The original dozen characters in the first Smash Brothers game were a revelation in just how many played almost exactly as if they were an actual standalone Kirby, Yoshi or 2D Legend of Zelda game.
Overcooked 2, much like its predecessor, is a kitchen chaos simulator, yet the game is only tangentially about food. Its universal appeal is arguably more based on throwing a group of friends or strangers together and seeing the sparks fly as they fail to get the dishes done.
Unlike humans, genres arguably never die. But much like us, they do get older, adapting in unique ways to the rigours of time, while stubbornly sticking to other things they maybe should have let go. Out of this, greatness is sometimes haphazardly realised
In a world of ubiquitous microcomputers, the humble board game should be an anachronism consigned to a pre-digital age of entertainment. Yet the stripped back experience of rolling dice, picking cards and moving pieces around a board within carefully structured rules seemingly lends itself to good video game design based on the idea of doing more with less.
JJ Robinson headed to this year’s Gamescon in Germany for a behind the scenes look at one of the biggest events in the video games calendar. But in embarking on a personal dungeon crawl in the Koelnmesse conference centre, he looks at why gaming PR has become so secure when publicity is the whole point.
When Spider-Man came to the first Sony playstation with his very own videogame, he showed gamers for the first time that is was possible, and even entertaining, to be an overpowered character.
Games are often better for not trying to eschew real-world simulation and instead let us live out a very specific type of fantasy, even for a few hours. Yet in adopting an ‘out of body’ experience mechanic, Driver San Fran always felt cynical
