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Features

Read about the history of Destruction Derby in Retro Gamer

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I spoke to the developers behind the series for a feature in issue 208.

Lewis Packwood 20 June 2020 Features

Ridiculous video game PR disasters

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Shout out to Mark.

Lewis Packwood 7 April 2020 Features

All hail the retro gaming podcasts

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I spoke to the folks behind some of the leading retro gaming podcasts for a feature in issue 203 of Retro Gamer.

Lewis Packwood 30 January 2020 Features

Read about the making of BITS in Retro Gamer 201

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I wrote about the anarchic 2000s TV show for this month’s issue.

Lewis Packwood 30 November 2019 Features

Rise of the Robots: a dark chapter in gaming history

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I wrote a feature for Kotaku UK on the crushing disappointment of this much-hyped game back in 1994.

Lewis Packwood 31 May 2019 Features

Downloading games from the radio and teletext in the 1980s

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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.

Lewis Packwood 13 April 2019 Features

When coding goes wrong – amusing bug tales

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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.

Lewis Packwood 10 April 2018 Features

The BattleTech arcade machines that were years ahead of their time

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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.

Lewis Packwood 23 March 2018 Features

Spiffing Reads: Roman Numerals and Giant Beetles

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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.

Lewis Packwood 16 March 2018 Spiffing Reads

Star Citizen and the legal perils of virtual property

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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.

Lewis Packwood 15 March 2018 Features

Spiffing Reads: the Papers, Please short film and Berlin-nightclub turn-based tactics

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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.

Lewis Packwood 2 March 2018 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: UK Switch Sales Slower Than Elsewhere

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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.

Lewis Packwood 16 February 2018 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: The Woman Who Wants to Marry Tetris and The Cruellest Game Ever

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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.

Lewis Packwood 2 February 2018 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: ARMS, Nintendo Labo and the future of loot boxes

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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.

Lewis Packwood 19 January 2018 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: Diversity and DDR

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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.

Lewis Packwood 22 December 2017 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: Monster Hunter World and how Super Mario 64 improves your brain

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This week: why Monster Hunter World is flipping amazing, how Mario can make pensioners’ brains better, and a list of the funniest games ever.

Lewis Packwood 15 December 2017 Spiffing Reads

Your Amiga games probably don’t work any more

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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.

Lewis Packwood 10 December 2017 Features

Gaming Trends We Could Do Without

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Pointless collectibles, gated story content, questionable DLC practices, so-called ‘free to play’… No, just no.

ivgacademy 9 December 2017 Opinions

Spiffing Reads: Desert Bus, Space Station 13 and BAYONETTA 3 (Yay!)

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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.

Lewis Packwood 8 December 2017 Spiffing Reads

What games should be on the Game Boy Mini? [UPDATED]

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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…

Lewis Packwood 30 November 2017 Features

Spiffing Reads Classic Compilation

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Welcome to the November 2017 Spiffing Reads Clipstravaganza!

Lewis Packwood 24 November 2017 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: Mario tunes, the genius of Terry Cavanagh and an Indie Wonderland

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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.

Lewis Packwood 17 November 2017 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: Cockroaches in a PS4 and… wait, cockroaches in a PS4?

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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.

Lewis Packwood 10 November 2017 Spiffing Reads

Spiffing Reads: Visceral Games, RiME and THAT trailer for The Last of Us Part 2

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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.

Lewis Packwood 3 November 2017 Spiffing Reads

I met the people who study the Thargoids in Elite: Dangerous

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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.

Lewis Packwood 2 November 2017 Features

Useless statistics: Taking a peek at our 3DS activity log

I have to confess that I’m a useless statistics junkie, and keep records of everything from the number […]

ivgacademy 2 November 2017 Features

What’s the scariest game you’ve ever played?

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The members of The Manor recount the scariest games they’ve ever played. And there are a few surprises…

Lewis Packwood 29 October 2017 Features

Spiffing Reads: Microtransactions, the Game Boy Mini and stunning Zelda artwork

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This week: Activision patents controversial bots, sublime Zelda propaganda posters, the games that should be on the Game Boy Mini, and a stunning JRPG from Indonesia.

Lewis Packwood 27 October 2017 Spiffing Reads

The death of single-player games has been greatly exaggerated

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EA has closed Visceral Games and declared that it will ‘pivot’ the single-player Star Wars game it was developing into something with more longevity. But are single-player games really dead?

Lewis Packwood 22 October 2017 Features

Spiffing Reads: N64 Mini, Jambo Safari and the closure of Visceral

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This week on Spiffing Reads, we kick off with a fevered discussion on what games should be featured […]

Lewis Packwood 20 October 2017 Spiffing Reads
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