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As successful game series spawn sequels, the push toward conceptual innovation becomes stronger. But one of the tragedies born of this ambition happens when imprudent mechanics are shoe-horned in to offset stagnation. Too often, these ...

Few development teams have a body of work as bold and imaginative as Santiago, Chile-based ACE Team. Formed by a trio of brothers who crafted a Doom II mod, the studio garnered mainstream attention with ...

What is the concept? Famed director and screenwriter Federico Fellini once stated that all art is self-portrayal- the lustrous pearl is the autobiography of the ordinary oyster. Undoubtedly, the splendor of self-reflection was the virtue ...

Undoubtedly, Tharsis is a novel concept, extending a simulation within a simulation. On one level, the game articulates the story of the ill-fated Iktomi, the vessel tasked with the first manned mission to Mars. Midway ...

Saving a war-torn world from the brink of obliteration is hardly a new impetus for the industry. But when salvation means battling bulky robots and evading deadly missiles, the efforts have traditionally been led by ...

Twice a year, over a half million otaku converge on the Tokyo Big Sight convention center for Comiket, the world’s largest dōjinshi fair. While manga, music, light novels, and handicraft undoubtedly dominate the show, navigate ...

There’s good reason why Clannad remains relevant nearly eleven years after its original release- the visual novel’s emotionally charged plot has lost none of its impact during the interval. What begins as an unassuming high ...

Only a few years ago, the console role-playing game seemed to be in peril, its existence whittled down to a few decisive hit points. Pundits predicted that a combination of escalating production prices, dwindling audiences, ...

As anyone who has ever survived those oft-turbulent teen years knows, transitions can often be awkward periods. So when Yokohama-based Arc System Works, the gurus behind the Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, and Persona 4 Arena franchises ...

There’s a curious tension about open-world games. Although the genre extends an exhilarating sense of freedom, offering virtual playgrounds filled with interactive objects, all too often titles rehash Grand Theft Auto’s tenets. For all the ...