🎮 Cowabunga!
A history of digital pets, cosplaying badassery, and more.
Mornin’. Grab your crayons, today is national coloring book day.
A lot of people find coloring books therapeutic. Relaxing. A calming order in the middle of life’s chaos.
According to studies, coloring books can lower anxiety and depression, relieve stress, and even help you sleep better.
Coloring books date to 1880, when The Little Folks’ Painting Book launched the genre. Today they’re a big business with millions in sales to adults and kids alike.
So, find a crayon, colored pencil, marker—whatever your preference. Just don’t forget to color outside the lines a little.
—Tim Leong, Andrew Nusca, Eric Alt, Marques Edge
Buffed/Nerfed
What’s up and down in the world rn.
Buffed: Social cues. Two British men played pool for 111 consecutive hours, breaking the world record. After a long night of billiards, a bloke convinced me I was close to the record, but it turns out I was snookered.
Nerfed: Tectonic plates. Fan excitement at a recent Taylor Swift concert in Seattle was so intense it caused seismic activity akin to a 2.3 earthquake. Don’t blame me—in my wildest dreams I never thought fans would literally shake it off.
Buffed: Anxious fans. The trailer for Loki season 2 is finally here. The plot description matches our anticipation: It’s about time.
Nerfed: Backspin. Riders got stuck going backwards on a malfunctioning amusement park ride for nearly 10 minutes. People complained but they were circular arguments.
Buffed: The Bear’s marketing team. After a barrage of Internet speculation, China’s Hangzhou Zoo insists their bear is real, not a man in a costume. How much do we believe them? Barely. —TL
Unleashed: A brief history of digital pets
Level up.
The last time my family went on vacation, some friends watched my pug.
I love this dog. She is kind, likes to cuddle, and is also, apparently, an escape artist.
Do you know what can’t abscond from a friend’s house and throw a wrench into your vacation plans? A digital pet.
From Tamagotchi to today’s new incarnations, contributing writer Laura Hudson tracks the long tail of digital pets.
Check out these picks of the litter.
(And don’t worry—we got our sweet pug back.)
Shameless plug: Hearthstone Titans has arrived
Play Hearthstone?
Get ready for some new celestial powers in your deck.
Blizzard’s popular (and free!) online digital collectible card game grew this week with the 145-card Hearthstone Titans, named for the mighty beings that helped shape life in Azeroth long ago.
The all-new expansion pack includes 11 Legendary Titan minions, the new Forge keyword, the new Titan keyword, Legendary keepers, and the returning Magnetic keyword. (Phew.)
In other words: Lots of new capabilities and ways to play the strategy game that more than 130 million people have enjoyed.
Peep the Blizzard blog for more info.
Speed Run: Cosplayer Cinderys wants you to embrace your inner badass
Two-minute talks with today’s movers and shakers.
From Diablo’s Lilith to World of Warcraft’s Sylvanas, French artist Cinderys has turned her passion for video games into a successful cosplay career.
Executive editor Eric Alt talked to her about her killer cosplay, metaphorical armor, and and having to put on muscle to wear certain costumes.
Wayback Wednesday
Hold on to your nunchucks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is out in theaters today. It looks totally tubular, but let’s go back to the on-screen debut of these heroes in a half-shell. Or rather, on Saturday morning cartoons.
After debuting in black and white comics (by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird), the colorful turtles first appeared on TV in 1987. The show was iconic: the weapons, the crazy pizza flavors, their renaissance-inspired names, and also….a killer theme song.
Admit it, you just said “Turtle Power” in your head? Okay, maybe it’s just me.
The most amazing part of the song? Chuck Lorre wrote the song. Yes, the same Chuck Lorre that created The Big Bang Theory, Two and Half Men, Mike & Molly, and probably every other sitcom you’ve ever heard of. He had 48 hours to come up with a catchy tune, and the end result is turtley awesome.
Cowabunga, dude. —TL
Wormhole
Click the following image and…well, we don’t want to ruin the surprise.
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