Kate Collins' mutterings in Everybody's Gone To The Rapture are seldom enlightening. Yet, the protagonist's comments on "the necessity of presence born from absence" highlight a fundamental examination at play in one of The Chinese Room's most celebrated games. In an experience ruled by absence, how is the perception of the unseen explored in Everybody's Gone To The Rapture?
Even Dying Isn’t Normal In Death Stranding
Death Stranding's seemingly annual trailer reveal has provided more clues to its gameplay than critics have supposedly taken it for. Hideo Kojima recently let the world in on the meaning behind the underwater sequence that graced our screens at The Game Awards.
9 Nintendo Switch Indie Games You Can’t Ignore In 2018
Nintendo was perhaps the biggest phoenix of 2017, so what does 2018 hold for the year's biggest success story, and where do Nintendo Switch indie games come in?
Microsoft’s Proposed Platform Pounce Is No Defeat
In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft boss Phil Spencer emphasised the company's plans to release first party exclusives on other consoles, namely PS4.
Interview: Andrew Aversa Discusses Retro Game Sound Design and His Role In Tangledeep
Fresh from the Steam Early Access release of throwback RPG Tangledeep, chief programmer and sound designer Andrew Aversa discusses his role in the rogue-like dungeon crawler and the role of retro game sound effects.
The Story Behind Mutual Turk: The Viral Mutual Human Actuation VR Experience
Two VR users interact with one another through human actuation, the process of applying force and feedback in VR experiences through the use of another human user. There's a lot more than meets the eye, however. Introducing Mutual Human Actuation, the paper produced by the Mutual Turk researchers that gives a unique insight into the development of this human immersion engine.
New Action-RPG Elex Is A Worrying Gamble – But It Might Pay Off
Elex hits PC and console stores tomorrow, and has largely flown under the media radar in the run up to its release. It may be the dubious attitudes to Piranha Bytes previous title Risen, it may be the somewhat overshadowed release date, but most likely it's probably down to the fact that nobody really knows what it's about.
Loot Crate Sealed Their Fate With Loot Vault: The Rise And Fall Of A Subscription Box
Nerd Block's site has been conspicuously down for the past few weeks, 1Up Box has put its prices up, and gaming subscription box giant Loot Crate is losing voices with each delivery it makes. This time two years ago, these monthly deliveries of gamey, geeky goodness were firing on all cylinders. In 2017, they're losing steam at an alarming rate.
On Taking Play Seriously
In Homo Ludens, the iconic treatise on the cultural importance and prevalence of play, Johan Huizinga makes one of society’s first attempts to systematically categorise the notion of play. It wasn’t a popular idea then, but we’re currently witnessing a Huizinga revival with similar discourses growing around video games.
Unbelievable Retro Gaming Ads
Between E3 and Christmas we tend to see an onslaught of video game advertisements. The sleek, empowering shots of mid-action characters and expansive worlds, however, were not always the norm when you open up that double page magazine spread. Retro gaming ads are some of the most hilarious and confusing historical documents of the industry. It's safe to say you definitely wouldn't get away with half of this stuff now!