Author: Jessica Thompson

For many people, the act of running a city, a country or a political organisation is a constant headache. Being the mayor of London, or the President of the United States, is no doubt an often thankless job, with many unpaid late nights and the constant threat of the population becoming dissatisfied. Put simply, there are very few of us who would actually want to be in this position, however much we might say we do. That won’t stop us from loving tycoon games, though. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre, tycoon games task players with the day-to-day management and…

Fun fact: the first real-time strategy (RTS) game is argued by many to be 1989’s Herzog Zwei, and it’s a console game. Anyone who says that RTS games belong entirely on PC can and should be swayed by this fact, because Herzog Zwei is the progenitor of what we know as real-time strategy today. Since then, seminal titles like Warcraft, Starcraft and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War have further refined the formula, and today the genre is hale and hearty. With RTS games doing a roaring trade and showing no signs of slowing any time soon, we thought now was…

Twitch is the most popular live streaming platform for gamers, which gives everyday people an opportunity to stream their gameplay. As such, the content of the platform varies depending on the people who provide it. Most of it closely revolves around video games and video game tournaments. However, Twitch offers a lot more, especially with new popular categories that have recently started emerging, such as music broadcasts, ‘’in real life’’ streams or creative content that involves drawing, painting, designing and much, much more. The platform was launched in 2011 and, by 2023, it had had 6.89 million active streamers. Certain…

Consider, if you will, the strange and wonderful world of racing simulation games. From Codemasters’ F1 series to Slightly Mad Studios’ Project CARS, the art of driving cars really fast around increasingly dangerous tracks has been represented in as many ways, shapes and forms as it’s possible to imagine. If you’re a gearhead and you love customisation, no problem – you’re catered for by franchises like Need For Speed and Gran Turismo. Of course, motorcycle fans have plenty to choose from in this area, too. Franchises like MotoGP and MXGP cover all the major motorcycle racing events, and many games…

Escape rooms are becoming more and more popular in the United States now. They first got noticed in Asia and some parts of Europe, and it is not so difficult to see why people there got hooked on them. The level of excitement and thrill that they bring is very stimulating. An escape room usually admits a group of people that are made to stay inside a themed room (Harry Potter, a war zone, etc.) where they have to solve puzzles and riddles to find clues that will lead them to their way out. They are to accomplish their mission…

Due to the massive innovation and advancement in technology, coding and programming is more important than ever. It is one of the most important job skills out there and without people programming, much of our software, hardware and other technology simply wouldn’t work. Coding is at the core of every piece of software, app, and website that you use. However, not all code is created equal. Some code out there is low quality, while others is high quality. Of course, a high-quality code is better and more preferred, but what exactly makes code “high quality”? It can be a difficult…

When we were younger, the prospect of playing “augmented” video games was something that belonged exclusively to the distant future. Peripherals like the Sega Dreamcast’s VMU (Visual Memory Unit) and the original PS1’s PocketStation gave us a glimpse into what playing games with secondary displays might feel like, and in 2012 Nintendo’s Wii U showed us all how not to execute this concept with its clunky and difficult controller. Any system that utilises a secondary display needs to be sleek, discreet and accessible. Enter Sony’s PlayLink feature for PS4. If you’re not familiar with this setup, it works like this:…

For a long time, PC gaming was exclusively the premise of keyboard-and-mouse users. Many PC games in the 1990s and 2000s were obtuse, difficult affairs, often requiring players to memorise hundreds of different button combinations and keyboard shortcuts in order to maximise their efficiency while playing (lookin’ at you, System Shock 2). Incomprehensible flight simulators, complex RPGs and real-time strategy games dominated the landscape, and all looked bleak for the “casual” gamer. These days, though, the lines between PC and consoles are blurred. The immediacy of console gaming has not gone unnoticed by PC gaming enthusiasts; many titles which would…

There aren’t enough happy games in the world. Most video games these days revolve around gruff, grim people trying to do gruff, grim things in a gruff, grim world. That’s not a criticism; some of our favourite games take place in relentlessly dark universes where there are no moral absolutes, only shades of grey. It’s just, well…can’t we all lighten up a little? Happily, Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons creator Yasuhiro Wada appears to agree with us. His latest title, Happy Birthdays, is an unflinchingly colourful, joyous outing in which absolutely everything is adorable. From dinosaurs to rhinos, from…

Turn-based combat is a tricky beast. Get it right and you’ve got something like XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a thrilling, tense battle of strategy and wits between two evenly-matched enemies. Get it wrong, though, and you’ve got a player staring catatonically at the TV, mashing buttons until combat automatically resolves itself. It’s a delicate balancing act for sure, and one that the folks at YYT Games looked to overcome with the Fallen Legion titles. Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory offers both Fallen Legion titles in a single package, which makes this a pretty perfect time to go back and see how…

