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Game|Life - Gameboy Rarities Appraised

Chris Kohler digs into his collection to show off his a couple rarities, and gives some tips on building your own cache of hard-to-find games.




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Game|Life - E3 Expo - Oculus Rift VR Headset 1080p Version

Wired editors Chris Kohler and Peter Rubin experience the new HD 1080p version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at the E3 expo. Watch their reactions and hear their detailed review in this episode of Wired's Game|Life.




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Angry Nerd - Zynga's Shameful Digital to Board Game Switch

Like we weren’t going to notice, Zynga? Turning Words With Friends into a board game does not make it not-Scrabble. Same goes for Hungry Hungry Herd. Angry Nerd takes a stand against the shameless genre crossing of digital games back to board games.




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Game|Life - Donkey Kong Hacker Dad Mike Mika

Game developer Mike Mika reveals how he hacked Donkey Kong for his 3-year-old daughter and became an unlikely hero to thousands.




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Angry Nerd - Chris Baker Defends His Disapproval of Zynga Board Games

Chris Baker got Angry and Nerdy about Zynga making board games out of online games out of board games. Commenters commented. Baker defends his purchase of said games. And gets Angry.




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Game|Life - KLAX Hacker Proposal by Game Designer Mike Mika

Years before he hacked Donkey Kong and became an internet sensation, game designer Mike Mika engineered another epic hack that had an even bigger impact on his life.




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Game|Life - Game Hackers Roundtable

Game developers Greg Kasavin of Supergiant Games and Mike Mika of Other Ocean Interactive share the top games they'd most like to hack. Whether for social change or pure fun, see what classic titles each of these game aficionados would most love to change and why.




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Game|Life - Retro Game Showdown

Host Chris Kohler and special guest Mike Mika show off their most prized possessions in an epic battle to be named the king of gaming collections.




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Game|Life - Creating Games with a Purpose

Game designers Mike Mika and Greg Kasavin talk about how they create video games that are fun to play but also meaningful.




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Game|Life - Greg Kasavin Talks on Supergiant's New Game, Transistor

Supergiant Games creative director Greg Kasavin talks about his company's upcoming game Transistor, and how he went from writing about games to making them.




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Design FX - Game of Thrones: Dragon Effects Exclusive

Daenerys Targaryen's dragons on HBO's Games of Thrones are fan favorites, and WIRED has an incredible, exclusive look at how they were brought to life with feature film quality by the visual effects artists at Pixmondo. Virtual wind tunnels, water simulations and real world references all played a part in constructing their realistic behaviors.




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James Turrell on Moving Towards a New Landscape - Station to Station

James Turrell, in Conversation with Doug Aitken, discusses Roden Crater and his ideology on the horizontal landscape.




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WIRED Live - Key & Peele Talk Game of Thrones and New Season

Genius sketch comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele talk to Peter Rubin about their favorite sketches, the new season of their Comedy Central show Key & Peele, and Game of Thrones. Because Game of Thrones.




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Game|Life - Inside the National Museum of Play's Rare Game Collection

The National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y. recently acquired one of the largest collections of Japanese and European video games. From Mother to Zool to Doshin the Giant, Game|Life editor Chris Kohler gets the first look at the incredible rarities.




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Game|Life - Rare Arcade Games at the National Museum of Play

Chris Kohler gets hands on at the National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., by testing out working models of rare arcade games, including a Hercules pinball machine, ActRaiser, and Nintendo Super System.




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Game|Life - Inside the Library at the National Museum of Play

The library at the National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., boasts a rare collection of strategy guides, designs, and background materials from old-school video games. Chris Kohler takes a look at the original documents from classic games, including Wizard and the Princess, Mystery House, and King’s Quest II.




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Game|Life - Atari by Design and More Highlights from the Lab at the National Museum of Play

At the National Museum of Play, Chris Kohler visits an exhibit all about classic video game maker Atari, and he gets hands-on inside the museum’s lab of rare games.




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Design FX - Ender's Game: Creating a Zero-G Battle Room Effects Exclusive

A signature sequence in Gavin Hood’s newest film Ender’s Game is the zero-G battle room, a place where the titular character played by Asa Butterfield trains in space. Hoping to create a sense of weightlessness, the filmmakers shot actors in a mix of harnesses and on wires against a greenscreen set.




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Gadget Lab - PlayStation 4: Unboxing the New Game Console

We got the PlayStation 4! Sony’s new console comes out on November 15 in the US, but we went to Sony’s Tokyo HQ and asked engineering director Yasuhiro Ootori to give WIRED an exclusive look inside the new system—literally. Like, he takes it apart piece by piece and explains what all the parts do, and how they fit together.




