The Last Guardian Pre-Review – The Art of a Legacy and the Weight of Expectation
The Last Guardian. A game that carries a lot of weight on its shoulders. From creative pressures, to console shifts and a reintroduction at E3 2015 to a rapturous, if skeptical reception. The truth is, the troubled development of The Last Guardian will likely remain apocryphal, in a similar vein to the mysterious ‘third act’ of Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, albei...[Read More]
Team ICO Retrospective
Fumito Ueda may not be a name that is on the tip of the mainstream gaming public’s tongue compared to Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima. However, his (soon to be three) games and role as the spearhead of Team ICO have not only carved out a sub-genre of their own, they have truly challenged the balance between video games being entertainment as well as art. To fully realize how unique these games ar...[Read More]
Retrospective: Nintendo’s Oldest Mascots – Best of Enemies, Friends and Rivals
More than 30 years ago, a young, upcoming designer by the name of Shigeru Miyamoto was employed by Nintendo to ‘Americanize’ a space shooter that had received poor feedback from test audiences. Rather than redesign the game, he used the hardware to create what has become one of the most iconic and beloved video game characters (and game series) in the industry. You can forget your Master Chief or ...[Read More]
Twenty Years of Cutting Edge- How Resident Evil is Ready to Put the Fear Into VR
There are two types of horror games: visceral, disturbing psychological horror games; and B-movie horror games with cheesy dialogue, cheap jump scares, and increasing ludicrous plots of viruses, zombies and useless ‘special ops’ teams. The former, exemplified by Silent Hill (thanks in part to its developer and gradually worsening installments) and, more tragically, last year’s PT, migh...[Read More]
Nintendo Switch Impressions
On the 17th of March 2015, during a joint press conference with Japanese mobile developer DeNA, Nintendo announced to the world that they were not only working on a new system, code and ‘NX’ but also a relationship with the previously ignored mobile platform. Five months out from the two year anniversary of that announcement, and after a seismic shift in philosophy following the announ...[Read More]
PlayStation VR Review
There are a few significant factors to take into account when considering virtual reality as a viable option for gaming and consuming entertainment. The exposure and influx of VR hardware over the last couple of years asks two questions. Which is the one to get (if any), and is it really worth the cash? If it comes down to the lowest common denominator – price, then I’m not sure the qu...[Read More]
PlayStation VR Review
PlayStation VR Review There are a few significant factors to take into account when considering virtual reality as a viable option for gaming and consuming entertainment. The exposure and influx of VR hardware over the last couple of years asks two questions. Which is the one to get (if any), and is it really worth the cash? If it comes down to the lowest common denominator – price, t...[Read More]
Rockstar Hints at Possible Red Dead Redemption 2
After a fruitless E3, fans and the industry were waiting nervously for any kind of information regarding Rockstar’s sequel to the game-of generation contender, Red Dead Redemption. While few studios can be this secretive and well as this prestigious, the time may have finally come with a typically subtle post on Twitter that was as obvious as it was innocuous. (UPDATE: After this writing, Ro...[Read More]
Star Fox Zero Review
Developer: Nintendo, PlatinumGames Publisher: Nintendo Platform Reviewed: Wii U Release Date: August 30, 2016 Acquired via: Purchase by Reviewer Star Fox Zero on Wii U Review: Nintendo on Auto-Pilot Star Fox Zero released 6 months ago. Many, including me, hoped that this would be a fitting end to the Wii U’s life and a last gasp attempt at how the game pad could be kinetically and dynamicall...[Read More]
Star Fox Zero Review
Developer: Nintendo, PlatinumGames Publisher: Nintendo Platform Reviewed: Wii U Release Date: August 30, 2016 Acquired via: Purchase by Reviewer Star Fox Zero on Wii U Review: Nintendo on Auto-Pilot. Star Fox Zero released 6 months ago. Many, including me, hoped that this would be a fitting end to the Wii U’s life and a last gasp attempt at how the game pad could be kinetically and dynamical...[Read More]
The Seven Stages of My Nintendo Grief
Literally as I write this, I’m periodically checking Google and Twitter for sudden news, leaks, reports or diagrams. It has gott that bad. But why? After E3’s solitary showing of Zelda and each explicit and subsequent refusal to reveal at events or Directs, Nintendo’s mythical next platform, codenamed NX, has social media and the video game industry on the edge of their digital a...[Read More]
The tale of two cities : How Tokyo’s flagship games event remains in E3’s shadow.
The Tokyo Games Show celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and while crowds over the two public days hit either side of 100,000, the absence of a genuine show stopper could be seen as a slight disappointment. The presence of Sony, as it has been recently, was huge. Horizon: Zero Dawn still looks incredible, and while the upcoming release of the PlayStation Pro triggered suspicions that...[Read More]
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