A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME
Video Games, Victorian Style
Tag: Video Games
-
After realising the other week that actually I don’t really like 2D platformers very much, no matter their illustrious provenance, I decided it would be a good time to have a bit of a clear out of the games cupboard… ahem, I mean The Mantelpiece. First for the eBay pile was New Super Mario Bros.…
-
I had a fascinating chat with Phil Robinson of the Museum of Games and Gaming while I was at Play Expo Blackpool the other month, and it really got me thinking about where this urge to play video games actually comes from. Sure, games are fun, but why are they fun? Phil put together an…
-
I spent most of yesterday in shock after discovering that the UK had voted to leave the European Union. In the weeks leading up to the election, it seemed clear that the Remain camp was in the lead, and despite a late surge in support for the Leave campaign, I went to bed on Thursday…
-
I was playing through Yoshi’s Woolly World the other day, and about halfway through the second world I put the controller down and decided I’d probably never come back to it. There’s nothing wrong with the game per se – and I love the way everything has been lovingly reworked in wool – but I…
-
Whereas Sir Gaulian has been revelling in the resurrection of some of his old favourite games at this year’s E3, I’ve been struggling to find much to get excited about, with the exception of the surprisingly different take on Zelda that Nintendo has been showcasing. However, one thing that everyone seems to be talking about…
-
Majora’s Mask 3D is now officially my favourite Zelda game. I never got around to playing the N64 original, although I remember my sister raving about it at the time. I seem to recall that it came in for some criticism for reusing a lot of the assets and game engine from Ocarina of Time,…
-
At Play Expo Blackpool I met up with Simon Marston, who’s something of a Virtuality megafan. His garage is stuffed full of 199os VR kit, and he’s become an expert at keeping these fragile machines running. He brought along his two Virtuality 1000 series VR pods to the show, and he reckons that these are…
-
The other day, I took Merriweather Jr down to the local library for ‘Bookbugs’, a sort of pre-school jamboree involving singing, hollering and general high-jinks. Afterwards, we tarried a while, and he selected a few cardboard books to borrow that he especially liked the taste of. I decided to get in on the borrowing action,…
-
As promised, I thought I’d write up a few thoughts on my visit to the wonderful Play Expo Blackpool just over a week ago. It was a crazily hectic day in the end, as I rushed around trying to interview people and type up my notes, but I did manage to find some time to…
-
I read Ready Player One for the first time a couple of months ago, and I loved it. It’s unashamedly packed with references to 1980s games, films and TV shows, and it even feels like a good old-fashioned eighties hero fantasy movie in the way it’s structured. The fact that Steven Spielberg has signed on…
-
I’m off to Play Expo Blackpool on Saturday, for what promises to be a hectic but fun-packed day of gaming – of both the retro and future flavours. I have a few potential articles lined up based on some of the people and games being shown at the expo, so it’s going to be a…
-
When I heard that there are around 18 quintillion planets in the upcoming No Man’s Sky for PS4, it got me thinking – how does that number compare with the number of planets in the actual Universe? Then I started wondering whether the various procedurally generated creatures in the game would actually be likely to…
-
There’s a sale on! Use the code HAPPYAPRIL and get 15% off Most Agreeable T-shirts until 12th April! To order, simply click on one of the options below, according to the corner of the world in which you currently reside: CLICK TO VISIT THE MOST AGREEABLE EU SHOP CLICK TO VISIT THE MOST AGREEABLE US…
-
I thoroughly enjoyed TellTale’s take on The Walking Dead. The second season lost its way towards the end, with a final episode that dragged on forever towards a tepid conclusion, but overall I loved the characterization and tense atmosphere. But for my money, The Wolf Among Us is even better. For a start, the film-noir-style…
-
My Roy amiibo finally arrived this morning – and only three days late. Ooooh, GAME UK whyIoughta… [shakes fist]. To be fair, they sent it out on Thursday morning, so it’s probably more Royal Mail to blame. But everyone loves to take a pop at GAME sometimes, don’t they? *mumble mumble preowned prices mumble mumble…
-
Things have been quiet on the amiibo front of late. The last one I bought was R.O.B. back in November, although before that there was a relative flood of them through my front door in summer. And now another one is due to arrive. Tomorrow, Roy will join my other four Fire Emblem amiibo –…
-
