Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is a great console backed by a reasonably reputable company, but lately Xbox Live has experienced serious security issues. Reports dating back to October 2011 state that some Xbox Live members have had their accounts hacked and stolen right from under their noses. The common factor in all of these cases has been FIFA 11 and FIFA 12. Even if the Xbox Live member has never played FIFA it shows up on their account as a recently played game with associated downloadable content. An Xbox Live friend of mine recently had her account hacked as noted on her blog. It started when she noticed unauthorized Microsoft purchases via her… (more…)

To all those who are playing Skyrim I raise my hand in salute.  For those thinking about it that haven’t played other Bethesda made games such as Fallout 3 or other Elder Scrolls entries like Morrowind, Oblivion, etcetera – keep in mind this game can be downright addictive. The game’s ability to grab and hold your attention is, for the most part, a good thing.  You can spend over a hundred and fifty hours in-game and still not run out of things to do.  Skyrim’s ‘Radiant Story,’ designed to create random quests for players to fulfill on the fly, means that technically you will never run out of quests.  (I… (more…)

I created a list in August 2010 entitled ‘The Never Ending Console vs. PC Debate.’ The piece detailed my reasons for being a console gamer as opposed to being a PC gamer.  I’m here today to hang my head in shame and let the PC community know that I’ve seen the light. Well, sort of… I’ve never been one for claiming that a specific gaming platform is superior to the other.  In fact, I feel that the last post was taken slightly out of context, yet I do admit that from the beginning it implied consoles were superior. I’m going to take the three points I mentioned before and discuss… (more…)

Okay, maybe ‘suck’ is a strong word – because Club Nintendo does have some cool rewards – but the items are highly subjective. Unless you’re twelve or otherwise into stickers, posters, and other Nintendo related swag, there haven’t been many actual games to spend your hard earned Nintendo coins on, aside from a few expensive Game & Watch DS titles. But that all changed in December. Nintendo is now offering Majora’s Mask (Wii) 150 coins, Dr. Mario Rx (Wii) 100 coins, Kirby’s Dreamland (3DS) 100 coins and Dr. Mario Express (3DS) 150 coins. I’ve never been interested in Nintendo’s points club before, but as soon as it started offering free… (more…)

Everyone is waiting for this year’s big retail titles like Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite and whatever the Wii U will end up becoming (I’m hoping it doesn’t turn into another Sega Saturn). But while there are many ‘AAA’ retail games coming out, it’s worth reminding you that the smaller, downloadable and indie game space is growing huge. So, I’m presenting you with a list of games you should be paying more attention to than whatever shooter is crawling out of the latest big name developer. Some are indie favorites, others are downloadable and a couple are retail games, but you should take notice of all of them over the… (more…)

The Zelda series is a franchise that hasn’t changed much over the years. There’s an over world, dungeons, a princess in distress and an angry, magical, evil enemy. During every Zelda adventure you traverse various elementally themed dungeons and meet strange and colourful characters – this is Zelda as we know it. For the last ten years or so any changes have been incremental.  New features have been added, but the core game stays relatively the same. This is due to the fact that the series’ rabid fan base seems content with the franchise remaining relatively similar game after game. Many fans still even believe that Link and the series’… (more…)

Hello, dear readers. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and that none were seriously injured attempting to grab amazing deals on Boxing Day. I’ve got a mother cool enough to find me two Kinect games that actually don’t suck, which I’ll be writing reviews for when Skyrim finally releases it’s vicegrip on my life. In case you’re wondering, the Kinect games are Kung Fu High Impact and Winter Stars. A wonderful combination of ass kicking and snow covered bobsledding! After watching Cool Runnings, I’ve always wanted to try the sport. Now I can, if only virtually. And now to the meat of this piece. Having bought myself the videogames I wanted most before the arrival of… (more…)

The Old Republic saw release a little over a week ago and needless to say the numbers have been staggering. I expected the game to do well, but I didn’t expect it to do this well. There is a good chance that Star Wars: The Old Republic may be able to overtake the World of Warcraft in its twilight hours – at least where the casual player is concerned. I myself have let my WoW account fall by the wayside and have to put at least 40 hours into SW:TOR since I got the game. That is a large time commitment for me, especially these days. Despite all the praise… (more…)

The term ‘hardcore’ is often attached to the word gamer.  Use of the term has increased with the rise of what has been oppositely dubbed ‘casual’ gaming.  Most of those who grace websites who use these terms have an intrinsic knowledge of what they mean, but for the uninitiated I have provided (arguably overly) simple definitions: Casual Gamers – People who play games almost exclusively on web browsers, mobile phones, tablets, Facebook, or (in many cases) Nintendo’s Wii and DS product lines. The games are usually visually simple, gameplay is often completely intuitive, prices are regularly cheap, and the titles themselves are generally designed for playing in short spurts, typically… (more…)

I’m back from vacation and while I was away it looks like the internet focused and combined its rage onto a single entity that, in all honesty, appeared to deserve it for once. The events I’m speaking of involved a maltreated customer, a horrible PR rep, and Penny Arcarde. Now, I tend to keep my mouth shut when it comes to Penny Arcade. While they have become a major influence on the video game landscape, I always felt they were primarily a part of the webcomic movement more than anything else. I say that because both videogames and webcomics are tied together on a level that I’m not sure I… (more…)