Ratchet & Clank, Counter Strike and Mario

Since I last blogged I’ve became completely obsessed with the original Ratchet & Clank Games. I’ve finished Ratchet Gladiator so far and now I’m currently working my way from the start. I’ve done them in a bit of a strange order but screw it I’m enjoying myself.

I’ve also been playing Counter Strike and erm… well I’ve been doing OK at it. Which is something I never thought I’d say. I’ve playing it on and off over the last few days.

Finally how beautiful is this video please?

Expect more regular updates from here on in.

Mario Bros: Atari?

Ok I'm probably missing something completely obvious here, but is that the original Mario Bros on... an Atari?

You know, I'd like to think I know quite a bit about Retro gaming but this... this is news to me. Literally something I didn't know, and I can't help but feel it's pretty obvious as well.... It's a not a rip off because the bottom of the advert says copyright Nintendo.

Oh well, I suppose I was always naive to think that Mario has always been exclusive to Nintendo consoles. I just decided to post this because I was literally shocked! You know, being the mega nerd that I am.

Anyway, before this post becomes incredibly pointless here's a bit of classic 80's videogame advertising to go with it.

Happy Halloween!

In a complete deviation from last years top five scariest games, this year I present to you a.... general blog about Halloween! Still, it's going to be all about Halloween in general instead of just scary stuff.

Team Fortress 2 received it's first seasonal update on Thursday! For this weekend only, players can access a brand new Halloween map (which includes exploding pumpkins and a ghost), get two new hats and unlock five special achievements! Personally I love it. It's probably only of the first games that Isn't an MMO that I've seen receive special seasonal content. Not only that, but it's packed full of the attention to detail that Valve are so famous for. When a player taunts, he does the thriller. When you die, you drop a bag of candy. When you see the ghost you run in fear, unable to shoot. All the health pickups are bags of sweets or chocolate bars. There's skulls and pumpkins and little ghosts hanging everywhere. It's just... Well. It once again proves that TF2 is a labour of love and just how dedicated Valve are to the fans. All I can say? Please PLEASE let there be a Christmas update!


Last Halloween, I can't say I relished in the enjoyment of playing any horror games. In fact, most of my Halloween night was spent playing the Mirrors Edge demo and Defcon (which I suppose is creepy, considering I put it as number five on my scariest games ever!) while eating cheap chocolate and ignoring the door...

This year however It's different for tonight I have a plan. I'm going to submerse myself into the quite frankly terrifying Dead Space, before moving on to the rather grisly Left 4 Dead, and after a quick run through on Doom 2 I'm going to brave.... Tycoon City New York! Oh lord I hear you cry! Surely not! The materialistic values of modern day American society which subsequently burn the American dream to an unidentifiable crippling shard are so present in it's bleak and decaying world that surely it won't be long before you either break down on the floor weeping in fear or simply kill yourself to escape the nightmare?

My reply? No. And that Joke was too nerdy to be funny.


Happy Halloween guys!

Game Plan

I've been reading a book recently called "Game Plan: Great Designs that Changed the Face of Computer Gaming". It's all about ten games that completely changed modern gaming. It's dead interesting despite the fact that I don't entirely agree with the games listed (If you're interested the games are Populous, Tomb Raider, Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Street Fighter 2, Broken Sword 2, The Sims, Half Life and Everquest) but the most interesting thing about it is the interviews with the developers on the earlier titles (Mainly Populous, Super Mario 64 and Street Fighter 2).

The great thing about them is that the developers had no clue what on earth they were doing, and that most of the extraordinary things we see in videogames today were because of the mistakes made back then. Combos for instance, were created due to the animations in Street Fighter 2 not allowing the player fight back after receiving a hit. They weren't intentional at all, they were never meant to be there and that fascinates me.

Now if only I could make a revolutionary mistake....

Gamestation Win!

I've just found out, thanks to a handy little booklet I picked up in Gamestation the other day, that Mario kart DS and New Super Mario Bros would get me £32 if I traded them in.

Yes that's right. £32 for two games that came out over two years ago now... That's only £3 off me being able to buy Uncharted 2 on launch day!

Madness. But then again, I'm not complaining.

Mario: Game Over

I'm busy today ( Bloody A-Levels) so here's a classic Video of Mario!

Mario And The Princess

Mario kart!

Why was this not Mario Kart Wii? The graphics are like, a lot better. The overall feel seems more Mario Kart and the camera inclusion is a fantastic idea. Another wasted opportunity in my humble opinion...

Yahoo!

You know what? Mario Kart 64 is still, to this day, the best Mario Kart ever made. Honestly, go play it on the N64 or download it from the Virtual Console. It's great in multiplayer. It's all me and my mate did on Halloween. 

Play it! Play it now!

A Wii Game Worth Playing

One of the reasons I left my Wii was the distinct lack of quality games. No matter what Nintendo threw at me it never stuck, even if they super glued it. Ever since I got my Ps3 (and a considerable time before that) I've never even touched my Wii apart from when moving it so my Ps3 could fit under my TV. 

Yesterday, I couldn't be arsed to bring my Ps3 back upstairs and my crippling laziness was preventing me from going down to play it. So I booted up the Wii and a copy of strikers with my mate and decided to see if we still enjoyed it. Simple answer, yes we did. He whupped me, 8 games to 2, but I got in enough cheeky goals that made him swear to the high heavens to make up for it.  

It kinda made me realise what the Wii's all about. Playing NEXT to someone, instead of playing online. It almost made me want to keep playing by myself, but then I realised it's crap on single player and went back to COD.