Blog: How playing games can advance science This post explains why many of the games people play today could help advance science, and introduces some topics I would love to discuss with game designers and developers.

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  Toys 'R' Us files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada Retail giant Toys 'R' Us has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada in an attempt to restructure its debt and secure its future.

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Automaton nets $10M to create survival game using Improbable tech Automaton, a fledgling developer based in Cambridge, has secured $10 million in funding to create an online survival game that lets up to 1000 players fight for supremacy.

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  Blog: How I created two games with a stranger from Reddit Interested in making a new artist contact and in making a few small-scope games; I reached out to the /r/INAT subreddit with an open request for a collaboration.

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  Blog: Finding the fun in advanced UX prototyping Here's how we rapidly prototyped and play tested a high fidelity match-3 game from scratch, and all without writing a single line of code.

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  Game Design Deep Dive: Mixing VR and non-VR in Lola and the Giant "VR, especially mobile VR, can be an isolating experience. We decided to try and create some way that the adventure could be enjoyed by both the player using the VR device and by everyone else in the room."

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2 Mind the gap: Fortnite error briefly allowed cross-platform PS4/XB1 play This is kind of a big deal because to date, no major game has allowed for cross-platform PS4/XB1 play; an Epic rep told Polygon that this was due to a "configuration issue" that has since been fixed.

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  Tracing the path an Israeli folk song took to end up in Japanese video games The folks at PRI dig into an old mystery:�how did the old Israeli folk song "Mayim, Mayim"�make its way into Japanese pop culture --�and from there, into Japanese video games like�Sexy Parodius?

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  Video: Designing competitive game AI the Killer Instinct way At GDC 2016, two of the key devs behind fighting game�Killer Instinct's�intriguing Shadow system share knowledge and offer tips on addressing common problems with AI in competitive games.

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  The iPhone X's 'notch' is powered by the same tech as the Kinect The tech that let a generation of players fill their living rooms with virtual lava is powering the FaceID feature on the iPhone X.

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  Get a job: Insomniac Games is hiring an experienced UI Artist Insomniac Games is looking for a Mid to Sr. UI Artist to develop art content and motion graphics for its upcoming Spider-Man game in Burbank, CA.

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  Now out of Early Access, Divinity: Original Sin 2 nears 500k sold The game only recently emerged from a year-long Early Access period but is already close to crossing the 500k sold threshold.

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3 Don't Miss: Creating compelling puzzles in Rise of the Tomb Raider Crystal Dynamics' senior designer Jeff Wajcs discusses the different elements that go into creating the perfect puzzle in this interview following the release of Rise of the Tomb Raider.

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  VRDC Speaker Q&A: Survios' Mike McTyre discusses developing Raw Data Mike McTyre of Survios discusses the practical lessons learned from building VR title Raw Data.

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2 Blog: Design tips for creating your game's opening level A game's opening level is like a first impression and needs a different design approach. In this article, I'll go through what sets Level 1-1 apart from other levels in 3D platformer, Suzy Cube.

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1 Former Valve dev Chet Faliszek joins Bossa Studios Previously, Faliszek spent over a decade at Valve working as the studio's VR liaison and writing the stories for games in Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and Portal series.

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7 Blog: Creating a dynamic tile system in Fossil Hunters What is a dynamic tile system, what solutions exist, and why did we create our own custom solution for Fossil Hunters? I explain the thinking behind our choices and detail our unique approach.

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  Jen MacLean appointed interim executive director of IGDA "The IGDA must take a leadership position in empowering developers to succeed through connecting them to peers, resources, and opportunities in their local communities and around the world."

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  Moving on: Gearbox wraps up active development on Battleborn Gearbox Software's�hero-shooter Battleborn is effectively being laid to rest, as the studio prepares to wind down development.

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1 Battlegrounds breaks the all-time Steam concurrent player record The Early Access game was on course to break the record since passing the 1 million mark, and it eventually delivered the goods over the weekend.

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1 Blog: Bringing Cursed Castilla to the Nintendo 3DS When we started working on Cursed Castilla, the 3DS was the platform we were targeting, but getting it there wouldn't be exactly straightforward.

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1 Upgrading the Nemesis system for Middle-earth: Shadow of War The well-received Nemesis System from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, dubbed an "orc management simulator" by some, is getting upgraded to include more emergent narrative potential in the sequel.

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2 Video Game Deep Cuts: An HDR Tooth Nindie Tail? Top game articles & videos for the week include the state of HDR in gaming, behind the scenes on new RTS Tooth & Tail, and stories from some key Nintendo indies.

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2 Richard Garriott remembers calling his parents to settle a fight over Ultima IV's design In a USGamer excerpt from a new book on Apple II game history, Garriott recalls how he and his brother called their parents to settle an argument over a single controversial Ultima IV encounter.

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  Gamasutra plays the new Dishonored adventure with Harvey Smith Dishonored: Death of the Outsider creative director Harvey Smith sat down to talk with us about the development of the new DLC.

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