Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture

Presumably, to keep Resident Evil relevant, the series has shirked survival horror tenet across the last several iterations. The fourth and fifth entries in the franchise prioritized trigger-happy action over trepidation, delivering capable shooters which were a radical departure from ...

A quick scan of any video game message board is likely to demonstrate the polemic nature of our industry. Quite simply, a substantial constituency enjoys arguing about games nearly as much as they like playing them. That said, few contemporary ...

Stan Lee’s squad of superheroes have been prolifically pugnacious, progressing across a procession of successful fighters published by Capcom (as well as flailing through Electronic Art’s odd misstep- 2005’s Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects). Conversely, DC Comics’ collection of ...

In 2011, Sony announced the Pub Fund, a $20 million initiative that not only provided financing for budding developers, but also removed many of the barriers of entry smaller studios faced when bringing a title onto the PS3 and PS ...

Although it’s not unusual for a game to receive a post-release improvement, entries in the Ninja Gaiden franchise have habitually received extensive revisions. Beginning with Ninja Gaiden Black, an upgrade that brought additional content and polish to the 2004 Xbox ...

Amidst the last console generation, Codemaster’s DiRT franchise has become the dominant off-road racing title, thanks to its refined driving physics and accomplished visuals. Yet, the descendant of the Colin McCrae series has gradually deserted its rallying foundations. 2011’s DiRT ...

Following Tiger Woods’ five month exodus from professional golf in early 2010, the athlete exhibited an anomalous stumble- dropping to a position of fifty-eighth in the world rankings. Resolutely, the record- breaking golfer scaled his way back up the rankings. ...

In concept, Hyperdimension Neptunia’s allegory of anthropomorphized consoles reconciling their differences to fight a common enemy might have been one of role-playing’s most creative themes. Yet, once players immersed themselves in 2010’s inaugural entry and its subsequent sequel, they had ...

Eric’s Take: Being the fighting game addict that I am, one of my missions is to try as many franchises from the genre as possible. Back around 2005, that mission led me to cross paths with Arc System Works’ Guilty ...

Look past the coquettish DLC swimsuits and intermittent instances where ditziness serves as comic relief, and the Atelier franchise reveals its principal virtue: it’s a series that focuses on female empowerment.  From Rorona’s efforts to keep her alchemical workshop from ...