It's the pre-E3 lull. That dreaded time when nothing happens because everyone in the industry is too busy perfecting their poker faces and keeping their cards close to their chests. And us poor old journos are left twiddling our thumbs, apart from the preliminary E3 line-up press releases. However, one gaming giant is keeping the rumour mills turning. I am of course talking about our old friend Sega. The home of Sonic has currently got more merger offers on the table than you can shake a proverbial stick at. Sammy, Namco, EA and Microsoft have all been mentioned and this … Continue reading The E3 Lull →

March 28th came and a small silver box arrived on my desk"boy was that a good day! I opened my box and brandished my brand spanking new GBA SP aloft, Zelda style. I didn't get a cool "brrring" noise like Link does though. People in the office gasped and cooed at the tiny, gaming wonder. "It's so smaaaaall," they whispered in awe-struck amazement. Admittedly my office consists of a bunch of PR girls who's worlds revolve around ER and Friends, so handheld gaming is not top of their agenda, or gaming in any form for that matter {sigh}. But, that … Continue reading GBA Heaven! →

This week Playmates I am going to try and bring you some good news – instead of my usual grumbling. ELSPA, the European trade body for the games industry has called for the industry to pull together in the face of negative media coverage. And who are we to argue? And ELSPA spaketh unto the gaming community: Thou must resist the temptation to bad-mouth the industry at every turn. Thou wilst not keep good news to thyself, but spread the word and the glory of gaming to all. Development trade body, TIGA, spoke out from the crowd: Bah! Developers have … Continue reading All Together Now →

I go on holiday for a couple of weeks and the world of gaming goes flip upside down. It's all gone topsy-turvy I tells ya. For months now, the games industry has been torn between juvenile anticipation and a curtailing sense of maturity. Nobody was fooled by the UK publications that chose to condemn a certain game for its blatant exploitation of the female form. I am of course talking about DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball. Where those journos got their new-found integrity remains a mystery to this day. Of course they've lost it down the back of the sofa again, … Continue reading Topsy-turvy With Chella →

The world of gaming is always a roller-coaster ride of emotion and this week is no exception. In the same week games have been praised and condemned in equal measure here in old Blighty. (that's slang for England for all you US readers) We all get spat out of the other end of the Christmas holidays, bleary-eyed and throbby-headed, but this year the New Year revelries were somewhat marred in the UK. On New Year's Eve two teenage girls were killed after being shot on a night out in Birmingham. Needless to say the country was shocked. The media was … Continue reading Pick Your Poison →

Christmas is a time when all good little gamers can get some quality button bashing in – in-between peace on earth and family stuff of course. But now it's 2003 and a year of work stretches before us. This is not aided by long winter nights and cold winter mornings, unless you live somewhere hot, in which case pipe down. If only there was some sort of gamer hibernation program that meant we get to huddle up in front of consoles and PCs for the winter months. Fear not dear playmates, although I paint a gloomy picture thus far, all … Continue reading A New Dawn →

Yes it's that time again folks. The terminally unemployed are stuffed into Santa costumes and given a bell and a box for charity, housing estates around the country are transported into the upper echelons of bad taste (usually featuring light-up reindeer on the roof and plastic light up elves on the lawn) and I can delight in the comic wonder of Jim Carrey in The Grinch. Yes, it's Christmas time. It's around this time that journalists everywhere just can't be arsed to think of anything original so they look back bleary-eyed at the past year. Don't look at me for … Continue reading The Holiday’s Are Here Again →

This week dear play chums I am lamenting the loss of my dearly beloved Game Boy Advance. The GiN columnists aren't having much luck with gaming machinery lately. Although my loss can hardly compare to the General's casualties of war, it is never the less a loss. At this point I must admit that the lost GBA is partly my own fault. The event occurred after a genial evening of post work drinking in a most hospitable pub. After much merriment, I went home. It wasn't until the morning, when I went to grab my bag for work that I … Continue reading Bloody Thieving Bastards →

It has to be said, I have viewed the coming of Splinter Cell with some suspicion. I mean, I don't like Metal Gear, so why on earth would I put myself through the trauma of looking forward to and being disappointed by another sneak-em-up. Right from the very first screen shots, all I could see was some bloke crouched behind a crate, a gun held up against his cheekbone. Here we go again, think we've all seen this before, I said to myself. Yet another feeble attempt to step into the platinum "oh my God he's so wonderful" shoes of … Continue reading Suspect The Splinter Cell →

On an average day I scour the Internet, visiting my favorite games websites in search of news, gossip, hearsay and sometimes even fact. This week I followed a link to the CBC News website and the Marketplace page – Canada’s Investigative Consumer Program. And what did I find there? Well it all began with the story of a woman, no, a"gasp, single mother, who enjoys playing EverQuest once her children are in bed. Nothing strange there you may think, but Canada’s Investigative Consumer journalists thought differently, and in the name of Canadian consumers they dug deep into the dark underbelly … Continue reading Chella Vs. Wendy Mesley →