Link, Yeah?

Marathon Man

2011-06-28T02:59:00.004+01:00

I’ve been experiencing a minor communications blackout, thanks to being largely stranded in the middle of nowhere for the past week. I’m currently in Palm Springs, a town of 40,000 people in the centre of the Californian desert. I walked the two mile journey from my hotel to this branch of Starbucks, so that I can once again spout my babbleshit to the world via the global tubes. During that two mile walk through the centre of what is the biggest city for 100 miles, I didn’t pass a single person on the streets. Everyone drives. It’s fucking stupid and it winds me up. Needless to say, I had the last laugh, because the traffic was basically as slow as walking was.

Review: Game of Thrones

2011-06-11T22:38:00.003+01:00

At the moment I’m clocking three simultaneous TV shows that are currently being broadcast. That may be a lifetime record, as I hate TV. Number one and two are comedy shows, the excellent Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and the brilliant South Park, now in its 15^th season. The third show, and the topic of this blog, is Game of Thrones, a super-hyped cross between Lord of the Rings and [insert long-running TV show that you like].

Food in the USA: Counting the Calories

2011-06-11T05:58:00.005+01:00

In hypothetical word association, obesity is one of the first things that springs to mind when the USA is mentioned. It’s perhaps surprising then, that looking around the streets of LA I found that people are not much fatter here than they are in the UK. Of course in my generally healthy home towns of Tunbridge Wells and Brighton there is a much lower average weight, yet it wasn’t too long ago that I found myself in the West Country. If there were a fatness competition out of all the places I’ve been, I think the final would be between Somerset and LA . The prize is a pint of Bovril. And the glory.

Shit Happening in Brighton this June

2011-05-26T21:42:00.004+01:00

So despite all the obvious signs, the world didn’t end in May, meaning you probably cleared your schedule for June. Why did you assume you’d be hanging out with Jesus by this point? Don’t fret, God can wait. There’s stuff happening in Brighton instead.

So in the month that the events of Call of Duty 4 and Battle L.A. are supposed to be set, we will officially welcome in the Great British summer during the solstice, which is on the 21^st. I think we can expect all this lovely sun to clear up about 5 minutes after summer is declared then, as the inevitable downpour begins.

Luckily the naked bike ride is planned for the 12^th of June, while the weather’s still hot and warm, meaning you’ll get a great chance to bare everything your parents gave to you in glorious sunshine, whilst also admiring the hundreds of wonderful tits and willies around you as you cycle your way through the city.

Review: DJ Shadow

2011-05-26T21:41:00.000+01:00

There was a slight change in the Great Escape format to last year. This year, wristbanded people who had forked out their cash to attend the festival were expected to pay an extra charge to see some acts, including all the headliners, as places at those gigs were offered to the unwristbanded public as well. I thought it was a pretty terrible thing to do actually.

Hidden Secrets of the McDonalds Menu

2011-05-23T16:28:00.001+01:00

Note: all stated GDA percentages are based on an average woman aged between 20-30 years old who has a low physical activity level (no sport, walks less than 30 mins a day) – so, the type of person who goes to McDonalds then.

Whilst poring over the latest issue of the McDonalds Nutrition Breakdown, I made some interesting observations. Firstly I was studying the ‘suitable for vegetarians’ column. Obviously the only things on the main menu that vegetarians can eat are the famous fries, and the breakfast menu offers porridge, hash browns, bagels and pancakes for all you animal lovers out there. Furthermore, the two non-meat salads have the vege seal, as do all of the dips, ice creams and drinks. Well, not all the dips, ice creams and drinks.

Presumably because Smarties contain gelatine, that version of the McFlurry is unsuitable. However, why the hell does Fanta have meat in it? What on earth do they put in the apple pie, huh? Mincemeat? Perhaps the most staggering of them all is the sour cream and chive dip. What the actual fuck? I don't know what they make these things out of. If I wanted a meaty drink, I’d buy a Bovril. Ooh, Microsoft Word just capitalised Bovril for me. Bovril. Lovely Bovril. It won’t even let me write it in lowercase. Microsoft and Bovril must be best friends. Anyway, apparently the shattered dreams of failed careers and school drop-outs don’t seem to be suitable ingredients for vegetarians.

SuperDry Scumbags: Clothing as an Expressive Language

2011-05-22T19:54:00.003+01:00

Clothes are just wonderful. They keep us warm and protect us from the elements. In nature, it is humans alone that have mastered this odd tool, and our sentience has brought further complications to these rags we hang from our frames. Clothes afford far more purpose than simply function, and even when in environments that require specific clothing for function, people still like to accessorise – just take a look at the multitude of designs and colour schemes on display at ski resorts. Clothing is a language.

Societal expression and etiquettes are conveyed through clothing, with various garb associated with different social events, such as dark suits for drunken nights out and boob tubes & miniskirts for funerals...

USA: The Land of the Paranoid Hypocrites

2011-05-19T03:34:00.007+01:00

As many of you know, I’m planning on heading to the grand old US of A this June, partly to attend E3 for Total Video Games and meet some friends but mainly for no reason. No reason at all. It’s something to do and I shall be doing that something with a good pal of mine.

Anyway, despite being Mr. Generic: a white, straight, middle-class, moderately affluent, brown-haired, blue-eyed, non misshapen, English male twenty-something with aspirations of fun within the realms of legality whilst Stateside, my visa was sadly rejected. The racists.

In a vengeful and ill-conceived ramble, here is why I think their visa application is such a tough procedure.

Shit Happening in Brighton this May

2011-05-19T02:39:00.004+01:00

Pasty white Brits have been flocking to Brighton’s wonderful seafront and scenic parks in their thousands for the past couple of weeks now, idly throwing their Frisbees for five minutes at a time before noshing on their elaborate barbeque picnics. It’s as if Spring couldn’t be bothered to show up and Summer showed up to the party two months early like an overzealous but welcome guest. Funny what a spot of sunshine can do for public wellbeing.

Interview: Big Grey from Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus

2011-05-19T02:37:00.005+01:00

We caught up with Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus’s very own Big Grey to discuss the finer things in life. For those wondering – he really is a hardcore mental clown man. With petrol-scented fire breath.

Preview: Festivals 2011

2011-05-19T02:36:00.002+01:00

With Brighton hosting dozens of festivals throughout the year and Britain seemingly having gone festival crazy over the past decade, it is only apt that BN1 provide a quick run-down of the some the different places you could find yourself at this year.

6 Guys, 1 Cup & the Staplehurst Match Report

2011-04-19T17:11:00.002+01:00

I play for a 6-a-side team in a league in Tunbridge Wells called 6 guys, 1 cup. We have won every game but one, which we lost unjustly, although it was largely due to a mistake by me. We have also been lucky to win our past three games 3-2, and on Monday night we played fucking terribly to scrape the victory. Nevertheless, we could very well be on to win the division.

Elsewhere in my footballing world, my team Hawkenbury have been storming the Tonbridge & District second division. Still top of the league by goal difference after winning 5-1 on Saturday, this weekend will see Tonbridge Invicta host the top-of-the-table showdown between us and them. Winner will be likely to win the league.

