Studying Pixels

Each year a new, mainline Pokémon game comes and goes. This time, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet promise a continuation of the series’ tradition while also integrating the innovations of recent titles. We discuss what we know so far...

Some games are designed to be played over and over again. And others, we just return to every once and while for comfort, insight, or even self-reflection. We discuss how we replay games and how our approaches have changed over time.

We mentioned that Dan was a guest on last week’s episode of The Pike Horror Show to talk about a whole range of horror movies. Here’s the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify...

Some games deliberately hide certain mechanics to make player actions feel more satisfying—such as barely escaping death—or secretly track player actions to determine the ending they are going to see...

Video games have repeatedly intersected with fake news. Whether it is the absurd claim that Hideo Kojima assassinated the former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the deliberate use footage from Arma 3 by Russian media, or the mishaps of CNN and BBC who included video game footage in news reporting. We discuss these cases and many more in order to discern why it keeps happening and what the detrimental consequences might be...

Have you ever played a game and just thought to yourself: “wow, I would really love to take a vacation in that world”? – Well, we certainly have! Here are our top picks, ten game worlds that would make for a splendid getaway.

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Have you ever played a game and just thought to yourself: “wow, I would really love to take a vacation in that world”? – Well, we certainly have! Here are our top picks, ten game worlds that would make for a splendid getaway.

Website | Twitter | Instagram

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Most of us have done it at some point, possibly without any awareness of the harm it might cause. After all, piracy has for a long time been an integral part of video game culture...

Men must be strong, show little emotion, and speak with violence—that is an exceedingly common trope in video games, referred to as hypermasculinity. We explore the concept of hypermasculinity to then focus on games that subvert or deconstruct it.

Measuring a macho personality constellation (Donald L. Mosher and Mark Sirkin)

Walking, Talking and Playing with Masculinities in Firewatch (Melissa Kagen)

Studying Pixels Plus 2...

After it’s surprise hit Until Dawn, Supermassive Games has rather consistently underwhelmed fans of cinematic, decision-based horror games. The Quarry is its attempt to return to form...

Since E3 is taking an extended vacation, Geoff Keighley has taken it upon himself to fill the summer lull with a major showcase. But does it live up to expectations? We go over the high- and lowlights of Summer Game Fest 2022...