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The good, the bad, and the decadent: Behind the scenes of our weirdest E3 meetings

The experience of covering gaming’s annual spectacle is rarely straightforward. You might stop dead in your tracks as a zombie (or at least an actor in professional makeup) stares directly at you while chomping on a bloody limb. Perhaps you’ll interview a professional while he rides a speeder bike replica from Star Wars. Or maybe Kanye West will cut ahead of you in line. Every game demo you get at E3 is a unique snowflake, and we thought it might be fun to give you a behind-the-scenes taste of some of the memorable types of sessions we encountered at this year’s show. 

New Star Wars board games are in a galaxy far, far away from their crude ancestors

“Part of what makes Star Wars such a juggernaut is that it can appeal to anyone. Little kids dream of fighting with lightsabers, teens can relate to the desire to leave their boring homes in search of grand adventure, and adults can dig into anything from the workings of alien societies to the operations of a galaxy-spanning navy. Fantasy Flight has succeeded in making the appeal of its Star Wars games just as broad, offering games designed for every sort of fan. It’s a strategy that should serve them well as interest in the series continues to grow leading up to the release of The Force Awakens, which promises to bring a new set of fans and players looking for a way to experience more of the world they love.”

We're revisiting the secretly great launch lineup of the GameCube, Nintendo's little lunchbox that could. 

—What are you playing this weekend? 

—For Our Consideration: Maybe The Phantom Menace wasn't so bad after all

High points of game art from a low point of game commerce: 9 influential and groundbreaking games from 1983

Staffers at our local game shop give us their weekend picks and tell us about the weirdest games to hit their shelves.

What are you playing this weekend?

The Gameological Society just finished up its first year of existence and it's got us thinking annually. So, in this latest installment of the Gameological Q&A, the staff talks about its favorite years in video game history. 

What's your favorite year in video game history?

Star Wars: Sequel Debacle Simulatron

The pop-culture bombshell of 2012 was the news that Disney would be releasing a new  Star Wars film every couple of years, starting in 2015. That's a lotta Star Wars! They're going to need some kind of Star Wars movie-creating machine at that rate. Luckily, we've got just such a machine right here. With the Star Wars Sequel Debacle Simulatron, you can mix and match writers, directors, and actors and see how your fantasy Star Wars flick fares with critics and fans. Produce the Tina Fey/David Lynch Star Wars collaboration of your dreams!

Star Wars: Sequel Debacle Simulatron is an original game created for The Gameological Society's Play The Year retrospective. We invited four indie development teams to make a browser game inspired by a major news story from 2012, with two weeks to bring their game from concept to reality. And now you get to experience the results. Play Star Wars: Sequel Debacle Simulatron at gameological.com!