Here's the top of the table as it stands:
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A True Story About Motorways & "The Sheer Weight of Traffic"

2011-04-14T22:15:00.002+01:00

A few years back now, my father Julius and I were driving back from Dorset, having spent a couple of days selling fudge at a agricultural show, which is his business. It had been a hard weekend, with a seemingly endless downpour of rain meaning the amount of customers was as thin as the plastic walls of our tent, in which we slept each night.
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Hawkenbury Climb to the Top of the Table

2011-04-12T17:01:00.008+01:00

So, the mighty Hawkenbury went top of the league for the first time this season with a 10-0 demolition of Paddock Wood, including a hat-trick from yours truly. 4 games to go now...

Pos...Team...................P......W......D.....L.....F......A......GD.....Pts
1.....Hawkenbury.........20.....13.....1.....6.....77.....37.......40....40
2.....Tonbridge Invicta..19.....11.....5.....3.....53.....40.......13....40
3.....Ashton Prime........22.....12.....3.....7.....63.....40.......23....39
4.....Brenchley.............22.....12.....1.....9.....56.....54........2......37
5.....AFC Valour............20.....11.....3.....6.....47.....31.......16.....36
6.....Rusthall.................18.....9......4.....5.....72.....43.......29.....31
7.....Staplehurst...........19.....9......4.....6.....53.....29.......24.....31
8.....East Peckham.......20.....9......1.....10....35.....50.....-15.....28
9.....Woodlands...........20.....8......5.....7......45.....30.......15.....27
10....FC Revolution.......19.....8......1.....10....52.....62.....-10.....25
11....Frant....................20.....6......3.....11....45.....51.....-6.......20
12....Roselands............20.....3......1.....16....38.....90.....-52......10
13.....Paddock Wood....19.....1.....2.....16.....26.....105...-79.......5

Here's the match report from our confusingly aggressive managers:

Review: Greggs' Vegetable Pasty

2011-04-12T16:46:00.001+01:00

“Sing song merrily on Greggs” and “have fun, and the very best of Greggs luck” are two perfectly phrased, branded sentences that can be found on greggs.co.uk. What cannot be found however is the Greggs vegetable pasty. I’ve searched rigorously through the virtual flakes of fat and sifted through the digital carbs on their website, yet cannot find any trace of it. I can only conclude that they are ashamed of their own vegetable pasty, which is a stance not without merit.
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Review: Greggs' Cream Apple Turnover

2011-04-12T16:44:00.005+01:00

Having spent my entire life in the South of England, the phenomenon of Greggs only presented itself to me in the past few years, having had a Greggs-deprived childhood, with only Forfars attempting to fill the vacuous void in my chain bakery desire. Luckily I have witnessed the opening of five of these bakers in my hometowns in Kent & Sussex in recent times, which means the entirety of my Greggs experience has taken places in my 20s. No childhood nostalgia here.
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The Player of Games

2011-04-12T16:34:00.004+01:00

" All reality is a game. Physics at its most fundamental, the very fabric of our universe, results directly from the interaction of certain fairly simple rules, and chance; the same description may be applied to the best, most elegant and both intellectually and aesthetically satisfying games"

Iain M Banks’ The Player of Games is a fairly short sci-fi novel that is part of his Culture series and was released way back in 1988. The book’s plot concerns the exploits of Gurgeh, the best game player in the entire ‘Culture’ system, a pan-galactic Liberal Socialist socio-economy of plenty, as he visits the smaller empire of Azad in order to take part in their gaming tournament. In the Azadian society, everything from civil status to fiscal wealth is determined through the success at the game of Azad. This super-complex game permeates society at every level , even dictating who is the rightful emperor, as it is seen as the ultimate measure of an individual’s intellectual, tactical and social capabilities. Like all the best works of literature, The Player of Games certainly poses more questions about its themes than it answers.
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Is Investment into Space Technologies a Waste of Money?

2011-04-12T16:29:00.002+01:00

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (or NASA) was founded in 1958 due to a huge rise in demand over space and scientific conquest. Many other alternatives were considered before president Eisenhower decided to establish a federal space department, but NASA was the agency that seemed most suited to replace the existing NACA. Its initial creation was more of a political backlash to the 1957 Soviet 'Sputnik 1' mission and was seen as an ideological battle between superpowers during the cold war.
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Why Social Living is Common Amongst Mammals

2011-04-12T16:25:00.003+01:00

To discuss social living among mammals, it is first important to lay a foundation with which to elaborate upon. By beginning at the building blocks of life, genes, other acts of social living can be better placed in context. Darwin pioneered the idea of evolution, and determined that each organism seeks to produce maximum offspring to allow a greater chance of the species survival. Social living can enhance this.
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John Gribbin's Multiverses

2011-04-12T16:21:00.001+01:00

Written as if for publication on Wired.com

Regular Guardian contributor and visiting fellow at the University of Sussex John Gribbin has made his mark in history for a number of reasons, including his pioneering work on measuring the size of galaxies. In between experimental work such as this and other speculations (such as the idea of using iron to fertilise the oceans with plankton to combat climate change), Gribbin somehow manages to find the time to write a book or two. Famous for his unique ability to explain complex theoretical physics in a simple and digestible manner, Gribbin has covered everything from quantum mechanics to time-travel. His last book The Universe: A Biography has been available for over a year and now his next book is due for release.
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How You Should Live: Experts on TV

2011-04-12T16:16:00.001+01:00

This essay concerns the rise of experts in makeover TV (in the UK) and the influences that have occurred as a result. It is not a comprehensive analysis of makeover TV, neither is it an evaluation of experts. It is an investigation into the broader social effects that the programming may cause. This means that although there are many issues concerning sexuality, gender and race, I will not be extensively addressing these, nor will I be taking a left or right political stance. I will attempt to establish how and what the influences of the experts are, and will discuss the merits of such effects. I also assume that TV is accepted as a powerful medium, and that its influence is felt throughout the west. The text I feel is most appropriate for study is ‘How to look good naked’, hereafter referred to as HTLGN. Although only directly feminine makeovers are featured, I believe it to be a useful example as it is a popular and typical makeover show, and readers are expected to understand that it is a representation of the genre, and not an isolated analysis of the specific text. The show also features Gok Wan, who is presenter, narrator and expert of everything in the show, the uber-expert. This applies well to the piece, as will become apparent later. Although I speak very much in the first person, this is due to the personal approach I am taking to the investigation, and the informal tone does not mean that the essay is trivial in any way – in fact, quite the opposite. The aim is to dissect the systems in which makeover TV and its experts operate within, and what wider social influences this may have upon society.
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TV Experience

2011-04-12T16:13:00.001+01:00

A fairly pointless history of my TV-watching experience, produced at some stage of my degree I think.

