I want to implore everyone who has ever found something inspiring, something heroic, something worth teaching your children, or even a reflection of themselves in the Wizarding World: please do not set aside the books you love as a reaction to their author’s statements. Regardless of how you feel about her stance on trans-rights, don’t punish yourself in an attempt to punish Rowling herself.

I’ve seen so many people say they can’t read the books anymore, that they’ve taken posters and memorabilia from their walls but kept them in their house because they can’t bear to part with it in…

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been lauded for his leadership and excellent handling of New York’s response. He has appeared on CNN dozens of times, been interviewed by stars like Billy Crystal and Andy Cohen, and even went on a (virtual) book tour to promote his book about leadership during times of crisis.

It was all lies, every bit of it, and the media took it, hook, line, and sinker. …

“Well played, Mauer.”

These three words are cemented into my memories of PlayStation lore, and as a Sony diehard for 5 generations now, that’s saying a lot. This, and many other memorable quips, were the legacy of PlayStation’s greatest marketing campaign, starring the legendary Kevin Butler. Now, Sony faces perhaps the biggest competitive fight of its 30+ year history, not to mention PR issues related to the release of the PS5, where pandemic-induced manufacturing delays and bot-powered scalping are keeping the systems out of the hands Sony wants them to be in. …

I recently, finally, finished Insomniac’s superb PS5 launch title, SpiderMan: Miles Morales. As one of the biggest games to have accompanied the launch of the PlayStation 5 console, it was always going to be a smashing success for Sony. But the devs went above and beyond to craft a great story and solve the thorny problem of making combat fun from the very start. Throw in a well-acted and likable lead, and heaps of loving detail included in the game’s Harlem neighborhood setting, and the title shines even with its shorter-than-the-original length.

Speaking of that length, many fans expressed at…

One of the surprise hits of 2017 was a horror-tinged puzzle platformer from Malmo, Sweden-based Tarsier Studios, called Little Nightmares. The game literally dripped with atmosphere, telling its story through the environment you were tasked with traversing. Terrifyingly-proportioned humans pursued your character relentlessly through a claustrophobic nightmare of a ship, gorgeous and vile at the same time. Brief blissful moments of safety punctuated the overall feeling of dread you faced throughout the adventure.

All of this made the original an instant classic, and more than 2 million copies later, we are on the precipice of the sequel. I’ve written about…

The process of building a startup company is always fraught with trials, tribulations, and risks. But when the rules are still being written for how you will actually be able to conduct your business, the issues can multiply quickly. Add in a global pandemic and the task can seem gargantuan.

Despite the challenges, this is exactly what Dreamfield has done over the past 12 months, preparing to be first-to-market in the emerging Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) marketing field for college athletes. …

One of the gems of the indie game development scene is DrinkBox Studios, creators of the Guacamelee franchise, the hit touch-based title Severed, and the Tales From Spaces games. Having discovered Guacamelee a few years back, I fell in love with the mix of intense platforming action, couch co-op mode, and off the wall humor. Though platformers are in no shortage these days, there’s nothing else quite like it on the market.

We recently reached out to the studio to get a peek behind the curtain of their design process, find out where the crazy jokes come from, and try…

There’s a wave coming. What started last year with the NCAA’s new guidelines on how student-athletes can profit from their names, images, and likenesses (NIL) is set to continue early in 2021. It’s a wave that grew even bigger this year as COVID-19 helped give voice to players now concerned with both their health and their wallets. And, as with any emerging market, companies are lining up to profit from the practice.

By January, the three athletic divisions under the NCAA governing body are required to draft rules that will govern how their players can use those newly-acquired rights.

Simultaneously…