Rob is a freelance writer and editor living in Anchorage, Alaska. He contributes to tech, gaming, and iOS websites around the ‘net, including GamesBeat, 148Apps, Cult of Mac and Shelf-Awareness. He co-founded GamesAreEvil and ThePortableGamer as well, so it’s surprising he finds time to have two amazing kids, a disco band, and (yes) a day job. You can find him on Twitter at @roblef, if you want to harangue him a bit and maybe even send him nice things.

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stories by Rob LeFebvre

Video games and libraries are a good mix, say librarians

Don't cringe when video games are offered in public libraries. In fact, a well-maintained collection just might bring more kids, youth, and young adults into the hallowed halls of a local library than books ever will.

Top 15 mobile games of 2012

Here are 15 mobile games released this past year that will thrill, delight, and entertain you for weeks and months to come, chosen from an overwhelmingly large number of mobile gaming apps available in both iOS and Android app stores.

Marvel Heroes needs more humanity, more warmth, and more MMO

I just ran around Hell’s Kitchen with Iron Man. Man, were we faced a lot of muggers and dudes with automatic rifles. Oh, and Electro. Can’t forget him. I fought him for about 15 minutes, grinding his health down to …

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two promises too much and ultimately disappoints (review)

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is weighed down by poor technical issues, a disjointed story, and too many unfulfilled promises to be as epic or as powerful as it claims.

Donuts and penguins are weapons of war When Vikings Attack (review)

Grab your giant donut or ice cream truck and get ready to stand up and throw it for your country. Vikings are attacking, see, and it’s up to the citizens of 1970s Britain to fight back. With the assistance of …

Star Wars: The Old Republic set for free-to-play debut

Get to level 50 without paying a single cent? Yes, please.

Bioware, the developer behind Star Wars: The Old Republic, has just posted a fairly thorough explanation of what it’s doing to prepare its Star Wars-themed massively multiplayer online …

Fable: The Journey surprises by smart mix of motion controls and storytelling (review)

Fable: The Journey is a true successor to the Fable franchise, including deep story, true humor, tense action, and a surprisingly playable motion-control scheme.

Nights into Dreams HD is too brutally difficult to overcome nostalgia (review)

Nights into Dreams HD is a faithful, enhanced upgrade of a beloved title from the 32-bit Sega Saturn console. It is also a frustrating, brutally difficult, and repetitious experience that might not meet the standards of many modern gamers.

Touch controls make LittleBigPlanet Vita the series’s definitive entry (review)

LittleBigPlanet Vita becomes something more than the sum of its parts, adding touch control and refined platforming to the vibrant universe the first two games created. This mix of Vita hardware and LittleBigPlanet universe is compelling enough; just wait until the Community world builders get a hold of it.

Collectible card games attest to a vibrant tradition alongside their digital brethren

A surprising amount of card games were shown and played at PAX this year. Here's a look at some of the more interesting we saw.

Journey developer Robin Hunicke claims a more balanced postmortem than was reported

Journey developer Robin Hunicke clarifies the points from her talk at GDC Europe, providing a more balanced look at her message about creating indie and downloadable games.

In Darksiders II, Death overstays his welcome, but he can still wield a scythe with style (review)

Darksiders II offers up melodrama, beautiful environments, and subtle touches that make it worth your gaming time and dollar.

Overall video game sales dive 20 percent in July, 3DS and NCAA Football 13 take top spots

The NPD Group just released its sales numbers for new physical retail and electronic distribution video game sales for the month of July 2012.

Notch answers Q&A thread on Reddit, talks Minecraft, game development, and the gender of his beard

The creator and original lead developer of Minecraft, Markus "Notch" Persson, takes to Reddit to answer a host of questions from the social news site's users.

Deadlight sets a poetic survival-horror tone but stumbles with melodramatic writing (review)

Take on hordes of shambling, inexorable zombies in a moody, 1986 Seattle, but don't count on great voice acting or stellar dialogue.

Zynga misses Q2 earnings estimates by a wide margin, incurring Wall Street’s wrath

Zynga reports increases in overall revenue, users, and advertising business along with some short-term challenges that caused the shortfall in estimates.

Company of Heroes 2 will feature cool new weather simulation technology for even more strategic gameplay

New Essenge Engine 3.0 and ColdTech will force players to consider the bitter cold, ice, and snow to complete their battle campaigns.