I have always had some sort of relationship with television, as I guess almost everyone does in the UK. My earliest memories of TV are typical children's shows. I remember watching Noddy and similar shows as well as cartoons. I particularly veered away from any sort of edutainment, as I have always been conscious of TV shovelling ideology into the viewer, although as a child I would have said 'I hate it when they try and make you learn what they think'. I always hated any type of learning (unless it was about dinosaurs, strangely) and started education at the latest possible point, and until A-levels retained my hatred for all things education.
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The History & Application of Adobe Flash

2011-04-12T16:06:00.002+01:00

Adobe Flash is at the centre of a number of recent technology news stories and debates, and has been one of the major software packages that has succeeded in the Internet era. Flash has its beginnings in a drawing application for pen computers, which later adapted into Future Splash, a web animation program designed to compete with Macromedia’s Shockwave technology. Finally, after multiple modifications, updates and corporate activity, Adobe Flash CS3 was released as the successor to Macromedia Flash 8. The current edition is Creative Suite 5, or Adobe Flash CS5.
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BlizzCon & QuakeCon: Benefits Enjoyed

2011-04-12T16:01:00.002+01:00

A fairly recent phenomenon in an admittedly young industry, trade events involving competition and promotion held by gaming companies are becoming ever more ubiquitous. Two of the largest of these are Activision Blizzard’s behemoth ‘BlizzCon’ and ZeniMax Media’s giant ‘QuakeCon’. They both differ in aesthetic and presentation, employ somewhat juxtaposed marketing techniques and are significantly opposed in origin, yet they ultimately share analogous goals and achieve similar benefits.
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Review: Fire Tusk Pain-Proof Circus

2011-04-12T15:51:00.002+01:00

Part of the awesome Fringe City festival, FreeRange consisted of a giant orb-like marquee erected alongside a small smattering of smaller tents, bars and food outlets. The highlight and headline of the festivities (which included a show from Nicholas Parsons and an Insect Circus) was undoubtedly the ‘Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus’, a supposedly dark, adult twist on the traditional circus show.

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Superficial Intelligence

2011-04-12T15:46:00.001+01:00

I get inside the taxi and tell the driver to go to the Burger Shot in Broker. After two minutes of safe driving, the taxi comes to a busy junction. Despite the red light, the driver pulls out and smashes into the side of another car. He begins to correct the error by reversing, only to meet the headlights of a police car. Five minutes later and the barely roadworthy taxi is still messing about at the same crossroads, so I decide to put the hapless driver out of his misery with a swift shotgun blast to the head. Of course I’m talking about GTA IV’s acclaimed artificial intelligence, which begs the question ‘what is good AI?’.
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The Byron Review: What it Means for Gamers

2011-04-12T15:44:00.001+01:00

A fortnight ago, child psychologist Tanya Byron published her government-ordered review of the potential risks of videogames. Although fairly ambiguous, her general conclusions seem to be focused on the classification of games in the UK. She has called for greater involvement of the BBFC and a legally binding certification system that will allow parents to 'clearly see if the games will be suitable for their children'.
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Gaming Tales From Indonesia

2011-04-12T15:41:00.002+01:00

Having never been to Indonesia before, it is fascinating for me to observe the video game market here. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, and Java is the most densely populated island on the planet, with 150 million people in a space half the size of the UK, so clearly the potential for a thriving gaming industry is huge. Not unlike Britain, Pro Evolution Soccer/Winning Eleven, Guitar Hero and GTA are the most popular games. The market however, is different. It is rare to see a console for sale, or a shop lined with games. It is much more likely you will see one of the many gaming centers, often little more than the back room of someone's house, but sometimes huge arcades covering an entire floor of a mall. Here you will find rows of 14" TVs connected up to PS2s and PS3s. The key thing is that you will struggle to find anyone playing a Wii or 360. Indeed, many people are bemused when I begin to repeatedly shout 'Wii' and wave my arm around like a Wii-mote in their faces.
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Gaming Tales From Taiwan

2011-04-12T15:39:00.003+01:00

Have you ever wondered what you would do without video games? Have you ever considered what it would be like to not have your own games console? Last month I wrote about the Indonesian video games industry and concluded that it is unlike anything in Europe or USA, and I can safely say that the same applies to Taiwan. Taiwan is a country full of juxtaposition. The most cutting edge technology is in abundance yet you can't drink the tap water. You can eat a huge cheesy pizza for a pittance but milk will cost you a small fortune. Added to this are the ideas of online social gaming and the lifeless banks of occupied computers found in Taipei's many Internet cafes. Although it is not uncommon for people to own computers in Taipei, almost every Internet cafe in the country is full of gamers tapping away at keyboards and guzzling soft drinks. World of Warcraft is number one here and the console market is similar to the West, with the Wii and 360 possessing a slightly larger market share than the PS3. However, console gaming is on a much smaller scale than in the US or UK. There are a number of console games shops scattered around Taiwan's cities but as I have already stated, the focus really is on online PC gaming.
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A Love & Hate Relationship: Pre-owned Gaming

2011-04-12T15:38:00.001+01:00

We gamers probably know more about getting scammed than most. Be it the words "hello, stranger" or a 35 year-old, rosy-cheeked midget dressed in green, the result is always the same. We trade the hard-earned goods we obtain from our brutal pillages for just a few rupees, only to be later told we will have to pay triple that amount to buy them back. There is an ever-present aim to get as many Republic Credits, Gil or Septims as we can, which often blinds us from the blatant crude business practices employed by Tom Nook and his kind.

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Gaming Round-up for April 2011

2011-04-12T15:34:00.002+01:00

Welcome to the April edition of the BN1 games section. We’ve had a bombastic end to March, with the iPad2, Nintendo 3DS and Crysis 2 all hitting the shelves on the same day! We’ve had the chance to play lots of other games too, so read on to find out what we thought of them.
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Preview: Glastonbury 2010

2011-04-12T15:31:00.002+01:00

Boh no! U2 to headline Glastonbury!

Note: this Glastonbury turned out to be my favourite ever, with amazing music, a U2 cancellation and sunny weather completely outshining England's woeful loss to Germany.

Another year, another Glastonbury: the UK’s most notorious festival returns again on Wednesday 23rd of June, with the ‘resale’ batch of tickets soon becoming available on April 11th. The line-up details are as scant as they always are, but the rumours of potential comebacks and cameos are equally rife. The festival will undoubtedly sell out yet again, though there is a cloud of pessimism lingering over this year’s show and it’s not just the obligatory annual rainstorm. First up, only the stubbornly pretentious will be deny awareness of the World Cup; ‘the only event bigger than the Olympics’ will likely not be on the minds of many of the mud-drenched, peace-loving hippies but the recent commercialisation of the site means that there will be many football-loving regulars that may opt out of splashing the £185, or even worse will dampen the mood significantly when England inevitably crash out on the Saturday night.
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Interview: Gogol Bordello

2011-04-12T15:27:00.002+01:00

When we heard gypsy punk legends GogoI Bordello were coming to town we jumped at the chance for some continental chit chat with charismatic front man Eugene Hutz, while touring in the US as part of their 2010 world tour.
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Interview: Jonsi from Sigur Ros

2011-04-12T15:23:00.001+01:00

One of our favourite musical artists and indeed one of the most acclaimed musicians worldwide, Jónsi of Sigur Rós is heading into town very soon. Since omnipresent anthems like Hoppipola started hitting the airwaves in the mid-2000s, Sigur Rós have become everyone’s favourite Icelandic band, and lead singer and songwriter Jónsi has spent the last couple of years creating his debut solo album ‘Go’, which came out this April. We were privileged enough to catch up with him in anticipation of his upcoming show at the Brighton Dome on the 14th of September.

