"It's a secret to everybody" -- an unbelievably comprehensive blog post about the etymologies of the names of famous (and not-so-famous) video game characters.
posted by empath on Jun 20, 2009 - 26 comments

Bank insider steals 200 billion - a director in EBank in Eve Online has stolen 200 billion ISK (approximately 10% of deposits), engaging in real money trading to fence his loot. Equivalent to ~US$12,000, the theft has left Ebank with concerns over liquidity, security, auditor failure, and a run on the bank by investors. Unlike the real world, there is no government bail-out.
posted by Argyle on Jun 15, 2009 - 93 comments

Editor Marty Halpern looks back at the career of George Alec Effinger (part 1, part 2, part 3), a prolific author best known for his work set in the Budayeen, a walled city in a future Islamic state, teeming with gangsters, hustlers and transsexual prostitutes, many of them habitual users of plug in personality modules. The noirish tone and exotic technology of the Marîd Audran books (When Gravity Fails, A Fire In The Sun, The Exile Kiss) made Effinger one of the leading lights in the cyberpunk movie, and spawned a videogame - a rare attempt at a graphical adventure from Infocom - and an RPG setting. Sadly Effinger faded from prominence after that, and he suffered from a number of health and financial setbacks before passing away in 2002. His work has had somewhat of a resurgence in popularity of late, with the Marîd Audran books coming back into print in 2007, a long with a collection containing The Wolves of Memory, Effinger's personal favourite amongst his novels.
posted by Artw on Jun 9, 2009 - 32 comments

Sure you consider yourself a retro 8-bit gaming geek, but have you played Udon Boy in Ramen Land, or Kung Fu Psycho Rider? Don't feel bad, they're from Japanese culture store Meteor's annual Famicase, an exhibition of imaginary games.
posted by artifarce on Jun 5, 2009 - 7 comments

The Memory Card, dissecting great moments in the history of gaming, including the return of Baby Metroid, instinctual player-choices in Ico, Lucca's family history in Crono-Trigger, and even soaking the damn letter in StarTropics.
posted by Navelgazer on Jun 5, 2009 - 57 comments

Dear Esther is a Halflife 2 mod. It could be viewed as an enigmatic, emblematic simulated afterlife, a Hebridean theme park or just a very slow shooter with with a laudable lack of any guns or enemies. Whichever you pick it's hard to deny that this interactive ghost story is Art. Or is it? [more inside]
posted by Sebmojo on May 28, 2009 - 67 comments

Lots of video game cross stitch designs.
posted by mippy on May 22, 2009 - 9 comments

SF author and mefite Charlie Stross speaks about video games in 20 years. [more inside]
posted by nushustu on May 18, 2009 - 80 comments

It was announced on April 28th, 1997. The plan was to use the cutting edge Quake 2 engine. Its gameplay trailer was shown in 1998. The plan was to use the cutting edge Unreal engine. Its gameplay trailer was shown in 2001. The plan was to use the cutting edge Meqon physics engine. The plan was to a use custom, cutting edge engine. The plan was not to use the cutting edge Doom 3 engine. The plan was to use a heavily-modified Unreal engine. Its gameplay trailer was shown in 2007. The plans didn't pan out. But some other stuff happened on the way.
posted by duende on May 7, 2009 - 94 comments

Reinier van der Ende, an x-ray technician at the largest hospital in the northern part of the Netherlands, decided to combine his work with one of his hobbies and proceeded to x-ray his collection of video game consoles, peripherals and game cartridges. Here are the fruits of his labour. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on May 2, 2009 - 20 comments

Touch screen. Awesome graphics. Online community. No, I'm not talking about the latest handheld device to hit the market, I'm talking about Control Data's PLATO system. [more inside]
posted by WolfDaddy on Apr 27, 2009 - 31 comments

Lunar Lander 3D in 5k
posted by gwint on Apr 25, 2009 - 39 comments

There's something in the sea... and it has a big drill for an arm.
posted by Artw on Apr 20, 2009 - 74 comments

Welcome to Sarien.net, the portal for reliving the classic Sierra On-Line adventure games. With its focus on instant fun and a unique multiplayer experience, Sarien.net hopes to win new gamers' hearts and promote the adventure game genre. Available currently: Leisure Suit Larry 1, Police Quest 1, and Space Quest 1.
posted by spec80 on Apr 20, 2009 - 58 comments

At GDC this year, Heather Chaplin to game developers: "You're a bunch of f***ing adolescents." Chaplin, co-author of the book Smartbomb, spoke at the Game Developers Conference during a panel called the Rant Session. [more inside]
posted by shmegegge on Apr 8, 2009 - 249 comments

A visit to id Software, 1993. A must watch for anyone who's ever played Doom.
posted by WolfDaddy on Apr 6, 2009 - 49 comments

