15th May 2021
From MOBAs to Minecraft, modding is an intrinsic part of the gaming world. What’s your favourite mod? When I was younger, young enough to be susceptible to the swear-laden, screaming glory of early 2010s YouTuber lets-players, nothing pleased me more than watching Minecraft modding videos. There was something innately satisfying about being able to create ...
3rd April 2021
Romance in cyberspace is for straight people only, apparently. Earlier this month, the trailer for the much-anticipated remaster of the beloved Mass Effect trilogy was released. Being a fan of the games for the past few years I can’t deny that I was very excited to see them being revamped for a new gaming generation, ...
31st March 2021
A walkthrough of difficulty choices in video games. I’m getting so old that I remember sneaking out of some family friends’ house to go to the smallest of seaside arcades. I’d spend all the coins I was able to scramble from my parents just to repeatedly die before the first boss of Metal Gear Slug ...
13th March 2021
Why is the gaming world so inaccessible? Probably my earliest memory of video games is from when I was about six, curled up on the couch next to my dad, struggling to keep my eyes open so I could keep them peeled for any Pikmin being left behind (or eaten). My dad still has a ...
8th February 2021
When you imagine a cutthroat capitalist, it should be a level 10 mage from WoW you think of, not Jeff Bezos. Contrary to the political views I occasionally broadcast into the void on Twitter, in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) world, I am a ruthless, uncaring, unabashed capitalist. Every day, my World of ...
12th November 2020
Waiting for a jumpscare is weirdly enticing, and the thrill of the shock itself even more so. How come? Jump scares shouldn’t work. Us avid horror fans know they’re coming, even seek them out, but every time, we leap out of our seats in genuine, goosebump-inducing, heart racing fear usually followed by the laughter of ...
6th November 2020
A rambunctious trip through all things spooky is let down by its core gameplay mechanics. Banjo Kazooie, Conkers Bad Fur Day, Donkey Kong, whatever the hell Gex was. All relics of a dead genre of 3D platformers revolving around expressive cartoon animals bouncing and brawling their way through contrived, yet often hilarious and charming adventures. ...
17th October 2020
How can streaming be made a safer space for women? VTubing could be the answer. When it comes down to it, there is one typical constant in the majority of online gaming communities; the rampant harassment of women. I can say with confidence that if you’re a woman who engages at all socially with video ...
15th October 2020
Spaceship murders and battle-royale physics-fun are both perfect ways to link up with buddies during Covid-19. Recently, talking with the manager of a West End supermarket, I was told that their higher-ups in London are so convinced that another lockdown is on the cards that shops have already begun to stockpile toilet paper. This made ...
17th September 2020
With lockdown changing our version of normality, Sophie Kernachan explores how we could experience normality in video games. It’s fair to say that since the beginning of quarantine, my game accounts have seen more action than they have in a long time. I’m not alone in that, with Statista showing a record peak in concurrent ...
