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Beyond the Skybox - Ep. 1 - The Best Licensed Games | Skybox Get more from Skybox on Patreon

SURPRISE! Today we launch a brand new FREE podcast!

Welcome to "BEYOND THE SKYBOX," the single-topic show where we answer big questions, cover big topics, & get into it

The first episode answers the question: "What are the best licensed games of all time?"

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INTERVIEW: WILL GWASERA OF DALLIENCE GAMES INTERVIEW: WILL GWASERA OF DALLIENCE GAMES BY JARRETT GREEN As we rapidly approach The Game Awards season, conversations about the best game released this year are starting to ramp up, but I can’t …

THE FINAL POST OF THIS ISSUE IS LIVE

@jarrettjawn.bsky.social got a quick Q&A with Creative Director of @yasukethegame.bsky.social Will Gwasera to chat about afrobeats and anime inspos for their upcoming action game

BAR REVIEW: IO INTERACTIVE SHOWCASE BAR REVIEW: IO INTERACTIVE SHOWCASE by Charlie Wacholz Editor’s Note: The IO Interactive Showcase happened back in June 2025. Mind’s Eye has been released, and the development studio be…

And part-time food blogger @dontfeedthecharlie.bsky.social took a bite out of this year's IO Interactive Showcase buff.ly/C3Z7eAD

BAR REVIEW: RED BULL CREATORS CLUB BAR REVIEW: RED BULL CREATORS CLUB by Jarrett Green Generally speaking, I am anti-club music when it’s not paired with club alcohol. That is to say, heavy pours of cheap booze mixed with supe…

I also contributed my thoughts on the Red Bull Creators Club at this past PAX East!
buff.ly/LpuNAla

BAR REVIEW: JULY 2025 BAR REVIEW: JULY 2025 BY LUIS GUTIERREZ Attending preview events for upcoming video games is always fun. Most of the time, studios rent out a private area and allow you to play said game for a hand…

🚨 NEW POST🚨

HI NEW READERS! Welcome to the Bar Review series, where my media friends consider the best part of press events and appointments: the food.

@imluisgutierrez.bsky.social reflects on his very busy July that had him in in front of many delicious catering spreads.

"A friend of mine once told me that when a game isn’t clicking for him, he says “I am going to die one day” out loud, and lets his instincts guide whether he turns the game off and moves on. " - @edgarallanbro.bsky.social

buff.ly/AROmTbv

THE GREAT ONES NEVER LOSE. THEY JUST RUN OUT OF TIME. THE GREAT ONES NEVER LOSE. THEY JUST RUN OUT OF TIME. BY WILL BORGER The Rams don’t have any decent corners, so my first and fifth round picks in my Madden league’s Madden 26 draft are corners. Wha…

NEW POST

As he watches time tick in the fabled multi-season industry Madden League, @edgarallanbro.bsky.social reflects on the role-playing game-ness of it all, and how he gained the agency to spend his time as he see fits.

HOW TO MAKE ART WITH CRAYONS HOW TO MAKE ART WITH CRAYONS by BROGAN CHATTIN Video game history is tough. There’s really no true canon, no essential tome or library kept up by esteemed academics. The legacy of a game is found w…

"Sometimes the world is decaying around them already, haunted by the ghosts of the past, and the authority remains in denial until there’s a bat in the face." - @broganchattin.bsky.social

READ MORE HERE:

Freaky ahhh ghost party?? OFF's got that.

Existential dread? OFF's got that.

RPG Maker-core? Yep, thats OFF, too.

Read @broganchattin.bsky.social's case for it's timeless necessity!

lifebarmag.com/how-to-make-...

HOW TO MAKE ART WITH CRAYONS HOW TO MAKE ART WITH CRAYONS by BROGAN CHATTIN Video game history is tough. There’s really no true canon, no essential tome or library kept up by esteemed academics. The legacy of a game is found w…

🚨 NEW POST🚨

Consider: All of your favorite weird ass RPGs? They're all OFF's sons, says @broganchattin.bsky.social

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"The problem isn’t The Island itself per-se, as virulently feculent as it is, it’s in the demonstrable inability 2K Games has shown over the last six months to meaningfully support it..." - @jamwa.bsky.social

🔗 buff.ly/ZgaidOa

TFW you hated 2K's The City and they make a somehow worse version for WWE 2K25

🔗 buff.ly/ZgaidOa
✍️ @jamwa.bsky.social

WWE 2K25 IS A WONDERFUL MESS, PERFECTLY REPRESENTING ITS SOURCE WWE 2K25 IS A WONDERFUL MESS, PERFECTLY REPRESENTING ITS SOURCE by JAM WALKER II play the WWE 2K games annually. Typically only for the few months following their release, but every year regardless…

The enshittification of WWE TV shows might finally have seeped its way into the the 2K series, which was just enjoying a renaissance of sorts.