"My boss told me not to work on it, because it was impossible to do on the Atari 2600 console, which had only 1/8 K of RAM and 4K of ROM." But creating the world's first video game easter egg might not even be Warren Robinett's most remarkable achievement. [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Apr 3, 2009 - 37 comments

Home of the Underdogs (previously, previouslier) has been resurrected -- and enhanced with community-driven features (user comments, user added reviews, user ratings, etc.) -- by Lord_Pall. That is all. [via mefi projects]
posted by cog_nate on Mar 26, 2009 - 55 comments

Beta-registration has already started for Onlive, a revolutionary cloud-gaming service that promises to put an end to costly PC hardware upgrades, videogame piracy and the entire console industy and game retail sectors. There's just one small problem: it can't possibly work.
posted by permafrost on Mar 26, 2009 - 65 comments

Moments [more inside]
posted by flatluigi on Mar 20, 2009 - 4 comments

Good morning, Crono! (Cf.) Starting this Friday, the Vintage Game Club will play through the RPG classic Chrono Trigger, a game beloved and praised but perhaps not well understood. The discussion is beginning here (little substance so far). [more inside]
posted by grobstein on Mar 17, 2009 - 46 comments

Hip Hop Zelda. It's a booty call from Hyrule, a love letter in rhyme to your childhood featuring some of the best independent and mainstream Hip Hop artists. MF Doom, Edan and Aesop Rock get tossed together with Dr. Dre, Common, and Jay Z in this surprisingly compelling mashup of old Legend of Zelda tunes. If the TriForce Rules Everything Around You, hit up the link above to stream the album, or download it for free here. [more inside]
posted by shmegegge on Mar 17, 2009 - 23 comments

Welcome to Dog Time. My name is Yorick. • Episode 1 • Dog Under a Blanket • Cool Dogs Only • Christman Special • Gamer Dogz • Snowy Fun Time Edition • My Dog is Scared of the Floor • “Walk” the “Dog” • Cosplay Dog
posted by cthuljew on Mar 15, 2009 - 27 comments

The niftiest thing at Coin Op World? The mp3 files of Classic Arcade Sounds. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Mar 13, 2009 - 27 comments

Jordan Mechner's way-ahead-of-its-time PC game "The Last Express," revered for its animation and innovative storytelling, has been recut into a single 75-minute animated narrative playthrough. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Mar 11, 2009 - 21 comments

The videogames industry's not known for its subtlety when promoting its wares. Controversy has often been a successful part of their marketing campaigns. But is this a step too far? They'll have to go some way to cause more chaos than these guys
posted by muggsy1079 on Mar 11, 2009 - 86 comments

Classic game characters redrawn
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Mar 1, 2009 - 35 comments

the doyouinverts sings songs about old friends who don't play videogames anymore, Edge Magazine's scoring system and a love song to an imported Japanese videogame. They are a regular feature on British videogame radio show/podcast One Life Left.
posted by The Devil Tesla on Mar 1, 2009 - 4 comments

"What were arcades like?"
posted by bardic on Feb 27, 2009 - 166 comments

Prepare to feel old: Quake III Arena came out nearly ten years ago. Prepare to feel young again: Quake Live can be played in your browser for free. The long-anticipated beta opened to the public yesterday. John Carmack says that they hope to be improving and polishing the game for the next decade. [more inside]
posted by Plutor on Feb 25, 2009 - 50 comments

The Pac-Man Dossier is an extremely detailed description of the game logic of arcade Pac-Man. It explains why, once in a while, monsters will harmlessly pass through Pac-Man. It explains why they won't go up through the tunnels above the monster box. It explains why occasionally, after losing a life, monsters will refuse to leave the box. It explains when and why Blinky becomes Cruise Elroy, and why sometimes Pinky gets confused and loses track of Pac-Man. It even explains, as far as the player can continue to play, what to do on the kill screen. It is awesome. Previously....
posted by JHarris on Feb 19, 2009 - 35 comments

Noby Noby Boy is out! What is Noby Noby Boy? The creator speaks: "At this stage, it's too early for me to sum up this game in one word." Why was it made? "Seriously, I don’t know. When I figure it out, I’ll share it on this blog." A bit more cogent explanation follows: [more inside]
posted by zabuni on Feb 19, 2009 - 30 comments

Street Fighter II. It basically created the 2d-beat-em-up, and invented the combo, the special move, a wide roster of diverse, playable characters who people grew to love, and all the other things that gamers have taken for granted for years. It spawned a whole series, none of which ever quite captured the original's charm or had the same influence. This was a game that people obsessed over - bands were named after its special moves, rappers cited it in their lyrics, and even Premier League footballers weren't immune to its charms. Poor Raul Julia's final film was this masterpiece, and a new version's headed straight to DVD very soon. Now, 17 years later, Street Fighter 4 is about to be released in Europe and the nostalgia machine is going into overdrive. The game's producer's been talking about its links to Street Fighter II, reviewers are getting misty-eyed , and even musicians are getting in on the act with Akira the Don making his very own Street Fighter-themed track. Apparently it's pretty good. Hadouken!
posted by muggsy1079 on Feb 19, 2009 - 79 comments

