Life & style, Henry Northmore

The best Scottish websites

The top 30 websites made for and by Scots

When putting together this list, we weren’t necessarily looking for the biggest or the best-known cultural websites in Scotland. We were looking for unique and interesting ideas, cleverly realised and lovingly maintained on the web. This might mean that…

Hot 100 2012: 100-90

JK Rowling, Tilda Swinton and Andrew Fairlie among Scotland's hottest cultural contributors in 2012

The Hot 100 is our list of Scotland’s 100 hottest individuals and groups who’ve made a splash this year, from comic book writers to comedians, artists to actors. If they've contributed to Scotland's cultural landscape in 2012, you'll find them here.

The best things to do in Glasgow

Where to … … take a walk Dumbarton Road is Mecca for enthusiastic charity shoppers (tip: start off at the Salvation Army near Byres Road) – make a day of it by wandering round the junk and vintage shops of nearby Ruthven Lane first. (Kirstin…

Review: Wii U - Playtest of new Nintendo gaming console

New touch screen gamepad console is sophisticated and fun but no game changer

In recent years Nintendo has avoided the techno wars by taking a sidestep into imagination rather than battle for technical supremacy. While Microsoft and Sony have launched ever more powerful gaming consoles Nintendo have given us the Wii and 3DS.

Tekken: Blood Vengeance

Fluid but uneven CGI movie based on the popular games franchise

This is actually the third movie based on the immensely popular fighting games, but Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Manga Entertainment) is the first fully computer animated version and was originally available as part of the Tekken Hybrid package. It looks…

NEoN Digital Arts Festival 2011

Highlights include works by artists Tom DeMajo and N55 and an event exploring the sound of stars

Digital arts festival NEoN is once again transforming Dundee into an electronic playground for six days. With its series of film screenings, live music, DJ performances and workshops, NEoN’s main aim is to create works of art that couldn’t have existed…

Risk!

The storytelling podcast has some celebrity guests, but the real stars are the everyday strangers

This fortnightly American podcast presented by Kevin Allison is ridiculously simple, with its mix of comedians, performers and members of the public sharing true stories. Grouped under themes such as ‘A Slippery Slope’ or ‘Perverse?’, it can sometimes…

Wii U Review: In-depth playtest of Nintendo gameing console

We give Nintendo’s fun new console a proper home trial

We tried out the demo model back in October but now we’ve got our mitts on Nintendo’s Wii U, with all the features up and running it’s time to give their latest console a serious test drive. The GamePad really does add a new element to gaming, actually…

Distant Worlds aims to bring the music of the Final Fantasy video games to Edinburgh's Playhouse

Strings stir, cymbals clash as before us an epic battle unfolds as good once again fights the forces of evil. This isn’t an opera or a big budget movie but a scene from Final Fantasy, one of the longest running and most respected RPG videogame series.

Health to provide Max Payne 3 soundtrack

The LA noise rockers follow the game-soundtracking example of Opeth, Trivium and others

Ever since the very earliest days of home gaming and the release of the Atari 2600 (1977), videogame music has become a part of cultural life. The lack of processing power meant it was necessarily tinny, bleepy and repetitive. Despite this, 8- and…

David Kushner - Jacked

An entertaining, if hyperbolic, 'unauthorised' history of Grand Theft Auto

(Collins) After a similar book on Doom, journalist David Kushner returns to familiar ground with Jacked. This ‘unauthorised’ history of Grand Theft Auto traces the game’s development from its early beginnings in Dundee to become one of the highest…

Sony PS Vita handheld console - playtest

We try out the new hardware with some of the PSV launch titles, including WipeOut and Uncharted

Sony’s new PS Vita is a pretty impressive bit of kit. It’s the most powerful dedicated handheld gaming device on the market. In practical terms it’s pretty much a PS3 in your pocket. The full HD OLED screen really pops and, due to the processing power…

Preview of 2012 - Games

A look at the videogames that'll rule your world this year, including GTA V, Halo 4 and Max Payne 3

First off the biggie: Grand Theft Auto V. We’ve seen the trailer and it looks like we’re back in Los Angeles, sorry Los Santos, for the latest instalment of the world conquering videogame developed by Edinburgh’s own Rockstar North. The shoot outs, car…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

The best family games this Christmas

Animal Croquet, Pointless, Angry Birds, Rory Story Cubes and Spyro the Dragon featured

Animal Croquet One for the little ones or if you just fancy a very civilised mini game of croquet indoors. £24 (currently on special offer online at £16.50) from poshlittletots.com Pointless The much loved TV quiz show with Alexander Armstrong…

Dead Island

The game behind the stunning trailer is finally ready for release

A young girl’s body lies in the grass, the image intercut with her running down a corridor pursued by undead hordes; time rewinds as she flies up, back through the window her father just threw her through as she grapples him from behind, biting a huge…

Games contest Dare to be Digital attracts best of Scotland's gamers

University of Abertay comp is breeding ground for games industry talent

Dare to be Digital, now entering its eleventh year, has become the breeding ground for Scotland’s games industry talent. Hosted by the University of Abertay, Dundee, 15 teams of five are already feverishly programming a working videogame before the…

Can Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld live up to the hype?

Playtest reveals augmented reality games as best showcase for 3D

This piece could discuss technical specifications and the history of Nintendo’s innovative design, but instead let’s cut to the chase: does the 3D work? Happily the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. It’s actually pretty amazing. With the 3DS Nintendo have…

Gaming centres 1LevelUp and Twitch offer high-spec machines

Glasgow and Edinburgh centres blast loner stereotype

There’s a tired stereotype that gamers are loners, locked in their bedrooms hunched over their consoles or PCs desperately trying to beat their high scores. However, gaming centres, such as the recently opened 1LevelUp in Glasgow and Twitch in…

More 3D, tablets and Panasonic's Jungle game system all set for 2011

The technology that we can expect in the year ahead

Rule of three There’s no denying that 3D was a game changer at the cinema in 2010, from the megahit of Avatar, to smaller kids pictures such as Despicable Me and horror films such as Saw 3D everyone seemed to want in on the act and the lucrative…

2011's most anticipated gaming releases

Gears of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, Little Big Planet 2, LA Noire

It’s January so the perfect time to look ahead at the videogames that will be rocking your console in 2011. As per usual sequels are big news. Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360, Microsoft, 8 Apr) will be making a full frontal assault on the first person shooter…

Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2010

Now into its eighth year, the international festival of computer gaming and technology is far more integrated with the festival proper this year, offering public screenings of the Total War series and previews of Playstation Minis, along with a variety…

Kevin Bridges, Derrick May and Green Velvet on Rock Ness 2010 bill

Rock Ness has more to offer than just great DJs and lashings of live music, as Henry Northmore finds out

Darksiders

(THQ) Xbox 360/PS3 You take on the mantle of War (of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse fame) as angels and demons clash and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. While Darksiders won’t win any awards for originality, it’s an undeniably…

Bayonetta

(Sega) Xbox 360/PS3 It’s been a strong few months in the world of action gaming, as Bayonetta proves. Directed by Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, you take control of a shape-shifting witch for a frenetic ballet of blood, bullets and blades.