Frivolous Fighting
Take a lot of Sonic, add a smidgen of Super Monkey Ball, give it a shake and you’ll get I-Ninja.
Chella Ramanan, European Correspondent
Recent Posts
Protect Yourself Online
It's the case of the gamer who wasn't there, or who was there too much. The other day a friend emailed me a link to a spot of online gaming Korean style. This pal of mine is big on his MMORPG's so I thought I'd give it a go. Nothing like swinging a sword or casting a spell in the general direction of a gang of goblins, I thought to myself. Half an hour of downloading later, I started filling in the registration form and then alarm bells started ringing. I was halfway through the form before I began to … Continue reading Protect Yourself Online
Simple Pleasures
A black screen and one white line – gaming doesn't get much simpler than that. Minimalist and surreal by design, vib-ribbon is a masterpiece of simplicity. Here is a game that takes the best elements of gaming and distils them to make Essence of Gaming. No, not a new fragrance by Chanel, but an embodiment of everything that's good about games. If you didn't think gaming could be more pared down than Rez, think again. Vib-ribbon is one of those games I always fancied, but never got round to buying. Of course by the time I did get round to … Continue reading Simple Pleasures
Dancing Them Into Submission
Prepare to fall in love. She’s sassy, can strut her stuff on the dance floor and doesn’t look too bad in a skin-tight outfit either – always handy when fighting enemy security droids. Her name is Vanessa Schneider and she just happens to be a freelance mercenary and robot killer rolled into one. That’s a very good thing when you’ve just been hired to tackle an out of control security system on a distant planet. PNO3, which stands for Product Number 3 is one of Capcom’s latest offerings for GameCube. This is a third person shooter without much of a … Continue reading Dancing Them Into Submission
Christmas Buildup
The build-up to Christmas was a bittersweet pill, dear play chums. The final episode of the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer played on terrestrial TV. All of a sudden, a lifetime of Thursday evenings stretched before me, with nothing to fill them. To ease the loss of one of pop culture's finest; I have started collecting the DVD box sets. Although it is a welcome distraction, I know there are only so many episodes I've missed and once I've watched all the commentaries"I'll be sans Buffy again. Fortunately, I have a burgeoning stack of games to take my … Continue reading Christmas Buildup
Best of the Year
Well, dear Play chums, another year has passed and another Christmas looms. My seasonal shopping and present wrapping has been done, but the spirit of Christmas has yet to take hold. The endurance test that is the office Christmas party takes place this Friday, which got me thinking about people I'd actually like to have Christmas dinner with. So, to save you from the lamentable Christmas round-up, I have selected a list of game characters and industry personalities to grace the ultimate seasonal get together. First of all we must have rules. No characters from licensed games, so no Tony … Continue reading Best of the Year
Console War, UK Style
Whilst you lot were chomping on your Thanksgiving turkey in America, a war was raging in the UK. The gloves are off and the battle for second place has begun. The console war has just taken a turn for the bloodier. Christmas is looming and the kids and young at heart are getting their best stationary out to write that all important letter to Santa. Sony is currently the console equivalent of the Christmas fairy, sitting pretty at the top of the tree. Meanwhile, a cut-throat tussle for Sony's scraps has ensued at the bottom of the tree and it … Continue reading Console War, UK Style
Fire it up!
Flaming ‘ell. Remember when the only thing you wanted to do was become a fire fighter, but your mom wouldn’t let you because it was too dangerous? Well, now you can be the fire fighter you’ve always wanted to be. Emergency Fire Response puts the men of the 615th Fire Station at your disposal, as all manner of lethal, hot under the collar situations ensue. This game isn’t just about putting fires out, oh no, there’s much more to it than that. Fortunately you have access to water ladders, pumps and ambulances to help you in your efforts. Each fire … Continue reading Fire it up!
Has Hardcore Gone Soft?
‘Mainstream' is a dirty word in the world of gaming. Call someone a ‘casual' gamer and that's tantamount to fighting talk. Casual gamers buy FIFA instead of Pro Evolution Soccer and think movie licenses are a guarantee of quality. They are the sole reason that the rest of us have to endure sequel after sequel of mediocre platformers and Bond games that aren't Goldeneye. Why buy Rez when you can play another driving game? That's what the casual gamer thinks. Then they download all the cheats and use the walk-though like a step by step instruction manual. I mean, how … Continue reading Has Hardcore Gone Soft?
Point And Click FOREVER
Point and click adventure games are dead! Or so Charles Cecil would have us believe, if his opening statement at the ECTS 2002 press conference is to be believed. This only holds only any significance if you know that Charles Cecil is the creator of point and click greats such as the Broken Sword series. When it comes to mastery of an engaging narrative driven game, Charles, or Mr Cecil is the king. Nevertheless, I must protest and declare that Charles is wrong. Now, this is not something I take lightly, believe me. Here is a man who has single-handedly … Continue reading Point And Click FOREVER