Reviews 
Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move review: Fancy pipe dream
There are four games in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, each sporting 2D puzzle-platforming action. What sets Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move apart from the group isn't just the change of "vs" to "and." Minis on the Move still tasks players with the challenge of guiding their Mario toys ...
Portabliss: Hiversaires (iOS)
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Why am I here? What do these weird symbols mean? What is this place? Hiversaires poses more questions than it provides answers. It's an adventure game where the player is provided no context for what is ...
Soul Sacrifice review: Escapism encapsulated
Soul Sacrifice is a steady ascent to superiority over your captor, a mad sorcerer named Magusar. You can provoke and challenge him from within your fetid cage at any time, but ultimate victory requires toil, repetition and mastery of the same magic that imprisons you. You'll have to play the game ...
Thomas Was Alone review: Mastering the inverted fall
On the surface, Thomas Was Alone appears unremarkable. It breaks platforming mechanics down to their most basic levels, quite literally, replacing characters with colored rectangles and environments with precarious arrangements of black rectangles. To reiterate: Thomas Was Alone is a platformer ...
Pandora's Tower review: Chained blades
It's hard to say for certain what a platform's last game will be, but it's pretty easy to guess what a platform's last noteworthy release will be. I'm sure the endless parade of impulse-buy, waggletastic Wii shovelware will continue to trickle out for a while yet, but the last significant Wii ...
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon review: Neon Genesis Elation
The year is 20xx, and the world is starved ... of imagination. An evil army of soulless game clones is hell-bent on taking over The Industry. No one is brave enough or mad enough to stop them from reshaping the gaming landscape into their drab, browny-grey vision. No one ... except one spin-off ...
Monaco review: A good day to spy hard
I'm a terrible thief. If ever there were an investigation into a string of high-profile burglaries in my neighborhood, all I'd have to do to clear my name is invite some police officers to sit down, get comfortable, and watch me play Monaco for five minutes. The officers would see my glowing, ...
Dead Island Riptide review: DNR
Dead Island was a bit strange. A showy, standout marketing campaign belied a familiar zombie game, its roots in Dead Rising and weapon-heavy looters like Borderlands obvious. For all the modesty of its combat, for all the bugs and rough edges, it was satisfying. The endless array of swipes, kicks, ...
Moga Pro controller makes Android games better
We got our hands on one of PowerA's new Moga Pro Android controllers, and so we decided to put together a little video detailing how it works. The Moga Pro is a full-sized console styled controller, complete with a cradle to attach Android phones (and a separate stand for tablets). Overall, the ...
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen review: Cheating Death
Death has always been an integral part of Dragon's Dogma. From the intoxicating notion that it could come at any time while travelling the world of Gransys to the corpses that litter an area once you've torn through it, death permeates the narrative like a foul odor. The punishing difficulty ...
The Joystiq Podcast
Super Joystiq Podcast 049: Splinter Cell Blacklist, Metro Last Light, EA and Activision financials
Latest episode: Friday, May 10th, 2013