London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Challenge 2013

Last year a disparate group of rogue filmmakers came together to compete in the annual London Sci-Fi 48 Hour Film Challenge. It was hard, gruelling but ultimately rewarding work. The resulting film was a resounding success and won praise from friends, family and… Well just friends and family actually, but it was still pretty great!

I was lucky enough to be a part of this group, and this year some of us (plus some newcomers) decided to put ourselves through this arduous process once more. Personally, I’m pretty happy with how things turned out. You can see the film we created right here and judge its quality for yourself.

Thanks to all involved for making this possible.

A Strange Love of Dr. Freeman or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Half-Life 2

A turning point in the history of videogames. A mind-blowing accomplishment. The best game ever made. These are the kind of phrases that people like to use when talking about Half-Life 2. Now hold on to your butts, people, because the first time I played this messiah of the gaming world I didn’t like it. In fact, I more than just disliked it, I bloody hated it. As you may have guessed from the title, this is no longer my opinion. It was, however, genuinely how I felt about the game, and for a very long time too. But before I discuss my change of heart I’m going to go all the way back to the very beginning. I’m going to tell you the tale of my love-hate relationship with Half-Life 2.

PS4: How Should Microsoft React?

Now that we’ve all had a few days for the announcement of the Playstation 4 to sink in, it’s time to ask the obvious question: How should Microsoft react? More specifically, what can they learn from the Sony event and how should they apply this to the announcement of the next Xbox.

A brief history of backwards compatibility, and what the past can tell us about the future

It now appears all but inevitable that Sony will officially announce the Playstation 4 on Wednesday the 20th of February. Apart from rampant speculation about price and release date, the question on many peoples lips is “will it be backwards compatible?”. And that is a very good question.

The Positive Influence of Videogames

In the past few weeks and months there has been much talk of videogame violence and it’s affect, or lack thereof, on the minds of young gamers. My personal feeling is that this is a non issue, and many other writers have expressed these feelings far more eloquently than I ever could. Despite this, I still wanted to add my voice to the crowd, but in a slightly different way. Instead of repeating the same old augments we’ve all heard before, I would like to discuss the positive influence that videogames have had on my life.

Content. Context. Maturity.

David Cage took to the stage at the D.I.C.E. Summit earlier this week to give his opinion on the state of the videogame industry. He laid out a nine point plan that, he said, outlined what the industry needed in order to grow up. He actually had some very good ideas, but he also managed to spectacularly miss many of his own points. I’m not going to attack his opinion or whinge that “he should be making films,” but I do think it’s worth doing a quick breakdown highlighting the problems with some of his concepts.

The Twelve Games of Christmas: Day Twelve

It’s that time of year again, folks. The days are short and cold, the nights are long and even colder, and one of the best places to be is in your nice warm house. Since you’re there, you may as well break out the good ol’ videogames and make those chilly winter evenings go by a little faster.

In honour of this, I’m going to be posting about one game each day in the run-up to Christmas, finishing on the magical day itself. Keep in mind that these aren’t necessarily going to be games that feature Christmas (although some do). Rather, they’re going to be a mix of winter warmers, personal nostalgic favourites, and games that echo some traditional Christmas pastimes. I’m sure other people will have their own winter favourites, but this is my unique list and I’m going to do my best to give a little history on each game and explain why they’re featured here.

So, without further ado, onwards with day twelve!