Do not be afraid to take a chance on peace, to teach peace, to live peace…Peace will be the last word of history. --Pope John Paul II

This may be the ONLY reason I've heard to consider buying Star Wars Battlefront II.

The excellent mod by xD0IT turns Kylo Ren into a buffed out Pope John Paul II who is one with the Force... or Jesus, I'm not really sure how that stuff expresses in a religion not my own.

During his time as pontiff, JPII was clearly a man of peace and love. As a Jedi decked out with a cruciform lightsaber? Try he will not.

Alternatively, Star Wars: Fallen Order is a great game. Read the rest

Ian Charnas, the inventor of those amazing windshield wipers that "dance" to your car's music, is up to yes good again (the opposite of "no good"). He's made a real-life Mario Kart video game using electric go-karts and augmented reality (!).

Ian explains:

In this augmented reality racing game demo, players zoom around a track in real-life go-karts and pick up virtual power-ups to boost their kart’s speed or slow down the competition.

The virtual power-ups are generated by a Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality headset on each player. The speed boosts (and reductions) are provided by some electronics I created that extend an existing go-kart system with this functionality.

[If you want to know more about it works, he explains it further on Hackaday.]

Ian is hoping that there's a demand for this real-life Mario Kart. He's got all the pieces, including a provisional patent, he just needs the right partner to get it off the ground in a bigger way.

Thanks, Mark! Read the rest

I just bought a copy of Sid Meier's Civilization VI for Nintendo Switch because it's selling for , which is a lot less than it usually goes for. Read the rest

"Fight the Traitors Together" (motto: "Hong Kong is part of China and this can't be meddled with by outside power") is a web-game that has attained new popularity in mainland China; it invites players to locate with caricatures of real Hong Kong protest leaders and slap them or pelt them with rotten eggs. Read the rest

In this video from Pi My Life Up you'll learn how to install and use software called RetroPie on a Raspberry Pi. RetroPie lets you emulate a bunch of different game platforms, like Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and so on.

By the way, I co-wrote a book with Ryan Bates called Raspberry Pi Retro Gaming: Build Consoles and Arcade Cabinets to Play Your Favorite Classic Games, which has instructions for building a tabletop arcade machine. Read the rest

Yes, this is real. Someone actually made a first-person shooter for the New Testament. From the game's Steam page:

"I am Jesus Christ" is a realistic simulator game inspired by stories from the New Testament of the Bible. Get into old times and follow the same path of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. Game is covering the period from Baptizing of Jesus Christ and to Resurrection. Have you ever wondered to be like Him - one of the most privileged and powerful people in the world?

Check if you can perform all famous miracles from the Bible like Jesus Christ. It is a simulation game and you can try to save the world as He did. Are you ready to fight with Satan in the desert, exorcising demons and curing sick people? Or calm the storm in the sea?

I have a lot of questions. Like, why is it possible to beat the game without dying? Can you change the outcome of Bible stories, or do you just have to recreate it step by step? Does that mean you get to kick the crap out of a bunch of greedy bankers in the game? Do you actually get to fight Satan, too? Like physically? Does that mean Jesus has attack skills? Are there power-ups to boost the abilities with which you've already been divinely bestowed? Why is Jesus taking Polaroid pictures of everyone he helps? Why isn't Jesus shaking his Polaroid pictures to help them develop before placing them in the Bible? Read the rest

Even after I vanquished Calamity Gannon in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild over a year ago, I'm still playing it. I have tons of side quests to complete, a few more shrines to clear, and a bushel of Korok seeds to find. It is my favorite video game, and if you haven't played it yet, I'm envious of the experience in store for you. Right now, the digital version for the Switch is only , which is the lowest price I've seen for it. Read the rest

Masa is a 23-year-old game programmer at Bandai Namco Studios in Tokyo. In this 13-minute-video made by Paolo From Tokyo, we see what Masa's life is like, from the moment his alarm goes off in the morning until he is back at home making a Gundam model before he goes to sleep.

From the YouTube description:

We'll even interact with directors from popular Japanese video game titles such as Tekken and CodeVein. Plus we'll get to see what a Japanese programmer from one of the large Video Game companies in Japan does after work with friends. This look inside a Japanese game dev's life is pretty unique and should provide some insight for those people who want to work in Japan as a game developer or game programmer. Also, this day in the life of a Japanese programmer will show you what it takes to be a Japanese programmer. As you would expect, most of the work day is spent programming and coding, but there are other unique aspects of the Japanese programmers life we are able to see in this video.

