Summer reissue: Marsha Pohatu has lost two front teeth and seen friends die while working in the New Zealand trucking sector. The industry’s culture of dangerous practices has to stop, she says. This story was first published on 7 February, 2019. Exhausting and illegal hours, antagonistic and exploitative management, untreated injuries and fatalities: Driver Marsha … Read more
Fable is best remembered for the disastrous, over-the-top promises made by its designer Peter Molyneux. But maybe, Adam Goodall argues, we’re remembering it all wrong. “There is something I have to say. And I have to say it because I love making games.” So opens an October 2004 post on the Lionhead Studios forum written … Read more
The new Twilight Zone updates the style of the ’60s classic while keeping its deeply moral core, Adam Goodall writes. In ‘Replay’, the third episode of the new Twilight Zone, a young black man wonders why his mother doesn’t want to visit her brother. “Damn, Mama,” he asks, put out, “aren’t you interested in me knowing … Read more
Hitman 2 has plundered from our shores before, but this time, has it taken the story and likeness of our most notorious South Auckland MP, Judith ‘Crusher’ Collins? Adam Goodall goes down the rabbit hole. I’m a Hitman fan. A Hitfan, if you will. But more than that, I’m a fan of New Zealand. I’m a … Read more
Last week, the Tetris battle royale game Tetris 99 dropped with no announcement. Adam Goodall spent three days with the game. This is his diary. FRIDAY 15 FEBRUARY About an hour after Tetris 99’s release and I know this much: I suck at the game, so much. Tetris 99 was surprise-announced this morning, like Lemonade but for … Read more
Marsha Pohatu has lost two front teeth and seen friends die while working in the New Zealand trucking sector. The industry’s culture of dangerous practices has to stop, she says. Exhausting and illegal hours, antagonistic and exploitative management, untreated injuries and fatalities: Driver Marsha Pohatu has witnessed the industry she loves at its grim worst. … Read more
While fakers are playing so-called big budget horror spectacles like Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Zombie mode and Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Black Out, Adam Goodall knows where to find the best and most meaningful scares: a little place called Giraffe Town. Silent Hill 2 has six endings, but the only one I’ve … Read more
Since its early access release in March last year, PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds has been a global phenomenon – but events in recent months have nearly killed its Oceania playerbase. Adam Goodall investigates why, and whether it can be saved. The first complaint is posted to r/PUBATTLEGROUNDS in January – “FPP Squad Oceania Not Working” – but they … Read more
He’s driven tanks, he’s flown planes – now he’s ready to sail ships into war. Adam Goodall takes the plunge into World of Warships. “Have you heard of the Battle of the River Plate?” “Uh, the name’s familiar.” I’m scrolling through the Premium Shop in World of Warships, looking at boats. They’re all big, and they’ve … Read more
Among the slew of indie games dropping on the Nintendo Switch, Into the Breach rises to the top. Adam Goodall reviews. When you fire up Into The Breach, a pint-sized turn-based strategy game developed by Subset Games, the team behind FTL: Faster Than Light, you might be surprised at how cute it is. The good guys are … Read more
Intrepid gaming explorer Adam Goodall is dragged back into the world of battle vehicles with World of Warplanes. “You see, we’re carving up!” Tim and I are flying over rural Ukraine, near an Old Fortress on the Eastern Front. It’s autumn – the trees are all a deep orange – and we’re caught in a thirty-person dogfight … Read more
Spider-Man is one of 2018’s most hotly anticipated titles, from the critically acclaimed studio Insomniac. Adam Goodall talks to Insomniac’s community director, James Stevenson, about its latest release and how he hopes to create a healthy online space in the age of GamerGate. In the months leading up to its PS4 release, the conversation around Spider-Man … Read more
You’ve seen the YouTube ads, you’ve seen the ads on your phone. But what the hell is World of Tanks? Adam Goodall went on an adventure to find out. For the last twelve months, my friend Tim has been bugging me to join him on an adventure. To travel with him around the world, from the … Read more
Wellington Paranormal, the TV spinoff of Taika Waititi’s hit movie comedy What We Do In The Shadows, debuts on TVNZ tonight. So what’s it like? There’s a bit in last week’s episode of Police Ten 7 where Officers Kevin and Bevan (I know) go looking for a rough sleeper who’s skipped a court date and now … Read more