The Console War Is Officially Over (Via)
posted by Del Far on Feb 18, 2009 - 53 comments

Chicago-based video game developer Midway Games has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. [more inside]
posted by 40 Watt on Feb 14, 2009 - 43 comments

Modern video game covers reimagined as Classic Books.
posted by ColdChef on Feb 4, 2009 - 30 comments

Luna City Arcade is Peter Hirschberg's home / barn video arcade, with about 60 vintage machines all set up to eat quarters. WaPo story about Peter's dream. You can come around to Peter's Virginia home for Game Day every couple months. [more inside]
posted by grobstein on Jan 16, 2009 - 35 comments

Little Big Star (free software, currently in beta - video) it's the first guitar rythm game with support for real instruments. In the next months two more products of the same kind should be released, Disney Star Guitar and Guitar Rising. [more inside]
posted by darkripper on Jan 14, 2009 - 16 comments

Remember the Mario Marathon? Child's play. These guys are playing through every song available for the game Rock Band, in a row, without sleep. That's 539 songs. 48 hours in and they are only 347 tunes down. This isn't just pushing buttons, this is taking sticks to drumpads rapidly for days straight. At what point is this no longer a game, but an obsession?
posted by mediamelt on Jan 10, 2009 - 96 comments

RIP 1UP & EGM. [more inside]
posted by juv3nal on Jan 7, 2009 - 63 comments

Bought a video game second hand and found it doesn’t have a manual? Or have you been thinking about that great manual that came with that copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past you owned years ago and wouldn't mind taking a look through it again? Well, help is at hand! Vimm offers you heaps of free pdf manuals from retro systems as old as the Atari 2600 and as recent as the N64! Meanwhile Meekeo does much the same, although it mostly looks after current generation systems (including the PC) only. Finally, if you own a Nintendo Wii, DS, Gamecube or Gameboy Advance, Nintendo is offering up full colour pdfs of games they publish(ed) for these systems, as well as manuals for some of their older games.
posted by Effigy2000 on Jan 5, 2009 - 15 comments

In 1977, Nolan Bushnell allowed Gene Landrum to bring Chuck E. Cheese [yt] to life as a family-friendly access point to Atari games. This, perhaps, explains the pizza. [more inside]
posted by batmonkey on Dec 31, 2008 - 17 comments

Spelunky is a (Windows-only) game that blends roguelike elements with a platform game reminiscent of La Mulana or the original Spelunker. Add this to the pile of fantastic indie platformers, I guess. [via]
posted by sonic meat machine on Dec 31, 2008 - 8 comments

Fredrik Larsson (Freddie25) presents: Für Elise, Mega Man 9: Rock Medley and Wind Waker Unplugged.
posted by defenestration on Dec 28, 2008 - 8 comments

Push tin with ATC-SIM, an air traffic control simulator.
posted by nthdegx on Dec 24, 2008 - 31 comments

The video games of the 1983 Sears Wishbook
posted by empath on Dec 21, 2008 - 74 comments

HOME is out for the Playstation 3, and as Penny Arcade has observed, it really is "nothing more than a cumbersome menu, a rampart over which you must hoist yourself to accomplish the most basic tasks." But it's not a complete waste of time. Where else can you have the joy of observing someone being Quincyed? Here's a video of Quincying in action. Observe the quick change, the expedient retreat of the male suitors, the provocative pelvic motion. Here's how to master the art of the Quincy, should you be so inclined.
posted by Effigy2000 on Dec 14, 2008 - 97 comments

Driving Off the Map by James Clinton Howell is a formal analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2. If you played this game — even if you didn't like it (especially if you didn't like it) — you need to read this to learn what you actually played. If you've never played Metal Gear Solid, it's still an excellent example of serious video game scholarship.
posted by cthuljew on Dec 8, 2008 - 37 comments

While it's been noted Obama is the first presidential candidate to run political ads in video games and one of his transition team leaders plays World of Warcraft, there's no real evidence as yet that the coming administration encompasses the gaming experience and mindset. Since future ones undoubtedly will, as video and computer games go mainstream, it's worthwhile to ponder what things would be like if gamers ran the world. (via) [more inside]
posted by Doktor Zed on Dec 8, 2008 - 52 comments

An interesting take on galactic conquest for a Flash game, at least.
posted by XMLicious on Dec 5, 2008 - 25 comments