“Take me home, country roads/To the place I belong/West Virginia, mountain mama/Take me home, country roads”. So go the lyrics to John Denver’s famous “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, a song that Bethesda has been working very hard indeed to attach to its online survival RPG Fallout 76. This song is already something of a cultural touchstone, having appeared memorably in American Dad!, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and many other places. It might seem like a bit of a non sequitur to start by talking about Denver’s iconic song, but there’s a parallel here to be drawn between “Take Me…

When a particular game does what it does so well that it becomes a runaway financial and critical success, pretenders are bound to appear. For every Dark Souls, there’s a Lords of the Fallen. For every Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario Bros, there’s a Bubsy. For every Spider-Man 2, there’s a Prototype. Sometimes, these games iterate on and expand on their predecessors to create much better experiences, but sometimes they’re just straight rip-offs, content to wallow in their betters’ success. Nowhere is this more true than in the realms of Mario Kart. Since Mario Kart 64, a legion of…

When revisiting old video gaming classics, there’s always a sense of dread that the reality won’t match up to your memories. Nostalgia is a funny old thing, and it blinds even the best of us, especially when we’ve grown up with something and can’t extricate it from memories of our childhood. The games we played when we were younger will almost never hold up to modern scrutiny; they’ll forever be preserved in amber, remaining a pleasant but unattainable fiction for us. Sometimes, though, a game you played when you were younger is just as brilliant as you remember it being.…

Video games have always enjoyed a strong relationship with other forms of media. Whether through the amazing translations seen with Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham games or the less-than-impressive old-school Atari 2600 translation of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the franchise potential has always been a source of interest. However, somewhat oddly, we have recently seen an increasing trend of older television shows receiving modern adaptions into the world of gaming. Why does this happen, and what examples help illustrate this development? The Key of Appeal While it might have been true that there used to be some level of stigma towards video game enthusiasm,…

It’s not hard to remember a time when Call of Duty was king of the video game world. Each successive instalment after 2007’s groundbreaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was received rapturously by both critics and audiences alike, and the game’s ubiquitous multiplayer mode was an unimpeachable titan, the go-to method of entertainment for couch co-op (Zombies) and online competition (Deathmatch) alike. Fastforward to 2018, and Call of Duty isn’t quite in the same place as it used to be. It’s arguably been overtaken in the class-based shooter stakes by competitor Battlefield and distant relative Overwatch, while its multiplayer free-for-all…

If you’re anything like us, then cloud storage is your best friend. The convenience of being able to store a file in the cloud and then grab it from any other device is unbeatable; we remember the days when we used to carry around USB sticks with our files on them, terrified that they’d end up corrupted if our computers decided they didn’t like them. Cloud storage has completely solved that problem. By far the most commonly used (and useful) cloud storage format is Google Drive. Anyone with a Google account can access Drive, and it has apps available for…

The war between Android and iOS is an ongoing one, and it’s not looking likely that it’ll end any time soon. iPhone users swear by their devices’ accessibility, out-of-the-box efficiency and ecosystem of curated apps, while Android lovers are enamoured with the customisation and versatility that their platform affords. One thing’s for certain, though; these two platforms are more indistinct than they’ve ever been. The gulf of quality which once could have been said to exist between them has narrowed significantly, mostly thanks to the efforts of South Korean giant Samsung. Of course, Samsung doesn’t just make phones; they’re also…

Those of you who didn’t exist yet in the ‘90s will probably be too young to remember the console wars. We’re not talking about the long-standing rivalry between Sony and Microsoft, oh no. Back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the console landscape was utterly dominated by SEGA and Nintendo, two Japanese giants of gaming whose legacies persist to this day. The rivalries were similar, but the tactics and methods used on the battlefield were slightly different. Nintendo started off the ‘90s with a clear lead. The Game Boy had a stranglehold on the handheld market thanks to its…

There was a time when video games were considered exclusively a male pastime. Most marketing campaigns for games in the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s were clearly aimed at men and boys; their aggressive language, fast-paced editing and confrontational nature suggested a focus on masculinity. Nowadays, thankfully, the gaming landscape is a bit more equal, and we have games which are suitable not only for both sexes, but for people of all persuasions and tastes. That said, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Girls are still massively underrepresented in the video game sphere; though the groundwork is being…

Japan has a long and storied history in the video game industry. Although the first video games didn’t come from Japan (Tennis for Two was designed and built in New York), it was Japanese companies who refined and perfected the video game art form throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Classic consoles like the NES, Sega Genesis and PlayStation are all Japanese creations, as are many video game household names like Mario, Sonic and Link. That said, the Japanese have never been huge on PC gaming, which has traditionally been a Western discipline. Real-time strategy games, first-person shooters and MMORPGs have…

