REVIEW: Outshine Is a Thrilling Introduction to the Typing Game Genre

REVIEW: Outshine Is a Thrilling Introduction to the Typing Game Genre

There’s a degree of classism in requiring technology to hold a job and get an education. I first noticed this years back when my classmates got their classwork highly praised in grade school for having high definition (for 2004) pictures taken from the internet, and it only got worse as I lost about two years of university due to not having regular access to an internet connection, or a laptop in a world weathering a global pandemic. (more…)

January Roundtable: Sequels

January Roundtable: Sequels

Every year in recent memory has felt like a sequel to the last. Literally, of course, in that time marches ever forward, but also thematically, if the real world can be said to have a theme. New year, same topics. We’re in year three of a sustained pandemic, capitalism continues to ruin everything, and every week is a fresh deluge of news about exploitation in the gaming industry. So what better topic for this cheery occasion of turning over the calendar than sequels? (more…)

December Roundtable: The Games of 2022

December Roundtable: The Games of 2022

Games really do just keep on coming out, which is why we’re devoting this month’s roundtable to the year’s games. Not the best games. Not the worst games. Just the year’s games, which include the games that we played, the games we didn’t play, and more. The end of the year is a great time for reflection, which, for me at least, means a lot of looking back at all the things I didn’t do. (more…)

The Dreamcast and Hypersensitivity: A Neurodivergent Christmas

The Dreamcast and Hypersensitivity: A Neurodivergent Christmas

Content note: This piece includes mentions of self-harm.

The holidays are a weird time for me. As saccharine as they are often portrayed in popular media, they are designed to be loud. I suppose that’s part of the whole appeal. Having the whole family together, stories new and old being shared, familiar jokes being repeated and laughter being heard—there’s plenty to appreciate about them. Holidays, I once heard someone say, are the only time family gets together (more…)

November Roundtable: Harvesting

November Roundtable: Harvesting

Welcome to November! Our weather here in the Pacific Northwest went straight from blisteringly hot summer to frozen ground and rain. Though the rapid climate shift left my head spinning, the cold, crisp air has me craving apple cider and pumpkin pie, which are perfectly in theme with this month’s roundtable: harvesting. (more…)