Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round-up of all the shiny things we’ve wanted to spend our savings on recently. This week, we’ve got some very cool Voltron, Star Wars, and Batman Beyond toys heading to San Diego Comic-Con, a lovely little Pokémon pal, and a most impressive Sith Lord. Check it out!
A few years ago, Marvel launched Spider-Verse, an epic Spider-Man event that brought together the many weird and wonderful versions of Spider-heroes the comics (and beyond) had to offer, for a spider-fanservice quest. Now, Marvel’s bringing them back together again for a far more-ominously titled event: Spidergeddon.
There were rumors of a Playstation 5 and news on the next generation of Xbox, but this E3 was ultimately pretty light on the cool hardware. We knew that was the case given the sheer amount of VR accessories most of us can’t or won’t use any time soon.
E3 2018 is here, and companies have already announced more games than you can shake a Joy-Con at. But what about consoles? The last few years have seen E3 inundated with either rumors or news about new consoles from the big three. This year’s gaming expo has been a touch on the lighter side when it comes to hardware…
Playing classic 8-bit side scrollers with a touchscreen is awful, so 8BitDo’s releasing an updated version of its tiny, keychain-sized Zero gamepad with support for the Nintendo Switch, and motion controls, so it should be easier to be perpetually prepared for any retro gaming emergency.
Valve, the company behind the Steam platform that has achieved a near-monopoly on PC game sales, issued a blog post on Wednesday clarifying its content policies after it removed a mass shooting-themed game titled Active Shooter from its store in late May. According to Valve’s Erik Johnson, from now on the company will…
As smartphones and other highly portable devices have become omnipresent, some researchers and many parents have begun to worry about the mental health risks of excessive screen time on kids and teens. New research presented this week doesn’t debunk a link between technology and depression, but it could sharpen the…
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round up of the coolest toys and merchandise we’ve seen floating around the internet lately. This week, the Solo deluge continues, SDCC’s 2018 exclusives begin tempting our wallets, and Lego just can’t stop revealing cutesy little BrickHeadz. Check it out!
Mike Mika is a video game developer, so naturally he has a passion for video games. He modded Donkey Kong once so his young daughter could play as Pauline instead of just watching her flail as a damsel in distress. His first major paycheck went towards one of those Star Wars gaming cabinets from the ‘80s where you…
Just hours after a 17-year-old killed 10 people at a high school in Texas on Friday, Dan Patrick, the Lt. Governor of Texas, said that maybe schools should have fewer entrances and exits. But yesterday he explained that there are a lot of other things to blame than just doors. For instance, Facebook, Twitter, and…
The technical skills of programmer John Carmack helped create the 3D world of Doom, the first-person shooter that took over the world 25 years ago. But it was level designers like John Romero and American McGee that made the game fun to play. Level designers that, today, might find their jobs threatened by the …
YouTube’s My Mate VINCE has a knack for wiring modern video game consoles to old-school TVs. After perfecting his skills, he’s hacked together what is undoubtedly his greatest, most absurd creation: a resurrected boombox that lets gamers play their favorite titles anywhere they’re strong enough to carry this…
Many actors have donned the bat-mantle to provide a voice to Gotham’s Dark Knight—the latest example being the delightfully loopy Batman Ninja, out now on Blu-ray and DVD—over decades of film, TV, and games. But who’s done it best? Here’s our bat-ranking of Gotham’s finest voice actors.
As far back as the NES, the video game industry has been trying to sell us unnecessary accessories. (Remember R.O.B.?) Companies have occasionally come up with fun alternatives to playing with a controller—think Guitar Hero—but when you eventually finish or get bored of a game, you’re left with a mountain of unwanted…
You know how annoying it is when people take out their phones in the movie theater while you’re just trying to enjoy seeing the Avengers fight Thanos or whatever? Well, Fox wants to make that a feature with a new film based on the Choose Your Own Adventure books. There is an app involved.
Are you cool with hugs? What about the most all-encompassing hug you’ve ever had? That just about sums up how Disney Research’s new force feedback jacket works. Using inflatable airbags, it can simulate physical experiences when you’re lost in VR, like getting hit by a snowball, or turning into a muscular beefcake in…
Before the Super Nintendo, and even before the original NES arrived in North America, I cut my gaming teeth on the Commodore 64. It was sold as one of the first personal computers, but to many kids of the ‘80s, it was instead their first gaming console. I have many fond memories of the C64, but thanks to the C64 Mini,…
Despite the fact they are flesh-eating guerilla warriors capable of thoroughly thrashing a vastly technologically superior foe, everyone’s takeaway about the Ewoks is that they’re cute, stress-lowering, fuzzy teddy bears. But Star Wars: Battlefront II has added a new mode that reminds us that these teddies can be…
If you’re a gamer who doesn’t want to haul a PC with you on vacation, you could book your next trip to Panama City where the local Hilton has packed a ridiculously customized hotel room full of high-end gaming gear and accessories. The beanbag chairs, VR goggles, and racing seat all make sense to me, but why did the…