video game culture

Tune in at 9am EST for Our Extra Life 2019 25-Hour Marathon

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This is it! Starting at 9am EST, we’re playing games for 25 hours straight in support of Extra Life! We’ve got a star-studded cast joining me for the show, including:

We’ll be playing a ton of games too, including:

  • Super Mario Maker 2
  • Jackbox Party Pack 6
  • NHL 20
  • Crash Team Racing
  • Overwatch
  • and many more!

You can watch all of the action right here on the blog with the Twitch player above. While you’re at it, we’d really appreciate it if you could make a donation to Extra Life. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals, which includes 170 hospitals in North America that take care of over 10,000 kids every day. Every bit helps and your support is truly appreciated!

DONATE TODAY!

Support the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals by Donating Through Extra Life

4 Ways in Which Tetris Has Evolved

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At its core, Tetris hasn’t changed. This is still a game where you stack blocks that will disappear when you create a full row. Eventually, the blocks will get to the top and you’ll lose.

Under the hood, Alexey Pajitnov’s iconic puzzle game has actually received a number of mechanical tweaks that change the game quite a bit. So much so, that one can draw a hard line between “classic” Tetris and “modern” Tetris. If you grew up on the old games and are trying out one of the newer ones for the first time, it’s easy to not see the differences. For new players going backwards, they’re in for a rude awakening when things they took for granted aren’t there anymore.

I’m not an expert when it comes to the inner workings of Tetris, but I thought it would be neat to talk through a handful of the mechanical changes that impact how the game is played.

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Building a Better Future for the Kids Through Extra Life and Tetris 99

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Tetris 99 is my go-to streaming game. Besides providing a modern twist on an all-time classic, the game has proven to be a popular draw for me on Twitch. Almost every weekend, our community congregates on the channel to chat about an assortment of gaming and non-gaming topics while some also play the game with me.

Most of the time it’s a pretty chill stream with a few hype moments when I eek my way out of a jam or when I get into the top 10. However, with my Extra Life campaign in full swing, the stakes have been raised.

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Exceptions to the Rule: Video Games That Defy My General Taste That I Love Anyway

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Over the course of one’s lifetime, we develop a preference for certain things. For example, I generally like hip-hop, pop, and rock music. Meanwhile, I’m not really into country. Having said that, I love Taylor Swift’s early work, am a fan of Kane Brown, and will always sing “Redneck Woman” out loud during rare instances when it plays in my car.

When it comes to video games, I also have preferences and exceptions. What games defy your tastes that you love anyway? Here are a few of my rule-breakers!

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The Worthwhile Compromise of Retro Mini Consoles

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Playing old video games in modern times is a weird experience. On one hand, we’ve been able to play older games on newer hardware for quite some time. However, I’ve always preferred the experience of playing games with original controllers on original hardware.

Going the other way, collecting and playing retro games in their original form is such a pain and only getting harder. Classic consoles are oftentimes difficult to hook up to modern TVs and the picture is often compromised. Worse yet, the prices for original copies has soared due to scarcity and demand.

When done right, the modern wave of retro mini consoles is proving to be a solid compromise between the two.

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EGLX 2019 in Pictures

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The Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo is the largest video gaming convention in Canada. Though the event has been taking place for a few years now, this was my first time attending. Here’s an assortment of pictures and a recap of what we experienced!

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World Cosplay Summit and the Globalization of Japanese Culture

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When I think about globalization, my mind defaults to thinking about the ways in which the world at large has embraced North American culture. For example, when we were in London and Paris earlier this year, we heard the same music blasting on speakers everywhere we went. Who would have thought that Paris would love “Old Town Road” so much?

Maybe it’s just me being ignorant for not seeing the ways in which globalization has gone the other way. I acquired a taste for video games thanks in large part due to games that Nintendo and other Japanese developers were publishing in the 80s and 90s. Tetris, a game I herald as the closest thing mankind has made to the perfect video game, is a Russian export. I don’t really watch anime anymore, but there were stretches of time where I obsessed over Dragon Ball and Bleach. Heck, if I turn on the radio here, it won’t take long before I hear the K-Pop sounds of BTS.

After watching the documentary Cosplay Culture on Netflix Amazon Prime, it served as yet another reminder of how work from foreign countries can have a massive influence around the world.

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From Affiliates now earning ad revenue to the new Creator Dashboard, let’s look at some of the new and upcoming features on Twitch

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At the end of September, Twitch unveiled a host of new features coming to the platform in the coming year. There’s a lot of exciting stuff for viewers and creators to enjoy! This post won’t cover all of the announcements, but I wanted to cover the things that I found the most interesting. Let’s go!

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8 Tips for Participating in Extra Life

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On Saturday, November 2nd, many will be participating in the Extra Life 25-hour gaming marathon in support of the Children’s Miracle Network of Hospitals. Our group had an amazing time participating in the program and can’t wait to do it again on November 2nd at 9am EST. If you’ve ever considered participating, or are in the midst of preparing for your big Extra Life event, maybe these tips will come in handy!

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Legend of Zelda Games That Deserve a Remake or Remaster

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Over 25 years after its original release on the Game Boy, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was given a fresh coat of paint on the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to the benefits of modern graphics and user-experience improvements, this stellar game received a well-deserved second wind.

While Link’s Awakening is the most dramatic glow-up for a Zelda game yet, Nintendo has already polished up a number of franchises previous entries. So far, we’ve received remasters of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. Here are a few more that I think are deserving of a remake or remaster!

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