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CultureTotal RecallWhen Activision Met The Wonder Years
Normally, the sequel to a popular video game remains largely the same as the preceding title (or titles). If the first one was a shooter, the second one is a shooter. In 1993, however, one series did things a little differently. That series was Zork, a pioneering succession of text adventure games for the PC…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
Games That Make You Want To Go Places
Video games are meant to be an escape from the real world. Yet sometimes, escape be damned, they do such a good job of depicting real locations that the player can’t help but want to pack their bags and go travelling. Whether that be because a game is set in a painstakingly realistic simulation of…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
Re-Releasing Old PS1 Games Is Harder Than It Sounds
I’ve often wondered just how “classic” games are re-released for a modern home console. Like, the process that actually goes into digging up the old code. So it was awesome today to get some answers on the subject! Sony’s European blog has outlined just what needs to happen to turn a classic PS1 game into…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
Let’s Play A Very Disappointing Round Of Video Game Bingo
Bingo is fun! Least, it is when old ladies play. When it’s based on how predictable blockbuster video game marketing and design has become, though, it’s kind of a bummer. By Christina Coffin, as seen on I Get Your Fail
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
This Real Final Fantasy Sword Does Some Real Damage
As the main weapon from Final Fantasy VII, the “Buster Sword” is a video gaming icon. In this clip, a man makes a real, giant replica, then has another man run at a piece of wood and smash it to bits. Hats off to the guy for making the sword, as it looks enormous (and…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
Imagine A World Without Grand Theft Auto
Seems ridiculous, what with Rockstar’s epic crime series still a benchmark for open-world gameplay, but did you know that the very first GTA came close to never being released? It had nothing to do with politics, or censorship, either. Instead, it was regular old-fashioned development troubles that nearly robbed the world of one of its…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
Pokémon Will Teach You To Type, Or You Will Die Trying (Or Typing!)
Remember that mysterious Pokémon game from last year’s Tokyo Game Show, the one that was for the DS but would include a proper keyboard? It’s out in April in Japan. And still makes absolutely no sense. It’s called Pokémon Typing, and is intended to serve as a touch-typing aid for kids, get them clacking away…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
The PS3 Slim Now Comes In Silver
Just as the original model of the PlayStation 3 was made available in a fancy shade of silver, so too is the newer “Slim” model. Let’s hope unlike last time this isn’t a Japan-only kind of deal! See, the last silver PS3 was never released in the West. So this one, currently only revealed for…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallSega Tried Kinect Once, And It Didn’t Go So Well
Microsoft’s Kinect is currently the talk of the town. With its full-body, no-controller input, people are finding that for the first time they can play a video game without needing a controller. Those people obviously weren’t around in 1993. If they had been, they’d know that Kinect is actually the second attempt from a major…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2011 -
Two Words Helping Overthrow A Government
“Game Over”. It’s a term synonymous with video games, yet right now in Egypt, it’s also a rallying cry for mass political action. As political turmoil grips the Middle Eastern state, with people clamouring for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, “Game Over” has quickly become a simple, effective slogan for protesters to employ. In…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2011 -
This Minecraft Video Will Make You A God-Damned Sexual Tyrannosaurus
Just as you think you’re getting to the point where you loudly exclaim “enough of the f**king Minecraft videos already”, along comes one that turns Minecraft into Predator Minecraft. There’s the music. The Predator language. The invisibility. The skulls. There’s even the lumberjack stalking sequence and…oh, OK, so that part’s new to this vid. Everything…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2011 -
Uncharted’s Creators Are Not Developing Uncharted For The NGP
The most exciting piece of game footage shown off during Sony’s big NGP reveal last week was of a portable Uncharted game. A game that is not being handled by the series’ creators, Naughty Dog. No, as we saw with the last PSP, the handheld versions of key franchises are being worked on by a…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2011 -
The Xbox 360 That Thinks It’s The End Of The World
The Xbox 360 was recently redesigned to make the thing look better. More stylish. If, instead, you’d like to lock it away behind a giant (and slightly terrifying) sci-fi gas mask, well, have we got the deal for you This is the C11 XBOX360 MLG Vault, which may look like an Xbox 360 case mod…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2011 -
This Zelda Box Set Isn’t Real, But It Damn Well Should Be
In the real world, there is no such thing as a special Zelda edition of the Nintendo 3DS. Not yet, anyway. That hasn’t stopped artist wasa-bi-redux from dreaming of his own, though, and those dreams are, well. Dreamy. The deviantArt user, who specialises in designing box art for games and other packages that don’t actually…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2011 -
Beat Dead Space 2 And It Will Give You The Finger
Like most games, you get some cool stuff for completing Dead Space 2. Complete the game on its “hardcore” difficulty, though, and you’ll get something better than cool. You’ll get a foam finger. You know, like the “#1” things you get at sports games. Only this one kills bad guys, and goes “pew pew pew”…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2011 -
You Can Soon Save Your PS3 Games In Thin Air
Kotaku has learned that earlier today, Sony informed developers of a new feature for the PlayStation 3: the ability to save games in the “cloud”. Cloud storage means that, rather than just keeping your save game data on your PlayStation 3’s hard drive, users will be given the option to upload their saves remotely to…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 28, 2011 -
The Best Thing About The NGP Isn’t New Technology
Sony’s Next Generation Portable has a lot of fancy, no doubt expensive new equipment inside it. And you know what? None of it matters. Why? Because the thing has two thumbsticks. People — and we are among those people — have been crying out for a portable with two thumbsticks ever since the release of…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 28, 2011 -
Scribblenauts Has Changed
Scribblenauts is now out in Japan, and to make up for the delay, some extra characters have been added to the game. Like who? Well, the fact it’s been published by Konami might give you an idea or two… Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has shown off the inclusion of his beloved Snake (from Metal…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 28, 2011
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