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"How Big Is This Going to Get?": The Future of Killer Queen And Its Console Counterpart
[Article] Talking with developers and a few members of Killer Queen's dedicated New York arcade scene about the new multiplayer spin-off.
Why It's So Much Easier for Half-Life: Alyx to Just Show Hands
[Article] An explainer with input from experts on why showing users' arms in VR is so hard to do well with current consumer-grade tech.
The Creator of Mario Maker 2's "Most Improbable" Level Knows His Cryptographic Creation is Bizarre
[Interview] Veedrac's "Longest Passcode Level" isn't a troll for Mario fans. It's art.
"20 Years Of 'Half-Life'"
[Feature] I interviewed a handful of fascinating people from the "Half-Life" community for the 20th anniversary of the series. Come for the great observations and insightful stories from modders, stay for the de_dust cake.
"The Best Way To Watch All Of 'Twin Peaks,' Now That It's Over"
[Guide] I love "Twin Peaks." I want other people to love "Twin Peaks," too. I wrote about 3,500 words to help those people.
"'Katamari,' KonMari And Confronting Consumerism"
[Article] A piece born of an obvious joke that turned into a sincere reflection on how we come to terms with consumer society.
"Lego's Big Fictional Brand Is An Oil Company. Why?"
[Article] Octan, Lego's fake oil and gasoline company, has been around for 26 years. What does it mean that Lego keeps putting this brand in sets, especially after they severed ties with Shell?
"The Electric Scooter Isn't Enough"
[Article] In a lot of ways, Portland, Oregon would be a perfect city for electric scooters. The experience I had in the early days of the city's scooter trial suggests scooter share has a long way to go.
"What Does It Mean To Be A Weezer Fan In 2019?"
[Blog] Weezer's cover album broke the seal on two decades of conflicted feelings I've had about the band — what I realized is, the nature of those feelings haven't really changed for most of that time.
"The Fyre's Still Burning: Was Billy McFarland Secretly Involved In The Fyre Fest Merch Sale?"
[Investigation] After writing about a sale claiming to have real Fyre Fest merchandise but no ties to the event's organizers (also reported on by BuzzFeed, Gothamist, and The New Yorker), I received an anonymous tip about the guy behind the sale. This exclusive uncovered the sale organizer's long history with Billy McFarland's pre-Fyre Fest venture, Magnises.
"I Went To XOXO Fest, Logged Off And Found The Good Internet Still Exists"
[Feature] I went to XOXO to see if it serves as more than a fun getaway for extremely online creators — I think it does!
"17 Years Ago, Gorillaz Released A Legendary Web Game — But Who Actually Made It?"
[Report] I didn't think I had any real chance of finding the people behind "Final Drive," the rad-as-hell Gorillaz 3D driving game. I actually did, and added a little bit to web history in the process.
"What It Was Like To Pretend To Be An Astronaut On The Day Stephen Hawking Died"
[Report] I was prepared to use my one-on-one time with Chris Hadfield to talk about space exploration, but no one present knew we'd have the loss of Hawking on our minds that morning. Sometimes PR emails do lead to good stories.
"The New 'Tetris' Game Has Already Invaded My Mind, And It Isn't Even Out Yet"
[Blog] I want to live inside of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's brain, plain and simple.
"'Rick & Morty' 2028?"
[Report] When "Rick & Morty" received an unprecedented 70-episode renewal, my first question was "who is going benefit?" "Not the animators" is a likely answer if you look at Justin Roiland's past comments on unionization and the state of labor in the industry at-large.
"The Creator Of Dinosaur Comics On How To Browse The Web Good"
[Interview] A lengthy, lightly-edited interview with Ryan North about the early internet, the rise of webcomics, and how platforms like Facebook have (occasionally) helped and (mostly) hindered independent creators online.
"Could There Be Another Oscars Upset? Here's What Our Data Says"
[Feature] When Digg Reader was still around (RIP), I worked with our developers to make some cool interactive visualizations for the 2017 and 2018 Best Picture races.
"We All Live In Parasocial Hell"
[Interview] I spoke with video essayist Shannon Strucci about her must-watch series "Fake Friends," which addresses how online media thrives off of encouraging parasocial interaction.