Author: Max Smith

Photo-Illustration: Franziska Barczyk ; Photos: Epic Games, Larian Studios, Round8 Studio, Nintendo, Tour De Pizza, Capcom, Insomniac Games, Nightdive Studios After a down few years for the industry largely thanks to COVID delays, 2023 was surprisingly flush with exciting video games. Major releases, offbeat indies, consecrated remasters, and long-gestating sequels kept us plenty occupied, with many gamers declaring this the best year for video games in their living memory. This year we traveled the Milky Way, played Dungeons & Dragons, got behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, fought dinosaurs in a mech suit, explored Night City without any game-breaking…

2023 proved to be a blockbuster year for video games. Hotly anticipated platform titles debuted on a monthly, and sometimes biweekly, basis, consuming video gamers’ time (and the contents of their wallets) like some viral new version of the ever insatiable Pac-Man. But it’s not as though gamers minded much, given the quality of the output. The biggest struggle proved to be staying on top of all the new releases, and there’s no doubt that many people will still be playing catch-up well into 2024, especially given the length of some of these games. Anyone who has already finished Baldur’s…

Video games are full of loops. In many cases, the loop is not just a loop of space, but also a loop of labor, a loop of time. This is a recurring task with some variation from cycle to cycle, and is usually tied to some kind of character progression system. A classic is the town and dungeon loop of action RPGs such as Diablo 4. Armed with sword and shield, he takes to the depths, slaughters hordes of innocent goblins, and then returns triumphantly to the village square, ready 24/7. An adventurer's guild with a lively forge. Then leave…

March 20, 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons Freed. Just days after marking the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutting down much of the world, millions of people are moving to a virtual world where the disease is not spreading and they can pay off the construction costs of their homes. I fell into it. own pace. It felt like more people were playing and talking about video games than ever before.Therefore it makes sense Critical Hit: Writers Playing Video Games It was born out of conversations during quarantine. But escapism and solitary play only scratch the surface of what…

If you time-track your nearly 30 years of life, you'll find that three activities dominate: sleep, school, and video games. I've loved video games since I was little. I loved the story, the challenge, and immersing myself in the world. I loved spending time hanging out with my friends and frankly, I loved that I was good at it. I loved the excitement of a new challenge, the focus of tackling it, and the satisfaction of completing it. This was all good. One of my earliest memories is explaining to an older child (probably 6 or 7 years old) that…

In Catholic parenting circles, nothing seems to stir more anger and disgust than video games. they are a waste of time. They are passageways to sin and the devil. They are hotbeds of vice. And so on, that's what I've heard about video games. I had similar thoughts for a long time. However, at a work conference a few years ago, I overheard a presentation that detailed the benefits of video games. I reluctantly changed my mind. Our family has benefited greatly from this. Believe it or not, video games can have a lot of good in the world, even…

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, checks the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cooks “sitting is the new coolness” line. To its detractors, love at first sight must be an illusion – the wrong term for what is simply infatuation, or a way to sugarcoat lust. Best Chromebook: Google…

Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn The Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region is a magnificent area with high mountain ranges, glaciers and is actually the most glaciated part of the European Alps. Visiting this area can be done relatively easy by car and if you want to go up, by train up to 3,400 metres above sea level, the highest train ride in Europe, the Jungfrau Railway is very impressive (and expensive!). The area is on the UNESCO World Heritage list because of its unique and wide range of flora and fauna and geological importance regarding the creating of the High Alps.

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, checks the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cooks “sitting is the new coolness” line. To its detractors, love at first sight must be an illusion – the wrong term for what is simply infatuation, or a way to sugarcoat lust. Best Chromebook: Google…

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, checks the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cooks “sitting is the new coolness” line. To its detractors, love at first sight must be an illusion – the wrong term for what is simply infatuation, or a way to sugarcoat lust. Best Chromebook: Google…