A few weeks ago, we dove into the broader genre of strategy and discussed some of the many elements that make that genre what it is. Given that it’s October, I thought it would be timely to discuss a genre that has long terrified me (clearly it lives up to its name): horror.  Horror and I have a very interesting relationship. I happen to have a rather overactive imagination and I’m fairly easily frightened, which isn’t a great combination for trudging through the m...

Image courtesy Washington Department of Agriculture via Twitter 2020 has been quite a year already, but a few months ago nature decided to throw another curveball and add invasive Asian giant hornets - AKA Murder Hornets - to the proverbial Bingo card. Although we first heard about the hornets arriving in North America back in the winter of 2019, it has taken scientists some time to come up with strategies for how to locate and destroy the nests. Why all of the destruction, you ask? A...

With so many choices in games available these days thanks to digital distribution, it can sometimes be hard to settle upon a choice of what to play when you happen to have an afternoon free to yourself. 4X is an extremely popular genre, and there's no question that there are hundreds of 4X-style games available on Steam and other platforms. Today, I want to talk a little bit about what sets Galactic Civilizations III (called GalCiv from here on out for brevity) apart from many of the other 4X...

Happy spooky season, everyone! Here at Stardock, we love two things: Halloween, and desktop customization. Stardock Halloween 2019! Actually, we love quite a lot more than just those two things, but stick with me here! Halloween is on Saturday, and unfortunately this year won't be filled with the usual trick-or-treating hullabaloo (normally I get 400+ kids in my neighborhood!). That doesn't stop me from decorating for the holiday anyway! I'll be turning my porch light off this year, savin...

Space and science fans, rejoice, for there is good news from the Red Planet this week. The InSight heat probe, which launched its mission back in 2018, has finally completely buried itself on Mars. While this might not seem like news, your perspective might shift when you learn that until now, the self-hammering drill has experienced numerous challenges and setbacks that have hindered its mission to drill into the core of Mars and collect valuable data, including temperature readings.  ...

Before coming to Stardock, I never really had a deep appreciation for Windows customization. I remember downloading the occasional Windows background and all sorts of skins (and frankly, probably viruses - sorry mom and dad!) for WinAmp back in my teen years, but that was about the extent of it.  Since being here though, I've garnered an entirely new appreciation for being able to make my desktop look fun and unique - both my PC desktop AND my workspace desktop, too. My work de...

Back in September, Nvidia launched a somewhat rocky release for the RTX 3080. Almost immediately, the demand for the GPU overwhelmed the market, seeing it sold out everywhere online and in-store. Over a month later, online retailers like Amazon and Newegg still list the card as "Currently Unavailable" or "Out of Stock." There were even some users reporting that they had camped outside their local Micro Centers for days in order to secure one card out of an already extremely limited sto...

Hello there - it's your friendly neighborhood nerd, back to talk about video game movies again. Although this time, instead of discussing some of my favorite flicks from the 90's , we're going to touch on a movie that hasn't released yet but has been teased and in development: Monster Hunter. The above teaser is only 16 seconds long, but is enough to elicit an immediate "huh?" from anyone who is a fan of the game series. If you're not familiar with Monster Hunter, let me sum it up for y...

In an effort to create a more "deeply integrated user experience," Google has overhauled G Suite and rebranded it as Google Workspace earlier this week. The new Workspace has all of the old beloved programs - Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, etc., but has improved on how its productivity services blend and work together. Google Workspace now offers a more fluid experience; for example, users can create and collaborate on a document, but also discuss real-time changes in a chat room with a p...

Here at Stardock, we love Science Fiction of all kinds: books, movies, comics, shows, you name it. Admittedly, I'm a bit more of a high fantasy girl myself, but I definitely love my Star Wars and Star Trek , and let's not exclude the glory that is Galaxy Quest . In another blog recently, I discussed genres and how they applied to gaming, specifically strategy - but it certainly applies here, as well. After all, Science Fiction isn't Science Fiction without certain elements, and there have be...