Alonline » games

Offroad madness

Al — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:27:05 +0000

Not a lot to say about this other than it involves a lot of offroad vehicles: bikes, buggies, jeeps and trucks; racing and leaping around dirt tracks. I’d like to know whether this inspired Motorstorm for the PS3, or whether they played the game and thought “Hell yeah! We can do that!”

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Wuchess – combining hip-hop and chess

Al — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:34:29 +0000

This is one of those sites that makes me wonder why it exists. I’m not doubting that lovers of hip-hop music might also enjoy playing chess, or lovers of chess might also enjoy a little bit of the Wu-Tang Clan. However, I’m not sure of the need to combine the 2 in one very well-presented, but ultimately strange site. However, if you like both chess and hip-hop music then have a look at wuchess.com.

Death of the arcade

Al — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:57:40 +0000

It’s sad to say, but this article is quite right in reporting the sad demise of the videogame arcades of old. When I was a kid it was a treat to go to an arcade to play Defender, Battlezone, Tempest or even Star Wars (if you were lucky). When I was old enough to have some money and some transport then whole afternoons and evenings were spent playing Wonder Boy, Tekken, Sega Rally and pinball. When I could get into bars then pinball was once again something worth travelling for – The Cricketers in Swansea always had the latest and best pinball machines, and then The Antelope had a pinball (whose name I can’t remember – but was something to do with dragons) then I would often spend all night playing.

I was lucky enough to become friends with the staff and managers of one of the best arcades in Swansea, at Mumbles Pier, and spent many an hour there honing my skills on hundreds of video games. I even went to the Earls Court trade show, around 1993 or 1994, and saw an incredible amount of video games that were being developed and tested. But this was about the time when the industry was really starting to suffer, and of the hundreds of new games I saw in that show, I only saw 4 or 5 afterwards.

It’s terrible to think that this world has gone, probably for good. The rise of the games console marked the end for arcades, but whilst arcade machines had more processing power, memory and far superior graphics the arcades still had a chance. When consoles matched, or even exceeded arcade games in these capacities then the days of the arcade was numbered. I think what finally sounded the death knell was the rise of online gaming. One thing arcades were good for was showing off to friends: if you could do all the ending moves in Mortal Combat then you could walk tall and proud. Now you can defeat people around the world without leaving the comfort of your own home, and it’s possible to gain more recognition online than you would ever gain in an arcade.

It saddens me to see arcades closing, but I’m as guilty as anyone of preferring to sit on my comfy sofa and play my PS3 on my nice LCD TV, without the smells and the noise of an arcade, and without having to relinquish the game to someone else waiting for their turn. I will miss arcades, but more out of nostalgia than from any desire to return to them again.

Get The Glass – best looking Flash game ever

Al — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:52:55 +0000

And finally, to finish off my burst of Flash related posts, I’d advise you to have a go at this game from the California Milk Processor Board. It’s stunningly well made and beautiful as well, and I still haven’t worked out the last question yet.

Chess boxing – strange but true

Al — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:00:29 +0000

If ever you decided to combine 2 sports, I doubt that you would consider combining chess and boxing – however, that just what a Dutch artist decided to do, and it has started to take off on the continent. Germany is the current chess boxing stronghold, and I can see how combining these 2 pastimes would suit their national character.

In chess boxing the contestants spend one round playing chess, and then the next round actually boxing each other. This is supposed to produce a rounded individual who has the intellect to play a decent game of chess whilst still having the strength to outbox his opponent. A strange idea, but one that has the potential to interest a new range of spectator. I wonder how well it will do in 10 years time.

New Grow game – Grow Island

Al — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:06:29 +0000

Grow games are great, if challenging. It’s been a while since the last Grow game, but now there is a new one, Grow Island, which has an obvious ecological bent. Still good fun, and as much of a challenge as all the other games.

Forbidden Lego

Al — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:08:30 +0000

What a great title for a book! Forbidden Lego conjures up images that will vary depending upon your disposition. However, it actually contains a series of well documented projects to build things that are a little bit too violent for your average child to build using their Lego. Instead, grown adults should steal their children’s Lego and make these wonderfully stupid, yet violent contraptions.

Another list of free games

Al — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:42:55 +0000

Here’s another list of games that you don’t have to pay to play. They missed out WarRock, which I rather liked (although I haven’t played any games on my PC since I got a PS3), however I’m now downloading Trackmania, as I’ve heard of it before, but never got round to trying it out. Have a look and see if anything cathes your eye.

Statetris – so you think you know Europe

Al — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:22:22 +0000

I thought I knew Europeean countries – at least well enough to be able to put them in roughly the right place. Turns out those pesky Eastern European countries are a lot more fiddly than you’d think. If you have any idea on how Europe is laid out, then give this a go. You’ll soon realise that you probably don’t know as many countries as you thought.

By the way – I completed the easy version in 9:05. See what you get.

BlockCAD: virtual Lego modeller

Al — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:57:49 +0000

If you like playing with Lego, but just don’t have the time or the blocks these days, then maybe this will help. BlockCAD is a Windows based application that allows you to create virtual Lego models on your PC. You can make the designs as large as you like, which means if you’d always planned on making a 1:20 scale model of the Petronas Towers, then you can now work out the design beforehand, and have an idea how many of each type of brick you need to buy.