games' last time developing a Need for Speed title on its own, as it worked with Ghost Games...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/robmonk/need-for-speed-most-wanted-is-free-on-origin

► WTF Is... - XCOM 2 ?

TotalBiscuit takes a look at the upcoming turn-based strategy game from 2K/Firaxis.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/wtf-is-xcom-2

Season Passes Are Starting To Feel Like A Scam

I was raised in a household that worshiped baseball. This meant I spent a good chunk of my weekly allowance on baseball cards. I was a collector. My father was a collector. It was serious business for us, yet even after opening hundreds of packs together, the thrill of seeing which cards we would get never lost its luster. In a way, it was my childhood version of a slot machine, complete with an unhealthy amount of anxiety that either gave...
Read more: http://snapzu.com/wildcat/season-passes-are-starting-to-feel-like-a-scam

My thoughts on Tom Clancy's The Division (Beta)

TotalBiscuit brings you an overview of the new open world third person shooter from Ubisoft.
Read more: http://snapzu.com/rti9/my-thoughts-on-tom-clancys-the-division-beta