Nicole Carpenter

Nicole Carpenter is a reporter who's been covering the video game industry and its culture for more than 10 years. She lives in New England with a horde of Pokémon Squishmallows.

Ubisoft Sexual Harassment Trial: 'I've Seen Some Sordid Files, But On This Scale, Never' [Updated]

Update, 7/2/25, 10:30am--The three former Ubisoft executives have been convicted for their workplace and sexual harassment, according to French news wire AFP. Thomas François, former Ubisoft editorial

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 5 Jun 2025

How Twitch Emote Artists Are Tackling The Rise Of AI Art

Twitch emotes are, essentially, the language of the Amazon-owned streaming platform. It’s become customary for streamers to provide unique emotes for their communities to use in chat, so much

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 29 May 2025

How Twitch Emote Artists Are Tackling The Rise Of AI Art

This Video Game Is Also a Hockey Training Tool

I’ve been playing hockey for a little more than a year now. I’m not very good, but I am getting better. In between games, I’ve been using

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 22 May 2025

Nicole standing in a crowded space holding a hockey stick

I’m Actually Getting Car Sick on The Internet Road Trip

I’m going to Canada! I’m in a car with more than 1,000 other strangers. There’s a cat in the backseat, and a bear following the car.

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 15 May 2025

Screenshot of neal.fun's Internet Roadtrip, showing a road by a lake. There's a steering wheel and a chat.

Sour Patch Kids, Ranked

Three years ago, Sonic (the drive-in fast food restaurant, not the blue hedgehog) started selling Sour Patch Kids ice cream floats — a sour watermelon-flavored slushie, soft serve vanilla ice cream,

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 14 May 2025

A photo of a Sour Patch Kids ice cream float. There's soft serve ice cream on top of a red slushie. The rest of the table has

The Infinity Nikki Community Isn’t Boycotting, They’re Girlcotting

It’s been more than a week since Infinity Nikki developer Infold Games released its 1.5 update, which introduced multiplayer, added new outfits and customization options, and put the

By Nicole Carpenter

/ 9 May 2025

The seer flying through the Sea of Stars toward Nikki