Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture

While popular table-top diversions such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer Fantasy Battle once served as a template for a generation of video and computer games, over time electronic role-playing games evolved, harnessing the capabilities of an emergent medium. While ...

Typically, video game vocations spotlight the prestigious- allowing players to pilot multimillion dollar military jets or to fling the pass that secures a Superbowl win. Less frequently, the industry puts us in the well-worn work boots worn by the middle ...

In 2009, Japanese PSP owners were treated to Minna no Sukkiri, (AKA Everybody’s Stress Buster), developer Clap Hanz’ UMD-based collection of pint-sized games geared for portable play. Two years later, stateside gamers received the collection- albeit broken up into four ...

Whereas Game Freak’s menagerie of pocket monsters evolve at a robust rate, the actual Pokémon franchise develops languidly, with each new iteration typically ushering in a restrained set of refinements. The reason for this protracted pace is obvious- both the ...

What is the concept? Recalling the form-swapping duality of Treasure’s Ikaruga and Housemarque’s Outland, recent eShop release Fractured Soul reinvigorates a conventional genre with the use of a single, enthralling mechanic. At its core, the title’s sprinting, springing, and shooting ...

What is the concept? Capitalizing on the current dearth of role-playing titles for Nintendo’s autostereoscopic handheld, recent eShop release Planet Crashers sends players on an eccentric expedition in an attempt to salvage a weakening sun. Built on UTV True Games’ ...

Over the years, Camelot Software Planning’s fanciful interpretations of athletic recreations have accrued a legion of devotees. From an inaugural entry in the Everybody’s Golf franchise (known to U.S. players as Hot Shots Golf) to a pair of perennial Nintendo ...

What is the concept? Sliding shapes through confined gaps isn’t a particularly innovative idea- the humble mechanic has served as the objective for both 2008’s Roogoo as well as 2011’s Hole in the Wall. Yet, recent 3DS release, Ketzal’s Corridors, ...

Save for a few uncharacteristic clunkers over the years, the majority of Nintendo’s first-party titles have been uncontested triumphs, providing essential experiences for the consummate gamer. So, when early reports mentioned issues with Kid Icarus: Uprising’s control scheme, some speculated ...

What is the concept? Last January, UFO Interactive unleashed its inaugural eShop title, Samurai Sword Destiny, which pitted a lone protagonist against throngs of encroaching enemies. Like the developer’s debut effort, follow-up title Zombie Slayer Diox tasks a solitary, stalwart ...