Image: YouTube Read the rest

"I have had it with these motherfucking Sith on this motherfucking train!" --GPS1138, Video Game Enthusiast

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is the best Star Wars game I've played since Knights of the Old Republic, which is one of the best video games of all time.

I did not want to buy Fallen Order. I figured that much like all the other bullshit EA opportunities to rake in cash from Star Wars fans, this game would probably suck. The trailers tempted me but the game's protagonist was yet another whiny appearing young white male with resting Sith face.

Day one and two reviews were so strong I found myself watching others play on Twitch and quickly realized I wanted to play through this adventure myself. I bought the game.

Meet Cal Kestis, a young man who was formerly a Jedi Padawan. Having survived Order 66, Cal starts the game with all the cringe-inducing drama and angst of a Star Wars Jedi trainee. Cal is trying to keep his force powers hidden but must use them to save a pal, thus ensuring the Inquisitors immediately arrive and he must run.

BD-1 rapidly becomes Cal's droid pal and is the most useful and fun droid in a Star Wars game yet. I feel obligated to say BD BD BD often. Cere, Greez and number of other characters aid you on your mission to do what most every single non-Skywalker Star Wars story has seemed to invovle for ages: Jedi babies.

THERE WAS A LASAT JEDI MASTER! Read the rest

I really like these 'ergonomic' JoyCon replacements.

The tiny JoyCons are a pain to hold. These replacements make holding the Switch while you play a lot easier for my carpal tunnel suffering hands.

Everything works like the stock JoyCon, except there is something substantial to hold on to.

Wireless Controller for Switch, BestOff Neon Red Neon Blue Controllers Compatible for Nintendo Switch Console via Amazon Read the rest

The Chinese government is concerned that children are spending too much time playing computer games, reports The New York Times. It has issued new regulations forbidding young people from playing games after 10pm, and limiting playtime to 90 minutes on weekdays. Spending on in-game merchandise is capped at $28 - $57 a month. To ensure compliance, players must use real names and identification numbers.

From the article:

Chinese officials said the regulations were meant to combat addiction.

“These problems affect the physical and mental health of minors, as well as their normal learning and living,” the National Press and Publication Administration said in a statement that was published by Xinhua, the official news agency.

Analysts said the regulations had been largely anticipated by the industry and were unlikely to hurt revenue. Many of the biggest technology companies, including Tencent and Netease, have already imposed limits on younger users.

Young gamers are also likely to find ways around the regulations, such as using a parent’s phone and identification number.

“There are always going to be loopholes,” said Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at Niko Partners, a research and consulting firm.

This is a simple but wonderful little original video that shows each incarnation of the Nvidia GPU, from 1995 to 2019. Read the rest

After a day of making people look at a black hole, Epic Games has released the next iteration in the amazingly popular battle royale shooter Fortnite.

A new map, boats and bandage bazookas are just some of the 'new' things. Players can now carry an injured buddy to safety, or go fishing -- maybe both at the same time!

Hope we don't run into one another! Read the rest

Seriously impressive game-inspired stitching project right here. Read the rest

Geek.com has a nice gallery of Atari 2600 game cartridge boxes and screenshots of what the games actually looked like. Read the rest

In his Ars Technica review of the Nintendo Switch remake of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (available September 20), Sam Machkovech says the terrific music and visual upgrades are not enough to justify paying $60 for a game that "feels like 1993.... When the game isn't offering laughs or smiles via its quests and quirkiness, it's either serving up all-too-familiar challenges or making players fumble blindly in search of a single, buried clue."

I'm getting it anyway. Read the rest

Gears of War 5 is absolutely the 5th game in the Gears of War series.

I loved the first Gears of War game. The story was interesting and the commercial for it remains my favorite video game commercial of all time -- even better than the live action Halo stuff. However, everything great about this game series was in that first commercial.

Gears of War is beyond repetitive. You basically run on a track around a map, hiding and ducking behind things, popping up to take shots, and occasionally throwing a hand grenade. There isn't a lot of playing the game and it feels a lot like button mashing to me! This gameplay was fun when the story was fresh and interesting. Doing the same thing 5 games later, with the same story being played basically over and over again? Dull.

The graphics are beautiful. The game runs so smoothly on my Xbox One X it makes me wonder why other games do not. The game itself is OK to play through with friends but is limited by a campaign mode that stops at 3 people. Fortnite lets very large groups of players play together. Fortnite is also more fun.

I do like Gears, but this is getting tired. Read the rest