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WIRED Live - Bill Gates & President Bill Clinton: The Global Economy and the End of American Exceptionalism-Exclusive Interview

With American exceptionalism waning, is the U.S. destined to be left in the dust? Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton talk about the significance of building a future of shared success and responsibility in order to create a thriving global economy. For more from Bill Gates and President Clinton, check out the December 2013 issue of WIRED.




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Angry Nerd - The Watered-Down Hunger Games Trilogy

People say The Hunger Games is a watered-down Young Adult version of the brilliant Japanese movie Battle Royale, but Angry Nerd completely disagrees. He likens the sci-fi tale to a watered-down version of Running Man, but with a premise that doesn’t actually work.




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Angry Nerd - Riddick and Hollywood's Failed Attempts at Using POV Cameras

Seeing carnage through a character’s eyes used to mean something. Nowadays, Hollywood is wasting POV shots in sci-fi films like Vin Diesel’s Riddick. Angry Nerd explains why these fancy-schmancy first-person perspectives are failing, and he issues the Tinseltown execs an ultimatum.




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Angry Nerd - Captain America’s Unrealistic Vibranium Shield

Angry Nerd is ready to demote Captain America from his current rank to lieutenant. In the Marvel superhero’s newest movie adaptation, his vibranium shield defies everything that physics and materials science has taught us. Angry Nerd calls blasphemy on the ingredient-altered shield.




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Angry Nerd - The Problem with Game of Thrones

There’s a massive publishing gap in the books that Game of Thrones is based off of, and Angry Nerd is concerned that the show could catch up to the plot before the next book is out. But, one simple solution could solve everything.




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Design FX - Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Staging the Helicarrier Crash

Industrial Light & Magic was tasked with updating the helicarriers in the new film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. FXguide’s Mike Seymour talks to the visual effects company to find out what new details were added to the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircrafts, and how the effects team created a digital modeling environment for the epic helicarrier crash scene.




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Game|Life - Teaser: Excavating the Atari E.T. Video Game Burial Site

In 1983 after the critical and commercial failure of Atari’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game, the company allegedly dumped millions of cartridges into a landfill in Alamogordo, N.M. Now, more than 30 years later, the site is being excavated and filmed for an upcoming docu-series by The Incredible Hulk screenwriter Zak Penn. The day before the big dig we headed south to talk with Penn about the urban legend. Plus, check out our exclusive first look at the excavation site.




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Game|Life - Excavating the Atari E.T. Video Game Burial Site

It’s been dubbed The Great Video Game Burial of 1983, but did Atari really toss millions of cartridges of its biggest flop: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? Chris Kohler is onsite to witness an excavation of the landfill to see if the joke’s really on us, and to talk with those involved with the project, including original game designer Howard Scott Warshaw.




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Angry Nerd - Why Edge of Tomorrow is of the Greatest Movie About Video Games, Ever

The new sci-fi flick Edge of Tomorrow is basically a sci-fi rip-off of Groundhog Day, but with more Tom Cruise and less Bill Murray. And somehow, it manages to establish itself as one of the best movies about a video game, ever.




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RetroGrade - Why the Atari 2600 Is One of the Best Video Game Consoles, Ever

Long before the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the Atari 2600 was heralded as the next generation of gaming. Look no further than the sweet joystick and the detailed graphics to see why it’s considered one of the holy grails of video game consoles.




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RetroGrade - Madden Doesn't Have Anything on this Old-School Football Video Game

In 1978 Mattel elevated handheld gaming to the next level with the Football 2. Realistic game sounds, plus the ability to pass the ball? Touchdown!




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Design FX - Game of Thrones: Combining CGI and Live Action to Create the Dragons & Fights Scenes in Season 4

In season four of Game of Thrones a combination of CGI and live character action were used to create impressive fight scenes and stunning visual effects. Mike Seymour breaks down the tech behind the hit HBO show.




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Battle Damage - Nintendo Game Boy vs. Sledgehammer

It came out in 1989 and was notoriously tough, but can an original Game Boy hold its own against a sledgehammer-wielding body builder?




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Battle Damage - How Fast Can We Spin a $50,000 Camera?

Erik and Justin from The Indie Machines show you how they built a fast-moving DIY camera rig to capture all of the action from each destruction test.




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WIRED Live - Creating Video Games That Are Easy to Learn, but Difficult to Master

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and game developer Dong Nguyen join author David Kushner to talk about the ingredients for a successful video game and how the industry has transitioned from being a hobby to a full-blown business.




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Angry Nerd - Will the New U.K. Import “Gracepoint" Join the Ranks of “The Office,” “House of Cards,” and “Shameless”?

