Video games

Health to provide Max Payne 3 soundtrack

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

24 Apr 2012

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…

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

The starlet's debut album outshines the blogocentric hype

8 Feb 2012

(Polydor) Amid the conspiracy theories, the double-standards, the cosmetic surgery obsessions, the questions of authenticity (or lack thereof – like pop was ever without a scheme); amid the histrionic revelations (how dare she have tried before!…

Video game LA Noire features Mad Men's Aaron Staton

Rockstar Games’ recreate 1947 Los Angeles in latest title LA Noire

5 May 2011

Henry Northmore checks out Rockstar Games’ meticulous recreation of 1947 Los Angeles in their latest title LA Noire. They’ve already created digital versions of gangland America in the groundbreaking Grant Theft Auto series, and of the Wild West in Red…

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

Playtest reveals augmented reality games as best showcase for 3D

7 Mar 2011

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…

BAFTA Young Games Designers Workshops

12 Aug 2010

A unique opportunity for 12–16-year-olds to work with experts on the planning, design and creation of video games. Participants will have the chance to get a head start on their entries for the BAFTA Young Games Designers competition, which is open…

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

19 Mar 2009

The first of two episodic downloads for last year’s console hit is much darker then the core game. Playing as new lead Johnny Klebitz, vice president of biker gang The Lost, it’s up to you to diffuse a violent gang war. Unlike previous episodes, there’s…

Resident Evil - Capcom interview

5 Mar 2009

Videogames have delved into the world of horror for a good number of years. Haunting Ground, The Suffering, Jericho, Alone in the Dark and many more have fought for the crown, but Resident Evil is the daddy of them all. On its launch back in 1996 it was…

Horror Games Roundup

5 Mar 2009

With the launch of Resident Evil 5 Henry Northmore looks at why it’s a great time to be a fan of digital terror Silent Hill: Homecoming PS3/Xbox 360 (Konami) ●●●● Silent Hill has always been one of the most disturbing titles on the market…

New initiative for Scottish games industry talent

4 Sep 2008

Channel 4's 4Talent Scotland initiative is working with four Scottish games companies to deliver Talent Arcade: The Brief - a new talent scheme to discover, train, and develop new gaming talent in Scotland, which was launched at this year's Edinburgh…

Unusual Gameplay

14 Aug 2008

Time to burn your joysticks and throw away your control pads as game developers begin shifting away from the norm by introducing some innovative, unorthodox and plain silly methods of play this summer. If you thought the future was here when the Wii hit…

Game On

14 Aug 2008

Too Human Xbox 360 (Microsoft) Third-person actioner as you play cybernetic god Baldur in the first part of a mighty, world-conquering trilogy from developer Silicon Knights. It mixes hardcore melee and long-range combat as you battle humongous war…

WALL-E

Video Game Review

17 Jul 2008

Whatever the merits of the original work, game-of-the-movie titles tend to be rushed to market to coincide with a cinema release for the most cynical of purposes. The multiple development years that characterise genre-defining titles such as Halo and…

RSNO: Video Games Live

19 Jun 2008

Last year in the UK, videogames overtook the music industry in terms of money made and it looks like the film industry could be next. But today’s gaming technology is working in tandem with these industries in interesting new ways, making cut-scenes…

Grand Theft Auto IV

8 May 2008

Typical, isn’t it? You wait two years for the most anticipated videogame of all time and it turns out all wrong. What have Rockstar being doing with their time? The driving feels different. They’ve changed the shooting. And Liberty City is only a…

Online gaming

28 Feb 2008

Downloading media has become increasingly easy in recent years. Your mobile phone can download games, your television can stream radio and DVDs can be rented over the net and played on your games console. While users are increasingly warming to the idea…

Play - Crysis

17 Jan 2008

PC (EA) Did Santa bring you a nice new shiny computer? Is it so powerful you need your own wind farm to run it? Let’s hope so because Crysis demands it. Actually, that’s not fair. The new shooter from the Far Cry team is perfectly playable on a…

Play - Guitar Hero III

17 Jan 2008

XBOX 360/PS3/PS2 (Activision) Guitar Hero is always a joy. As a party game it is unsurpassed, producing some of the silliest sights you’ll ever see. The game’s perfectly pitched balance of piss-take and rock reverence always delights while the…

Play - Super Mario Galaxy

17 Jan 2008

WII (Nintendo) Richard Dawkins, Oxford University’s Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, believes humanity’s ability to understand the world is limited by its interaction. Because of our size, our lifespan, the pace at which our lives…

Review of the year - video games

13 Dec 2007

What promised to be a rather mundane year in gaming turned out to be a surprising 12 months. Two lessons were learned in 2007: firstly, discount Nintendo’s infectious innovation at your peril. And secondly, punters can’t get enough of imaginative…

