The story forging future Need for Speeds — With improvements in video game graphics, developers broadened their narratives. Instead of scrolling text stories, developers can build the worlds they envisioned. Such is the case with EA Black Box’s 2011 title, Need for Speed: The Run. Black Box created their rendition of Need for Speed with the largest open…

The classics return in one convenient package — The echoes of yore ruminate on each passing year of playing Super Monkey Ball 2 with my cousins. Each of us has a firm grip on the controller as the ape in the ball moves around the obstacle. …

Collecting them all to prolong my gameplay — Upon entering my room, I noticed my uncle playing on my PlayStation 3. He then stopped, knowing what he did would upset me. He’d been playing Saints Row: The Third, and who knows what kind of mischief he committed in my save file. Once he stopped…

A fictional short story based on virtual reality video gaming — The video game described here doesn’t exist, but maybe one day it will. You’re fed up with your phobias of the world, and go out for a walk in the city. Months have passed since you have seen what’s outside, but you don’t doubt nothing’s changed. It’s the same old…

A reflection on Grand Theft Auto III, twenty years later — It is a dreary night on the streets of Liberty City. Claude and Catalina are on the run from the cops after ransacking the money from the major Liberty City bank. …

An analysis of the Saints Row 2022 trailer and gameplay — A couple of days ago, I was scrolling through Amazon to see what games I can buy for my PlayStation 4, when I stumbled on a game with a light blue backdrop with a character sitting atop a sign or logo with bold letters reading: Saints Row. I couldn’t believe…

Dribbling and dunking to street supremacy — As a child of the early ‘00s, I spent a majority of my days with my grandparents where I would spend countless hours glued to the TV playing my uncle’s PlayStation 2. They had a wide selection of classics like Grand Theft Auto Vice City. A violent game they let…

A gruesome ’90s throwback you’ll never play — In 2011, a YouTube channel by the name of Pirhanasolider began uploading fan-made versions of Mortal Kombat 9 fatalities. These fatalities were gruesome and over the top; showcasing what NetherRealm Studios would do in future Mortal Kombat installments. These gory finishers drew fans of Mortal Kombat, and they wanted to…

Unraveling the mystery of Sony’s most successful console — Holiday 2000, millions lined up at their local retailer to pick up the latest console from Sony. Sony’s first PlayStation was a hit, and the people waiting in line couldn’t wait to get their hands on the sequel. The customers heard Sony had created a machine that was leagues apart…

Do you remember these long-lost fighters? — From the early ‘00s to ‘10s, fighting games were all the rage. It seemed like almost every major developer had their own fighting game franchise. The major players at the time were (and still are): Street Fighter, Tekken, Virtua Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. But maybe the mainline entries in those…

Exploring Mortal Kombat’s 2010 trilogy — If you can sum up Mortal Kombat in one word, it’s Scorpion and occasionally Sub-Zero. Jokes aside, from its inception in 1992 by co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias, the series saw massive success. …

Snowmobiles have never been more enthralling — If you grew up in the early 2000s with video games, chances are you went to an arcade; either a local one or a franchise like Gameworks, Dave ‘n’ Busters, and Chuck E. Cheese. They at least had one machine for Midway’s Thunder racing series (i.e., Hydra Thunder, Off-road…

Reaching new heights for Nintendo‘s technical racer — Circa 2003 and a wide-eyed seven-year-old went to the store to get a new video game for their GameCube. Upon scrolling through all the potential games, they landed on a game with a character they’d seen in another game. It presented a character standing stoically at the top of the…