Gregg B
Gregg B is tired and wondering where the day went.
Gregg B is tired and wondering where the day went.
There are few things that I am willing to buy immediately — Portal 2, the VVVVVV soundtrack, half price Ben & Jerry’s, a cling film dispenser — even Steam sales have trouble seducing me into their vortexes of spending. Well, add something else to that swelling list of insta-buys: XOC’s rendition of the Super Mario Bros. 3 soundtrack. I saw it, I bought it.
This is a belated quickie: Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming, a fellow gaming site that Tap likes to flirt with now and then (and home to Tap regular Armand), have recently posted up a collection of top 5 female game characters lists as selected by the BnB Gaming staffers as well as a few guest writers. Amongst those guest writers you’ll find myself, Matthew ‘Steerpike’ Sakey and Joel Goodwin a.k.a. Harbour Master of Electron Dance (obligatory …
In a bid to shake off the weariness induced by Grim Fandango, Hailey and I decided to play the first two available chapters of Cockroach Inc.’s The Dream Machine, a gorgeous point and click browser-based adventure game split into five chapters. The Dream Machine tells the story of Victor and Alicia, a young couple who have just moved into an old apartment block. After spending their first night in their new home, the two begin …
“How you gauge the score above depends entirely on what you look for in an adventure game. If you couldn’t care less about awkward controls, a cumbersome interface and a plethora of illogical puzzle solutions then Grim Fandango rightly deserves your attention — it’s nigh on perfect in every other way. For me though, these flaws couldn’t be overlooked and irretrievably bogged down the whole experience, making me a very sad panda.”
Another day, another obnoxious PS3 system update. Seriously, since when did my PC become a more convenient system to use than a console? It wouldn’t be so bad if they downloaded and installed in the background but oh-no, merely downloading them requires the full attention of my system locking me out until they’re finished. I’ve got patience, I really have, but when you’ve got a measly 1.2mb connection and just want to sign in to …
A few weeks ago Armand from Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming inspired me to check out The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, a game I’ve been curious about for years but never felt compelled to pick up. After a quick dash around some of the local game shops I found a copy of the Bloodmoon expansion tucked away amongst a neglected pile of second-hand titles and miraculously, a few shelves down, Morrowind and Tribunal, all for the …
I was meant to post this up ages ago — sorry HM — but better late than never, right? (“Better early than late!”) Anyway, in the same vein as our Revenge of the Titans discussion this one revolves around another — albeit very different — tower defence game: Radical Poesis Games’ Immortal Defense. Here’s a carrot: “The only problem is that, like Planescape: Torment, Immortal Defense has raised the bar.” If you haven’t already, go …
Review by Gregg B Developer distractionware Publisher distractionware Released January 11, 2010 Available for Windows (version played), Mac OS X Time Played Completed in 5 (ish) hours Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “It’s hard to believe that, after a tough 2009, VVVVVV was going to be Terry Cavanagh’s last game as a full-time independent developer. “The only thing I really had going for me was VVVVVV … I was having so much fun with it”, and …
Can you feel it? The crazy train is rolling into town again. And not a crazy Steam powered train either, no, one fuelled by Wolfire. Yes it’s the return of the Humble Indie Bundle: five sweet indie games each compatible with Windows, OSX and Linux, DRM free, individually giftable and all going for whatever price you like. Choo choo indeed. The best bit is that your payment can be split any way you like between …
Last week Joel Goodwin (a.k.a. Harbour Master of Electron Dance) and I got together to have a chat about Puppy Games’ upcoming Revenge of the Titans. Harbour Master, being the big softy he is, came away with a different take on the game to me so it’s well worth a read if you weren’t entirely convinced by my glowing first impressions. The discussion can be read here but while you’re in the vicinity you really …
Things have been awfully quiet around here lately; so quiet in fact that if you listen carefully you can hear the muffled staff beatings being issued by our Overlord Steerpike deep within the bowels of the Tap-Repeatedly silo. It’s only right that I distract you from their disparaging (and hopefully short lived) whimperings with the sweet, sweet sound of music…
I’ve always been a turtler. All that progress, pushing forward, actually doing stuff — it’s not for me. I’d rather just sit in my hardy shell, pipe and newspaper in hand, and hatch a plan; a plan to build more walls, a plan to build more towers, a plan to make my shell hardier. Yes, I’m a real-time strategy coward.
Review by Gregg B Developer Frictional Games Publisher Frictional Games Released February 12, 2008 Available for Windows (version played), Mac OS X, Linux Time Played Completed in 10-11 hours Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “Penumbra: Black Plague punches well above its weight and while the progression of the story may not be to everybody’s liking, it’s such an unpredictable, frightening and exuberant thrill ride that I’d be hard pressed not to give my heartiest recommendation.”
On the heels of Bungie’s soon to be smash hit comes sad news that Arcen Games — developers of the superb AI War: Fleet Command and more recently the deceptively clever puzzler Tidalis — are struggling to make ends meet. Chris Park, Arcen Games founder, lead developer and all-round nice guy posted the bleak news yesterday afternoon: “To put it bluntly and briefly, at present we’re only bringing in about one half of the minimum …
I waited specifically for today to do that title even if it is getting a little late. It’s a timed rhyme yo. Actually that’s a lie, today is the first chance I’ve had to mention that Frictional Games, developers of the much lauded Penumbra trilogy, are tomorrow releasing their much anticipated next title Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you haven’t heard of it then I heartily recommend you go and take a look at the …