Cash Effect - Why Mass Effect 3's Collector's Edition is a slap in the face

Once upon a time, not too long ago to those of us over 25, when you paid full price for a game you got to take home a full game. But the advent of the internet has, as with all aspects of life, taken its toll. Now there's no such thing as a "finished game". Everything needs patching, or expanding, or tinkering with post-release. It's like buying a brand new car and not getting the breaks fitted until a few weeks later.

Life Ain't A Game

Videogames exist in a strange universe. No matter how different two games may seem, you’ll always find common rules that link the two – like Forza 4 and Prince of Persia sharing a rewind function, for example. Now imagine if our world was governed by those rules. Would it be better? Or worse? In this feature I take a look at real life through a skewed lens, and ponder what it would be like to live in a world governed by the rules of the videogame.  

2011 Autumn - Winter Games Round-Up

Well, here we are again… August. That wonderful threshold after which, every year, the gaming release schedule goes bat shit crazy. Forget the rush of releases between January and March by developers too afraid to set foot in Q4 – this, the beautiful, chaotic space between the last week of August and the first week of December, is where it’s at. I’d be brave enough to bet that 9 out of 10 people reading this post either have one of these titles pre-ordered, or intend to have in the next few months.

Why I Don't Mind Batting for Both Teams (Figuratively Speaking...)

I’ve been a self-confessed Xbox “fanboy” (as much as I hate the term “fanboy”) for a good nine years, ever since I borrowed my uncle’s console and a copy of Halo while he buggered off to Tenerife for a fortnight. Two weeks and three playthroughs later, and my Playstation One went over the trade-in counter quicker than a copy of BMX XXX.

Jedi Beats Tank's Five Favourite... Heroic Sacrifices

What would an action story be without heroics? What would victory be without sacrifice? The worlds created in videogames are rarely button-bright affairs; often they’re dark and war-torn, shattered by conflict or terror. Yet into these dark realms, heroes must stride, whether to rid the world of evil or save it from some horrendous end. The stars themselves are tyrannous, Fate is cruel and callous and, sometimes, not everyone makes it out alive.

Today we pay tribute to the fallen, without whose bravery Humanity would be far worse off. 

Alice: Madness Returns Trailer

The awesome trailer for Alice: Madness Returns, the follow-up to the gloriously twisted, woefully underrated American McGee's Alice.

I Don't Suck at Games - I'm a Dad, Actually

Anyone who’s had their arse handed to them by a 13-year-old FPS enthusiast will know and understand the shame and pain I felt on Wednesday night. After being “fragged” for the 11th time in a row by a prepubescent gamer who, judging by the accent and put-downs, may have originated from Arkansas or, possibly, the eighth circle of Hell, I was seconds away from rage-quitting when an epiphany hit my like a flashing blue sticky bomb in the face.