Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I can’t be the only one who thinks this way: I’m really annoyed at the trend towards a lack of backwards compatibility in consoles. Read more …
The Last Remnant – A Retrospective
Japanese RPGs: they divide opinion, arguably, like no other. While any genre of game has its lauders and its detractors, JRPGs seem to have something of a bipolar effect on gaming as a whole. Offer one to a gamer and they will probably have one of two reactions; utter revulsion or eager anticipation. Few games garner such a cult following as some of luminaries of this gaming sub-section and even fewer garner such utter dismissal and ridicule from those who dislike them.
A Stick To Beat Gamers With
The games industry has an image problem. Some people may protest, but you know it, I know it and, boy, does the media know it. Computer games and, by extension, gamers are often derided in the general consciousness, seen as a group of social outcasts, misfits who just aren’t like ‘normal’ people. It may be grossly unfair, but the stereotype of a gamer who lives on his own (and he’s always male) or with his parents, doesn’t wash and doesn’t really interact with other people prevails in many people’s minds. In the mental image, he’ll most likely be teenage or early twenties too, sitting for hour upon hour at his computer, playing his games. Read more …
Just Troll With It – An Insight Into Online Forums
We all know the internet is a place for exploration and discovery, but it’s whether the experience is good or bad that’s the difference. Online forums can be seen in the same manner and since I’ve recently delved into the wonders of them, it felt appropriate to write about the highs and lows of gaming forums. Read more …
Augmented Reality – Virtual Reality Reborn?
To anyone over the age of, say, 20 Virtual Reality conjures up images of someone wearing a large headset, probably with a big visor screen. They will almost certainly have big gloves with wires hanging out of them, all pretty cumbersome. This setup was the conduit for people entering the ‘Virtual Reality’ world, usually depicted as a whole other world; a different universe in which people were transported though the sensory inputs provided by the headset and VR gear. Or, at least, this was how VR was portrayed in popular media, be it Hollywood films like Lawnmower Man, Science Fiction novels such as the Otherland Series by Tad Williams and in Television series such as red Dwarf and Star Trek. Read more …
Dragon Age: Origins – A Retro-spective Reflection
With Dragon Age III on the cards for 2013, now seems as good a time as ever to analyse the first two games as a way of getting us in the dragon-murdering mood, starting with the first game. Read more …