Adam Goodall talks to the developers of Kiwi game Grabity about soccer cars, flailing swords and big honking machines. I’m playing Grabity online and I’m getting absolutely caned by this person named Chinnaru. They’re showing up in every other game and wrecking my shop, boosting over to my side of the map and firing off … Read more
Ubisoft’s partnership with collaborative content creation company HitRecord on the game Beyond Good and Evil 2 has caused an outcry among freelancers, who argue the game’s ‘fan engagement strategy’ is exploitation, plain and simple. Ubisoft’s opening salvo at E3 this year – after their annual celebration of Just Dance – was a ten minute presentation for Beyond … Read more
Born after 1980? Going to be renting your entire life with no end in sight? House Flipper is the game to simulate a renovation future you’ll never see. Adam Goodall reviews. When I was a kid and my parents made me go to Mitre 10 Palmerston North with them, I would go straight to the part … Read more
Commute Week: If you’re tired of scrolling through your bleak Facebook feed or your even bleaker Twitter roll, Adam Goodall has a few ideas to distract you from the mindless grind that is your commute. Look, I know. It’s hard to play Pokémon Go on public transport. You’re sitting on your Link bus going 50 … Read more
The recipients of the Play By Play International Games Festival’s Te Maunga Kai Kapua Awards Mario Wynands and Niamh Fitzgerald, talk with Adam Goodall about Final Fantasy VII and the future of game development in New Zealand. In 1997 – “20 years, 11 months and one week ago, but who’s counting” – Mario Wynands co-founded … Read more
The third annual Play By Play International Games Festival is spilling out across Wellington this week. Adam Goodall played all 16 contenders for awards at the festival… for 16 minutes each. If you’re a gamer who lives in Wellington it’s been hard to miss this week’s Play By Play events – a full-day conference of … Read more
From April 26, approximately 3% of all original Xbox games will be available in their original form on the Xbox One. That’s more than you can play on the Playstation 4 – but still far, far from what we hoped for, writes Adam Goodall. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that they’d be bringing 19 games from … Read more
Chuchel, the new game from Amanita Design, is a fun romp of a game. But why the hell is the title character perpetuating blackface? Chuchel is a little ball of dust and soot. That’s what his name means in Czech, ‘ball of hair and dust’. He’s a “fuzzy critter”, a “hairy ball of uncontrolled emotion”. He’s … Read more
On Thursday night, a now iconic trio came together to play a video game and broadcast it to the world: Popular Twitch streamer Ninja, hip hop superstar Drake, and controversial New Zealand dance musician and political dilettante Kim Dotcom. Adam Goodall was watching. Wildly popular Twitch streamer Ninja and hip hop superstar Drake had been … Read more
Samsara is a kicky, inventive platformer from Auckland game studio Marker Games that harks back to the not-so-long-ago likes of Limbo and Braid. Adam Goodall reviews. On the top of the screen is a tropical beach. There’s a crab hiding in one corner and on the horizon a city skyline catches the last of the … Read more
Turkish developer 2645turqoise has released a game that purports to be a vast survivalist adventure across New Zealand. Adam Goodall finds out how well Ka Mate captures true blue bear-free Aotearoa. “An adventurous TV presenter goes to New Zealand. The adventurer who encounters with unexpected events will have to struggle for life against wildlife.” That’s … Read more
Lootboxes have embedded themselves in the gaming industry – and audiences are not happy about it. Adam Goodall talks to a free-to-play developer and a public health expert about why lootboxes were inevitable, and how we can change the direction they’re taking the industry. I’ve been playing Dungeon. Inc for ten minutes when my assistant, … Read more
Fair access to the judicial system is societal linchpin, but there’s an increasing divide between those who can afford good legal representation and those who can’t. Adam Goodall looks at how the legal profession has been trying to raise the alarm. Back at the start of August, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias gave a speech … Read more
Adam Goodall has cast off all his familial attachments in favour of a new tribe of loved ones, the Fire Emblem Heroes – a game so addictive he’s calling for the mobile game of the year award to be conferred early. It’s been a couple of weeks since I last called my parents. Truth be … Read more