Quest and adventure games are alive and kicking. While timeless classics never seize to amaze, virtual and augmented reality tech creates a more immersive gaming experience. Quest & Adventure Games: Old Gold and the Bright Future Foretold Puzzlers, point-and-click adventures, and exploration games hold a special place in players’ hearts. They pull you in with enthralling atmosphere, smart dialogue, and sheer thrill of discovery. We all know the “classic literature”, but we also have to notice that modern technology is breathing new life into the genre. We are no longer confined to just sitting in front of the screen: digital technologies…

Are you’re probably aware, screen recording videos are different from other types of videos due to the fact that they are captured directly from the screen of computers (or other devices). Because of that the factors that affect their quality are slightly different as well – although there are a few common threads. It is important that you know and understand the factors that affect the quality of screen recording videos – so that you know what to focus on if you want to improve it. In particular there are three factors that have an important part to play: Resolution…

There is one point in your childhood when you become addicted to gaming. Sometimes your studies even suffer from it and your parents get worried about your future. They will insist that computer games will get you nowhere and lead you astray. I did a fair share of cutting classes and received plenty of spankings. But those days are over. Computer gaming, particularly eSports gaming, has become lucrative and is now considered a career. With an estimated revenue of USD $492 million in 2016, eSports is experiencing an unprecedented change of perception. You now have an acceptable motivation to pursue…

Sometimes there’s just no beating the classics. New games may shock and astound us with increasingly fancy graphics and features, but there’s a simple pleasure in revisiting the games of yesteryear, in going back to a simpler time before online multiplayer and loot box controversies. Of course, the optimal way to do this is to dust off your old PS2 in the attic and hook it up to the ancient CRT TV you’ve still got stashed away in the spare bedroom. There’s nothing quite like experiencing Metal Gear Solid 3 on its original hardware. Of course, there are many reasons…

A likeable screen presence can go a very, very long way. Many movies which would have otherwise been unremarkable or downright bad have been elevated by the presence of an actor whose very appearance on screen signals a sort of collective sigh of relief. Scarlett Johansson, Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford, to name but a few, have all repeatedly handed their names over to fairly middling projects, and in so doing made them watchable. To that list, one might be tempted to add Mark Wahlberg, who is swiftly becoming both a reliable box office draw and a solid indicator of…

Studies have suggested that human beings need other human beings around them in order to function properly. We are social animals, after all, and being lonely for lengthy periods of time has been linked to health complications and psychological problems. Put simply, we just need others to make our lives better. The presence of other human beings helps us get through life’s tough times, and they’re there for the good parts, too. There’s no reason why gaming should be any different. Sure, single-player games are great, but for our money, there’s no beating a well-made MMO. Being surrounded by other…

When Red Dead Redemption was released way back in 2010, it was an instant classic. Transposing the free-form open-world formula pioneered by the 3D Grand Theft Auto games to a Wild West setting proved to be inspired, as did replacing that series’ traditional madcap crime capering with a surprisingly sombre and heartfelt tale of, well, redemption. We’d venture to say that Red Dead Redemption may actually be a better game than any of the titles which inspired it, including the Grand Theft Auto games and its predecessor, Red Dead Revolver. With that in mind, demand for a sequel was completely…

The modern business environment is probably more complicated than it has ever been. Thanks to the continuous stream of new digital and business tech developments, there is a bewildering array of methods, strategies and ideas that can help you create, grow and run a successful business, and most of them involve technology. Of course, the fundamentals remain in place. As any transformational leader from Bill Gates to Keith Krach will tell you, good businesses require good leadership, vision, energy, passion and knowledge. However, the modern entrepreneur also has to be tech-savvy. If you hope to be in a position to…

Did you know it’s been 9 years since the advent of Codemasters’ F1 series? That’s right – this series has been chugging along since way back in 2009, when British company Sumo Digital created F1 2009 for the Wii and PSP, of all platforms. Fastforward to 2018, and the F1 series has gone from strength to strength, with solid entries every year since 2009. Ask any Formula One fan, though, and they’ll say the core gameplay of the franchise was in need of a minor shake-up. A survey conducted by Codemasters found that players were dropping out of the game…

As a gamer, your setup is a collection of your most prized possessions. Your TV, sound system and even your seating arrangement are all essential to the way you engage with the medium. Playing games on other people’s displays and in other people’s houses can be a bit of an alienating experience for this very reason. Sometimes, though, circumstances will take you away from home, and you won’t have access to your equipment. When this happens, you should be calling on portable gaming monitors. Portable displays are an excellent way to take your favourite games with you wherever you go.…

In this world of constant streaming and marathon gaming sessions, gamers’ eyes are taking more of a battering than they ever have. Even if you don’t normally need glasses, you might not be aware of the potential damage staring at your monitor could be doing. Simply put, that lengthy Overwatch or League of Legends session could be doing both temporary and permanent damage to your retinas. The culprit here is blue light. Computer monitors, TVs and other displays produce mainly blue light, which is a contributing factor to eye strain and could, with overexposure, potentially lead to permanent retina damage…