The Star Fox series is Nintendo’s guinea pig: Following 1997’s Star Fox 64, every entry in the series is totally distinct. 2002’s Star Fox Adventures exchanged the first two games’ signature shoot-em-up gameplay for dungeon-crawling and turgid storytelling (the fact it bears no likeness to previous Star Fox games makes sense, as developer Rare had […]
Video Games
Posted inFood and Drink
Quarterworld: Portland’s Got a New Arcade!
Chipp Terwilliger Ready player one or not, Portland’s got a brand-new arcade. This afternoon, Quarterworld (4811 SE Hawthorne) will open to the public, taking over the same space as the old Alahambra Theater. Slotting in alongside nearby institutions like Zach’s Shack and East Side Deli, Quarterworld seems to be aiming to carve a Coney Island-esque […]
Posted inPortland
How Aspiring Video Game Developers Make Indie Games—in Less than 48 Hours
“AND THEN the player gets attacked by the creatures of darkness and doom!” “But it turns out they were praying to a false god!” “And the only way you can be killed is by someone with a hat.” That’s what you hear on the first day of a game jam. On the last day, it’s […]
Posted inVideo Games
Pump Up the Jam
At Portland’s Game Jams, Aspiring Video Game Developers Are Making Indie Games—in Less than 48 Hours
At Portland’s game jams, aspiring video game developers are making indie games—in less than 48 hours.
Posted inVideo Games
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Is a Mid-Aughts Time Capsule
While there’s never really been a “bad” Zelda game (unless you count this, and you shouldn’t), 2006’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the closest the series has come to producing a black sheep. When the game was first unveiled at E3 2004, it literally made grown men and women cry. At the time, […]
Posted inCats
How to Neko Atsume: How Do I Get Gold Fish?!?!
So now you’re obsessed with Neko Atsume! Well, so is this New York Times writer: The cats do not care. They have other lives, other places to be. What brings you back, again and again, is that these semiwild creatures have decided, temporarily, to share their existence with you. You cannot collect them, merely the […]
Posted inVideo Games
Ground Kontrol Is Taking Over Backspace
Last night, Ground Kontrol hosted a five-year anniversary party celebrating the half-decade since the downtown “barcade” underwent significant renovation. Ground Kontrol took the opportunity to announce a major new development: It’s extending to the adjacent building, taking over the former space of all-ages cafe/venue Backspace, which has been sitting empty since Backspace shuttered its doors […]
Posted inCats
How to Neko Atsume: The Waiting Game of Kitty Collecting
If you already know about Neko Atsume—the Japanese kitty-collecting app that has inspired a bunch of adorable toys, the term “loafing,” an active subreddit, and a whole lot of adults yelling at their phones, “HOW DO I GET ALL THE CATS??!!”—then you understand why 3/4 of the Mercury staff are fully engrossed in this game. […]
Posted inVideo Games
GTFO Is a Reminder that Video Games Are Having the Dumbest Identity Crisis Imaginable
GTFO: THE MOVIE Pictured: fun! 😀 Not pictured: misogynist assholes 🙁 If you’ve watched Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency videos, or paid any attention to Gamergate (ugh), or if you vaguely remember feeling super disappointed that the only playable lady in Super Mario Kart was Princess Peach, nothing in Shannon Sun-Higginson’s new documentary about sexism in […]
Posted inVideo Games
Hitman: Agent 47 Fumbles for the Reset
HITMAN: AGENT 47 Not pictured above: Timothy Olyphant. Now that comic book movies have conquered the world, can video game adaptations follow the same path? Well, not yet, no. Despite a few promising moments of splattery clarity, Hitman: Agent 47 displays little of the vicarious imagination that keeps gamers glued to the couch. Taking a […]
Posted inVideo Games
Final Fantasy
Portland’s Nina Freeman Makes Video Games Personal
Portland’s Nina Freeman makes video games personal.
Posted inVideo Games
Pixels Wants Your Money, Dweebs
PIXELS Ashamed of being part of all this, Q*bert tried to duck out of sight. He wasn’t fast enough. There’s nothing to admire about Hollywood’s current, relentless flogging of “nerd culture”; it’s a straightforward lunch-money shakedown. Nerds are the original brand ambassadors, quick to define themselves by the stuff they buy, dutifully on board for […]