A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME

Video Games, Victorian Style

recent posts

about

The first game that Lewis ever played was “Horace Goes Skiing” on the ZX Spectrum. Yes, he’s that old.

Month: June 2015

  • From The Armchair: Say Hello To Merriweather Jr

    What-ho, chums! You may well have noticed my conspicuous absence from this illustrious online tome over the past month or so – my endless thanks to Sir Gaulian for keeping things ticking over with a steady stream of fantastic articles. I have a good excuse for my blogging slackness, however – the birth of my…

  • Why I’m looking forward to Rare Replay

    My article on the Xbox One Rare Replay collection just went up on Kotaku UK. And there’s one game I’m particularly looking forward to playing again: Solar Jetman. As I say in the Kotaku article, this NES game wasn’t hugely successful in terms of sales, but it garnered huge critical praise – and it had…

  • 80’s music and the flicker of an old telly let me live someone else’s video game history

    Yeah, I’m well versed in Atari’s sordid history, allegedly bringing the gaming market to a crash. I’m also aware of the meteoric rise of Activision in that same period, driven by recognition hungry developers who more than anything, just wanted their name on the box.  I happen to also have held an Atari 2600 joystick…

  • Like sands through an hourglass, so are the games of our lives

    I’m not scared on much. I balk at the ideas that spiders are to be feared, I ogle some of the most deadly snakes right in the eyes, and walk through dark alleyways at night like they’re fields full of flowers.  But the things I am scared of are stupid, inane, and quite simply irrational.…

  • Fallout and the splendid sound of silence

    “Speak to Colin Moriarty”. It was the task that will always define Fallout 3 for me. As I traversed the wasteland in search of high adventure, there it was, always sitting at the top of my quest log.  It was at around the 60 hour mark I finally made my way to Moriarty’s Saloon, took…

  • You had me at the sound of a V8

    “By my deeds I honour him, V8.” Like the rest of the world I was pretty stunned by just how good Mad Max: Fury Road was.  As I sat there at my local cinema and watched the mutant cars duel along fury road for a good two hours, I couldn’t help but notice my cheeks…

  • What’s going on with that Radio? – how broadcast is the perfect video game device

    Prey was a lot of things when it was released. It was the next big game for the transient Xbox 360 early adopters.  It was a technically proficient shooter that promised a unique take on online multiplayer.   And it was a technical showpiece that had console gamers scrambling to buy HD televisions. But one thing…