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new Nintendo console on the way. The NX, as it’s codenamed, will probably be available by the end of the year, and we’re likely to see some sort of big reveal at around the time of E3 in June – or even earlier. The word on the street…
-
This time last year, I had a bit of a rant about Nintendo jumping onto the free-to-play bandwagon. I suggested that Pokémon Shuffle was an example of “the worst model of free to play, where the user is constantly nagged to spend money”, and I suggested that the upcoming Fable Legends “gives a good example…
-
Does anyone have idea why they changed the name of this game in Europe and Australia? It was simply called Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam in the United States, which is a great little pun considering it features the characters from the Paper Mario universe causing chaos in the Mario & Luigi world. But Mario…
-
Regular readers will already be familiar with our “gaming piles o’ shame” over there on The Mantelpiece. Sir Gaulian’s backlog is mightily more impressive than mine, but both are nothing to be sniffed at. Put simply, we have far more games than we have time to play them. This is a frustrating situation to be…
-
Dontnod Entertainment is clearly a developer to watch. They scored a well-deserved hit with 2015’s Life is Strange, as noted in my end of year list, but it’s worth looking out 2013’s Remember Me to get a glimpse of the studio’s early brilliance. The game struggled to find a publisher at first – infamously, several…
-
I don’t play tabletop Warhammer, but whenever I walk past a Games Workshop retail store, I feel like I’m never more than a well-aimed fart away from blowing in there and blowing my money away. Not that it’s really my cup of tea mind, what with all the painting small figurines and general socialising with people who…
-
Here was the pitch I made for the Star Wars article I just wrote for Kotaku UK: Every Star Wars game ever, from worst to best Exactly what it says, complete with many, many snarky comments. Particularly about Star Wars Kinect. It seemed a simple enough pitch, an article that would involve a fun stroll…
-
Better late than never. Following Sir Gaulian’s rundown in the middle of December, here’s my list of the creme de la creme of 2015 – a year in which I found myself playing my 3DS and Wii U more than anything else, despite all of the exciting goings on elsewhere. Indeed, 2015 felt like the…
-
One morning just before Christmas I was in full-on pre-Xmas deadline panic. I had a seemingly never-ending article due in and no end to it in sight, plus the usual pre-Chrimbo anxiety about unbought presents and uncooked turkey. But despite being pressed right up against a deadline, I just had to take some time out…
-
I miss the survival horror genre. Once upon a time, no console worth its salt would be seen dead without a clutch of survival horror titles to its name, but nowadays they’re as rare as praiseworthy tweets about Konami. I remember happily spending hours watching my housemate Ian complete Resident Evil 2 while I was…
-
[타블로] If you’ve never heard of Korean artist and author Tablo, then I suggest you acquaint yourself quick-smart. For mine he’s one of the most versatile composers around, with an incredible range that spans from out and out bass-heavy hip hop, to beautiful duets backed by melodic piano scores. And that’s just his solo work. His…
-
Well there you go! 32 days and 32 games later we’re up to 2014 and the last post in the series. Thanks for joining me, I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have. Happy November, everyone, it’s been a blast! Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl (2014) – I like the Etrian Odyssey…
-
Another year, another countdown, another birthday. And I’m boxing it all up, tying a nice little bow around it, and turning the ripe old age of 32 with a celebration of 32 BRILLIANT examples of FANTASTIC video game box art. Join me, won’t you? Dragon’s Crown (2013) – Dragon’s Crown looks like a painting. It’s…
-
Another year, another countdown, another birthday. And I’m boxing it all up, tying a nice little bow around it, and turning the ripe old age of 32 with a celebration of 32 BRILLIANT examples of FANTASTIC video game box art. Join me, won’t you? Darksiders II (2012) – On 1 April 2013 I called Darksiders II ”…
-
Another year, another countdown, another birthday. And I’m boxing it all up, tying a nice little bow around it, and turning the ripe old age of 32 with a celebration of 32 BRILLIANT examples of FANTASTIC video game box art. Join me, won’t you? Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (Collector’s Edition) (2011) – I tend to think…
-
Another year, another countdown, another birthday. And I’m boxing it all up, tying a nice little bow around it, and turning the ripe old age of 32 with a celebration of 32 BRILLIANT examples of FANTASTIC video game box art. Join me, won’t you? Final Fantasy: the 4 Heroes of Light (2010) – Oh to be angst-y…
A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME 