George Yang

George is a freelance writer specializing in video games and other entertainment.

Selected Works

Digital Trends •

The Mega Man Battle Network esports scene is thriving in 2023

Imagine that your Nintendo Switch didn’t have the ability to connect online and that the competitive game you’re currently playing only supported local multiplayer. It’s a little hard to picture in 2023, right? That’s what Mega Man Battle Network fans had to deal with during the early 2000s. If you wanted to have a battle with your friend during Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance days, they’d have to be within your immediate vicinity and have a Link Cable available to connect two GBAs.
Variety •

How ‘God of War Ragnarök’s’ Thor Was Inspired by The Hulk

“God of War Ragnarök” is one of 2022’s most explosive video games. Focusing on Norse mythology, the game features the folklore’s most iconic figures such as Heimdall, Freya, Odin, and Thor.

Thor, in particular, has received tons of attention due to his prominent role in the game and overall popularity in pop culture. Thor has many layers to him, both physically and emotionally. Variety sat down with narrative director Matt Sophos, art director Raf Grassetti, and voice actor Ryan Hurst to talk about how Sony Santa Monica approached the god of thunder.
Complex •

The Live-Action ‘Halo’ Series Delivers High Impact Sci-Fi Storytelling

Taking video game plotlines and adapting them for television has had a shaky past. What kind of story should the series portray? Should it be an exact retelling of the source material? If so, why not just play the game itself? For gamers and television fanatics, it’s important that a new experience is created that’s appropriate for the medium. This challenge is what Paramount+ has taken on with the critically acclaimed Halo series (streaming now on the platform). Taking the iconic Xbox franchise
NPR •

'Shadow Warrior' tries to mend its flawed history with race by recasting its hero

Shadow Warrior 3 is the latest in a series of blood-soaked action games following assassin Lo Wang. It's got plenty of gunplay, sword fights, and fantastical monsters, but for the first time in its 25-year history, it now features an Asian actor to voice its Asian protagonist. For years, Lo Wang was played by Jason Liebrecht, a white man, but for this title, publisher Devolver Digital and developer Flying Wild Hog tapped Hollywood actor Mike Moh for a more authentic cultural portrayal.
IGN •

Why Japanese Games Are Increasingly Releasing at the Same Time Across The Globe

Since time immemorial, Japanese video games have followed a typical release schedule. Launch in Japan first, followed by a localized release for other countries a few months, or even years, later. But this trend shifted dramatically in 2021. Many high-profile Japanese games such as Tales of Arise, Shin Megami Tensei V, and both Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2 have been launched day-and-date worldwide.

So, what has changed? A simultaneous global ship date allows Japanese games t
The Verge •

‘The little handheld that could’: examining the Vita’s impact a decade later

Christian Phillips still remembers the most jaw-dropping moment he experienced on the PlayStation Vita — and it was something that was never actually released.

Phillips, a former senior director at Sony, describes a tech demo that ultimately led to the PS4 game Days Gone. Sometime after shipping Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Bend Studio showed leadership the Vita tech demo that was similar to the famous Jerusalem scene in the movie World War Z.

The demo had a scene with a horde of zombies scramblin
Wired •

Orientalism, 'Cyberpunk 2077,' and Yellow Peril in Science Fiction

2020 has been one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory, but at least, in a few days, the most anticipated game of the year will come out. That game, Cyberpunk 2077, has already drawn both praise and criticism, but one of those criticisms is of how it handles different cultures—especially Asian culture, which is inextricably tied to the cyberpunk genre.

The Origins of the Cyberpunk Genre

The origins of the cyberpunk genre involve Western anxieties about the East. Techno-orientalism is
Washington Post •

How some savvy fans are preserving the PS3’s multiplayer games

It wasn’t hard to understand why players reached this conclusion. Although “Mercenary’s” servers eventually came back online (the reason for the shutdown is still unknown) Sony has earned a reputation over the past several years for unceremoniously shutting down multiplayer service for its first party franchises. In October, Sony announced that it was updating the PlayStation Network webstore to only feature PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 titles for purchase, effectively locking away PS3, PS Vi
Polygon •

The personal experiences that Lev and Yara’s actors brought to The Last of Us Part 2

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Both Ian Alexander and Victoria Grace had never worked on a video game before, and neither had any prior experience with performance capture. However, in a recent interview with Polygon, both agreed that playing the Seraphite siblings in The Last of Us Part II was one of the most transformative experiences they ever had.

Alexander plays Lev, a former member of the in-game extremi

Latest Work

Nintendo Life •

Review: Loop8: Summer Of Gods - Feels More Like A Laborious Summer Job

There are plenty of roguelike games on Nintendo Switch, but Loop8: Summer of Gods takes an interesting twist to the formula: a classic turn-based Japanese RPG that has roguelike elements. More specifically, the game is similar to something like Persona.

