Bygone

Grand Theft Auto IV is celebrating its 15-year anniversary today, April 29, 2023. Below, we look back at the series' flawed but compelling attempt to break free from its glamorous kingpin empowerment fantasies.At the time of its release, Grand Theft Auto IV's faithful recreation of New York City was unlike anything that gaming had ever seen. Its grim aesthetics and grounded presentation signaled a new era for video game verisimilitude, where developers could make players feel as though they were really…

THERE ARE FEW BETTER WAYS to detect the decade in which a film or TV show was made than through its characters’ use of technology. Is the hero curiously reliant on pay phones? Does the villain connive via a computer that displays only 72-point green type? The following list of movies and TV episodes offers an incomplete history of how various gadgets have come to dominate our lives, then fade into obsolescence, sometimes for the best: Even if you’re still nostalgic for the iPod, aren’t you glad 13-inch-long cellphones…

Image: Square Enix/DisneyThese days, crossovers between IP are all the rage, and it is admittedly a mixed bag. As thrilling as it can often be to see three different eras of Spider-Men hang out with each other or watch Master Chief ride the Iron Giant into a battlefield, that kind of shine does have the potential of losing its luster the more of it you get. But these things hit especially hard when we’re young, and for kids who grew up during the 90s and 2000s, affection for big IP crossovers likely began with one Kingdom…