Author: Jessica Thompson

History of Gaming PC’s The history of the gaming PC goes back to 1981 actually. This is when IBM gave users a chance to connect to a television and enhance their experience using a Color Graphics Adapter or CGA for short. In 1987 Video Graphics adapter or VGA was first introduced. Atari as well as Cooadore 64 and Ameiga all did their part to help and introduce gaming consoles in a way to the world. These were the first real glimpses into the world of gaming computers and would go on to become the stanbdard upon wich all others would…

When a game as long awaited as The Getaway finally makes it out of development hell, it’s often impossible to believe. There it is on the shelf. You can buy it. So that’s what the box art looks like. Finally, The Getaway was released on the 11th of December 2002. It was meant for the PS1, then it was meant as a PS2 launch title, and now, two ice ages later, we have it. Close to five MILLION pounds was thrown at Team Soho and The Getaway, with the intention of turning it into a proper killer revolutionary title, the last…

The Nintendo 64 was an absolute amazing console launched back in 1996. It helped to introduce 3D gaming at its best of the time period, whilst also delivering some of the finest exclusive games. Whilst there were some rare N64 games released, that you should also check out, this article takes a look at the most popular best-selling titles to appear on the Nintendo 64. Let’s get started. Star Fox 64 Selling approximately 3.3 million copies worldwide, Star Fox 64 is number 10 on our list. Being a fighter pilot was cool and so was playing Star Fox 64. In…

There’s no denying that Grand Theft Auto V was an astounding success. With over $1 billion in sales, it stands not just as the most grandiose video game franchise around, but also as one of the most popular pieces of media ever produced. Now, with the exciting announcement that GTA 6 is returning to the beloved Vice City, it’s fascinating to look back at the other cities that were rumored to be featured in this much-anticipated game. Vice City – The Confirmed Location The announcement that “Grand Theft Auto 6” (GTA 6) will return to Vice City has sparked excitement…

You may have read my article about what it’s like to be a female gamer. Well, some guys still want to know how they are expected to approach a girl for optimum results. So, here’s a little bit of advice for those of you who want some tips on how to treat, approach, and win-over girls in-game. Treat Others Well Too She notices how you treat other players. I say this because when you treat other players, newbies, and friends poorly while you are nice to her, chances are she will not want to talk to you. Sure, a little…

I was looking forward to the third of season of ITV’s Mr. Selfridge since the ending of the second series. While the third season did not exactly disappoint me, I do think that there was a bit of room for improvement. When the season begins, World War I has ended. Harry Selfridge’s daughter, Rosalie, is getting married, and a spectacular wedding and reception are being prepared. While Harry is still mourning the loss of his beloved wife, who died recently, his store and financial circumstances are in a very good state, and things are going well. However, Harry’s grief is…

This 2013 film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 20th-century novel, The Great Gatsby, was directed by Baz Luhrmann.  It stars Toby Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Joel Edgerton. As in the novel, in the film Nick Carraway (played by Toby Maguire) is the narrator of the story, which is told from his perspective.  Nick Carraway is telling the story at the distance of several years after the end of the events he describes, and is putting it all in writing.  In the story he tells, Nick is a young and rather naïve man from the Midwest, who has…

This movie was a disappointment.  With all the publicity this movie received when released, I was very curious about it.  Unfortunately, however, I found that this film has a lot of faults that far outweigh its few (very few) positive points. The movie’s unnecessarily crude opening scene made my hope for the film’s quality quickly sink, and foreshadowed the many poor quality components to come.  After the opening scene, we are introduced to a ridiculous, fictional celebrity news show called “Skylark Tonight”.  The show and its production constitutes an admittedly rather amusing (and frighteningly accurate) parody of Western celebrity culture. …

This 2011 docudrama is both fascinating and illuminating.  It is about Alan Turing, a man who has not received anywhere near the amount of praise, acknowledgement, and fame that he deserves.  As a result, you might not know who he was.  In fact, you probably don’t.  Born in 1912, he was the man who, in 1936, came up with the fundamentals of the computer.  In other words, without his work, we would not have computers, or for that matter any other of our well-used and popular digital devices.  He also was the person who introduced the whole idea of artificial…

