Real-time strategy!
Jul 29th
Real-time strategy games, most enthusiasts of the genre simpy know them as RTS games. Brett “Command & Conquer” Sperry, founder of Westwood Studio’s is credited with coining the term to market with DUNE II, published in 1992 by Virgin Interactive. The good old days of 3.5″ floppy disk’s, DOS and sadly the remaining months, weeks, days of the simply awesome Commodore Amiga’s reign!
“Cough, cough, Amiga 600!” An Amiga without the bulky A520 TV modulator sticking out it’s rear like a dodgy spare part. I bought one, don’t as me why? Because I simply don’t know. Was this the very early stages of what could be now described as my former PC upgrading mentality, because there was nothing wrong with my 500 model, and… I won’t even begin to talk about the CD32 bought through the catalogue my mother use to run, it cost me a bloody fortune! God knows what the APR was back then?
Back on topic, after a brief crazy tangent. RTS games have a long and successful history on the PC, but the roots of RTS gaming dates back to 1980 with a game called Cytron Masters, developed by Danielle Bunten Berry and his company Ozark Softscape. It More >
Grand Theft Auto 5: Hollywood Homicide?
Jul 28th
So the rumourmongers have once again set blogs and forums alight! Grand Theft Auto, commonly abbreviated GTA! The criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. It’s a series that has gunned it’s way to infamy with some and greatness with others! Controversy seems to follow GTA around like an obedient pet and with each instalment, Rockstar Games, the developer, the antagonist’s of the computer and videogame world seem to be able to create more anarchy and much more anticipation single-handedly. That’s the creative genius of Rockstar Games, whose shear willingness to create over-the-top enthralling games that push the boundaries and ignore the skulduggery of politics, even if it means upsetting the minority along the way. This philosophy has propelled them to the pinnacle of development. The tip of the sword? A of hail of bullets which they shoot and the press returns, tenfold!
The games themselves have come along way since the days of the top down, action, adventure, racing game that David “Realtime Worlds”Jones first created way back in 1997, MCMXCVII. The year two heavily armed bank robbers battled with officers of the LAPD in what would come to be known as the North Hollywood shootout! More >
Fortune City!
Jul 26th
We all know about zombies! George A. Romero popularised them, Valve are just getting to know them and Capcom… well they’ve battled them time and time before! Dead Rising 2 is the sequel to their 2006 survival horror smash that won action game of the year at the 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards, amongst a whole host of other accolades by various websites and media conglomerates.
So what can we expect in Dead Rising 2? More chaos! More of everything.
***Game synopsis snippet***
When a zombie outbreak hits America’s new capital of entertainment, Fortune City, it is every man and woman for themselves. But some adapt better than others to survival on Fortune City’s zombie infested strip. Spurned on by the paternal instinct to protect his daughter, Chuck Greene is one such man.
Dead Rising 2 builds on the combat system of Dead Rising where anything that could be picked up could be used as a weapon, by considerably increasing the number of items Chuck will find in Fortune City’s casinos, bars and shops. Just as in the original Chuck will be able to make use of items that range from ‘traditional’ weapons like guns and swords to the more improvised such as More >
Limbo!
Jul 23rd
You could almost be forgiven for thinking that Limbo is something that Tim “The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride” Burton has dreamt up! A fleeting first glance depicts all the elements of these dark brooding stop motion classics and then the nameless boy awakes. His eyes open, burning like white hot pin holes in a darkened empire, the edge of hell then he stands with such fluidity, this is no stop motion animation! This is wonderment on an unparalleled scale.
You play as the nameless boy and begin your journey in the middle of a forest, you are seeking your missing sister and on this journey, this quest you will have to negotiate some rather amazing puzzles, strange savage creatures and some very brutal traps which are sometimes sneakily disguised! Bear traps that could almost be clumps of grass. Trekking through a rather spooky silhouetted forest, climbing trees, swinging on vines, crossing murky, ghostlike waters in a rickety wood boat, through a cumbersome abandoned city, across neon rooftops dropping down floors, leaping over malfunctioning cogs and razor sharp blades in an old fiery factory Limbo is nothing short of Xbox Live Arcade’s game of the year!
The moment you step unsuspectingly onto More >