However, Loop8 implements neither Persona’s excellent school-life pacing nor the fun “just one more run” feeling of games like Hades or Neon White. What results is a long-winded and repetitive adventure that makes you want to put the controller down and walk away.
CNN •

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the most creative games ever

Features that made Breath of the Wild revolutionary, such as its presentation and exploration, are still present in its new sequel Tears of the Kingdom, but with new additions that make the game so much more fun and exciting to play. Link’s new powers encourage more freedom to tackle puzzles in creative ways and the quality of life improvements in Tears of the Kingdom make the overall experience more streamlined. It’s one of the best games of 2023, if not the best game of the year so far.
CNN •

Final Fantasy 16 preorder guide: Here’s what you get in each edition

The latest mainline entry in the long-running Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy 16 releases on June 22, 2023, for PlayStation 5. The game’s setting harkens back to more European medieval influences and the combat is filled with fast-paced real-time action.

For those looking to preorder the game, there are several editions to pick from, as well as multiple retailers that offer different exclusive incentives to buy from them.
Digital Trends •

The Mega Man Battle Network esports scene is thriving in 2023

Imagine that your Nintendo Switch didn’t have the ability to connect online and that the competitive game you’re currently playing only supported local multiplayer. It’s a little hard to picture in 2023, right? That’s what Mega Man Battle Network fans had to deal with during the early 2000s. If you wanted to have a battle with your friend during Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance days, they’d have to be within your immediate vicinity and have a Link Cable available to connect two GBAs.
Digital Trends •

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp review: revisiting an old friend

As I play Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp, I flash back to playing the first Advance Wars game on my Game Boy Advance during my trips on the school bus as a kid. Being the child that I was, I didn’t really have a grasp on its turn-based strategy gameplay and would often lose during battles. The only other game I had played at that point in my life was Pokémon, so Advance Wars was a completely foreign experience. I hopelessly sent wave after wave of puny infantry units to try and take out a large f
Variety •

‘Resident Evil 4 Remake’ Honors the Original: Video Game Review

“Resident Evil 4” was first released on the Nintendo GameCube back in 2005. Since then, it’s been hailed as one of the best video games of all time. Its goofy dialogue and action-based gameplay made for an entertaining adventure with government agent Leon S. Kennedy as he rescues the president’s kidnapped daughter, Ashley, from a mysterious cult.

Almost 20 years later, Capcom has now remade “Resident Evil 4” from the ground up. When it was first announced, I thought to myself, “This game holds
CNN •

Save big on top Nintendo Switch games and hardware with these Mario Day deals

Mario is one of Nintendo’s core franchises, and the plumber’s history will always be ingrained in gaming and pop culture. Select retailers are celebrating Mario Day (March 10) this year by promoting some weeklong great deals on select Mario games and accessories. There’s even a new Nintendo Switch bundle launching for the big day, which is a great jumping-on point for those grabbing Nintendo’s red-hot console for the first time.
CNN •

Love HBO’s 'The Last of Us'? Here’s how to play all of the games

HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us video game has been incredibly popular and critically acclaimed ever since it first aired in January 2023. In fact, the show has been such a hit that it helped drive an increase in sales in the UK for The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5 by 238% and the PS4 remaster by 322%. It’s safe to say that Joel and Ellie’s emotional and action-packed apocalypse adventures are resonating with people.
Inverse •

The most underrated dungeon-crawler of the decade is finally available in the Americas

Labyrinth of Galleria: The Moon Society is a game that feels like it may never end.

Even after rolling credits 50 hours into the experience, it asks you to start over. But instead of dumping you into a traditional New Game Plus, a completely new storyline emerges with brand-new characters and even more complex mechanics that fundamentally change how you navigate dungeons and take down the monsters inside.
Rolling Stone •

Inside the Art of 'Breaking' Video Games

How fast can a game be beaten — and how many tricks can a player use as they do it? With “game breaking,” users look for loopholes in a game’s design and use them to get past difficult enemies. Different players have different approaches: Speedrunners, for example, find the fastest way to finish, while “map clippers” twist “mechanics” — the rules by which the digital universe is bound — to see what they can get away with before it becomes a problem for developers, or crashes the game completely.
CNN •

Fire Emblem Engage offers the series’ best gameplay yet — even if the story disappoints

The Fire Emblem series is now as popular as ever. When Fire Emblem: Awakening launched for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, the game single-handedly saved the franchise from cancellation due to its overwhelming popularity. It expanded on the relationship simulation elements popularized by games like the Persona series while retaining the same chess-like tactical combat, and was later built on with well-received entries like Fire Emblem: Fates and Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Variety •

‘Forspoken’ Shines in Its Combat and Traversal: Video Game Review

What if you took the gameplay of modern-day “Final Fantasy” and combined it with the exploration of “Horizon Zero Dawn?” You’d get something like “Forspoken.” The game follows a young woman named Frey from New York as she suddenly gets whisked away into a new world called Athia, filled with magic and dragons. What comes after is a journey of self-discovery, finding her place in the world, and lots of parkour.

“Forspoken” feels fluid to play and has gorgeous visuals to support its open-world str
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