The One I Love, directed by Charlie McDowell, is about a married couple, Ethan and Sophie, who are trying to rekindle their relationship. Their marriage counselor suggests to them a weekend away together at a house that many of his clients have been to. What is great about this movie is that if you think you know where it’s going already by those first two sentences, you’re probably wrong. The place that Sophie and Ethan stay immediately seems whimsical; an adorable house with a beautiful and spacious garden. Greenery, flowers, a pool, the works. Making it seem more like a…

As I saw each successive episode of Wolf Hall, I was increasingly mesmerised by the realism and beauty of the production. Wolf Hall is based on the award-winning novels Bring Up the Bodies and Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel, and is directed by Peter Kosminsky. It stars Mark Rylance, Damien Lewis, and Claire Foy. Wolf Hall depicts the events surrounding Thomas Cromwell’s connections with Cardinal Wolsey and with King Henry VIII of England. Thomas Cromwell’s perspective is the main one from which the story is told. The production begins in the period of Thomas Cromwell’s service to Cardinal Wolsey, who…

The Pyramid was released in December 2014, and ‘stars’ Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O’Hare, James Buckley and Christa Nicola; it was directed by Gregory Levasseur. The movie was Levasseur’s first venture into directing, having previously been better known for writing the screenplays for movies such as The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors and Maniac.   It was written by Daniel Meersand and Nick Simon, a writing duo who had previously collaborated on Removal (2010) and The 7th Claus. In a found footage format, The Pyramid follows father and daughter archaeologists, Miles and Nora Holden, in their quest to discover a pyramid (ah, now…

It seems fair to say that exciting times are just around the corner for Nintendo fans, this is because the Switch will be arriving early next year. This could only mean one thing for the Wii U, and Nintendo recently confirmed that the console would be discontinued as the focus has now moved towards their new endeavour. Unlike the Nintendo Wii and Wii U, maybe the Switch will have a built-in Lan adapter. Let’s continue. Wii and Wii U: No LAN Port It is a surprising fact, but one missing element from the Wii U is the LAN and Ethernet port, just…

Have you ever dreamt of working in a sushi restaurant? Neither have I. Yet still, I’m downright addicted to playing Papa’s Sushiria. It’s the latest release from Flipline Studios, and it includes their previous games’ best features and much, much more. The Setup In Papa’s Sushiria, you can play on Poki as Matt, Clover, or a completely custom character. After breaking Papa Louie’s favorite cat statue, you’re forced to work at his newest restaurant. There, you will take orders, cook rice, and build Cordon Bleu-worthy sushi rolls. Satisfied customers will pay extra cash, and you can spend that money on…

If you are a fan of the Batman franchise like I am, then last year when Batman: Arkham Knight came out, you were excited to see what it was all about. There have been those that have been burned in the past. They have been afraid to venture out and try playing this game on their own. The good news is that unlike other games that have come out this outing is actually pretty good. Yes there are some areas where the game does seem to be a little disjointed especially when we are looking at the long history that is…

Now that you have bought WWE 2K17 and are looking to begin your career, you may be wondering how you can have a career that will allow you to main event Wrestlemania. There are some things that you will need to make sure that you know in order to work your way up the ranks and position yourself to take on the Undertaker and see if you can defeat the DeadMan. In this simple guide, we will look at what you need to know in order to have a career that is along the same lines as that of John…

Gaming, as a medium, has a tendency to look exclusively forward. Now this is, undoubtedly, a good thing. It means that the industry is always striving for something new both graphically and artistically. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have it’s downsides too. We all know the old saying “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Well, by constantly looking forward, gaming is running the risk of forgetting its own history. After all, it’s not like books and films, where old ones are constantly being re-released. If you don’t have the consoles to play them,…

November 29th marked a very special anniversary for a game that has been more than just hours of fun and enjoyment, it has become a part of our very culture. We are talking of course about Final Fantasy, on November 29th we saw Final Fantasy XV be released. This is a game franchise that started all the way back in 1987, for some people they were not even born. For the developer of the game Square Enix, it has been one of the best-selling game franchises for the company. The other sign that it has been a huge part of…