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Interview: Mirrors

2011-04-12T15:11:00.001+01:00

With half their members scavenged from the corpse of over-too-soon Bexhill band Mumm-ra, four piece Mirrors are a Kraftwerk-esque pop noir.outfit. With highly emotional, catchy songs like “Look At Me” and “Fear Of Drowning” they look like a dead cert to wow the crowd at Meadowlands this May. Hyped by various magazines across the country, James (synth, vocals), Ally (synth, vocals), Tate (synth) and Josef (electronic drums) are the maestros making up this sharp suited band, and are proud of their image and rightly so. Here at Bn1 we met up with James to see what the fuss is all about.
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Preview: Secret Garden Party Festival

2011-04-12T15:09:00.001+01:00

SECRET GARDEN PARTY WITH MARINA & THE DIAMONDS, MERCURY REV, SKATALITES, GORRILLAZ etc.

The Secret Garden Party festival is a BN1 Magazine favourite, set in the majestic grounds of a Georgian farm house; Abbots Ripton, find yourself lost in a world of art and dance. Spend your days relaxed by the delightful lakes side, recharging your cells for the party atmosphere full of colours and fire by night!
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Student Guide to Pubs & Clubs in Brighton

2011-04-12T15:07:00.001+01:00

Each year the dawn of October heralds a new wave of fresh young students eager to embark upon the world of academia. With two universities welcoming the latest batch, there will be over 6000 new faces in the city, all keen to supplement their studies with copious amounts of partying, fun and inebriety. Here’s a quick rundown of the various drinking establishments around Brighton.
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Review: C-Mon & Kypski

2011-04-12T15:04:00.002+01:00

These Dutch electro-party nutters were the last act listed for the whole festival, playing in the newly revamped Jam at 1am on Saturday night. After their debut album ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ covered literally a completely different genre for each track, I really had no idea whatsoever what to expect from this gig. Although C-mon & Kypski (confusingly, there are four of them) did flit from genre to genre, they generally stuck to electro-pop-indie-dance-polka-reggae... erm.... which is pretty narrow if you’ve heard their album.
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Review: Egyptian Hip Hop

2011-04-12T15:03:00.002+01:00

Egyptian Hip Hop are anything but what the name implies. In fact, for a band that sounds interesting and unique, they are actually infinitely dull and standard. Take any four band members from any modern run-of-the-mill band out there, clad them in skinny jeans, snip and dye their hair into something trendy and extravagant and voila! There you have your Egyptian Hip Hop. Although I may be being harsh here, the band failed to captivate any sense of wonder or engage with the crowd, as each song blandly blurred into the next.

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Review: Gold Panda

2011-04-12T15:01:00.005+01:00

East London DJ Gold Panda has a small but dedicated following, whose ranks are slowly growing with every gig he performs. It seems the organiser’s faith in Life providing an adequate venue for this early evening set was misplaced, as although the location is fine for traditional clubbing scenarios, the back room allocated to Gold Panda’s gig was far too small and claustrophobic.
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Review: Delphic

2011-04-12T15:01:00.004+01:00

Delphic held the privilege of headlining The Great Escape’s Friday night at The Corn Exchange, an honour shared with the festival’s main act the following evening, Groove Armada. So what makes Delphic so worthy of basking in the same level of exposure as that seasoned and unquestionably talented duo? At their best, Delphic really do invoke a sense of awe, marrying the two holy disciplines of guitar music and dance music in perfect harmony, in a blending of genres that so many bands attempt but ultimately fail to achieve. In the way that previously ‘innovative’ acts like the Klaxons, Hadouken and Bloc Party have made indie music a digital and dancey experience appropriate to play in clubs, Delphic played some tunes that elicited not only the karaoke-type crowd response usually found at The Kooks gigs, but also the shape-making, dance-inspiring beats of a Digitalism or Simian Mobile Disco set – a pretty tough, yet potent combination. When the marriage worked, things were beautiful: just enough lyrics to avoid dull repetition but also a filthy bassline and beat, which is all anyone really wants. In moments like this, it is clear that Delphic love making music and know exactly what they’re doing; making it unfortunate that at times they seemed totally lost.
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Review: The Big Pink

2011-04-12T15:00:00.003+01:00

The Big Pink enjoyed a headline slot at what is one the best venues on the seafront – Digital. Starting late, the band was forced to cut their set short which displeased both them and the fans. Digital is perfectly set-up for gigs of this scale; the sound system and light set-ups are certainly superior to most of the other Great Escape locations. The gig was powerful and intense, with the slow, drums-driven ‘Too Young To Love’ opening the band’s setlist, which gradually intensified throughout before climaxing in the fan-favourite ‘Dominoes’, provoking a fun and wild sing-a-long from the crowd at the end. Disappointingly however, was The Big Pink’s heavy reliance on synthesised and pre-recorded sounds. The drummer, while surely talented, often only played half of the beat, leaving the more complex rhythms to the electronic drum machine. Similarly, fabricated vocal tracks were used in place of a female singer. These small issues coupled with a short 30 minute set may have left many somewhat let down, though as long as ‘not enough music’ is one of the complaints aimed at them, I’m sure The Big Pink will be happy.

Review: Top Spin 4

2011-04-12T05:41:00.002+01:00

It’s almost impossible to ignore the relationship that games have enjoyed with the ol’ back-and-forth of tennis, and the racquet sport has forever been enshrined within the annals of video gaming. The simplicity of Tennis for Two and Pong have long been superseded by the latest offerings on modern consoles, and Top Spin 4 is no exception. This game allows you to play as successful contemporary superstars like Serena Williams and Roger Federer, vintage greats like Boris Becker and Pete Sampras, or even to take control of your very own custom-created superstar.

Or Andy Murray.
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Review: Dragon Age II

2011-04-12T05:38:00.002+01:00

The original Dragon Age - released in 2009 under an 'Origins' moniker - was a triumph for traditional, PC-led Western RPGs. Lauded for its classically modelled styling, if you zoomed out as far as the camera would go and squinted a lot, you could almost have been playing the original Baldur's Gate that BioWare was striving to spiritually succeed. Combat remained true to the complexity and strategic depth synonymous with PC RPGs of yesteryear, shunning the simplified suites made prominent by the rise of Western RPGs on consoles. Now, just short of a year-and-a-half down the line, BioWare has moved on from the lands of Ferelden to a new location in the Dragon Age universe called Thedas.
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BBC Panorama Disaster

2011-04-12T05:33:00.003+01:00

British TV is a mixed bag; it on one hand has pre-fabricated and heavily edited ‘reality’ shows dominating the ratings, yet on the other it presents interesting and insightful dramas and documentaries that don’t make the first bit of commercial sense due to the UK’s ancient PSB laws.

Thankfully this means shows like LIFE and Planet Earth get made, though not all of our documentaries are quite so good. BBC’s Panorama made headlines last week when it revealed some evidence of corruption within the FIFA organisation and was subsequently blamed for England’s catastrophic performance in the 2018 World Cup bid - which was a scapegoat that the 2022 USA bid unfortunately doesn’t have - though my full thoughts on this belong on another genre of blog.
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The Develop Games Pub Quiz

2011-04-12T05:28:00.003+01:00

In classic British weather conditions (the pissing rain), the annual Develop pub quiz took place in the shelter of a swanky London bar, Sway. Brink developer and last year’s champions were present at the event and eager to retain their title, though any ill feeling or resentment leftover from last year was soon lost in the upbeat and pleasant atmosphere, made up in no small part due to the free bar.
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Review: Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

2011-04-12T05:26:00.002+01:00

There have been dozens of Lego games from Travellers Tales since the original Lego Star Wars and with Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, they have thankfully tried to add something new to the series rather than simply attach the Batman or Harry Potter license to their formula. The question is: does the Lego adventure block your path to enjoyment, or is it a character-building experience? What do we make of it?

