If you've played Sonic the Hedgehog on your phone, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the last half-dozen years, you have Christian Whitehead to thank. In 2009, he created an unofficial proof of concept iPhone port of Sonic CD using a custom-built game eng...
‘Sonic Mania’ is a wonderful balance of nostalgia and novelty
If you've played Sonic the Hedgehog on your phone, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the last half-dozen years, you have Christian Whitehead to thank. In 2009, he created an unofficial proof of concept iPhone port of Sonic CD using a custom-built game eng...
We're sitting in a circle on the floor of a decadent San Francisco hotel lobby, crowds of people milling around the couches and stairways. The young men of Snowman, the studio behind Alto's Adventure, watch as Sam Rosenthal sets up a small iPad, prep...
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild isn't just the series' best game in years, it's also unlike any title in the series -- it's an open-world experience where you're free to find your own solutions to challenges. But just how did Nintendo manage...
When Sega invited me behind closed doors to get an early look of Sonic Mania at GDC last month, I wasn't expecting much. I'd seen the trailers and indeed, it looked like a grand homage to franchise, but I was surprised to find that the game is more t...
The standout feature of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was the Nemesis System. It added a layer of strategy to an otherwise standard action game, allowing players to see the strengths and weaknesses of specific Uruk soldiers before striding into batt...
Two weeks ago, the Trump administration rolled back federal protection for transgender students who wish to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. The act has drawn criticism for not just discriminating against transgendered people,...
The last thing the gaming industry needs is another digital currency system that supplants dollars for an exclusive "points" system -- and yet that's exactly what Razer invited me to see at its San Francisco offices last week. The company's pitch was...
Last year's Game Developers Conference was ruled by virtual reality. From Sony detailing its PSVR launch plans to Oculus showcasing the first batch of games for the consumer Rift headset, you couldn't swing a Meowth at the event without hitting a VR...
SpatialOS is the technical foundation that makes massive, persistent, online world-building possible, even for small video game studios. Think of large, mainstream games like Destiny or Elder Scrolls Online: These are huge universes that support thou...
It's easy to disassociate game developers from the success or failure of their titles. The average gamer might not notice if a company's most recent releases aren't selling well, and would be none the wiser if one of their favorite companies was teet...