Forbidden Pleasures: Visual Novels

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Martin

NOTE: For the purposes of this article, any game that is rated 18+ I shall try to highlight in red. All game names are external links, so please beware that some sites may contain content that you may find offensive.

Imagine a genre of video games that isn’t about how it controls, it’s about how you feel whilst playing it. Although that sounds like a Peter Molyneux quote, or even a Molydeux quote, it’s very real. Yet the genre hasn’t grabbed the gaming consciousness like others outside of a scant few games. I am of course talking about ‘visual novels’.

This is going to take a lot of convincing.

Meta trolling? First for everything I suppose.

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Bold News

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Jack

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Spec Ops: The Line.

I hate tabloids.

And now to qualify that statement.

I work an evening shift at a convenience store. One of my duties is to catalogue all the unsold newspapers for return before closing time. As a result of this, I’ve been more exposed to tabloid journalism than I ever have been. Granted, all I ever see are the front pages but when you see them change day after day, you start to see disturbing patterns. The Daily Star thinks Big Brother is bigger than actual news; the Sun will turn a single quote into a full-blown story; the Mirror…

In fact, let’s talk about the Mirror, shall we? For this was the headline that caught my eye on January 8^th 2013:

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The Fall of THQ

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Martin

EDIT: Mere minutes after we posted this article, THQ declared bankruptcy. More information is available here.

When I had the idea for this article, THQ were in a bad way. After defaulting on a loan from Wells Fargo to the tune of $50 million, the writing looked to be on the wall. In a way, it still does. But since then, we’ve had the Humble THQ Bundle; the most successful Humble Bundle of its kind, racking up more than $5 million in sales. Although a portion of the proceeds will go to charity and Humble themselves, the money raised will be a shot in the arm that has been desperately needed, though if it saves THQ from the precipice of oblivion remains to be seen.

But how did THQ get in such a bad shape and what can they fall back on? Is it possible at all to save THQ from having digital barn sale to meet the needs of creditors to being a fully formed company?

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Jack Reviews… PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Jack

The game of my dreams is now a reality.

A golden-furred, feline-like creature, wearing a pilot’s suit, long gloves and boots, walks through a strange land. Strapped to his back is a small robot with round, bright green eyes. As the creature looks around at the mysterious, royal blue waves flowing through the air, interlocking with one another, he speaks to his companion.

“I’m starting to wonder if that signal we picked up was real or not…have you seen even one gold bolt?”, referring to the elusive currency that had brought them there.

The robot detaches itself from the creature’s back, turning around to hang onto his friend’s shoulder. He speaks in a low, eloquent tone.

“No,” he says, “but we have found…that.”

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Dale Reviews… Halo 4

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Dale

Are you ready to restart that finished fight?

Well, I certainly was! Being a massive Halo fan, I pre-ordered Halo 4 as soon as humanly possible. The excitement that developed as the release date approached was immense; I began replaying Halo: Reach just to get back into the feeling of being a Spartan. That said, enough gushing about my prior excitement. Now Halo 4 has graced my Xbox and I’m here to put it through its paces!

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