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Review: de Blob 2

2011-04-12T05:23:00.004+01:00

The best blob since Mr Blobby has made his return in Blue Tongue’s sequel to the Wii-exclusive De Blob. De Blob 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, with players once again tasked with adding colour to the drab, monochrome world that is under the control of the evil Comrade Black.
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Diversity in the Game of the Year 2010

2011-04-12T05:19:00.001+01:00

Last year Uncharted 2 stormed pretty much every GOTY list, procuring over 100 of the highest plaudits for the year. Before that, LittleBigPlanet and GTAIV dominated the previous award charts. This year however, the diversity amongst different institutions that are selecting a GOTY award seems to be incredibly high and there is a stark difference between any two given ‘top games of 2010’ list.
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Dead in the Water or a Dead Cert? The New Dead Island Trailer

2011-04-12T05:16:00.001+01:00

Dead Space. Splatter House. Kill Zone. Violence Area. Gore Building. There is now a new game that can now enjoy a place alongside the popular mediocrity of modern gaming titles. In one single, spectacular swoop, Polish developer Techland managed to generate more hype for their vaporware game Dead Island than most publishers can create in a year. Despite the sketchy history of the European outfit, which has previously announced and subsequently abandoned games like Warhound and Chrome 2, people have lapped up the new teaser trailer with enthusiasm.
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Review: Halo ODST

2011-04-12T05:12:00.004+01:00

The usual hype and fanfare that has surrounded the release of Halo ODST hasn’t been as positive as that of its 2007 predecessor, with much of the attention focused upon the perceived poor value of a game initially planned as DLC. This has been compounded with Microsoft’s decision to bundle in the Halo 3 map packs with copies of ODST, which many have seen as an attempt to compensate for the supposed paltry new content. With this in mind, and although it’s a Halo game bereft of its renowned protagonist and its campaign is little over six hours, Bungie have somehow produced another title well worth the full retail price it demands.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Halo ODST is that despite all the changes that have been made, it still feels exactly like a Halo game. Gone are the regenerating shields, the dual-wielding of weapons and Master Chief’s grand story-arc , instead replaced with a stamina-health system and an intricate blending of individual tales to form what is so far the most compelling Halo story yet. Controlling as a variety of different ‘Orbital Drop Shock Troopers’, the player is tasked with unite with the others and ultimately investigate the Covenant goings-on around them.
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Interview: Need For Speed's Darin Perfonic

2011-04-12T05:06:00.004+01:00

At the Tokyo Game Show last week, we met with Need For Speed Undercover Project Manager Darin Perfonic and talked a bit about his upcoming game, which releases November 18.
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Why JRPGs Aren't RPGs At All

2011-04-12T04:53:00.002+01:00

Genres in video games are already confusing mazes of definitions. Action games, adventure games, platformers. As gaming technology develops, some genres slowly become obsolete, such as top-down racers and on-rails shooters, yet we as an industry cling to ancient terminology and archaic descriptors for modern games: what exactly is a Role Playing Game, and how can Western and Japanese versions of the same genre differ so dramatically?
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The Top Ten Biggest Game Flops

2011-04-12T04:41:00.003+01:00

Some games have such a disastrous impact that they can even destroy those responsible for their existence. Listed below are ten tales of arrogance, hype, tragedy, stupidity and crushed dreams. These ladies and gentlemen, are the games that killed their creators.
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Introduction to Scientific UX in Games

2011-04-12T04:35:00.005+01:00

There are a few buzzwords in the games industry at the moment, but one of the more interesting ones to come out of GDC was ‘User Experience’ or UX. I have links to the UX sector myself, and consider this area of ensuring game quality as rather hugely important. I believe that like the recent dramatic improvement in the localisation work on games over the last 5 years, QA also needs a shot in the arm – perhaps administered by the cutting edge of UX research.

"" It is not sufficient to simply test the game itself; is equally important to test the quality of the relationship between the player and the game""

The Top Ten Games Industry Jobs

2011-04-12T04:27:00.004+01:00

Everyone knows what a concept artist or a programmer is, but the wonderful industry of games development has one or two job roles you may not have known about. Here are ten of the most interesting, stupid and bizarre jobs involved in the games production process that aren’t as well-known as the established roles.

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Sound Design & Soundtracks in Games

2011-04-12T04:22:00.006+01:00

The improvements in technology over the last forty years of video game development have mostly pivoted around the visual presentation of the game itself; the rapid leaps forward in horsepower and perspective evolving to today's gaming environment, where the complexities and intricacies of the game's graphics are forever polished and finessed.
One area of progression that has improved dramatically since the dawn of interactive media is the realm of audio. Since the primitive bleeps and bloops of early game design, the soundscape of gaming has evolved to almost its logical conclusion. From sweeping non-diegetic musical scores to incidental but brutally accurate aural indicators of damage dealt and received, modern computer games now exhibit such an awesome and detailed range of audio that we decided to describe a few of our favorites.
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The Top Ten Stealth Games

2011-04-12T04:17:00.002+01:00

Ill-informed whiny Brit Joel Windels and the three-fingered spastic Eric Frederiksen took 20 minutes the day before this was due to hastily cobble together a piece on the arbitrarily-chosen topic of stealth games. ENJOY!

Discussion of Activision vs Zampella/West COD Case

2011-04-12T04:11:00.003+01:00

Ever since March 1st, the gaming community has been constantly blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking and yelling about the recent firings of developers Jason West and Vince Zampella by Activision. There are a lot of things that remain uncertain such as: did Zampella and West commit insubordination? What do these events mean for the Call of Duty/Modern Warfare (COD/MW) franchises? Ultimately, what will be the wider and specific results of the trial?

The two Kombo self-proclaimed intellectual heavyweights Bryan Roush and Joel Windels go head to head in a 3 page battle of speculation and fact to answer these questions.
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The Top Twenty UK Game Developers

2011-04-12T04:04:00.003+01:00

The UK games industry has always been a bastion of innovation and quality, though has seen a decline in recent years thanks to the tax breaks of competing markets. Despite this, there are still dozens of brilliant studios in the land of hope and glory, and trimming them down to even twenty was a tough task. A consecutive failure to stick to the ‘top ten’ format, this list has such an abundance of talent that even Relentless, Playfish, Slightly Mad Studios, SCE studios, Team 17, Blitz, Frontier and Jagex have failed to make the cut. This list shows that Great Britain still has something to offer this mental world of video games.

The Top Ten Game Development Hotspots

2011-04-12T03:59:00.002+01:00

The relatively young games industry has seen a number of changes since its inception, from the 1983 industry crash to the implosion of much-loved development studios. Shifts from West to East and back again have transformed the ways and locations that games have been developed in; here we have taken a look at the top ten places to develop games in the world today.

