Culture & History

The bigger stories — where gaming came from, and what it’s been tangled up with along the way. Design, representation, history, and the odd argument worth having.

Long Reads

Culture & History

Everything on this site that’s more essay than roundup lives here.

Retro Culture

Everyone’s Going Back to the Old Stuff. We Could Have Told You That.

Sega, Atari, and the Guardian all arriving at the same conclusion this month — retro isn’t a consolation prize, it just never stopped being good.

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Design

Designed to Be Looked At: What Female Game Characters Tell Us About Who They Were Made For

Blaze Fielding and Lara Croft, the industry’s gender stats, and what actually changed between 1996 and now.

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Culture

When Music Walked Into the Room: My Greatest Crossovers Between Gaming and Music

From chiptune to full orchestral scores — the moments gaming and music stopped being separate things.

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History

Manchester: The City That Invented Modern Computing

Manchester, Rochdale, Salford — and the Baby, the ZX Spectrum, and some of the best games ever made. The full story.

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History

The Machines That Built Modern Gaming: A Guide to the Home Computer Era

Before consoles dominated the living room, before Steam, before mobile gaming, there were the home computers.

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Money

Is Your Old Game Collection Worth a Fortune?

A sealed Super Mario Bros sold for $2 million. What actually separates a £2 car boot cartridge from a five-figure auction lot.

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Industry

Today’s Indie Games Are Tomorrow’s Nostalgia

Why the big publishers are retreating into legacy IP, and why the boutique studios taking the real risks now are tomorrow’s Golden Axe.

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