Remember vanilla Team Fortress 2? The Orange Boxwas a special release back in 2007. Hell, it still is to this day. Valve’s compilation disc broughtPortal,Team Fortress 2,Half-Life 2, andHalf-Life 2: Episode OneandEpisode Twoto consoles, and good lord that’s a lot of amazing video games in one sentence. As of this week, the Xbox 360 version ofThe Orange Boxis now compatible with Xbox One through backward compatibility. Other additions to the playable-on-Xbox-One list include Xbox Live Arcade titlesJoe Danger 2: The Movie(Hello Games wasn’t always synonymous withNo Man’s Sky) andGalaga Legions, a modern take on the arcade staple in a similar vein asPac-Man: Championship Edition....

Solutions to select puzzles Double Fine just released part one ofBroken Ageto Kickstarter backers this week, and it’s a big deal for multiple reasons. Not only is the game highly anticipated, but the Kickstarter itself was full of fanfare and controversy, mostly for splitting the game into two acts. Our own Caitlin Cooke is plugging away for a review [which has since gone live], but in the meantime, here are some tips I’ve collected throughout my journeys in the world ofBroken Age....

Anna Kournikova’s Pong Asteroidsis back. Well, sort of. Atari (or whatever company is calling itself Atari these days) is reviving the classic 1979 shooter asan open-world survival MMOfor some reason. Money, probably. Also a complete and utter lack of shame. But mostly the money. This isn’t exactly new behavior for the, uh, entity. Atari has exploited its extensive catalogue for years, most recently with reboots ofHaunted HouseandAlone in the Dark....

Take-Two Talks Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, has opened up about why it does not annualise the release its biggest titles likeGrand Theft Auto, Max Payne,andRed Dead Redemption. Talking at MKM Partners Investor Day in New York City (viaGamespot), Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that annual releases can “[burn] off your intellectual property” and reduce demand and quality, reducing their capacity to be “massive consumer events”. “The market asks us, ‘Why don’t you annualize your titles?...

Online event set to return September 6-18 Women in Games has revealed its expanded itinerary for the upcomingWomen in Games Global Festival, which will take place from September 6-18 2021. The event, which this year promises to be bigger than ever before, will take place in an online capacity, allowing attendees from all over the world to be a part of its huge range of workshops, conferences, and other activities....

Mmmmm, cybernetic modification! Being at gamescom has its perks, especially when it comes to having the first opportunity to play a newly announced game. Or in this case, a new expansion so big that it’s essentially a new game. 2K officially announced expansionXCOM: Enemy Withinlast week. Slated for release on November 12, this expansion brings all kinds of fun new bits toXCOM: Enemy Unknown, including body modification, big ol’ MECs, enemy counterparts called Mectoids, new resources, new maps, and much more....

Out in May Nintendo’s Switch NES suite is expanding yet again this month with three games, according to a listing on the official site:Donkey Kong Jr., Vs. Excitebike,andClu Clu Land. There’s a bit of history with all three of these games, so I’ll go over them for a second for all five of you who still care about NES games on modern systems (I salute you).Vs. Excitebikeis basically akin to a “Super Turbo” fighting game expansion....

Scientists for the win In the lead-up toHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, I’ve spent a lot of time recounting my journey through itsThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, trying to figure out which character from that game could make an appearance in this new one. Since its announcement, Robbie has been at the forefront of my mind. This eccentric inventor played a pivotal role in my victory over the Calamity Ganon with the Ancient Arrows I’d get from his Akkala Ancient Tech Lab....

Promoted from our community blogs Whether it’s illustrated through hearts, a meter, or a number; knowing how soon you’ll draw your last breath in a video game is crucial information. Over the years, the way this information is displayed has changed drastically and I aim to cover at least a few of these methods here. So, chew on a medicinal herb and enjoy! Super Metroidfeatures both numbers and blocks to represent health...

January 2015’s Loot Crate offers a nice haul Amber’s back with another month’s worth of fun junk from Loot Crate. A lot of cool crap here, guys. She also had fun taking your feedback from last month’s episode and using it to try to improve her style. I think she’s doing a heck of a job, but if there are specific things you’d like to see her try with this series in the future, let us know....

A natural selection [Note: We’ve been known to do board game reviews from time to time, and although this one isn’t exactly based on E.V.O.: Search for Eden on the SNES, it’s close enough. Happy New Year! –Chris Carter] Two things that define my tastes more than anything else are science and games. Naturally, when something shows up thatcombines the two, I take notice. Evolution was one such game. Though I did not back its extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, I did have an eye on it....

And that’s perfectly fine by me Sign me the heck up for video games that–likeCarrion–let you wreak havoc on hapless humans as a monster. Whether it’s an asymmetric multiplayer experience or a single-player power fantasy, I want in. The upcoming PC and console game from Phobia Game Studio and Devolver Digital worked its magic as a stress-reliever for me during E3 2019.Carrionstars a protagonist akin to the twisting, grotesque, malleable creature from John Carpenter’sThe Thing, and this probably goes without saying around here, but it’s wildly satisfying to squeeze through ducts and fling scientists into walls like it’s no big deal....

School’s out forever At SDCC this week, adventure-lovers Telltale Games released a quarter-hour chunk of footage from the first episode of the dramatic swansong to their hugely popular series,The Walking Dead. Tellingly subtitledThe Final Season, the episodic adventure will see long-time protagonist Clementine, who has been forced to endure more than her own share of hardship, hold fort in an abandoned schoolhouse, defending a group of children from the ravenous Walkers and equally-dangerous humans....