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xXx||gAmErTaGz340876||xXx

2011-04-10T18:56:00.003+01:00

Back in May 2008, we reported how some poor gamer had their "theGAYERgamer" gamertag banned by Microsoft, on the grounds that it was inappropriate. More recently, a guy sold his "Hitman" gamertag for a tidy pouch of beans on eBay to someone who presumably thought this was a cool thing to have. These stories, among others have inspired me to explore just exactly makes a good gamertag or PSN name, or rather what doesn't.
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Jaded Since Jade; Has Ubi Gone Soft?

2010-03-22T16:41:00.003Z

There was a time when I looked up to Ubisoft as a beacon of light in what I saw as an otherwise dark and misguided industry. 2003 was a year in which I had the time to play a lot of video games, and managed to play most of the year's major releases. I was, at the time something of a Nintendo fanboy, though I did own a PS2 and Xbox as well. Nintendo were for me, a company that refused to comply with the industry's growing stagnation, yet the GameCube was struggling to economically perform.

Preview: Eurogamer Expo

2010-03-22T16:34:00.004Z

Here's a quick rundown of all the games I had only a short amount of time with, games that are unchanged since E3 or games I felt ill-equipped to judge. Thusly, I have simply jotted down my initial impressions from playing these games. Full hands-on of other games like God of War 3, Heavy Rain and Dark Void can be found elsewhere here on Kombo.
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Top Ten: Games of the Tokyo Game Show

2010-03-22T16:25:00.004Z

The Tokyo Game Show 2008 promised to amaze the world with the best release schedule in the run-up to the holidays ever seen, and it certainly did not disappoint. The hardest task in compiling this list was definitely deciding which games wouldn't make the cut. Sadly, some excellent titles came up short, which is not to say that they aren't great - only that others are even better. Notable absences from the show were Gears of War, Alan Wake and Mad World, so they were disqualified from contention. Ultimately, this list considers not only how good I think a game is going to be, but also its popularity at the show, how the good the demo was, and the game's impact factor. Here's my rundown of the 10 games of the show.
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Preview: Wheelspin

2010-03-22T16:15:00.003Z

Perhaps surprisingly, this Wii racer (to be called SpeedZone in the United States) is to be published by Bethesda and is unfortunately likely to become a blemish on their impressive track record. It is clearly inspired by the awesome Nintendo racer F-Zero and to a lesser extent Wipeout, San Francisco Rush 2049 and Rumble Racing. A very simple control layout, with the 2 button labeled as "faster" and 1 as "slower," and the usual tilting for steering. The racing is moderately fast, but any sense of speed is lost due to the sparse race tracks. Speed is relative and thusly pointless without any markers of distance or scenery to swoosh past, and bland, distant spacey environments fail to convey how fast you are traveling. The tracks themselves are interesting enough, with loop-the-loops, tunnels, ramps and mental corners providing sufficient variety and excitement to keep the player amused for a while. The handling however, is far too floaty and light, with little corrective power given to players if they make a mistake short of respawning onto the track. Moreover, the sheer number of mistakes is so large that the respawn button has been mapped to A, and races are more a case of finishing with the minimum number of screw-ups rather than wheel-to-wheel high speed racing.
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Preview: God Of War 3

2010-03-22T16:09:00.004Z

The Eurogamer Expo version of the God of War III demo began as the E3 edition did, but was extended to 45 minutes of gameplay. The game still looks fantastic and really looks as if it is pushing the technical capabilities of the PS3, though it should be noted that along with Heavy Rain, the cameras are largely fixed. God of War 3 plods along the same old hack 'n' slash tropes, with combo-chaining or button-mashing action split up with sections of rudimentary gameplay borrowed from other genres and titles. These are where GOW is at its poorest, with on-rails Starfox-like dodging of obstructions in a flying portion of the demo and an awkward attempt at platforming using the aerial ability of hapless harpies by grotesquely sacrificing them to traverse large gaps. These feel tacked on, but do perform quite well in breaking up the action. The fighting itself is as fluid and intricate as it ever was, and the lighting has been improved to a spectacular standard. Harpies are not the only creature that can be superficially controlled, as the demo (like at E3) featured a lumbering Cyclops that could be used to destroy local enemies before slaying the beast in a graphic eye-removing climax akin to the one seen in the second God of War game.
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Preview: Heavy Rain

2010-03-22T16:07:00.005Z

Features editor Brad Hilderbrand got his filthy hands on Heavy Rain at E3 earlier this year, but I managed to get some quality time with a newly-revealed scene called "Hassan's Shop" that differed to the Junkyard scene that was previously previewed. It begins with detective character Scott Shelby entering a shop, with heavy rain (duh...) falling outside. The cinematics and the gameplay are equally beautiful, and so when you are first given control of Scott in the shop, you are unaware that the cut-scene is even over. This is compounded by the somewhat bizarre control setup, whereby meddling with either analogue stick or the d-pad will have no effect on the Scott's movement at all, unless a shoulder button is held. The player is evidently tasked with interrogating Hassan, and has a number of questioning techniques at his disposal in order to get information on the origami killer and a missing child, with one method involving playing on Hassan's emotional distress at having had his son Reza killed also.
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Preview: Dark Void

2010-03-22T16:03:00.007Z

Dark Void is a game developed by Airtight Games and set for release in early 2010. It was steeped in mystery until fairly recently, and I was lucky enough to get the best part of an hour with it. Well I say lucky, but perhaps that would be the wrong word to use. First up, the graphics are mediocre at best. Hair modeling is flat and static, character animations are silly and unrealistic and the general aesthetic look of the game is akin to something released two years ago. Stylistically there is some interesting flair, with a steam-punk, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow-like appeal and a sci-fi/1938 storyline that commits no particular crime, other than the fact that it makes no sense. A pilot in real-world 1938, Will (you) gets sucked into a void when flying through the Bermuda triangle with his ex-girlfriend or something. In the void exists an alternate world in which humans (survivors) and aliens (watchers) squabble because many years ago in the real Earth the watchers were overthrown and banished to the void and now you and your ex must fulfill your destiny and prevent the watc... boring boring boring. You get the idea; it's the same old sci-fi tripe that you can find in any game.
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Preview: Aliens vs Predator

2010-03-22T16:00:00.007Z

Note: seems like my first impressions of this demo back in Sep '09 turned out to be wrong!

If you read my articles and previews often you may have noticed a negative tone to my writing. Okay, so I’m a grumpy old pessimist, but right here is the antidote to that poison. While there has been a limited amount of coverage surrounding the single player campaign of AVP (in particular that of Predator) very little has been seen of the multiplayer. I had the chance to sample the very new v1.04 of the game, and played as all three classes in an 8-player deathmatch, which was played on two different maps. The levels were largely outdoors with some cave sections, one named temple and the other called jungle, and they both had a strong visual similitude with the 2004 AVP film.

