Whatever happened to the shoulder button click in the GameCube controller? When's the last time a new game was released that actually uses it?

Three and a half years ago (or about half a year before the GameCube's North American release) I wrote The Click!. It was almost entirely speculation on the topic of what developers might do with the newly introduced click function in the GameCube controller's shoulder buttons. At E3 2001 just one... Read more...

Are the Frag Dolls, a new clan of hot, Ubisoft-sponsored girl gamers, helping the girl gamer image, or are they just PR stunt play-things?

Discuss it in Talkback!

Ever heard of the Frag Dolls? They’re a relatively new clan of seven, hot girl gamers set up and funded by the publisher, developer, distributor Ubisoft. If you stick to Nintendo news, you may have missed them; it seems they play exclusively on Xbox. But GameCube fans beware: these girls are raising issues bigger than console loyalty.

It’s time to let Nintendo of America do what it needs to do to win back market share.

When Minoru Arakawa and a few associates founded Nintendo of America in the early 1980s, it was envisioned as a distribution channel for the parent company’s arcade games. Two decades later, Nintendo Co. Ltd. in Japan still treats NOA like a distribution channel. It was smart business for a while;... Read more...

Should girl gamers and female characters stick together in party games?

When it comes to party games, should girls gamers play with female characters? It may not be the most important girl gamer decision you face all day, but it’s one of those little choices you can make on the road to earning gaming respect.

Let’s consider the facts. Girl gamers are a rare... Read more...