By Kevin L. Clark

Here, we spotlight the movements, mods, and works of art within gaming culture for your ultimate enjoyment. The weekly post is your central point to see just how video games influence the world around us.

For longtime computer whiz kids and all-around geeks, the words “AOL Instant Messenger” harken back to a time where emoticons were first born and used to make conversations interesting. Kill Screen‘s Michael Pedersen wrote about developer Hit That Switch whom recently came out with its own trailer utilizing the old-world tech in a top-down action-adventure game called The Great Emoticon. In it, players are an unnamed protagonist who uses the emotional energies of happiness, anger, sadness and others to persevere a post-apocalyptic world. The Toronto-based team will plan on releasing the pleasantly vibrant game sometime in 2015.

Kotaku‘s own Evan Narcisse pleasantly writes about Rockstar Games‘ visual upgrades to their new-gen Grand Theft Auto V. Providing a quick glimpse as to what players can expect from the award-winning and high-grossing game, it is interesting to note that not everything is going to gravitate gamers like the inclusion of a “first-person mode”. For the eagle-eyed video game lover, tweaks such as improved character design, detailed clouds in the sky, or the 1080i-HD look of a car’s interior makes GTA V something worth copping when it drops on November 18th.

In full disclosure, Circle member Kevin L. Clark (@KevitoClark) was attempting to break a few gaming records listed in the 2015 Guiness World Records Gamer’s Edition, which hits stores today (Nov. 6). Game Informer‘s Jason Dafnis lists a few of the newest record holders who have shown to be the “best of the best” in the global gaming community. Names such as Spain’s Rodrigo Santos and Austrian Martin Fornleitner are riddled off with ease. While Kevin L. Clark may never beat records for longest World of Warcraft marathon, it is worth purchasing for the goal-setting individual. The full list of records and their holders is available in the book, which is in stores now.

If you see anything that you feel is culturally relevant, artistic in merit, or just all-around cool for gamers — please don’t hesitate to let us know @HaroldGoldberg, @KevitoClark, and @HarryRabinowitz.