Marshall

A lot of modern students spend as much time playing video games as they do attending school, according to research by University of Indiana.

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George Zimmerman in a recent interview accused President Barack Obama of a “dereliction of duty” by using “racially charged comments” to divide the public against him during his murder trial. Although Zimmerman turned down many requests for interviews after he was acquitted f...

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This review is part of IGN's coverage of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

The Judge snowballs Robert Downey Jr.'s modern career into a quintessential role. Hank Palmer, a high-profile L.A. lawyer who has never seen a criminal he couldn't defend to freedom, has Tony Stark's sharp tongue, Sherlock Holmes's deductive reasoning, and Ally McBeal's Season 4 boyfriend's resume. He's a lovable a-hole — a sturdy ship of a character that Downey steers through The Judge's syrupy seas.

Like sitcom maven James L. Brooks did for 1983's Terms of Endearment, director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, The Change-Up) tempers his comedic talents to elegantly, if not familiarly, stroll through The Judge's swirl of family drama and courtroom thrills. The film plays heartstrings like an orchestra harpist, Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque's script playing a prestigious riff on the Nicolas Sparks mold. There's a troubled father/son relationship, a David-and-Goliath murder trial, terminal illness, abandoned romance, identity crisis, and ethical question galore. At maximum dramatic capacity, The Judge becomes a casting agent's sandbox, with Robert Duvall, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thorton and Jeremy Strong all matching Downey's melodramatic motions. It's comfort food of the weepy kind.

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BioWare is showing off its upcoming franchise at Gamescom, and the video teasers that have been released hint at children with destructive powers. And nightmares. And eerie hooded people. Here's the latest:

There aren't many hints at what kind of game this will be, but if you'd said this was a teaser for an upcoming X-Men film I wouldn't have blinked. This is the second most recent teaser, released six days ago.

And one more!

Please allow the wild speculation to begin in the comments. My thoughts? Aliens. But I guess we'll find out soon enough.

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The Nightmare Cooperative has come a long way since its clever browser-based prototype back in March. It’s still clever, but now it’s gorgeous too, boasting a lovely angular art style that fits the turn-based puzzling like a glove. This new version of the single-player co-op roguelike (I’ll get to that in a moment) now has a trailer, along with a release date: Wednesday July 16th. Thoughts and moving images after the break.

First of all, here’s what The Nightmare Cooperative looks like:

That ‘single-player co-op’ thing refers to the fact that you’ll be moving two or more characters at once. For example, positioning your warrior to attack an enemy might move your priest closer to a trap—you need to be aware of the surroundings of multiple characters, although you can game the environment a little by for instance moving them into impassable objects, letting their teammates proceed unhindered for a bit. It’s a strong idea to start with, and Lucky Frame appear to be making the most of it in the game’s clockwork, procedurally generated dungeon.

I’ve played a little of this Steam version, and know that it’s a challenging game. There’s an interesting risk/reward system regarding the treasure: floors can be completed without acquiring any of it, but if you do choose to open the various stray chests, additional monsters or traps will be added to your current level. Proceeding deeper into the dungeon without these items will prove difficult, but then so will actually bagging them without your heroes turning into various piles of bones. Despite that, it’s a pleasingly minimalist and easy to pick up game—I was reminded of the wonderful Desktop Dungeons.

The Nightmare Cooperative is out July 16th. You’ll find it here when it goes live.

The post Smart puzzle roguelike The Nightmare Cooperative releasing on Steam next week appeared first on PC Gamer.