Hitman - Blood money

29 Nov 2007

Hitman is the latest in a long line of videogames to make the jump from console to big screen. Despite the flops (think Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter) studios just don’t seem able to keep their hands off videogame properties, with the Resident…

The Orange Box

29 Nov 2007

PC/XBOX 360 (Valve) ‘Oh Mr Valve, with zees expansions you are really spoiling us!’ The Orange Box is ridiculously good value, containing the genius of Half Life 2 and its episodic expansions, the mind-bending challenge of Portal and Team Fortress 2…

WWE Smackdown! Vs Raw 2008

29 Nov 2007

XBOX 360/PS3/PS2 (THQ) You know the score by now: lots of grunting, grappling and men in lycra as yet another in the seemingly endless, but always popular, WWE wresting series hits the market. As you’d expect, on the next gen machines this looks…

Assassin's Creed

29 Nov 2007

XBOX 360/PS3/PC (Ubisoft) How refreshing to enjoy an interesting story well told: thanks to an imaginative, if slightly bonkers, flashback device, Assassin’s Creed tiptoes nimbly through the obvious modern politics of a story set in the Holy Land…

Ghostbusters receive call to join new computer game

16 Nov 2007

The original cast of the hit movie Ghostbusters will lend their faces and voices to a new computer game due to be released next year. Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have signed up for the project, with the latter two - who…

Festive Wii demand expected to outstrip supply

15 Nov 2007

Games company Nintendo has said it is doing ‘everything possible’ to ensure stocks of its Wii meets the clamour of shoppers keen to get their hands on the popular game before Christmas. Consumers however have been warned to expect disappointment as…

Crime & punishment - breaking the virtual rules

1 Nov 2007

These days, when we talk about crime in the cyber world we’re not referring to the joyriding depicted in Need for Speed or the multiple murders of Manhunt. These are crimes against computer controlled characters within games. This may sound…

Top Gear to be available through Gran Turismo 5

25 Oct 2007

Some 40 episodes of the popular motoring show Top Gear are to be available on a dedicated Gran Turismo TV channel. Games enthusiasts will be able to download the shows via the PlayStation 3’s online network, while the test track used by the BBC…

Game over? Halo 3 launch dampened by leaked conclusion

27 Sep 2007

The excitement caused by the global launch of Halo 3 could be dampened by the news that the game’s final scenes have already appeared on the web. Thousands of enthusiasts queued outside some 1,000 UK stores which opened late to be among the first to…

Predictable video game adaptation #713

6 Sep 2007

At the very least the Joust movie will be odd, the news that a new live action version of Street Fighter is in the works just invokes a wave of crushing ennui. Though it’s going to have to go some to be as appalling as the Jean-Claude Van Damme/Kylie…

Bizarre video game adaptation #146

6 Sep 2007

There’s a few slightly alarming video game adaptations in the pipeline. Hitman you can sort of understand, Halo might be a bit of a stretch and the new Resident Evil just looks rubbish. However, CP Productions have taken the bar, raised it a little…

Play - War Room

Life & Style

24 Apr 2007

Gaming is great - digging out your console or powering up your PC for a dose of virtual action. It’s even more fun if you get a few mates together for a bone-crunching Tekken session or a pass-the-mic round of SingStar. Now imagine a group of 28 with…

Life & Style - Play - Alien nation

Alien nation

10 Apr 2007

So it’s finally here, after a four month delay, a barrage of negative press, and spiralling development costs, but was the PS3 worth the wait? Initial sales figures suggest so. Sony managed to sell 600,000 units across Europe in the first week alone and…

Life & Style - Play - Formula One Championship Edition

Formula One Championship Edition (Sony)

10 Apr 2007

PS3 Unless you’re blessed with the cat-like dexterity of everyone’s favourite square-jawed Scot, chances are you’ll appreciate the help that Sony are trying to give in their latest racer. Unlike Mr Coulthard, most of us were born with fat chipolatas…

Life & Style - Play - Motorstorm

Motorstorm (Evolution Studios)

10 Apr 2007

PS3 Mud. That’s apparently what next-gen is all about. Granted, this may not be the most ringing endorsement for drawing £425 from your bank account, but bear with us. You see, this isn’t just any old mud, oh no. It’s gloriously unpredictable…

Life & Style - Play - Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic The Hedgehog (Sega)

10 Apr 2007

PS3 Remember the days when all Sonic had to worry about was running through shiny gold rings and traversing the occasional loop-the-loop? Well now he’s got a lot more to contend with. Other than rescuing his - disturbingly - human girlfriend, Sonic…