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Walk with me through the MoMA's 'Talk To Me' gaming exhibit

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST

This past Wednesday evening, high-brow gaming mag Kill Screen teamed up with a handful of developers, several sponsors, and New York City's Museum of Modern Art to celebrate "Talk To Me," an exhibit at the MoMA focusing on "Design and the communication between people and objects." Kill Screen's "Arcade" event brought together games from a variety of well-respected developers to highlight that very concept.

We headed over to the "Arcade" event and snapped a mess of photos of both that night's happenings and the exhibit itself -- a virtual walkthrough, if you will. "Talk To Me" will be on display at the MoMA through November 7, so you still have a few more months to head over and experience it firsthand if you like what you see. Sadly, there won't be a variety of games strewn throughout the museum when you visit, but perhaps playing Canabalt on your phone as you peruse the exhibit will offer some minor verisimilitude.

Gallery: 'Talk to Me' art exhibit, NYC MoMA

Walk with me through the MoMA's 'Talk To Me' gaming exhibit originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch game trailers and short films on an NYC rooftop

JC Fletcher — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:20:00 EST

Kill Screen magazine is hosting a short video game film festival in the skies of NYC on July 30. The festival will include entries like that one Dead Island trailer, Super There Will Be Blood, and an excerpt from Mojang: the Story of Minecraft. And since it's on a rooftop, maybe Batman will show up!

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Watch game trailers and short films on an NYC rooftop originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NYC Museum of Modern Art to co-host 'Arcade' event with Kill Screen

Ben Gilbert — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST

It seems the "Games as Art" debate is over, as New York City's Museum of Modern Art is co-hosting a game-centric event later this month with haute gaming mag Kill Screen. Titled "Arcade," the one-night soiree on July 27 features several great indie games (Bit.Trip Beat, Canabalt, Limbo, and "a new motion-based Kinect project" from current Harmonix employees Ryan Challinor and Matt Boch, as seen here). The games will be playable throughout various parts of the museum, including the MoMA's gorgeous sculpture garden. That's where we'll be hanging out, in case that wasn't clear.

You may be wondering how the folks at Kill Screen finagled a gaming night at one of the world's most famous art museums, and we were too. It turns out that the event is part of MoMA's "Talk to Me" exhibit, which explores "the communication between people and objects." Video games seem like a perfect fit, no?

If the incredible location and selection of great games weren't enough to convince you, tickets are just $16 in advance and $20 at the door, which entitles you to "an exclusive viewing, a cocktail reception, a tote bag," as well as the aforementioned opportunity to play games at the MoMA. We'll also be there in our sharpest outfit handing out exaggerated high fives, so keep an eye out!

Update: This post originally pegged Ryan Challinor and Matt Boch as former Harmonix employees, when in fact they are both still employed at the studio. Sorry guys!

NYC Museum of Modern Art to co-host 'Arcade' event with Kill Screen originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kill Screen's inaugural 'High Scores' show Limbo and Mass Effect 2 atop 2010 leaderboard

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST

In its first annual "High Scores" ranking, our friends at Kill Screen broke down 2010's releases into two main categories: "Big Games" (including blockbusters, full retail releases and subscription-based MMOs) and "Small Games" (including indies, downloadables, DLC and expansions, mobile, social, free-to-play and completely free titles). Then, a whole gang of critics, Joystiq's Andrew Yoon and myself included, were elected as judges, each allotted 100 points per category and able to award any game 2-40 points. (A judge, for example, could have totally given 1 vs. 100 all 40 points it rightfully deserved!)

Scoring in the top spots across the two categories were two titles that also appeared in our own Top 10: Mass Effect 2 (the "big" game) and Limbo (the "small" one). Notably, Minecraft landed in the #3 "Small Games" position, just below Super Meat Boy, showing how much critical love there's been for the just-in-beta world-building game. Also of note: BioShock 2's "Minerva's Den" and Mass Effect 2's "Lair of the Shadow Broker" charted, representing the only DLC to earn a "High Score."

