How to make your own games

Alan Dexter: The Long Dark. God that's a brutal game. None of the usual get-used-to-the-game-mechanics nonsense can be found here. This is a survival game that is unflinching as it is rewarding. You against nature... and nature tends to win this one. Hungry, thirsty, and probably about to freeze to death. If you're lucky there won't be a blizzard swirling around you as you stumble between trees desperately looking for something, anything, that could sustain you. As the light dips and the sound of wolves intensifies, you know you're probably not long for this world. Making it through the first night is an achievement.  … [Read more...] about Which game has the most brutal beginning?

That's not much to go on but thankfully, via Maiden, we learn a little more. In the demo is a note, dated 1958 and written by someone who begins work at the castle. The note mentions a "mistress" and her three daughters. At one point, a Miss Daniela (one of the daughters?) slashes the author's face with a knife. Then, an interesting line: the author opens a window and the daughters shriek "shut it!" in unison. Are they vampires? Or vampiric in some way? … [Read more...] about PS5 Resident Evil Village Maiden demo helps fans piece together the tall vampire lady’s backstory

I've focused on the SA (silent assassin) category so far but the SASO speedrunning category (silent assassin, suits only) is a little different. This category forbids the use of disguises, which is bonkers as a disguise makes your time as an undercover assassin a lot easier. The key here is not to get spotted at all, and players who speedrun in this category are straight-up phantoms, gliding through levels undetected with ghostly ease. … [Read more...] about I can’t stop watching the spookily efficient assassinations of Hitman speedrunners

As much as I like easy money and blowing everything up, it’s the ability to zoom out that I’ve played around with the most. Spelunky 2 plays on the limits of your vision, with traps that can be triggered while still off-screen, or easy-to-miss objects or doors you can find yourself urgently backtracking to find. Being able to zoom out changes all that. It doesn’t erase the game’s challenge, but it changes how you make decisions when you know there’s turkeys ahead, or lava to the right, or a really good shop near the exit. It’s been enough to freshen up an experience that, for me, had grown stale after 150 hours. … [Read more...] about Spelunky 2 mod Overlunky lets you zoom out and blow up every level

December 17, 2017: The FCC votes to repeal net neutralityPai fought for the repeal of net neutrality, which lifted rules barring ISPs from throttling internet speeds on certain websites and services. It was a reversal of a landmark decision in 2015 to classify ISPs under Title II of the US Telecommunications Act, which allowed the FCC to regulate providers as utilities.  Pai argued that less regulation would encourage more competition, calling the rollback, which favored corporations, "Restoring Internet Freedom Order," setting a precedent for being wrong. … [Read more...] about 6 times outgoing FCC chairman Ajit Pai made the internet worse