Gaming Culture

Article: What is PAX Really Like? POV Montage / Write-up of the Show Floor

As mentioned in earlier-posted coverage of PAX East, the biggest demand from all of you in a recent poll we ran was to provide more on-site, POV coverage of conventions; it’s tough to really understand what these events are like without simply being here, and even then, we normally don’t really realize what’s transpired until just after the event concludes. They’re fast-paced, hectic weekends, and though shows like CES & PAX East are...

Article: LANFest 2012: Case Mods, Interviews, Gaming for Charity

This past weekend was Sacramento's Intel-sponsored LANFest 2012, where gamers and hardware vendors amassed to benefit local charities, play some games, and show off their systems. We had a chance to head over to LANFest and talk with Antec about cases and PSUs, Gigabyte, who showed us their best motherboard offerings and talked UEFI BIOS, and ASUS' ROG division, also with motherboards.

Article: A Shallow Attempt: Smithsonian's Art of Video Games Exhibit an Embarrassment

With the Smithsonian's tasteful artistry and with the dexterous footwork of a drunken stumblebum, the Art of Video Games exhibit's Washington incursion crumbles under its own ambitious, unfocused mass. Teetering undecidedly between "user's choice awards" -- a result of crowdsourced voting -- and "a brief history of games," the exhibit feels almost rushed, or perhaps...

Article: Game Story Design: Predicting a Game's Story Outcome

Video games in recent years have seen a trend toward greater depth in story development. Gaming has become more about immersion in a different world as technology advances and for most gamers this is best accomplished with a deep and encompassing story. While the gameplay mechanics of the Assassin's Creed franchise, or games in the Elder Scrolls universe (which we made even more...

Article: What Peripherals Say About Gaming Style

There are a lot of ways to measure a gamer's personal style: Kill-to-Death ratios, class choices, progression, the ability to endure 60 hours of clicking, and -- naturally -- gaming peripherals. Nothing speaks more to gaming finesse than arming oneself with the latest, most expensive keyboard, a 7.1, nay, 19.5 surround-sound headset, a 17-button mouse, and a comfortable chair. The...

Article: In-Depth Diablo 3 Analysis & Review

Ah, fresh meat. No, wait... When Blizzard held the 2008 fan convention in Paris, I stood up early each day to gorge myself on the daily-shifting artwork that heralded some grand revelation or announcement that was soon-to-come. I frothed over these teasers, engaging in active study – even going so far as to maintain active threads that served as a condensed source of speculation, debates, and upvoted opinions by prominent members o...

Article: X-CON Surges Forward in Myrtle Beach

The South Eastern parts of the US don't have much in the ways of technology conventions (unless you count guns and technological advancements in the 'grits' department), but between ECGC, X-CON, CGS, and the incumbent DragonCon, we've seen evidence that there's room for...

Article: Most Memorable Moments of the Diablo Franchise

Delving back into the reaches of the past, among a clutter of Age of Empires and Command & Conquer boxes, I found my original Diablo discs. Upon this discovery, I was instantly flooded with key moments in Diablo -- almost as if my virtual life had flashed before my eyes. Working with Brandon "Tribar" Jones on GN, we were able to ascertain some of the most memorable moments in Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, including cut...

Article: Mike Choi Performs Tetris/Castlevania - PAX East 2012

PAX East 2012 has the twisted ability to create a high-tension, high-stress environment that is simultaneously the most fun and exciting physical setting in the gaming world; it's a tough job for consumers, exhibitors, and press to be on their feet for 20 hour days, but it pays off thanks to performers like Mike Choi. Continue below for a video of Mike Choi playing classic Tetris music on his Pianica (and a bit of...

Article: The Style and Identity of PC Gaming Culture

Screaming into a weakened headset that's been dropped one too many times, twitching a mouse with tattered Teflon footing, and dancing from battered number keys to paint-stripped WASD keys -- all while bathed in the warm light of flickering LEDs from a nearby rig -- is an experience that can't be easily understood by 'outsiders:' It's classic, exciting, infuriating, relaxing, and embracing all at the same time. PC gaming is about...

Article: Analysis: Fanboyism is an integral part of gaming culture

The gaming industry is versatile-yet-volatile, expansive-yet-inclusive, and most of all, mobilizing for users across all platforms; openly stating one's allegiance -- even mere preference -- toward a particular platform or series almost assuredly results in an indignant assault on character and gaming credibility, depending on the environment and encompassing community. Gaming culture, as

Article: Extracurricular PAXtivities! Fun Stuff to do at PAX East 2012

PAX East is the epicenter of epicenters -- the foci of fociiii -- the ... the ... PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX PAX *breathe* PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX! Uh, when it comes to gaming culture and entertainment, that is. That was sort of embarassing, you really should learn to restrain yourself more, shouting...

Article: Preventing Video Game Burnout - Getting Too Bored, Too Fast

Members of the Gamers Nexus team will unanimously agree on one thing: We get bored of games faster than companies can make them. It's a problem we've opted to call "game burnout," and has side effects of empty wallets, rivers of tears, and wasted gigabytes. Thought Skyrim was good? Twenty hours was enough for me. Liked Battlefield 3? Eh, it was all the same after eighteen hours.

Article: The $60 Game is Just the Start: Game Prices Will Continue to Rise

It started out slow, as it always does: Additional package contents began disappearing from the formerly large, cardboard, game display boxes; manuals were assumed wasteful and largely unread, bombastic displays were phased out by cheaper, smaller, more flimsy plastic variations, and then the new generation of consoles hit the shelves. That key point in relatively recent history, alongside many other notable milestones of degradation,...

Article: Gamer Personalities: What Type of Gamer Are You?

Sometimes, despite the stigma associated with them, it's fun to figure out which stereotype is linked to our gaming play styles. Besides being sort of fun and self-indulgent, it's also a fantastic way of figuring out which games you might like and which you're likely to get bored of rapidly.

Article: Ragequit: Quit Bitching, It's in Beta

I was sitting at my computer doing some cool stuff with programs, you know, legit ones, that I bought and stuff, when GN-Lell messages me: "Hey System, we should go do some SW:TOR beta!" Knowing that this would be a great chance to see what the game looks like, I agree and fire up the game. There we are on the large test server wreaking havoc on those who are foolish enough to stand before our combined might, when all of the sudden I read...

Article: Sheth and Destiny Stream For Charity

Article: Team EG's Contest: "You Could Make Money... forever."

StarCraft 2 professional e-sports team EvilGeniuses, whom our flux vane-equipped Overlords secretly filmed at MLG Raleigh 2011, have announced a multi-phase T-Shirt design contest with promise of riches to the best designer. "Reddit, it's time." Stated the midnight

Article: MLG Raleigh 2011 Kicks Off Despite Encroaching Hurricane

Our arrival at MLG Raleigh 2011 was greeted by a single, amorphous mass of anxious gamers zealously storming the gates of Major League Gaming’s grand opening. We’re still live at the event right now, so if you’re planning to head over here, you can get all the details of when, where, and who’s present here.

Article: The Best of April Fools' Gaming Gags - 2011

The ingenuity of April Fools' enablers has increased with each year -- it has rapidly become an internet tradition, but more importantly, it's become a gaming tradition. We've picked out the most entertaining, most devious April Fools' gags of the year: Guild Wars 2's commando class, Blizzard's StarCraft Motion, and Duke Nukem's excrement challenges. Yeah, you read that right. Continue on for the best...