Noticed how some journalists and bloggers like to drum up gaming controversy by preaching that mobile gaming is phasing out consoles? Bull-cocky! It really grinds my gears. I could argue their collective attack by boasting Sony’s and Microsoft’s latest sales figures but that wouldn’t be much fun and wouldn’t really prove my point anyway. And even though so many more tablets and smartphones are sold than consoles, mobile gaming is not killing the console. Phones and tablets are used by pretty much everybody. Consoles are mainly for gamers. But there are a lot of gamers.

Mobiles versus consoles - the two are not mutually exclusive products! Not to mention they appeal to separate, albeit overlapping markets. For example, I wouldn’t choose to play Samurais vs. Zombies when my PS4 is right in front of me with Assassin’s Creed in the drive. But on a train, in a queue or on the toilet then...

You love gaming and your girlfriend does too. She just doesn’t know it yet

At some point, our attention is wrenched away from our beloved video games by the demand of our designated female partner. But don’t count your chickens just yet - she’s merely a dormant Stage One gamer, itching to be beckoned towards the virtual light of the gamerverse. She just doesn’t know it yet.

I was lucky it seems. My girlfriend was primed for gaming from an early age it seems. I’m talking 2001’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

She even loved the game more than the films or books. Her inner hardcore gamer awakened by the humming of the Golden Snitch.

Franchise video games are notoriously terrible. But there are definitely some gems and can serve as a good way in. Spiderman, Lego, Bug’s Life and, evidently, Harry Potter. If played in childhood, the seed may just need watering.

Getting...

Sony hit the nail on the head with their approach to the next generation of gaming. A console made by gamers for gamers. A purist gaming beast. Exactly what they needed to do.

My first experience was at the PlayStation 4 Lounge in Covent Garden one day after work. Having heard about it through PlayStation Access on Facebook, I was sceptical I’d be able to fight through the crowds and get a play. In reality, it was surprisingly well set up and while it was very popular, I eventually managed to play everything there. It gave anybody who came along hands-on experience with several launch (and non-launch) titles on the new console, including Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, Battlefield 4 and Knack. Unfortunately, my abismal lap times on Driveclub didn’t land me a t-shirt in their tournament.

Having owned a PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3, PS Vita and now PS4 and never an Xbox doesn’t make me a...

The browser tab of the Survivor 2299 website

Okay, so in my previous article I gave a run down of all the mysterious events of the Survivor 2299 website, speculated to be a Fallout 4 teaser site.

Well five days ago, this guy’s hope of a new Fallout game being only days away from announcement was crushed. The reason I’m posting this so late after the hoax was officially confirmed is that I have spent that time in between crying into my pillow and punch-dancing out my rage.

Disappointing as this news is, it was a fun journey but how much time do these guys have on their hands?

This news has been further confirmed by creator of the Survivor 2299 site, DC Hoaxer, as he admits “I’m a douche”. He could have run away from the situation but he decided to face the public and reveal his true intentions. They claim it was an attempt to force Bethesda’s hand to reveal something about Fallout 4...

Next generation consoles are taking precedence in the gamerverse currently. Not ready for my PS3 to sleep the long sleep, I wanted to take a retrospective of some games players might have missed in the wake of other, more popular titles.

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut

Credit: Horror-Movies

So bad, it’s good. Possibly one of the weirder, more wonderful and most broken games I have ever played. It peaks and troughs from mundanity to WTF. A survival horror that puts you in control of FBI Agent Francis York Morgan as he investigates a series unusual murders. But please, call him York. That’s what everyone calls him.

Most chapters open with York staring into a coffee whose milk swirl serves as a premonition. Throughout the game, York fights through bizarre hoards of undead on his journey to uncover clues. But for the most part, we don’t actually understand why this is happening...

Video games often operate along slightly different rules than our own lives. It’s what makes them fun and a welcomed escape from reality.

As consoles become more powerful and gaming becomes more inventive, the gap closes between VGs and true realism. It’s not all the way there yet, but do we really want it to be? However, it makes for some interesting comparisons…

By the way, there is a point to all of this; it’s not just a mindless thought dump.

Courtship

Whether you’re in a loving relationship, hitting the dating scene, in between or an asexual yeast cell budding off progeny as you see fit, relationships are a lot more straightforward in video games. In particular, RPGs have different approaches to courtship.

Take Dragon Age: Origins - my favourite example of this. Players can prostitute themselves for cool perks or to just secure their loyalty to you later in the game. Yet, still...

Decoded by Reddit user as “I AM SORRY TO INFORM YOU, BUT I’M AFRAID THEY’RE DEAD. YOUR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM IS JUST FINE. WELCOME TO THE INSTITUTE. THE ONLY SAFE PLACE TO BE IN THIS WORLD.”

A mysterious Fallout teaser website appeared on the interwebz on November 15th, sending the online fandom into a frenzy of speculation and excitement. It contains a series of cryptographic Shift ciphers, Morse codes and a countdown clock. But what evidence is there to suspect The Survivor 2299 beckons a new Fallout sequel?

People more code-savvy than I have been digging around in the site’s Java Script code and found a number of references specific to Fallout as well as similar website parameters to other Bethesda sites. And that font? Come on - we recognise that font! The domain is also owned by ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda. Furthermore, Bethesda have a history of revealing big news this...

Unlimited possibilities, breathtaking landscapes, insane characters and a open world of online mayhem. It can only be Rockstar’s latest installment.

Too many games tease you with distant scenery that you could never touch no matter how persistent you are - not in GTA V.

One thing was very apparent from the first moments and continually became truer - a lot of thought has gone into making this. The acting is great, the script is fresh and funny, the map is gi-normous and the characters are deeply flawed and we love them for it. I’ll start with the story. It’s centred around three guys working together to pull off bigger and more ambitious heists each time. But it’s much more than that. It’s really about the relationship between a couple of old buds, Michael and Trevor reliving their youth to regain their former wealth, with the help of a young, entrepreneurial up-and-comer, Franklin...

I don’t care what anyone says, guy’s my age (that’s 23 years young) are the real target audience for Pokémon RPGs. Each installment brings with it a powerful sense of nostalgia and addictiveness. With its redesigned approach to training Pokémon, brand new storyline, revamped graphics and new fairy-types, Pokémon X/Y is a significant step up from it’s predecessors. The big, bright screen of the 3DS XL is perfect for this, showcasing the game’s new found beauty. Bird’s eye character view has been binned finally and battles are now a lot more creatively animated.

Naturally, choosing which version to buy required coordination with my friends so I could make the essential trades needed to fill up my Pokédex. I know, we’re pretty cool. Nevertheless, X/Y has a number of new ways to help players catch ‘em all, so don’t worry if your friends are too busy being boring adults to play Pokémon...