Alexander Sliwinski

    News Content Director

    Alexander is the News Content Director for Joystiq and has been a prolific contributor to the site for over half a decade. Responsible for more than 8,000 posts and distinguished by his breaking and original news reports. Alexander has a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Hofstra University. He's currently studying for his MBA at Northeastern University.

  • Games of a Lifetime: Alexander's picks

    After more than ten years devoted to video games and the people who make them, Joystiq is closing its doors. We won't be reporting on the best games of 2015, so join us for one last hurrah as the Joystiq family reveals their Games of a Lifetime. Hunt the Wumpus One of my earliest game experiences was playing Hunt the Wumpus on the TI-99/4A. I can't recall if we had this early home computer because my mother had gone back to school for a degree in computer science, or because my aunt worked at Texas Instruments. Anyway, I played a lot of Hunt the Wumpus, which was like Minesweeper meets Evolve. You're tasked with moving a hunter through various interconnected circles, where red dots indicated the Wumpus was two spots away, but there were also bats that could move you to another location and insta-death pits that were telegraphed like the Wumpus, only with green dots. It was one of the earliest games I can remember playing consistently, teaching me before I was in kindergarten on how thoughtful game design can convey a wealth of information.

  • WRUP: All good things...

    You were always welcome. What's everyone playing?

  • Grand Theft Auto drives off with top UK spot for third week

    Oh, hey! Ok, so, we know it's Thursday and all, but there's a perfectly good reason we're posting the UK sales data late this week. First off, Grand Theft Auto 5 was top of the pops for the third week in a row. Now, excuses time: Monday, the Chart-Track site was down all day. Tuesday, we were dealing with some relationship drama. Wednesday, we were eating pints of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. And, so, here we are: Thursday. A glorious day for your weekly dose of charting UK sales. Beyond the GTA, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and FIFA 15 swap places to take two and three, respectively. The PS4 and Xbox One version of Saints Row IV Re-Elected / Gat Out of Hell takes the number four spot and... Rugby 15 debuts at eight. Rugby 15. Don't ever change, UK. We love you!

  • Lego Jurassic World, Lego Marvel's Avengers announced

    No word yet if Lego Chris Pratt will feature those Guardians of the Galaxy abs, but he will feature in the upcoming Lego Jurassic World. Also announced this morning is Lego Marvel's Avengers. Although that's quite exciting, there's still a part of us pining for regular ol' Lego Avengers, starring Emma Peel and John Steed. "We look forward to expanding the successful [Lego] series with this very exciting line-up of new LEGO experiences for players of all ages to enjoy on console, handheld and mobile gaming devices," said Executive Vice President and General Manager of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment David Haddad, betting his little blue bonnet. The slate of upcoming Lego games includes the aforementioned titles, along with Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin, The LEGO Movie Video Game for mobile (more Chris Pratt abs!), which is actually out now, and Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (more Bat abs!) for mobile. There are plenty of apps to refine your abs on mobile also.

  • Rock out with your Spotify out on PlayStation

    Happy clap, happy clap! Music service Spotify is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 this spring, but the best part is you'll be able to have your songs playing in the background while gaming. The PlayStation Blog also mentions that folks will be able to sign up to the service using their PlayStation Network ID. The Spotify service will be available in 41 markets. With that said, prior to the launch of Spotify, Sony's Music Unlimited service will close in all 19 countries on March 29, 2015. Sony mentions, "Nearly all of these countries will be among the 41 markets where PlayStation Music featuring Spotify will be available at launch, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil." Spotify is an ad-supported music service in its free version, with premium options beginning at $10 monthly. The company also recently added family plans for multiple users. This is a very cool addition to PlayStation for Spotify's 15 million paying subscribers and over 60 million active users.

