16 articles
How game controllers evolved from paddles and joysticks to the D-pad, analog sticks and rumble, the Wii Remote, touchscreens, haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers.
How mahjong emerged in late-Qing China and spread to the West and Japan, the 136- and 144-tile sets, the four-melds-and-a-pair winning hand, regional variants, and computer mahjong.
How hidden object games grew from busy picture books into Mystery Case Files, June's Journey, and Hidden Folks, why the genre is fun, and tips for finding things faster.
Why the North American video game market collapsed in 1983, how E.T. and the Atari 2600 Pac-Man became its symbols, how Japan differed, and how the NES and Nintendo's quality controls revived the market.
How German-style board games (Eurogames) spread worldwide after Catan in 1995, plus the Spiel des Jahres award, Eurogames vs. Ameritrash, crowdfunding, and digital board games.
How Nintendo went from a Kyoto hanafuda card maker founded in 1889 to toys, Game & Watch, the Famicom, the DS and Wii, and the Switch, told through the company's choices and design philosophy.
How Dungeons & Dragons, born on a tabletop in 1974, created the tabletop RPG and shaped video game RPGs from MUD to Baldur's Gate 3.
How Nintendo's Game Boy was born in 1989, beat its color rivals and, together with the Game Boy Color, sold 118.69 million units, told through Gunpei Yokoi's philosophy and its key games.
The arcade golden age from Space Invaders in 1978, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong's character games, the post-1983 decline, and Street Fighter II's revival.
Console generations from the Magnavox Odyssey to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2, tracing cartridges, CDs, online play, motion control, and SSDs.
How mobile games went from Nokia's Snake and feature phones to the App Store, Angry Birds, free-to-play, Pokémon GO, and hyper-casual to lead gaming.
The history of modding, where players rework games into new ones: hacker roots, Doom WADs, Counter-Strike, Dota, battle royale, Auto Chess, paid mods.
What retro games are, collecting culture born in 1990s fanzines, grading and million-dollar auctions, mini consoles, FPGA devices, and preservation.
How did speedrunning begin? Doom and Quake demos, the rise of TAS, Speedrun.com and Twitch, GDQ charity marathons, and Super Mario Bros. records.
Seventy years of video games, from Tennis for Two and Spacewar! to Pong, the arcade golden age, the 1983 crash, the NES, 3D, online, mobile, and indies.
From the 1960s Sensorama and Sword of Damocles to Virtuality arcades, the Virtual Boy, Oculus Rift's Kickstarter, the Quest, and Half-Life: Alyx.