What Would Drake Do? The freestyle version of 2011 in gaming.

By Drew Millard, January 6, 2012

One of my hobbies is ghostwriting radio freestyles for Justin Bieber. He hasn’t accepted any of them yet, but I’m assuming he’s just waiting for me to write a bunch that he can just take in bulk to have, like, a year’s supply of freestyles. That is probably what’s most convenient for him.

High Scores: Our best games of 2011

By Kill Screen Staff, January 6, 2012

Welcome to the new High Scores! Following last year’s debut, we polled our staff and contributing writers on their favorite videogames of 2011. Every writer received a pool of 100 points to distribute among up to 10 games, and this week we uncover the top 25 in the rankings. Today we've also posted each critic’s ballot and commentary and the full High Scores 2011 poster.

Why are games beginning to feel like the internet?

By Jason Johnson, January 5, 2012

Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote of 19th-century society, "That everyone may learn to read, in the long run corrupts not only writing but also thinking." His observation couldn't have been more far-reaching. The internet has been changing the way people think, slicing up and dishing out snippets of idle chatter, ever since the days of the Bulletin Board Service. Since then, our dependence on the information mothership has grown. At times, I feel that my brain is becoming rewired so that it no longer accommodates the media of old.

Only one critic voted for each of these 2011 games. Why?

By Kill Screen Staff, January 4, 2012

The problem with democracy? The people with the loudest voices or catchiest tag lines rise to the top, and the other perspectives are left to be discovered some other time. A total of 113 games got points in our High Scores poll of critics, but only a few gained any critical mass. We picked out a few that quietly left their mark in 2011 but only received one lonely vote in the end.

In 2011 our resident indie gamer went mainstream with an Xbox 360.

By Filipe Salgado, January 3, 2012

It feels like I've forgotten more games than I've played: a mathematical impossibility that is, nonetheless, true. This year I finally caught up with the latest console generation, five years late to the party, with a new Xbox 360. It was a challenge—to take off the oversized headphones, stop listening to Talking Heads B-sides, and start interacting with the Top 40.

Artists meet game designers at Kill Screen Dialogues; world doesn't explode

By Kyle Chayka, December 21, 2011

As one might choose fine wines for a gourmet meal, last Friday's Kill Screen Dialogues matched artists with game designers in a series of three consecutive "pairings"—short, crisp conversations that explored the overlaps and differences between the two arenas. Presented in collaboration with art and technology nonprofit (and celebrated blog) Rhizome, the event made it clear just how close the philosophies behind art and games are, but a few striking contrasts also came out.

Korean game makers are learning from McDonald's.

By Jordan Mammo, December 21, 2011

At first all I hear is "McDonald's." It's nearly 2:30 in the afternoon and I'm starving, so when Cho Sung Hwan first mentions the Golden Arches my lonely gut perks up. But the SmileGate project manager and director isn't talking about Big Macs, nor is he even really thinking about food. He's talking about localization.

When in doubt, game designers should take to gardening.

By Tom Armitage, December 20, 2011

Above the village of Broadway, in the Cotswolds, stands Broadway Tower. It's a three-story-high structure, with three turrets: a folly which the Arts and Crafts movement would later use as a holiday retreat. And yet when it was built, in the 18th century, its purpose was not to be an attractive tower to overlook the village.

Why more games should play like music.

By Lana Polansky, December 19, 2011

What if I told you that Street Fighter was like a saxophone? Whenever I see a well-played game of Street Fighter taking place, I hear this in my head. John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” is based on a very technical musical progression, but the composition is largely improvised and spontaneous.

Review: Is this Kirby's swansong?

By Jason Johnson, December 19, 2011

Kirby has the strangest luck. In recent outings, he has been turned into yarn and deprived of his limbs. In Kirby Mass Attack, the pink round puff, who could find work between games as an emoticon if he needed to, has been cloned—multiplied into identical laughing, winking, grimacing, shocked and dizzy pieces. With the change in number comes a change in manner. Kirby’s traditional attack, in which he inhales toadstools and plush dolls only to steal their parasols and spit out shooting stars, has been forgone in favor of a mob mentality. You control up to 10 little Kirbys, running amok like a street gang that is too cute to be taken seriously. Deep breathing has been replaced with the dogpile.

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