Even if you don’t particularly care for sandbox shooters which clearly glorify overt criminal behavior(s), you have to admit – Grand Theft Auto III pretty much changed the face of video gaming forever. Its relatively simple outward appearance though (i.e. – run around, destroy, drive and complete missions) harbors all sorts of possibilities, some of which you might not have previously even considered. Trying to piece together a list of the “best” things to do could be called impossible given the deviation in everyone’s particular tastes. So instead we offer these “awesome” suggestions instead, enjoy… Complete the game to 100%…

Classed as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Pelé is one of the most popular figureheads of the beautiful game. Both Poki and Cosi have teamed up to provide a great arcade game that can be enjoyed by fans of the football genre. What makes this game special is the fact that it features Pele and his journey from the backstreets of Brazil all of the way to becoming a world champion. With over 150 levels to enjoy, you’ll also find a 1v1 mode where you’re able to challenge other players from around the globe. Other features include Free…

It’s been sixteen years since the successor to Sony’s incredibly popular flagship video game console, the PlayStation, was released. We’ve seen video games come a very long way in that time, but for some reason the PlayStation 2 remains the most popular video game console in history. With a record 155 million PS2s sold since launch, there’s no denying that fact- especially because its competition at the time, the Xbox and Gamecube, sold only 24 million and 22 million units, respectively. So just what contributed to the PS2’s overwhelming popularity? Let’s take a look back and see. The DualShock 2 …

There are many things that go into a Twitch stream and that is not just the broadcasters job, weight lies on the viewer’s shoulders to make a good stream happen. Last time we looked at streaming on Twitch from the viewpoint of the broadcaster, now let’s look at the viewpoint of the most common person, the viewers themselves. Each viewer is unique in their own way from how they found the website to how they interact on the site, as you can tell from ShezzaSid, DeathsAbyss, and Brownerz66. All three have jobs as mods in different streams and sometimes the…

Grand Theft Auto V isn’t just a landmark game, it is the culmination of all sorts of incremental additions and refinements instituted by the series’ developer(s). In fact, many might not realize that GTA is indeed a massive billion+ dollar franchise in its own right, not just challenging other video game companies, but entire fields of entertainment (including the entire movie industry). In light of this, and given that everyone is currently mad with creating video content to share on the internet featuring gameplay from the title, we have pieced together this list of the top 12 things to do…

Say what you will about DMA design / Rockstar North’s crazy car-jack and criminally oriented series of open world sandbox games, but two things are apparent – they are engrossing and highly entertaining. Apart from the fact that with each new release they seem to completely revolutionize video game design and fan expectations, the Grand Theft Auto crew has also given birth to a very creative and strange assortment of characters down throughout the ages. We’re talking about figures here which tend to be extremely zany, wild or even direct parodies of well-known figures and celebrities. In celebration of this,…

GTA V isn’t just a video game – it is a bona-fide phenomenon. After breaking an incredible number of sales records around the world, its developer, Rockstar, has demonstrated clear intentions to keep on improving its basic sandbox model and formula. We all knew that this was the case of course, that each new installment in the series would see myriad upgrades be they graphical or gameplay-related. But what we were treated to with Grand Theft Auto V…….well, let’s just say that it completely exceeded any and all expectations. Right now, we’re going to take a look at some of…

Following the overwhelming success of GTA III, Vice City arrived around a year later and further amped up the visibility as well as popularity of the franchise. Rather than being a completely new redesign of the basic system established by its predecessor, this installment basically just changed the locale and upgraded various aspects accordingly. Don’t get the wrong idea though, this wasn’t a sloppy, rushed job…nor did they rest on their laurels and “phone it in”. This would mark the formal formation of Rockstar North, which (as you well know) would go on to accomplish bigger and better things. Nevertheless,…

Grand Theft Auto III might have introduced the world to the splendor of open world sandbox fun, Vice City improved upon the model, but it was the magnificent San Andreas which truly exploded the series into another dimension. While we have GTA V and IV to now sink our teeth into, SA remains unique in the series. There are so many interesting facets to this game; from its impossibly large world and overall wackiness, to its obvious incremental improvements, it is the very definition of fun and exciting.   It is in GTA: San Andreas that we finally see more and…