The creators of the vastly popular PlayerUnknown’s Battle Grounds made gaming news headlines last week, taking legal action against a handful of games mimicking PUBG a little too closely. One clone features a frying pan as a melee weapon, while another uses the term ‘Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner’ in their marketing. Both are under heavy …
In 2001, UK retailer GAME revealed plans to stock a new range of retro systems and software. This came as a surprise to many as it was still early days for the retro gaming scene. The Mega Drive and SNES remained fresh in gamer’s minds, and only the likes of the Spectrum and Commodore 64 …
If you promised yourself that 2018 will be the year you finally join a gym to burn off those love handles, then the following may be of interest. Run Hundred has released a pair of workout mixes inspired by 8-bit music. After being handed a CD filled with 8-bit tunes, composer Chris Lawhorn found that …
In his recent terrible game compendium Attack of the Flicking Skeletons, YouTuber Ashens reached out to various gaming pundits to discover which 8-bit titles they regretted buying during their youth. It’s no surprise that everybody had a story to tell. Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, publishers had the knack of luring in would-be victims, …
When it comes to discussing bad games it’s all too apparent that many internet pundits rely on second-hand impressions and recycled knowledge. Why experience the true horror of something first-hand, when you can head to YouTube and watch half-a-dozen gameplay videos and chalk up a few key observations? The answer, of course, is because it’s …
Countless movies, cartoons, and comic books released in the ’80s were perfectly suited for video game adaptations. Sadly, the limitations of ’80s consoles and computers meant that many franchises gaining gaming adaptations fell short of their potential. The industry was going through a ‘lazy cash grab’ phase at the time too, lest we forget. Wear …
While far from being a failure of Amstrad GX4000 proportions, the NES wasn’t exactly a runaway success in Europe. The 8-bit cassette-based formats, with their inexpensive software, offered better value for money and a similar assortment of games. The SEGA Master System was performing well off the back of its arcade conversions, too, and this …
Those who frequent Twitter may have come across @SEGACDGames, a rapidly growing account featuring spoof box art for SEGA’s ill-fated add-on. The choice of format is a stroke of genius – the SEGA CD (aka the Mega CD) had a rather eccentric library, comprising of low-budget FMV games, platformers starring quintessentially ’90s heroes, terrible movie …
The SEGA Forever service launched a fortnight ago, although to be brutally honest it isn’t much of a “service†at present. The concept is sound enough. Play classic SEGA games on your mobile device, either for free with adverts between stages, or with adverts removed for a £1.99 fee. The execution is sloppy however, with …
Developer Digital Images did something unimaginable in November 1999 and released WipEout 2097 on the humble Amiga. A system best known for such 2D classics as Worms, Theme Park, Cannon Fodder, and Sensible Soccer, three-dimensional Amiga games were few and far between. They often veered on the “experimental” side of things, too, guilty of pushing …
The first two Wonder Boy games were intended to be coin guzzlers, ushering arcade players along with haste and a sense of urgency. A simple case of hot-footing it from one level to the next before the time limit was up, with no time to stop and explore. It wasn’t until the third Wonder Boy …
A new Micro Machines game was announced earlier this month. To many, Micro Machines means only one thing: local multiplayer. This new ‘un supports it, sure, but with those futuristic wireless controllers we have these days. It wasn’t like that back in the ’90s. Back in the ’90s they had to be clever, and they …
Here’s an elongated story about one man’s junk becoming another man’s treasure. While scouring the stalls at a car boot sale a few weeks back, I came across a small collection of ’90s candy stick packets. Empty confectionary boxes which I was keen to hand over money for; literally junk – something most people would …
The success of the original Ghostbusters movie came as a surprise to many. As such, there wasn’t a huge number of promotional items and licensed products released alongside the 1984 comedy classic. The marketing men soon rectified this for the sequel, and by the time The Real Ghostbusters cartoon aired it was possible to buy …
As far as light-gun shooters are concerned, The House of the Dead and its sequel are stone cold classics. The third game in the series isn’t anywhere near as fondly remembered, however. We’d even go as far as saying that the console-exclusive House of the Dead: Overkill is more renowned. After playing through the Wii …