Todd Martens

Review: ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’ is the hokey — in a good way — contrast to ‘The Mandalorian’

November 16, 2019 at 10:10 p.m.

Two visions for the future of "Star Wars" arrived this month, one via streaming service Disney+ and another for major video game platforms. "The Mandalorian" takes steps — if not...

Each ghost in "Luigi's Mansion 3" is a surprise.

Meet the new Mario and Luigi, as more than 2-dimensional caricatures

October 31, 2019 at 8:38 p.m.

There are ghosts aplenty in "Luigi's Mansion 3," and although the goal is to catch them, it's sometimes preferable to try and get to know them. There's Clem, a maintenance...

A man empties a sack delivered by a canoeist who picked up the sacks of plastic and other waste collected by scuba divers from a bay during a 'clean-up day' campaign of the ocean off the coast of the capital Dakar on September 15, 2019.

Games offer an alternate, nuanced way to approach the climate crisis

October 24, 2019 at 7:08 p.m.

It's possible to learn more about Hawaiian culture via the free game "Wao Kanaka" than it is from an actual journey to the Pacific Ocean islands. One of the opening...

A screen shows the Netflix streaming service.

Why streaming services need to embrace game design — and give users the illusion of ownership

October 14, 2019 at 9:02 p.m.

Long before Netflix unveiled interactive shows like "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" and "Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale," the service was experimenting with game-like techniques to keep viewers on...

Brilliant and heartbreaking, ‘Eliza’ game explores technology and mental health

August 29, 2019 at 6:39 p.m.

Please, pleads a character we meet in "Eliza," just let him talk to a real human. The interactive game unfolds as a not-too-distant nightmare, one in which technology has enabled...

New ‘Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker’ poster and footage revealed at D23 Expo

August 26, 2019 at 4:06 p.m.

Disney and Lucasfilm revealed more details of the highly secretive "Star Wars Episode IX : The Rise of Skywalker, " the conclusion of the epic Skywalker saga, at the D23...

The buzzed-about game ‘198X’ isn’t just about ’80s arcade nostalgia, but about trying to find your place in the world

August 5, 2019 at 1:38 p.m.

Booting up "198X," a 1980s-stylized genre mash-up, I knew I was in for a heavy dose of nostalgia as well as a romanticized view of game arcades. I didn't expect...

Kyle Nolan participates in a simulated execution at the Pennyworth experience during Comic-Con on July 18, 2019, in San Diego, Calif.

Immersive TV and movie ‘activations’ are reshaping fandom, but is audience participation going too far?

July 29, 2019 at 3:59 p.m.

Imagine what might be the world's largest escape room: Several blocks of a major American city have been taken over by a few monolithic corporations that not only control the...

Originally planned for Chicago, Lucas Museum gives the Comic-Con crowd a peek at new L.A. site

July 24, 2019 at 1:12 p.m.

Superheroes and big-name TV and film franchises dominated Comic-Con in San Diego last week, but one discussion early on sought to elevate the fan-driven bonanza with a look at different...

Review: ‘My Friend Pedro’ is 2019’s best action game with a talking banana

July 3, 2019 at 4:40 p.m.

The problem isn't that so many games are centered around guns and violence. That would be a far larger pop-culture discussion than any one medium should shoulder. The issue is...

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