Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture

Predictably, a number of critics were dismissive of 2011’s Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures. Built around the concept of purchasing real-world figurines that were capable of transforming into in-game characters, the title was depicted as little more than a brazen money-grab by ...

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 ...

Preceding the launch of Pinball FX 2 onto Xbox Live, developer Zen Studios referred to their steel ball simulation as a “platform”, rather than use a more orthodox descriptor such as “game”. For some critics, a bit of healthy skepticism ...

What is the concept? By reworking the destructive antics of the Angry Birds franchise into a three-dimensional, Kinect-controlled environment, recent XBLA release Wreckateer risks being dismissed as derivative. After all, each of the title’s sixty stages offers a familiar objective: ...

Developers take note: with their latest release, Nintendo has effectively dominated the kart racing genre on their portable system. While other studios will likely craft comparably whimsical competitions filled with diminutive vehicles, any outside attempt to surpass Mario Kart 7 ...

With the potential of making a record-setting tenth appearance at the 2012 London Summer games, Canadian equestrian Ian Millar embodies the spirit of Olympic resiliency and determination. Yet, with a third appearance at the international competition (following forays at both ...

Over the past quarter century, Sonic’s console career has endured more fluctuations than a sprint through the Casino Zone. From the ecstatic heights of early cartridge-based excursions, the depths plumbed by the unmanageable controls of 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog, to ...

From racing on stars in Kirby’s Air Ride to matching three in the Puyo-Puyo-like Kirby’s Avalanche, Nintendo’s pink puffball has dipped his red toes into quite a few genres over the years. The sleeper hit of these side ventures is ...

The old adage “birds of a feather, flock together” is a tragically accurate explanation of my social circle. Comprised of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures, each male friend finds their way into the clique by being imaginative, bookish, and owning ...

Beyond a flimsy, bilingual leaflet which reveals where Sonic Generations’ actual instruction manual can be downloaded, there’s something else inside the game case: a heaping pile of vindication. Playing through remixed renditions of stages culled from the franchise’s twenty-year span, ...