  • Rumor: Joystiq closing shop

    'AOL is likely to shutter' Joystiq, reports Recode. Hey, wait a minute... that's us! Well, we may as well handle this the same way we've been covering the video game industry for ten years. "We do not comment on rumor and speculation," one staffer told us, wishing to remain anonymous, preparing for their lucrative PR career. Others are still trying to figure out next steps. Another anonymous staffer said, "We're still working until we can't." Sources tell Joystiq that the staff is aware of the closure, but corporate hasn't officially told them, so they are unable to acknowledge anything out of concern that it will cause immediate shutdown. We've reached out for more information. We will update, as we always have, when we know more. Update: It's official. Thank you for reading, listening, viewing and supporting Joystiq all these years. [Image: Shutterstock]

  • Dragon Age: Inquisition gets special recognition from GLAAD

    GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has given a special recognition award to Dragon Age: Inquisition. The 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards, which has a laundry list of award categories, including comics, singled out the BioWare RPG from the video game pack. David Gaider, lead writer for the Dragon Age series at BioWare has spoken in the past about the "hump of assumptions" involved in creating and including lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender characters in video games. Inquisition featured the first "fully gay" characters in the series. Straight and bisexual characters have been a BioWare standard for over a decade. Bioware parent company, Electronic Arts, has also repeated received a 100 percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. The publisher earned the achievement again in 2015. [Image: C. Felichidá]

  • WRUP: Encounter at Farpoint

    Internet: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the gameship Joystiq. Its mission: to explore strange new downloads, to seek out new games and new experiences, to boldly go where no one has gone before. What's everyone playing?

  • The Witcher Battle Arena launches

    Geralt of Rivia and friends are available now for a witchin' good time on tablets. The Witcher Battle Arena, a MOBA designed by Fuero Games and CD Projekt RED specifically for tablets, is available now for iOS and Android devices. "We will have different modes in the future. There will be a monster-hunting mode, kind of an isometric multiplayer. There will be a boss mode, where you will be able to fight the bosses - that will be purely a (player verses enemy) experience. And we are thinking of other competitive modes," said Tadek Zielinski, project manager on the game to us at E3. "We have a classic one-lane MOBA experience with towers, but we have a different approach because we don't want to have minions, we don't want to have farming." The game is free-to-play with in-app purchases, but all content is unlockable by playing. If you're into The Witcher or want to see a MOBA in action on a tablet, it won't cost you a bit of gold to take it for a spin.

  • EA Access offers first look at Battlefield Hardline

    General PSA for EA Access subscribers, and likely to be similar to the Dragon Age: Inquisition promotion, Battlefield: Hardline will also be available early through the service. "Yes, you will be able to get early access to Battlefield Hardline through EA Access," responded the official Battlefield twitter to a question about the game being downloadable for the service. The DA:I early access was on the Xbox One-exclusive service for five days ahead of launch, with a trial period of six hours. We've followed up with EA for further details.

  • WRUP: AC adapter not included

    It hurts, we know. Let's hug it out. D'awwwwww, so cute! What's everyone playing this weekend?

  • Activision takes victory lap, Destiny biggest new game franchise launch

    Let us be colloquial: Activision makin' mad bank, yo. Like, all the cheddar. The publisher took a victory lap this morning, reiterating the top placement of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare during yesterday's NPD, the success of Skylanders among children and making a pertinent addendum to Destiny's sales in 2014. Last night, US retail tracking group NPD released its year-end data, with Destiny ranked third behind Call of Duty and Madden NFL 15. Activision noted this morning that Destiny was in second place "among all titles in the U.S. in 2014, based on revenue." This would reflect the significant digital distribution push Destiny had, as well as the special editions and expansion bundles.

  • UK's top-selling retail games of 2014 led by FIFA

    As was expected, FIFA 15, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Grand Theft Auto 5 dominated the UK sales chart in 2014. MCV has the list of the top 100 titles by sales, supplied by Chart-Track and UKIE. A huge caveat to note is the data only covers physical retail box copies, with no digital distribution data. Ubisoft was the publisher with the most games on the chart, followed by EA, at 12 and nine, respectively. Watch Dogs and Destiny made the top ten, with original intellectual properties making up nine percent of the list. Head over to MCV for all 100.

  • Shadowrun: Hong Kong soars through funding, stretch goals

    Developer Harebrained Schemes has become the go-to case study for using Kickstarter as part of a sustainable business model, having received over $400,000 since putting up its page yesterday for Shadowrun: Hong Kong. The game pulled in its $100,000 funding goal within two hours, blowing through six different stretch goals for additional characters and missions since. There are still 33 days left in the funding period for the PC-only game. Harebrained has been one of the stars of the Kickstarter funding movement, attracting over $1.8 million for its Shadowrun reboot a couple of years back and delivering a great game. Harebrained's games also tap into the core RPG market, one of the most successful genres for crowdfunding.

