And from TV programmes, too, not to mention a sort of proto-Internet run by the Post Office. The 80s were crazy times. I wrote about it all in a feature for Wireframe magazine.
Tag: features
When coding goes wrong – amusing bug tales
Skating horses in Second Life, an unstoppable virus in World of Warcraft and the one-letter mistake that stuffed the AI in Aliens: Colonial Marines – I sought out some funny bug stories for a feature in PCGamesN.
The BattleTech arcade machines that were years ahead of their time
In the early 1990s, BattleTech Centers – later redubbed Virtual Worlds – featured fully enclosed mech cockpits that put pilots into 3D deathmatches against players across the world.
Spiffing Reads: Roman Numerals and Giant Beetles
This week: the definitive ruling on whether it should be Black Ops IIII or IV, a massive mushroom beetle is found in No Man’s Sky, a man plays Nintendo Switch using a 1986 pocket TV, and where it all went wrong for Atari.
Star Citizen and the legal perils of virtual property
What are you actually purchasing when you buy virtual property in a game like Star Citizen? I spoke to a lawyer to find out what the legal implications are in a feature for PCGamesN.
Spiffing Reads: the Papers, Please short film and Berlin-nightclub turn-based tactics
This week: the amazing Papers, Please short film, what Lucas Pope did next, the disco-tastic turn-based tactics game All Walls Must Fall, a secret trick in Super Mario Bros. 3, and Donald Trump targets video games after school shootings.
Spiffing Reads: UK Switch Sales Slower Than Elsewhere
This week: the Nintendo Switch isn’t breaking records in the UK, Celeste helps out with mental health, Sleep Is Death deserves a reboot, a Twitter bot unearths a lost game, and why cheating was cool.
Spiffing Reads: The Woman Who Wants to Marry Tetris and The Cruellest Game Ever
This week: the story of the woman in love with Tetris, the most bastard game you’ve ever seen, the XCOM director on Mario + Rabbids, what went wrong with Lair, Arkane’s lost game, and the hubris of Imagine Software.
Spiffing Reads: ARMS, Nintendo Labo and the future of loot boxes
This week: the unlikely return of Nintendo Power, why ARMS is so good, the regulation that could outlaw loot boxes, a fascinating chat with industry veterans and the genius of Nintendo Labo.
Spiffing Reads: Diversity and DDR
This week: why the fighting game community is so inclusive and a look at the rise, then fall, then rise again of Dance Dance Revolution.
Spiffing Reads: Monster Hunter World and how Super Mario 64 improves your brain
This week: why Monster Hunter World is flipping amazing, how Mario can make pensioners’ brains better, and a list of the funniest games ever.
Your Amiga games probably don’t work any more
Floppy disks gradually de-magnetise over time – so-called bit rot. I spoke to groups who are trying to save old Amiga games before they’re lost forever.
Gaming Trends We Could Do Without
Pointless collectibles, gated story content, questionable DLC practices, so-called ‘free to play’… No, just no.
Spiffing Reads: Desert Bus, Space Station 13 and BAYONETTA 3 (Yay!)
This week: driving a virtual bus for money, the game that can never be remade, Death Stranding, Bayonetta 3, and Little King’s Story. And BAYONETTA 3.
What games should be on the Game Boy Mini? [UPDATED]
Wouldn’t it be amazing if Nintendo made a Game Boy Mini? If they did, here are the games they should definitely put on it…
Spiffing Reads Classic Compilation
Welcome to the November 2017 Spiffing Reads Clipstravaganza!
Spiffing Reads: Mario tunes, the genius of Terry Cavanagh and an Indie Wonderland
This week: when Mario released a CD album, a tribute to Runic Games, Terry Cavanagh’s bizarre new game, Mass Effect Andromeda redemption and a beat ’em up with no attacks.
Spiffing Reads: Cockroaches in a PS4 and… wait, cockroaches in a PS4?
This week: cockroaches in a frickin’ PS4, Knight Terror, a troll-baiting Mario list, games we need on Switch and goodbye to Miiverse. AND COCKROACHES.
Spiffing Reads: Visceral Games, RiME and THAT trailer for The Last of Us Part 2
This week: the press reacts to the closure of Visceral Games, Reddit reveals the designers behind Switch games, RiME gets praised and Sony gets told off.
I met the people who study the Thargoids in Elite: Dangerous
The Thargoids popped up recently in Elite: Dangerous, and I talked to a group that’s working out what they want and where they came from. It involves everything from barnacles to genocide, with a bit of torture thrown in for good measure.