@jamwa.bsky.social warns the end is nigh for the series' bounce back if it continues to body slam all of its goodwill

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"Just like trying to make sure that my best soldiers stay alive and kicking in XCOM, I have to make sure my best wrestlers stay around on my show."

As @easbygames.bsky.social points out, WWE 2k25's MyGM is a hidden gem of tactical strategy game.

🔗 buff.ly/Lr7PGj4

Support LIFEBAR Support LIFEBAR

If you like the work LIFEBAR is doing, please consider supporting with a donation the Ko-Fi!

This situationship I have with publishing good writing from talented friends and colleagues is fun, and also expensive! Any little bit will help secure the future of the operation!

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Get a load of The Spooky White Man police

Easby, Rhi. "The Assassination of Baron Corbin by the Coward The Undertaker." 2025

(also read @easbygames.bsky.social 's piece on how MyGM rules, actually: buff.ly/Lr7PGj4)

WWE 2K25’s MyGM MODE IS ONE OF THE MOST TENSE STRATEGY GAMES OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS MyGM is a tactical gift that keeps on giving

LIFEBAR 005 begins now!!!

Starting with a hot take: What if @easbygames.bsky.social told you that MyGM Mode in WWE 2K25 was one of the best post COVID-era strategy games available???

LIFEBAR 005 - FALL 2025 IN THIS ISSUE: WWE 2K25 - NO MAN'S SKY - OFF - MADDEN 26 - HELL IS US - EA EVENT FOOD REVIEW

🚨 LIFEBAR ISSUE 005: FALL 2025 IMMINENT🚨

With contributions from:
@jamwa.bsky.social
@easbygames.bsky.social
@broganchattin.bsky.social
@imluisgutierrez.bsky.social

+ MORE

STARTING OCTOBER 6th!

ko-fi.com/lifebar

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HELL CLOCK GIVES CANUDENSES A FIGHTING CHANCE HELL CLOCK GIVES CANUDENSES A FIGHTING CHANCE by Dan Lipscombe Rogue Snail has been making games for around 18 years.Take a look at their portfolio and you’ll see colourful, almost saccharine games…

“The [narrative] is about telling your own story, in your own voice, and learning that sometimes you need to relive something 1,000 times until you can make the truth shine.”

lifebarmag.com/hell-clock-g...

REMATCH: RECLAIMING SPACES REMATCH: RECLAIMING SPACES by Timo Reinecke I’ve been playing and enjoying REMATCH lately. You’ve probably already read all about its neat approach that turns football (I’m not calling it soccer, s…

"Just because a bunch of assholes make a lot of money parading their defiled shell around doesn’t mean we can’t reclaim it for ourselves. "

Timo's right! Read more about how they were emboldened to not let the shit birds scare them away from the REMATCH pitch

PRAISE THE MEAT PRAISE THE MEAT by Andrei Filote A worm crawled up my arm and rested on my neck. It whispered: For better or worse, meat is what we are. We flap our meat at each other to speak, meat pumps blood th…

“Of all the ways AI has killed us in fiction, the reality is the meanest and stupidest.“

@letominor.bsky.social reminds us that, if current events are to be considered, Grok will be a greater threat to civilization than any SHODAN apocalypse fantasy.

lifebarmag.com/praise-the-m...

LINKS TO PREVIOUS ISSUES ARE ON THE WAY!

This will include last issue's web debut, as well as the first two's pieces reformatted for the new situation we have going on here. More details to come!

If you enjoy LIFEBAR, or just want to support independently run games media, please consider donating! All proceeds go towards paying for the work of LB's fabulous contributors.

ko-fi.com/lifebar

MY TIME WITH THE FGC ONLINE AND OFFLINE MY TIME WITH THE FGC ONLINE AND OFFLINE by Dylan Tierny I’ve been playing fighting games for over 20 years. Every time I think I’m checked out of the genre, there’s something abou…

Hot off the heels of EVO 2025, @tierknee.com reminisced about the winding path of online netcode and in-person weeklies that brought him to his love for fighting games. (ft. @edgarallanbro.bsky.social and @sharpiepls.com)

#EVO #FGC

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I'm in here with this piece on System Shock 2, in which I state that "image trained replication may only come across as the surface imitation of a pathetically limited toy managed by minds too small to understand the smallness of the machine that they built."

lifebarmag.com/praise-the-m...

ITS TIME!!!!!

Come see what we cooked up for Issue 004!

MY TIME WITH THE FGC ONLINE AND OFFLINE MY TIME WITH THE FGC ONLINE AND OFFLINE by Dylan Tierny I’ve been playing fighting games for over 20 years. Every time I think I’m checked out of the genre, there’s something abou…

For @lifebarmag.com, I spoke on my time in fighting games, college, competition, COVID, and more! lifebarmag.com/my-time-with...