  • New 3DS arrives February 13, priced at $199

    Coinciding with recently revealed marketing materials, Nintendo announced this morning its New 3DS will launch in North America on February 13. The new handheld is an upgraded version of the current Nintendo 3DS XL, with the addition of an analog pad and faster processor. The system will launch in red and black versions. The new handheld will be priced at $199. "If we're honest, there really wasn't much difference from my now-obsolete 3DS XL at home on initial handling," Engadget Senior Editor Mat Smith wrote about the device during Tokyo Game Show. "There are no games that appropriately make the most of the analog stick (at least, not yet). Here at TGS 2014, with Monster Hunter 4G, the right stick was assigned to camera duties, a role it shared with the d-pad and, er, about a third of the touchscreen too." [Image: Nintendo]

  • The Last of Us: Remastered now bundled with PlayStation 4

    The 500 GB PlayStation 4 will now include The Last of Us: Remastered at no additional cost in the States, the PlayStation Blog announced this morning. The new bundle is priced at the console's regular price of $399.99 and it will begin appearing at retail this week. And, yes, The Last of Us: Remastered is excellent, including the Left Behind DLC. The Last of Us also won our Game of the Year award for 2013.

  • Call of Duty Online public beta launches in China

    Call of Duty Online, the China-only freemium version of the mega franchise, is now in open beta for hundred of millions of Chinese. Announced several years ago, publisher Activision has taken a very disciplined approach in developing the game for the region. "We've worked closely with our partner at Tencent, and we've challenged one of our most trusted and talented development teams of Raven Software to create a true Call of Duty experience tailored for the Chinese market," said Activisition Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg. "Throughout testing, the community feedback has been tremendous. We couldn't be more excited and we look forward to winning the hearts and minds of a new community in China." Not to mention: all that cash! Almost every major publisher has made a deal with Tencent to get a piece of China's emerging market. Thanks to China's regulations governing international investment, the company has turned into the go-to gatekeeper to the region. That hasn't stopped Tencent from making outside investments of its own, including a minority stake in Epic Games and ownership of League of Legends developer Riot. Oh yeah, Tencent is also a massive "passive investor" in Activision.

  • Multiplayer Friday the 13th game in production

    A multi vs. solo player Friday the 13th game is in production, according to EGM. Positioned as an "asymmetrical, co-operative and competitive multiplayer predator/prey horror experience," the game is currently in development at an unnamed studio. This is not a reboot of the terrible NES game. "We have some exciting new ideas for a game that supplies plenty of replay value, while delivering the kinds of thrills and scares that fans of the franchise have come to expect," Friday the 13th creator Sean S. Cunningham tells EGM. The game's October launch will coincide with a new film and television series. The studio in charge of the game will be announced "in the coming weeks." If you thought an Evolve-style game set in the Friday the 13th universe was already in development, we're with you on the association. There's the teen horror movie survival game Until Dawn, which has been on the periphery for two years now. There's also the 5 vs. 1 survival horror game, Last Year, which was funded on Kickstarter and uses Friday the 13th iconography. [Image: Crystal Lake Entertainment]

  • Nintendo halting console and software distribution in Brazil

    Nintendo will end its distribution of hardware and software in Brazil due to high import tariffs. The company opted not to create a local manufacturing operation to avoid the import fees in the emerging market. "Starting in January 2015, Gaming do Brasil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Juegos de Video Latinoamérica, GmbH, will no longer distribute Nintendo products in Brazil," Nintendo stated to Game Informer. "Despite the changes in Brazil, Juegos de Video Latinoamérica will continue to be Nintendo's distributor for Latin America and they remain committed to the brand and the region." To get a sense of the sticker shock these tariffs have, when Sony's $400 PlayStation 4 launched in Brazil it was approximately $1,800. Sony explained at the time the mark-up was caused by various import fees and taxes. "Brazil is an important market for Nintendo and home to many passionate fans, but unfortunately, challenges in the local business environment have made our current distribution model in the country unsustainable," said Nintendo. "We will continue to monitor the evolution of the business environment and evaluate how best to serve our Brazilian fans in the future."

  • WRUP: Anthony burns the Don't Starve Together village down

    Don't Starve Together is about cooperating to survive the horrors and mysteries of the wilderness. Unless you're our dear, sweet Anthony John Agnello. Then it's just about watching the world burn. What's everyone playing?