The PS5. So shiiinyy... A recent system update for PlayStation 4  had several news outlets including Eurogamer and IGN buzzing about the new "PS5 Remote Play" app that has started appearing for European users after the update. It seems that in order to keep its last-gen console relevant in users' homes, Sony has engineered the PS5 so that it can be streamed to a PS4 console. Via wifi, this new app will let users stream games installed on their PS5 to another television in the hou...

A few weeks ago, we dove into the broader genre of strategy and discussed some of the many elements that make that genre what it is. Given that it’s October, I thought it would be timely to discuss a genre that has long terrified me (clearly it lives up to its name): horror.  Horror and I have a very interesting relationship. I happen to have a rather overactive imagination and I’m fairly easily frightened, which isn’t a great combination for trudging through the m...

Microsoft announced on Monday via a letter on Xbox Wire from Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, that they had acquired ZeniMax Media and publisher Bethesda Softworks. "Bethesda's games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world," Spencer said in his statement. "Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game t...

I’ve been reminiscing about college a lot, lately. In particular, I have been remembering my “Studies in Genre” class. The class consisted of a lot of peer discussion and literary dissection as we broke down what elements made a particular genre that genre (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, etc.). Our professor equated it to being like a recipe: all of these different elements combine in a pot and out pops your genre (I am positive she had a much more eloquent...

IKEA is killing the social media game during Quarantine 2020. Between releasing their meatball recipe (complete with IKEA diagrams!) and a series of how-to-build your own blanket forts , they have been bringing humor to an otherwise frustrating time. Most recently, the company’s Taiwan division released an homage to Animal Crossing by replicating segments of their 2021 catalog directly in the game. It’s extremely clever, super creative, and definitely put a smil...

I’ll be honest: I’ve never quite understood speed running. I mean, yes, I understand the concept of speed running games and how it works, but I suppose I’ve never completely understood the overall appeal. That’s not to knock on speed gamers - you do you! - but I am more of a meanderer when it comes to my games. When I watch a speedrunner click rapidly through all of the dialogue or skip huge chunks of my favorite RPGs, I get a little squirrely. That ...

StarCraft II has been around for nearly a decade now and Blizzard has decided to celebrate with a fairly massive 5.0 update . They are currently in public testing for the update, which introduces new campaign achievements for every mission in the base game and all three expansions. The update also improves the map editor tool, putting more power into the hands of players who are looking to create their own custom campaigns. Absorbing several features from Warcraft III's game editor, Bliz...

If you’ve spent any time in the Stardock community, you know that we love mods here. Between Galactic Civilizations III , Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion , Star Control: Origins , and our other titles, there are thousands of available mods out there from an abundance of talented creators. A lot of us here play with mods not only on the studio’s games, but also games we’re playing from other studios. I know that one of the members of GalCiv’s creativ...

I am kind of a compulsive shopper (a habit I have been trying to curb over the last few years). Because of this, there is a small amount of dread and a large amount of summoned self-restraint every year when the Steam Summer Sale arrives. I haven’t bought anything yet this year - I guess I’m waiting for the last minute - but I noticed while perusing articles on gaming sites that Steam has introduced a new Points Shop . So, of course I had to go and check it out, though I&r...

As the title says, I am curious which titles members of our community have snatched up during the various sales this summer. Personally, I've been more in a TTRPG kick, but I did finally grab SpaceEngine on sale and got Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC.

In a b log post on June 24, 2020, Sony announced that they were launching a PlayStation Bug Bounty program. I think I've been playing too much Animal Crossing lately, because my first thought was along the lines of "Will they pay me 1.5x more than Nook's Cranny for my bugs, too?" Anyway. Seriously, wake your brain up woman. Wrong kind of bugs. "We believe that through working with the security research community we can deliver a safer place to play," Geoff Norton, senior director ...

Earlier this year, E3 joined GDC and several other conventions in cancelling their event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some events have adapted with their cancellations by moving some or all of their programming into an online format, much like Microsoft did with their Build conference last month. If you're itching to get the latest gaming news, the announcements start rolling out this Saturday. The PC Gaming Show , which is an annual live-streamed showcase of new games, exclusive gamepl...

I've worked on a lot of games over the years.  It's really hard, on a personal level, to dedicate multiple years to a single project.  It's the nature of the business but at the end of each project I end up in quite a bit of a funk.   Looking back on my own schedule here is what I've been worked on: 1992: GalCiv OS/2 1993: GalCiv OS/2 1994: GalCiv OS/2 1995: GalCiv 2 OS/2 1996: Avarice 1996: Trials of battle 1996: Entrepreneur [Pear engine] ...

I recently wrote an article for Gamasutra on scripting languages and game engines .   Whether it be Lua or Python or some other scripting language, I think there is a lot to be said about not having to compile your code after every change.  It makes iteration much faster to be able to be playing the game and be writing code changes to improve it while it's running and have those changes simply update. I don't have a strong preference between Lua and Python other tha...

Elemental: War of Magic (most fun) [2010] Galactic Civilizations OS/2 [1993] Galactic Civilizations II [2006] Star Control: Origins [2018] The Corporate Machine [2000] Sins of a Solar Empire [2008] Fallen Enchantress [2012] Stellar Frontier [1999] Ashes of the Singularity [2016] Trials of Battle [1996] Avarice [1996] Offworld Trading Company [2016] Galactic Civilizations I [2003] The Political Machine [2004] Galactic Civi...