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Video Games

The original Pac-Man was kind of a feminist.

Pac-Man Turns 35 This Month

The now-iconic game was originally released by Namco in 1980

Cool Finds

Here’s How Video Game Designers Give Voices to Imaginary Creatures

All they need are digital vocal cords, voice box and mouth

The Hemingwrite is a newfangled take on the old school typewriter, featuring cloud back-up.

This Week in Crowdfunding

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From a Digital Typewriter to Treadmill-Powered Gaming

A Los Angeles group is also creating greeting cards with personalized audio messages from top celebrities

German-American game developer Ralph Baer, in 2009, showing the prototype of the first games console.

Remembering the “Father of Video Games,” Innovator Ralph Baer

The lab, where the inventor of the video game and the electronic game Simon, goes on view at the American History Museum next summer

Candy Crush Soda Saga brings classical music to tablets, smartphones and computers around the world.

Why the Composer of Candy Crush Soda Saga is the New King of Video Game Music

You may have never heard of Johan Holmstrom, but millions listen to his music every day

Atari cartridges and packaging recovered from the Alamogordo landfill are shown off on April 26, 2014.

Trending Today

Atari Games That No One Wanted Now Selling for $500 a Pop

No one wanted Atari’s E.T. in 1982, but they want it now

Cool Finds

We’re Terrible at Distinguishing Real And Fake Schools of Fish

You can test your fish school savviness in a free online game created by scientists

Pew pew

Cool Finds

A Military Contractor Just Went Ahead And Used an Xbox Controller For Their New Giant Laser Cannon

The army’s new laser cannon is controlled with an Xbox controller

Cool Finds

Women Now Outnumber Adolescent Boys in the Gamer Community

Smartphones likely explain the sudden spike in the number of female gamers

Grayson the fish teased viewers earlier this morning by nearly going down the stairs.

Trending Today

Who’s Better at Pokémon, Anarchist Twitch Players or a Betta Fish?

Anarchy seems to be more effective than a fish, so far

None

Cool Finds

Explore Native Alaskan Stories As a Young Iñupiaq Girl in This New Video Game

Never Alone draws on the art, stories and culture of Alaskan Inuit

An attendee at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, in Los Angeles, California, tries out an Oculus VR headset kit.

Can’t Picture a World Devastated by Climate Change? These Games Will Do it for You

Augmented and virtual reality games may help crack the code of getting humans to do something about the environment

These mana potions won't actually let you cast fireballs.

Cool Finds

How Did “Mana,” An Austronesian Religious Idea, Become a Gaming Staple?

Anthropologist Alex Golub tracks the path of mana, from ancient Taiwan to fantasy gaming culture

In the hit game Space Invaders, a menacing four-note soundtrack sped up as the aliens got closer.

The Generation That Grew Up With “Space Invaders” Now Has Gaming Children Of Their Own

Thirty-five years after the arcade game hit it big, its impact is still felt nationwide

In modern role-playing games, like BioWare's Mass Effect series, gamers are being called upon to make emotional decisions.

Cool Finds

Pretty Soon, Video Games Will Be Able to Read Your Emotions

Video games are becoming increasingly adept at reading our emotions

New Research

We Might Hit Our Cognitive Peak Before 24

As we age beyond about 24, we become mentally slower and slower

New Research

Playing Video Games Could Actually Change Your Brain—But Not in a Bad Way

Despite video games’ bad rep, they might improve a person’s strategizing and multi-tasking abilities

Researchers used the game Pardus to look at human organization.

New Research

Humans Playing Online Games Organize Themselves into Fractals

Players may be acting in a future, space-based world, but they still organize themselves into the fractals that humans have always fallen into

Play on, my mathematicians!

Cool Finds

Mathematicians Say Candy Crush Really Is Hard

You can feel better about your obsession with Candy Crush. The game isn’t just mindless swiping; it’s an actually difficult math problem.

Demaking, says Ed Fries, is "like haiku" for programmers, an exercise in "enforcing constraints on yourself as a tool for creativity."

Demaking Halo, Remaking Art: ‘Halo 2600’ Developer Discusses the Promise of Video Games

Ed Fries talks with Smithsonian magazine about programming the Atari 2600 and shaping the future of interactive media.

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