Kill Screen's inaugural 'High Scores' show Limbo and Mass Effect 2 atop 2010 leaderboard originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man 'beats' Bejeweled 2 after playing for 3 years

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:28:00 EST

We admire all forms of dedication -- even the absolutely insane forms. A California steel contractor named Mike Leyde recently displayed one such type of persistence by playing a single round of his casual game of choice, Bejeweled 2, for 2,205 hours and 51 minutes over the course of three years. In that time, he collected 4,872,229 gems, earning the game's highest calculable score, 2,147,483,647, at which point the score display got really perplexed and went blank. (Check out a video of Mike's achievement after the jump.)

According to PopCap, Leyde is the first person to ever "beat" Bejeweled 2. That's one way of looking at it, we suppose. Another way of looking at it is to say that everyone else who's ever played Bejeweled 2 is a quitter. Yeah, that's right. Why don't you follow through with something for once in your life? Sheesh.

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Man 'beats' Bejeweled 2 after playing for 3 years originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Relaunched EGM subscriptions now available, magazine details remain hazy [update]

Ben Gilbert — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST

Hey, you remember EGM, right? The gaming mag that folded in January 2009 when 1UP/EGM was sold by Ziff-Davis Media to Hearst/UGO? And then the original publisher Steve Harris purchased it for a relaunch earlier this year, only to find out that the relaunch was pushed to April? We have to imagine that, by now, you're positively itching to put your money down on a subscription (if you haven't already subscribed to Kill Screen, of course). It would appear that your wish has been granted, as EGM has officially opened the door to its subscription portal, promising savings of 70 percent off the newsstand price.

For 32 issues and access to "EGMi: The Digital Magazine," US customers are looking at dropping $14.99, while 64 issues (as well as the aforementioned digital mag access) will cost $24.99 -- Canadian subscribers are looking at $34.99 and $54.99 for 32 and 64 issues, respectively, minus the digital version. Though we've yet to receive any real idea of the magazine's content, Harris has already signed on ex-EGMers Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Demian Linn, as well as the Co-Op folks, to fill those shoes (or "Hsu's," as it were). We'll certainly find out more this April when the first issue is scheduled to hit subscribers and newsstands.

Update: To be clear, the $14.99 and $24.99 subscription deals actually equal a half year or full year of physical magazines (one per month; six and 12, respectively), as detailed in the fine print. "Your subscription includes either six print issues and 26 premium digital issues of EGM[I]: The Digital Magazine for a total of 32 issues OR 12 print issues and 52 premium digital issues of EGM[I]: The Digital Magazine for a total of 64 issues." Confusing enough for you?

Relaunched EGM subscriptions now available, magazine details remain hazy [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kill Screen gaming mag aiming for highbrow readers

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:00 EST

Between John Davison recently promising a revitalization of GamePro, Steve Harris' purchase and subsequent relaunch of EGM (as EGM Now), and now the announcement of "Kill Screen" from Jamin Brophy-Warren and Chris Dahlen, it's been quite the year for gaming magazines. But Kill Screen seems to be taking a decidedly different approach to publishing, aiming its first print run at "2 or 3,000 copies," Brophy-Warren told us this afternoon.

With an editorial directive to thematically tackle game writing -- and no obligation to the traditional reviews/previews/news format due to a donation/subscriber-funded, non-profit approach -- Kill Screen intends to avoid the mechanical nitty gritty that plagues game writing. "A great example of that is with Brütal Legend," Brophy-Warren said. "Tim Schafer had to come out and defend the RTS elements ... When we talk about games critically, it's not going to be in that sense."

The first issue, the "test run" or "zero issue" as it's being called, will be finished in "the next week or two" and shipping by January. Brophy-Warren added that he's hoping the second issue will be ready for GDC, but he's not so certain. And as for the short initial print run, he says "Everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?" and encourages people to subscribe to insure they'll get a copy. We wish them the best of luck!

Kill Screen gaming mag aiming for highbrow readers originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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