Learn all about the teams competing in The International 2017 in Sevencut's TI7 Team Overview.

Only watch The International once a year? Trying to catch up on what's happened in Dota 2 since last year's international tournament? Let us give you a head start with part 1 of our Dota 2: TI7 series!

Even if you don't know him by name, he's most likely affected your childhood. As the founder of Atari, Chuck E Cheese, and a multitude of other fun-inducing revolutions, Nolan Bushnell still strives to make sure everyone can look forward to gaming. 

We asked him what he thinks of GamerGate, his ideas on revamping the American education system, and what the next Nolan Bushnell should look out for. 

Think you're a gaming hipster? You like games earlier in the series, and newer games just aren't as good? You're probably falling for the Golden Age Fallacy. 

There’s an insidious pattern repeating itself in sandbox narratives that makes many of these stories feel like they’re ironically trapped inside of a box, even as they theoretically offer large possibilities. If sandbox storytelling is to avoid the fate of the classic MMORPG, it must grow in these challenges or else risk falling by the wayside.

Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth’s lead animator, tragically passed away. As Rooster Teeth fans feel affected,  or if you ever feel loss in your gaming world, just remember that you are in good company.  

 South Park: The Stick of Truth epitomized the crossover potential last year, managing to keep all the charm of the long running television show without ever feeling like a worn out retread.  As we kick off a new year, I decided to put together a list of recently published books, films and television that are ripe for the jump into a game version.

Few AAA games touch on the subject of religion and faith, so to produce one that not only addresses it but gives you near-complete freedom to deal with religion in whatever manner you choose is a welcomed step. This nuanced depiction of faith on both an individual level and an overarching motif in-game is something we don’t often see, and below is why I think BioWare should be praised for doing so.

Is Elegy for a Dead World effective at generating raw fiction?

It’s possible that Elegy's strengths may not rely on encouraging fiction, but instead, on encouraging essaying and more personal forms of expression.

What does the year of the gamer entail? Multiple front page hits of the New York Times? Beating TV ratings for eSports? Or maybe it just means good games? We asked our regulars about the brightest moments of 2014, and while they might seem satisfied, some still eagerly anticipate 2015 will shine brighter. 

Though the challenge of branching video games out from one mechanic to another is hardly a new one, Tales from the Borderlands early success is a strong lesson for developers lucky enough for the opportunity to expand their games’ world beyond their original mechanics. By seeking out key, strong characteristics of the original game, and concentrating on how they interact with a new set of mechanics, developers stand to learn both about their original creation and about the new ways it can be explored.

With Hearthstone’s Goblins vs. Gnomes update adding 120 new cards to the online card game, players are hard at work scheming inventive new decks to crush their opponents in ranked play. This list outlines the standout great cards of GvG, while also looking at some cards that seem tantalizing at first, but will likely come up short.

Does Blizzard's new game Overwatch meet their lore master's goal of making their game more socially inclusive? Did it successfully fine tune these heroes to fit the progressive nature progressive critique craves? To answer that question, we dive into the character design surrounding the heroes released so far. 

With the gaming community polarizing their beliefs in the wake of Gamergate, some gamers can't stand the socially progressive game trends flooding the scene. 

Destructive Creation's Hatred gamifies the collective abhorrence against this new wave of socially progressive gaming, and shows a market might exist for outrageously extreme games.  

Emblematic Group and Nonny de la Peña’s Use of Force recreates the brutal assault of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a Hispanic, undocumented immigrant whose story, Peña tells SevenCut, took him to a dark end at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol officers. 

Indiecade, as a festival, can sometimes be a festival of themes. This year -- perhaps more needed than years before -- the theme seemed to focus around relationships, and the physical and nonphysical ways people interact.

Tom talks about reinventing the story space in competitive gaming, the ability to break their own canon, and Riot's bold steps towards media exploration for narrative development. 

In 2014, fears of talking about slavery and America’s checkered past in the context of a video game should not be an issue. If anything, it would deepen the story’s richness. So why does one of the most defining events of American history remain locked out of the greater gaming pantheon?

You've seen the hype, you've seen the energy, and you've decided that this weekend you're going to watch The International for DOTA 2. The only problem: you have no idea how to play DOTA 2.

Let's help you with that.

Why is FemThor replacing a BroThor? Is the replacement -- instead of addition -- thanks to a society crying out for more diverse representation? 

Rooster Teeth's RTX 2014 teaches us a valuable lession:   The Internet isn’t all about numbers -  remember to take care of people who care about you.  

I chafe at limited communication. The idea of a social media service that only lets you choose pre-written responses aggravates me, and that's why I'm worried about what Hearthstone means for future gaming communications.

If you want to do well in Democracy 3 you have to be a good ruler. And I failed. Miserably and utterly. I’ve died thousands of times in video games over the years, but this death was probably the most humiliating.

LucasFilm's marginalization of the Expanded Universe demonstrates a disturbing lack of faith, but will they disappoint like Mass Effect's ending? Or could they learn from J.K. Rowling's handle of Harry Potter canon? 

Instead of being aberrations, there must be a time and a place when bug become a natural part of a video game’s flow. Why is it that some bugs will render a game to be broken, but others are celebrated and hunted by players?

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP. What does Emukiller think of dethroning Mew2King? 

Between all of the education-first and the entertainment-first offerings available, there should be more than enough games out there for students to sweep a history-themed category on Jeopardy!

Gamer symphony orchestra member Steve O'Brien talks about the history of his local orchestras and their passionate power over professional events like Video Games Live. 

Whether it’s in Deus Ex, Splinter Cell or Dishonored, stealth games ask players a question -- when sneaking through a room full of guards, would you rather mercilessly kill your enemies, or would you rather harmlessly knock them out?