Valve is one of the most well-known and respected developers around today, and their first game, Half-Life spawned one of gaming’s biggest franchises. When it hit the PC in 1998, Half-Life wowed critics and went on to become one of the most popular first person shooters ever released for both PC and console. A seamless mix of first person shooting action and science fiction storytelling, the adventure catapulted Gordon Freeman into the limelight and cemented Valve as a force to be reckoned with.
Author: Philip Hockaday
Episode 31: The RPG Adventure
In our latest episode Paul and Chris are joined by Kincl from Hyperplay RPG fanzine and Julian Hill from Boxed Pixels as they sit down to discuss the RPG (Role Playing Game) genre. During their adventure the explore a few of their favourite games, what makes a great RPG, early memories of getting into the genre and more.
Episode 30: SEGA Saturn Part 2
The SEGA Saturn needs little introduction. The controversy surrounding its launch not only took the media by surprise but also alienated a large amount of retailers. In short the launch was a disaster and coupled with the fact that the Sony Playstation was about to be released which boasted state of the art 3D visuals, the Saturn, even though it was a 2D powerhouse, was on the blckfoot from the get go. However even with the consoles glaring short comings it has gone on to be a much loved system of the retro gaming community.
Episode 29: Hidden Gems
Every console has stand out, must own, games but some great titles unfortunately slipped under the radar. In this episode Paul, Phil and Chris sit down to discuss some of their favourite games that in their opinion are hidden gems. Hopefully some of the games mentioned here will inspire you to go back and check out some of the great titles that, for whatever reason, never stuck a cord with fans the first time around.
Episode 27: Nintendo GameCube
This episode the team discuss the Nintendo GameCube. Although not as popular as the Playstation 2, the GameCube had a wealth of great games for it. As well as the usual Nintendo series you would expect such as Zelda, Mario, Metroid etc there were many other games that were worth checking out such as Pikmin, Eternal Darkness and many more.
Episode 26: Nintendo 64
When it finally reached Japanese stores in 1996, The Nintendo 64 represented one of the most hotly anticipated hardware releases in gaming history. The powerful system caused a stir with its revolutionary controller, iconic console design and reliance on cartridge technology; and initial software reviews were almost universally positive. But what of the rest of the Nintendo 64’s legacy and library?
Episode 24: Platform Debate
Platform games have always been one of the most popular genres. From the 8 and 16bit height of popularity there have been many great gaming icons such as Mario, Sonic, Monty Mole and more. Following on from those, Crash, Spyro, Rayman, Ratchet & Clank helped move the genre forward.
Episode 23: Mega Drive Part 2
Whether you preferred SEGA or Nintendo back in the day, nobody can deny that the Mega Drive was a phenomenal system with some truly iconic games.
In this second visit to the system that brought us ‘Blast Processing’, we take a close look at a further 15 titles that made the system a must own for many gamers.