leisure

Why the digital download revolution will suck from kestrel1977 15 days old

For a minute there, I was Charlie Bucket. My usual miasma of gloom and disillusionment was swept aside by an unexpected beta test invitation - a golden ...

How self-aware computers will change video gaming from kestrel1977 29 days old

If religion is like a warm campfire that rewards the faithful with a soothing glow of comforting ignorance, then science is the equivalent of a bucket ...

Beaten by Bomberman from kestrel1977 36 days old

In the sad goldfish bowl that is my workaday life, there are few things more exciting than the arrival of a new parcel from Japan. The latest box of ...

Derren Brown's unexpected balls up from kestrel1977 48 days old

In the past few weeks, mentalist Derren Brown's been pulling in audiences by apparently predicting the lottery, sticking viewers to their seats and ...

Parasol Stars - a forgotten masterpiece from kestrel1977 54 days old

Of all the games in Taito's Bubble Bobble lineage, Parasol Stars is among the least known. While Rainbow Islands has been ported to almost every computer, ...

Gaming's greatest aliens from kestrel1977 61 days old

It's been another weird gaming week. Following last time's encounter with the harsh realities of import gaming (my newly purchased PC Engine could ...

How I lost my heart - and my wallet - to a PC Engine from kestrel1977 71 days old

It's been a strange gaming week. My initial excitement at receiving yet another addition to my console collection was short lived; the system in question ...

Five more weirdest games ever from kestrel1977 78 days old

Readers with keen memories may remember my previous top five weird games from last year. And just to prove that mildly interesting ideas are worth ...

Hard labour: Gradius Rebirth from kestrel1977 84 days old

Few shoot-em-ups did as much to define the genre as Konami's Gradius. Taking the side scrolling gameplay of Scramble and Defender, Gradius established ...

Mega Drive shooting classic: Fire Shark from kestrel1977 86 days old

Now this really is a classic from that hangar of classic shooters, Toaplan. Fire Shark, or (brilliantly) Same! Same! Same!, as it's known in Japan, ...