There’s something rather sinister about the way monopoly brings out the worst in me. When I play, I get super competitive - I’m like an evil caricature of myself: a right bastard who laughs at others misfortune and gets way too excited at my own luck. It’s all in good fun, of course, but I’m sure the people around me would prefer that they couldn’t hear my irrepressible taunting.
Nintendo's prominence in the gaming industry over the past decade has been a roller coaster ride; rising to the highest of peaks and dipping to an abysmal trough. Yet through it all, Nintendo has prided itself on being a separate facet - far removed from the Microsoft/Sony console war, once described as a “red ocean” by its CEO, Reggie Fils-Aime. Seeking its own corner of the market, brand power has allowed Nintendo free reign to engage and disengage with the video game industry at its choosing. They just don’t play ball in the same way that Sony and Microsoft do - where other companies pander to suitability, Nintendo typically ignores the mainstream.
Has Microsoft decided not to launch its latest Xbox iteration, Scorpio, with VR? The removal of "high-fidelity VR" from the latest Project Scorpio website banner suggests this might be the case.
Train Valley is a puzzle game in which players must direct trains towards stations by building railway lines. Players are given a budget with which to build their railways, which sometimes requires expensive demolition or costly track layouts. Built railway is also taxed, so the more you build, the more you’re going to spend, and advanced stages require a lot of strategy to avoid bankruptcy. The increasing volume of trains gives a real urgency to gameplay as they chug either toward other or off the track entirely. You’ll have to frantically build alternate paths and intersections - that require constant attention to be correctly “switched” - in order to avoid collisions.
As a narrative theme in fiction, survival is an incredibly powerful one; transcending emotions such as fear, pain and love. It's also a primal human instinct that's pretty much defined our evolution as a species. So, it’s hardly surprising that it's recently emerged as such an immensely popular genre across nearly every facet of pop culture.
Japanese developer Nippon Ichi Software looks set to develop multi-platform games for both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in the future. In a recent interview conducted by gaming website Famitsu, the developer's CEO, Sohei Shinkawa stated the following.
Wait, that was it? Yep, I’ve suddenly been reminded why Nintendo are not the tour de force of the video gaming industry that they once were. Mr. Tatsumi Kishimi might have stated, “I hope that we’ve done enough to earn your support,” but the answer is a firm no, not at all. Nintendo’s stocks have dropped by 5% already and similarly, my interest in its new console, the Nintendo Switch, has certainly dwindled.
Ever since internet connectivity made possible the inception of the genre, the addictive gameplay grind of massively multiplayer online games has dug its claws into the body of many unsuspecting gamers. Questing, looting, farming, ganking, and raiding across vast digital worlds, populated by real people; MMOs can very quickly swallow up great wedges of your spare time, turning even the most spritely young bucks into sleep deprived, pizza eating zombies of the night.
Earlier today, Atlas launched a new website to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Careful inspection of the featured logo will reveal Roman numerals representing the main entries, while there's also a symbol indicating the highly anticipated next instalment.
Just days before the Nintendo Switch's big reveal, several leaks have surfaced detailing the console's various specifications and price point. Now we've another one, this time regarding accessories.
