G-Man from Half-Life 2 Gives Serious Life Advice

G-Man from Half-Life 2 Gives Serious Life Advice

During the opening scene of Valve's Half-Life 2, the mysterious G-Man, while explaining the story of the title, incidentally spewed life advice to gamers. "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." Sometimes someone is in a position they'd rather not...
Reggie Fils-Aimé Makes His Debut

Reggie Fils-Aimé Makes His Debut

In 2004 Nintendo was in a bit of a rut. Sales of its Gamecube console had been less than expected, and Nintendo had begun to build a reputation as a company that makes games for little kids. When Reggie Fils-Aimé was hired as Executive Vice President of Sales...
John Romero Illuminates the Idea of Ideas

John Romero Illuminates the Idea of Ideas

On July 18, 2023, famed game designer John Romero released his autobiography Doom Guy: Life in First-Person. In it, he offers advice to those who are full of ideas, but never seem to believe they can succeed with them. “Execution is everything: Success is not defined by an...
Review: Forza Motorsport (Xbox X|S, PC)

Review: Forza Motorsport (Xbox X|S, PC)

For almost 20 years, the Forza series has been the pinnacle of racing simulators for Xbox and Microsoft fans. With realism, physics, real-time weather, many tracks to explore, and multiple game modes, the series has enthralled gamers. This time around, Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft have taken the...
Henk Rodgers Teaches Nintendo How To Sell

Henk Rodgers Teaches Nintendo How To Sell

Prior to the release of the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989, Henk Rodgers was simply a game developer and salesman. A salesman who knew how to get his foot in the door of major developers from whom he wished to acquire rights to titles. One of those developers...
Todd Howard Explains the Rules

Todd Howard Explains the Rules

In an interview with MTV at the 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, Todd Howard listed the three principles that every game designer should have: 1) "An ability to leave even their favorite ideas on the cutting room floor." 2) "The capability to think smaller and keep things simple." 3) "Being...
George Plimpton Starts a (Console) War

George Plimpton Starts a (Console) War

In 1979, Mattel Electronics released what would be the first viable competitor to Atari with its new Intellivision console. In order to separate themselves from Atari, Mattel released a series of ads starring acclaimed American writer George Plimpton. In these ads, Atari and Intellivision were placed side by...
Phil Spencer Comments on the Console Wars

Phil Spencer Comments on the Console Wars

During an interview with The Guardian during E3 of 2018, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer was quite candid about a variety of topics, including the "console wars." What he said puts in perspective just how unnecessary it is. "The biggest challenge I feel now is gamers’...
Warren Robinett Waxes Poetic

Warren Robinett Waxes Poetic

In June of 1979, Warren Robinett, a programmer at Atari, submitted the source code to the second game he'd developed for Atari. The game was called Adventure, and it would be the last game he would develop for the company, leaving soon after submitting the title for production....