The British are coming. Can the new crime drama Gracepoint (based on the U.K. hit Broadchurch) find success stateside and join the shortlist of Brit expats that found their footing on red, white, and blue T.V.s, like The Office, House of Cards, and Shameless?




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Game|Life - The Making of the “Atari: Game Over” Documentary with Zak Penn

It’s been called the worst video game in history, but could E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial really be the cause of Atari’s downfall? In the new documentary “Atari: Game Over” director Zak Penn follows the rise and fall of the trailblazing video game company, including the game that caused Atari’s demise. Watch as Penn takes us behind the scenes of the documentary and shows us exclusive footage ahead of the November 20 release.




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Angry Nerd - "Hunger Games" and the Terrible Trend of Turning a Book into Two Movies

Why turn one book into one movie, when you can turn it into two? Despite “Mockingjay” being the weakest book in “The Hunger Games” series, movie execs have decided to translate it into a two-part film. Angry Nerd explains why the stretch from one to two is a terrible trend that needs to end.




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Game|Life - 2014's Biggest Gaming News by SMOSH Games

It was a big year for gamers. Facebook acquired Oculus VR, the Dota 2 Championship went mainstream with a promo on ESPN, and a handful of other game-changing moments rocked the industry. SMOSH Games and WIRED editor Chris Kohler count down the top 5 gaming wins of 2014.




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Game|Life - 14 Best Games of 2014 by SMOSH Games

WIRED editor Chris Kohler teamed up with SMOSH Games to count down the top 14 video games of 2014. Find out if Titanfall came out ahead of Mario Kart 8, and see which games landed an honorable mention.




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WIRED by Design - A Game Designer Explains the Counterintuitive Secret to Fun

Ian Bogost at WIRED by Design, 2014. In partnership with Skywalker Sound, Marin County, CA. To learn more visit: live.wired.com




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Battle Damage - Valentine's Day Destroyed at 1000 Frames Per Second

Love is in the air—literally, 15 feet in the air. Erik and Justin get in the Valentine's Day spirit by doing what they do best—smashing stuff, in this case a box of chocolates, a vase of roses, and a bottle of wine.




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Game|Life - The Best Video Games of ALL Time

WIRED editor Chris Kohler goes head-to-head with SMOSH Games to settle the age-old debate: what are the best video games of all time? From first-person shooters to 2D platforms, see which games are named the best of the best.




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Battle Damage - Video Game Console Wars

From Sega Genesis to Playstation 3, Justin and Erik rounded up the most beloved video game consoles of our youth. Everyone has a favorite, but which one is the toughest when it comes to Sega, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox?




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Unnecessarily Rushed Explanations - The Funniest Video Game of All Time

WIRED editor Chris Kohler breaks down why Sam & Max Hit the Road is the funniest video game of all time. What’s not to love about a duo of anthropomorphic “freelance police”?




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Angry Nerd - HBO: Ignore the Game of Thrones Books

Some people are worried that the new season of Game of Thrones will deviate too much from the books. Angry Nerd is worried that it won’t stray far enough. He explains why the brutal plot trims are needed when it comes to the show.




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Unnecessarily Rushed Explanations - The Most Important Video Game of All Time: Super Mario Bros.

WIRED editor Chris Kohler explains why Super Mario Bros. is the most important video game in history. From rich graphics to expertly composed music to innovative game design, Super Mario Bros. set the standard for what makes a great video game.




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Unnecessarily Rushed Explanations - Best Music Game of All Time: Elite Beat Agents

Elite Beat Agents is based off a Japanese video game for Nintendo DS. But instead of male cheerleaders and Japanese pop songs, the U.S. version relies on “Men In Black”-like agents and good ol’ fashioned American hits from the Jackson 5 and Madonna. Chris Kohler explains why the stateside edition is the best music game of all time.




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Unnecessarily Rushed Explanations - The Most Disgusting Video Game of All Time: Hotline Miami

It’s reminiscent of old Grand Theft Auto games, but Hotline Miami is in a league of its own. It tricks you into thinking it’s cute, but don’t be fooled, it's one of the most gruesome and bloody video games of all time.




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Unnecessarily Rushed Explanations - The Most Difficult Video Game of All Time: Super Hexagon

Super Hexagon is not a video game for the easily discouraged. You die early and often until eventually (hopefully) you get into the swing of things. WIRED editor Chris Kohler explains why it’s the most difficult video game of all time.




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Pixels is a Love Letter to Gamers

Pixels director Chris Columbus talks to WIRED about the fun of 8-bit arcade games and building a real life Donkey Kong set for the new action comedy.