Games = Not Cool

2010-03-22T15:53:00.004Z

OK, so you’re a gamer. You’re at the coolest party of the year and just happen to be talking to the hottest girl there. You’re getting on well and then she asks you what you like to do in your spare time. Most people, assuming of course that you are a straight male, would lie about their gaming habit and make up something far cooler, like snowboarding or something. Whenever I tell girls I write about videogames they just vomit in my face. Maybe that’s because I’m hideously ugly, but I like to think games have something to do with it. In another scenario, you have just joined a new men’s football team. When being introduced to the other players, it would certainly not surprise me if you chose not to discuss your gaming habit. Furthermore, I doubt many videogame players put gaming under ‘interests’ on their CV when applying for jobs outside the industry, for fear of employers wrongly misjudging them as some kind of lethargic, immature waster.

So why would otherwise normal people conceal their favourite thing to try to impress girls or even guys in some circumstances?

QTEs: Quite Tedious Experiences

2010-03-22T15:47:00.005Z

A young, muscular gentleman is cautiously walking towards a small building with its door ajar. As he enters the structure, he turns suddenly to find that the door has slammed behind him. There is a growling noise coming from the corner of the dimly lit room. The man cranes his neck forward to peer into the darkness. A loud roar erupts and a snarling zombie panda leaps forth from the shadows and swipes at the man. Press B. The man ducks and avoids injury. The panda recoils and picks up a nearby chainsaw and revs it up, before ramming it towards the young male's face. Press X. The man dodges and grabs the handle of the weapon. Tap A rapidly as the man furiously attempts to force the blade into the panda's chest. The chainsaw pierces the poor bear, spilling blood and gore everywhere and thus ends our cut scene. A series of complex and stunning events such as this would normally require some kind of mastery of a game's controls, but as I have so patronisingly suggested with my fictional example, this is not always the case.
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Modern Warfare: Developer Showdown

2010-03-15T17:09:00.006Z

Again, this originally provoked a number of heated responses (apologies for minor grammatical inconsistencies):

I was recently discussing the merits of the two development studios with a Kombo colleague, and to my surprise he disagreed with what I assumed was common knowledge, that Treyarch does a poor job of emulating Infinity Ward's quality in the Call of Duty series. Further research has led me to discover that he is not alone in triumphing the game-creating skills of Treyarch, and I have had to reconsider my opinion of the outfit. Even our very own EIC Ken Cauley found it a tough call to make. For me however, the choice is obvious.

Some Other Reasons Why the PS3 is Lagging Behind the 360

2010-03-15T16:43:00.003Z

There have been dozens upon dozens of lists compiled to explain the reasons behind the PS3’s ten million deficit behind the Xbox360 in the console wars. These lists have provoked endless debate, with issues such as the delayed release date, the perceived arrogance of Sony, install files, the quality of PSN and myriad other qualitative factors and specifications. There are however, one or two aspects that few, if any have considered thus far and I would like to briefly outline a few of these overlooked elements that I believe have conspired to Sony’s underwhelming economic performance. The extended causes and effects that surround these issues are seemingly infinite and so each paragraph is simply an introduction to the fundamentals of each proposed reason, rather than an exhaustive analysis.

Industry Roundtable Session: Holiday '09

2010-03-15T16:34:00.006Z

This is my excerpt from a gaming journalist roundtable discussion on the Holiday '09 release schedule

This holiday season is hugely underwhelming when compared to the spectacle of the last two years, though the giant shadow of Modern Warfare 2 is perhaps responsible for this year’s scant offerings. It’s possible that the undoubtedly enormous forthcoming success of MW2 has scared off other huge releases, with MAG, Bioshock 2 and Splinter Cell pussying out until 2010. Hopefully these will provide an enjoyable early 2010, much like how Resident Evil 5 and SFIV kept us busy before the summer drought this year. Aside from MW2, this winter I can see Dragon Age, Assassin’s Creed II, Uncharted 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 all clocking a million sales before spring and I believe the wonder of Sribblenauts will follow in the footsteps of Dr Kawasaki and sell bucket-loads over the course of next year.

The WiiStation 720

2010-03-15T16:23:00.003Z

I have had this idea brewing for years and I finally think that I can just about make out a real manifestation of it on the horizon. It is a slightly hard notion to convey, so please forgive me for my potentially poor articulation of the idea. For the next generation of consoles, instead of Home or NXE; Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo could implement this new concept.

Are Games Blind to Prejudice?

2010-03-15T16:04:00.007Z

The gaming medium is unique in more ways than one, but judging by most of what I find in mainstream media most of those contribute negatively to society. This ranges from their interactivity causing players to go on killing rampages to their power to command today's youth into morbid obesity. Although it is not unusual to hear games journalists denounce these claims as unfounded or to defend their misunderstood industry, I rarely read about anything declaring that gaming's unique assets may actually be positive. I've written about how video game narrative is the most potent conveyor of ideology in the entertainment sector, and this week I would like to touch upon another positive facet of modern computer games.
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The Top 100 Games to Play Today

2010-03-15T15:34:00.006Z

This piece provoked a lot of response!

I recently babbled on about why I like Edge magazine so much and I'm back to continue spouting out some more Edge-related dribble. In issue 200, Edge compiled a list that I have been longing for ages. I love lists in general, although I appreciate how silly and arbitrary they can be. It is almost impossible to rank games without wearing those rose-tinted specs and it can be a nightmare trying to jostle between the effect they had on the industry, originality, quality for the time and their current quality. It is useless to deny that some games have aged better than others and I have always wanted someone to produce a list that eliminates most of the confusing aspects that usually come into play when compiling "100 greatest games ever" lists.
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The Cutting Edge

2010-03-15T15:29:00.006Z

Future publishing have just released the 200th issue of my favourite magazine in the world and to celebrate have published 200 different versions. Although the content of each Edge is the same, each cover is unique. As the magazine costs £4.50 ($6.20), it would be expensive to collect them all but it would also be extremely difficult due to their relative scarcity. Edge has a circulation of about 35,000 but let’s say that this month they will produce 40,000 copies. This means that there will only be 200 copies of each edition and I found out today that each store only gets one version of the cover. I’ve accepted that there is very little chance that I will be able to collect them all, but nevertheless I would like to get a few.
Let me explain why I think Edge is the best gaming publication (apart from this magazine course!) and the only magazine I would ever be compelled to collect.
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Dispatching Patches

2010-03-15T15:02:00.004Z

There has been much recent discussion about the perceived laziness of developers in the rush to release games and the glitches and bugs that arise from such hastiness. The latest blockbuster releases, in their intricate complexity often provide wide-ranging glitches, from the game-destroying problems of Civilisation III to the sometimes hilarious bugs of the Sims.
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Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

2010-03-15T14:57:00.005Z

Everywhere you look these days there are signs of an impending zombie apocalypse. The UK recently saw the release of Charlie Brooker's excellent Dead Set on DVD and this century has seen dozens of zombie-infested movies, a worrying rise that has also infected the world of video games. This generation has been swamped with zombies, from Dead Rising's limitless zombie horde to COD5's marching Nazi Zombies.

