Guitar Hero and Rock Band may have ended up in living rooms across the globe, but they started out in a lab at MIT. Ronald Meeus interviews Professor Tod Machover about how his technology, the Hyperinstrument, and his tutelage of Harmonix's founders helped lead to a new way to appreciate music.

Ever felt the need to shout "ding!" after a raise or a promotion? Then you're already familiar with the concept of "talking in Game." Pat Miller takes a closer look at how gamers are communicating with each other the best way they can: by mining their favorite games for terminology.

Do you have an idea for a game so original with a story so amazing that it'll make you millions while simultaneously curing cancer and saving the whales? You might not want to get your hopes up. Erin Hoffman explains why your game idea isn't all it's cracked up to be - and why that might not be such a bad thing after all.

Sometimes it's hard for game designers to let go - they spend weeks, months, even years creating characters out of thin air, only to watch them recede into the distance after the series stalls. Brenda Brathwaite speaks with a number of prominent designers about the NPCs they miss the most.