Josh Hinke

Josh Hinke is a part time centaur trainer in Hollywood, while going to school full time to be a professional Goomba. In between those two commitments I write about video games and cool things, like pirates and dragons and dragon pirates.
  • Deadpool

    “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”  This quote, often attributed to Edmund Gwenn, adequately sums up the state of video game comedy.  While there have...

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    “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”  This quote, often attributed to Edmund Gwenn, adequately sums up the state of video game comedy.  While there have been stabs at comedy in games by developers like Double Fine and Telltale, if one was to curate a collection of comedy games it would subsist of only a few...
    799
    799 points
  • The Conversation of Sexual Assault from E3, Penny Arcade, and Kickstarter

    I didn’t want to write about this, I didn’t want to beat a dead horse, or a live one, for that matter.  I am as...

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    I didn’t want to write about this, I didn’t want to beat a dead horse, or a live one, for that matter.  I am as exhausted by the conversation as I think many people are by now.  The conversation which I am referring to is that of the abusive world women face every day in...
    864
    864 points
  • What Did We Win From Microsoft?

    When Giant Bomb’s Patrick Klepek broke the big news today that Microsoft was changing their strategies on DRM, internet connectivity, and used games, the online...

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    When Giant Bomb’s Patrick Klepek broke the big news today that Microsoft was changing their strategies on DRM, internet connectivity, and used games, the online world basically lost its mind.  The reactions were mixed, as all reactions are, but mostly positive.  Twitter and Facebook responses ranged from people claiming they were about to put in...
    822
    822 points
  • Self-Publishing and the Xbox One

    The consumer is bound to be forgotten, while a key flaw in Microsoft’s world of woe, Microsoft is not the first company to dictate sweeping...

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    The consumer is bound to be forgotten, while a key flaw in Microsoft’s world of woe, Microsoft is not the first company to dictate sweeping changes to a product that angered its core demographic.  I still believe that Microsoft will attempt to win back the consumer with sweeping changes in the next couple years.  After...
    823
    823 points
  • Top Ten Games From E3

    Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, blah, blah, blah.  Let’s face it, in the end consoles are just expensive, giants blocks of hardware taking up space on our...

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    Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, blah, blah, blah.  Let’s face it, in the end consoles are just expensive, giants blocks of hardware taking up space on our entertainment center.  Let’s not bicker and argue about who kill who–points if you picked up the Monty Python reference–instead, let’s focus on the thing that really matters: Games!  After three...
    812
    812 points
  • Sony Wins Battle, War Continues

    I hate the term “console war”, so forgive the nod to it in the title of the article.  When I wrote “war” I was not...

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    I hate the term “console war”, so forgive the nod to it in the title of the article.  When I wrote “war” I was not thinking of media buzzwords or obtuse descriptive phrasing (well, maybe the latter), I was thinking about the penultimate scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, where Gandalf tells...
    822
    822 points
  • Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo at E3

    In less than a week we will be knee-deep in the biggest event of the video game year.  The Electronic Entertainment Expo is known providing...

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    In less than a week we will be knee-deep in the biggest event of the video game year.  The Electronic Entertainment Expo is known providing show stopping announcements and lighting the way forward for the video game industry.  With the impending release of the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the WiiU well into it’s first...
    826
    826 points
  • Susan O’Connor Got Me to Donate to Massive Chalice

    After finally carving away a little down time at work, I hopped onto Twitter and saw something unexpected.  Double Fine had gone back to the...

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    After finally carving away a little down time at work, I hopped onto Twitter and saw something unexpected.  Double Fine had gone back to the Kickstarter well that had funded their impending release, Broken Age; this time with a turn-based strategy game called Massive Chalice.  Last I checked, the game has already raised $535,000 of...
    841
    841 points
  • Sexism, Sarkeesian, and Games

    On Tuesday, May 28th, Anita Sarkeesian released the second part in her ongoing Feminist Frequency documentary series about women in video games.  This second episode...

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    On Tuesday, May 28th, Anita Sarkeesian released the second part in her ongoing Feminist Frequency documentary series about women in video games.  This second episode was the continuation of Sarkeesian’s investigation into the narrative trope “The Damsel in Distress”.  The documentary takes an unflinching look at the role women are forced to play in video...
    820
    820 points
  • Resident Evil is Dead and Gone

    When I was twelve years old  I was introduced to Resident Evil 2.  I had heard nothing about the game, except that it something that...

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    When I was twelve years old  I was introduced to Resident Evil 2.  I had heard nothing about the game, except that it something that your mother would not want you to play which was high praise for prepubescent boys.  Unlike today, Zombies did not have the iconic presence in my head as my parents...
    821
    821 points
  • The Diverging Paths of Sony and Microsoft

    The significance of the Xbox revel event was more than simply naming, showing off, and explaining a new console.  It was the official reigniting of...

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    The significance of the Xbox revel event was more than simply naming, showing off, and explaining a new console.  It was the official reigniting of the revivalry between Sony and Microsoft that has grown in intensity over the last console generation.  For a few months, Sony has been standing center stage in the next-gen debate...
    832
    832 points
  • Microsoft Press Conference Predictions

    It’s been nearly three months since Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 and signaled the first shot in the next generation of console gaming (no offense...

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    It’s been nearly three months since Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 and signaled the first shot in the next generation of console gaming (no offense to Nintendo).  Since then Sony has been making good use of their headstart, announcing a handful of AAA titles, rounding out their independent library, and dominating that mind share of...
    829
    829 points
  • Activision Blizzard Are Failing Consumers

    In a fiscal year that has been difficult for some large video game companies and disastrous for others there was one bright spot amongst the...

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    In a fiscal year that has been difficult for some large video game companies and disastrous for others there was one bright spot amongst the earnings calls that took place over the last two weeks.  Activision Blizzard was able to claim net profits of $1.1 billion in 2012, thanks to the success of franchise names...
    832
    832 points
  • Summer Games Guide

    As school winds to a close, blockbusters hit the locale megaplex, and poeple exchange jackets for swimsuits, it has become apparent that summer has arrived....

    As school winds to a close, blockbusters hit the locale megaplex, and poeple exchange jackets for swimsuits, it has become apparent that summer has arrived.  Normally, the nice weather and outdoor fun suggests a decline in number and pedigree for video game releases, however this summer holds some of the biggest releases of the year....
    809
    809 points
  • What Does 1.3 Million Subscribers Mean To Blizzard?

    In video games, you haven’t really “made it” until you can attract a stigma.  Once people start juding your fan base with sweeping generalizations, that’s...

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    In video games, you haven’t really “made it” until you can attract a stigma.  Once people start juding your fan base with sweeping generalizations, that’s when you know that you’ve really created something special.  So often, people are judged by the games they play; but occasionally a game gathers such a passionate fan base that...
    842
    842 points
  • A Second Chance for Star Wars, EA

    It was kind of like seeing your ex again. When you had broken up they had been in a downward spiral, full of poor life...

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    It was kind of like seeing your ex again. When you had broken up they had been in a downward spiral, full of poor life decisions.  They were uninteresting, bloated, had money problems, you heard way too much about their work and not nearly enough about their dreams.  Gone were the days of puppy love...
    824
    824 points