We all now have enough experience in dealing with the forthcoming undead doom, but just in case you need some advice in your preparation, here are some basic dos and don'ts in the imminent Armageddon.
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I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

2010-03-15T14:48:00.003Z

I recently completed creating a flash-based game for a university project and during the design process took the opportunity to play a lot of games I had never played before. One of my favorite stories ever is a short one written by sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison called "I Have No Mouth, and I must Scream," which you can read here, and during my game research I stumbled across a 1995 PC game based on the story.
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Disappointing Wii Charts

2010-03-15T14:20:00.003Z

This isn’t the first ‘disillusioned by Nintendo’ blog on Kombo, and I know that a lot of our readers have only Wiis, but I don’t know how you cope! A lifelong Nintendo fanboy, I have all of the big hitters for the Wii: Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, Zelda, No More Heroes, Super Smash Bros Brawl and the pick of the rest too, such as Boom Blox and De Blob.
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Personal Plans for a Gaming Window

2010-03-15T14:11:00.005Z

However bad the raincloud gets, there is always a sliver of silver lining. I recently bored you all with how big my raincloud had been getting and it has now developed further and I am to undergo surgery in a few weeks. If you really want to know why, feel free to click here; an operation that will keep me out of action for about a week. Inspired by tales of vasectomy patients who use the surgery recovery time to enjoy guilt-free gaming for a week, I have chosen my silver lining. The thing I am not so sure about is which game to invest my time in. I have a few to choose from, thanks to my chronic laziness outlined last month, so do you think that you guys could help me choose?

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Choice & Ideology in Games

2010-03-15T13:57:00.005Z

A fairly recent trend in video game form is to offer players a degree of choice in their actions which usually result in some kind of wider ramifications in the game world. Obviously nonlinear narrative has been present in gaming for years, but I am specifically talking about games that have decision-making as a core mechanic of the gameplay such as Mass Effect or Fable.
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Sir Charlie Brooker

2010-03-15T13:34:00.004Z

You may have never heard of Charlie Brooker, especially if you happen to dwell in the land mass to the west of the Atlantic, but Brooker is someone I have loved for years. Brooker currently writes editorials for the UK newspaper The Guardian and hosts a BBC4 review show, which has recently switched from general TV reviews to a critique of the news.
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Why Games Will Never Be Truly Mainstream

2010-03-15T13:28:00.004Z

Ken Cauley should go and hit a tramp. Peter Molyneux should hire a couple of hookers and become a reported missing person for two weeks. Tim Schafer should shave his head. David Cage should be found dead in his home wearing nothing but a jockstrap and a rope. Joel Windels should make his point before his examples get even more extreme.
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The Casualties of Casual Games

2010-03-15T13:22:00.007Z

This was in part a rebuttal to another editorialist's article:

First things first, Peggle is fantastic. There are no two ways about it, the puzzle game is alive and well. This article is not a criticism of Peggle per se, but is more of a knee-jerk reaction to the notion proposed by Brad that we are completely wrong about casual games.

Brad is careful to address games that are purely cash-in casual titles, as a long list of pathetic Wii copycat games will support the notion that some attempts at "appealing to new audiences" are nothing more than shoddy waggle-fests. Nevertheless, perhaps he is mistaken in his labeling of Peggle as a casual game, as this term has almost become a term exclusively for this type of cheap "party" game. Peggle is of a similar quality to old classics like Tetris, Columns and Bust-a-Move, games that were never branded as casual when they were released. This type of well-designed puzzle game is more of a compliment to heavyweight titles for most gamers, as Brad's Xbox gamertag will testify, with Peggle nested in between sessions of Skate 2 and Fallout 3.
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Bosses in Managerial Positions

2010-03-15T13:06:00.005Z

When someone says ‘boss’ do you think of someone in a suit and a managerial position in an insurance firm or do you think of a giant beastly Kraken with 6-foot teeth aggressively swinging its tentacles at you? Bosses inhabit a vital and much-loved role in videogame form and can come in all shapes and sizes, from Timesplitters 2’s helicopter to Portal’s GlaDOS and have so many features that we have grown to love and loathe. They are never mentioned in reviews if a game fails to have them, nether is their presence questioned in the games that do. From the ubiquitious bosses of 2D sidescroller bosses to today’s environment, when even games like Mirror’s Edge (a game with little to no combat) features bosses, the same characteristics are exhibited.

They are almost always invincible to regular attack but have one flaw or weakness, such as their choice to dwell beneath a loose cave ceiling that can fall on their head. They have an annoying, unskippable pre-fight cut scene that you will have to watch every time you retry. They will die only to reveal their ‘true form’. They are surrounded by henchmen who serve little more than to distract you. They have one or two noises or lines that are repeated over and over and they are dirty cheats.

Review: Battlefield 1943

2010-03-15T13:00:00.007Z

This article follows Kombo's review protocols

What the Game's About
A 565mb download-only title and the first of its kind on PSN and XBLA, Battlefield 1943 is a multiplayer-only extension from the Battlefield franchise, featuring a streamlined experience of the original. It offers both conquest and air superiority modes and four large maps (one is exclusively air-combat) in which up to 24 players can battle it out to determine whether the US marines are successful in their invasion of the fortified Japanese islands. The game differs from BF: Bad Company and instead returns to its roots, relying more heavily on vehicle use, territory-holding and general all-out slapstick carnage.
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Ant or Dec: Who Cares?

2010-03-15T12:57:00.004Z

I imagine that most people in the US don’t know who Ant and Dec (also known as PJ and Duncan) are. I envy them. These two Geordie chancers have graced British television for the last ten or fifteen years, beginning their careers in the awful kids show ‘Byker Grove’. After a short career in the world of pop, the UK ‘Vanilla Ice squared’ got work presenting Saturday morning TV shows, soon appearing all over the place. The official video has conveniently restricted its embed code so watch it here, but here is a performance of their epically crap ‘Ready to Rhumble’ just so you get an idea of just how lame they are.
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Acclaimed and Ashamed

2010-03-15T12:49:00.008Z

A claim I always like to make is that the quality of games are fairly closely tied to their commercial performance. However, there are unfortunately a number of truly terrible games that are greeted with some success, and some absolute gems that fail to generate enough sales. Tragically, the fates of these games is largely dictated by marketing, for example the poor performance of the excellent Little King’s Story was attributed to bad marketing by its tear-filled producer Yoshiro Kimura. On the flipside of this we have quality marketing pushing sub-par games into decent sales figures, like many games in the PS1/PS2’s library that sold well but haven’t aged well.
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Inventing a Better Inventory

2010-03-12T15:42:00.009Z

I take my good sweet time with games and have also built myself up quite a backlog of games to get through, but excuses aside, I am yet to finish Mass Effect 2, so if there are any late-on surprises that conflict with anything I say in this blog, please forgive me. In Eric Frederiksen's recent article he was spot on about almost everything, but he was so wrong about the inventory side of things. Now, I'm a hoarder. In Fable, I owned every item in the game, absolutely every piece of clothing and every weapon, no matter how powerful or weak. The traders had nothing left to sell me. In Oblivion and Fallout 3, I took over fifty hours in each just scrounging around for cool things to hoard, sell, trade, swipe and swap with before finally attempting the main missions. I have pretty much everything in Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, Mass Effect, Resident Evil 4 & 5 and all the other appropriate games. I know my inventories.

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Top Ten: Games That Killed Their Creators

2010-03-12T15:16:00.013Z

Some games have such a disastrous impact that they can even destroy those responsible for their existence. Listed below are ten tales of arrogance, hype, tragedy, stupidity and crushed dreams. These, ladies and gentlemen, are the games that killed their creators.
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