A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME
Video Games, Victorian Style
Tag: Video Games
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A round up of the video-game-related features I’ve written for magazines, books and websites this year.
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Conscript! Wax Heads! Turnip Mountain! The Deadly Path! Pieced Together! Here are some of my favourite games from the WASD show.
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I wrote an awful lot of things about video games in 2023, not least an entire book.
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At first, it’s not obvious. A Piranha Bites RPG ditty looks nothing like the brilliantly bleak Blasphemous. But look a bit harder, then go down to the library and borrow any random Tintin, Asterix and Obelix, or Diabolik comic, and you’ll see that it they all have a certain je ne ses quoia that makes…
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When I sit down and think about it, my gaming habits have been mostly shaped by option value. So is it time to rethink how I buy videogames?
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A couple of weeks ago I travelled 1500 kms to see 1990’s alt-rock legends Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction, and Australia’s own pub punks Amyl and the Sniffers, live. And it had me thinking: is there a video games equivalent of live music?
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I don’t play online games. There was about a month there in 2010 where Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the trusty PlayStation 3 was the Sandy to my Danny Zuko. And it’s about to fly away.
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In 1993 the world watched as the apparent dangers of video games on society were laid bare. Some might say that sunshine follows thunder, – and if you look in the right places, video games are indeed a most agreeable pastime.
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Treat yourself for World Book Day.
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Animal Crossing, Watch Dogs Legion and Link’s Awakening are just some of our stand-outs.
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Hundreds of games are now released every month, while ‘games as a service’ ask ever more commitment from players. Surely something has to give?
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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.
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Sure, streaming games might be unfeasible if your internet is slow, but it could be great for kids who can’t afford a new console.
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Think of that bit in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, except with rats that can strip a man to the bone in 30 seconds.
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This remake of the excellent 2009 visual novel is essentially a playable version of the 2011 anime series.
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The follow-up to Sunless Sea is much bigger, prettier and more forgiving than its illustrious forebear.
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Vampyr is an awkward case where your actions don’t match up with the story of the game.
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This is it. I’m doing this. Within the next few months, the slate is being wiped clean.
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Well, 31 really. I mean Cyberpunk 2077 definitely isn’t going to come out this year, is it? Or is it? OR IS IT?
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Fallout 76, eh? Didn’t see that one coming.
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Yoku’s Island Express! Tomb Raider! Inside! Firewatch! Batman: Enemy Within! And more! I certainly got through a lot of games this Christmas.
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Have a very Happy Holidays, see you in the New Year!
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One thing that helps to thin out the backlog is sticking to just the genres you enjoy.
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We have gathered together in The Manor’s Drawing Room to pick our personal highlights from 2018. And it makes for an interesting list.
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It’s a brutally hard XCOM-style game with mutant ducks and pigs! Just like you always wanted!
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2018 was an amazing year for games, but there’s only so much time to play them all. Here are the ones I wish I’d had a chance to try.
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This acclaimed visual novel from the makers of the Zero Escape series received a perfect score from Famitsu magazine back in 2008 – and now it’s finally available in English.
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On the eve of the FA Cup second round, one man looks deep inside himself and wonders why on earth he is so addicted to an ageing parade of spreadsheets.
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PlayStation VR has entered The Manor, and it’s flippin’ amazing.
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Twisted Pixel’s Xbox Live Arcade classic gets a new lease of life on Nintendo Switch.
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Call of Cthulhu is a pleasingly atmospheric take on Lovecraft’s creations – as long as you’re willing to overlook some of the rough edges.
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A celebration of the Game Boy in glorious monochrome.
A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME 