In the two weeks since its release, the latest open world tactical shooter from Ubisoft has won reasonably positive reviews. This won’t be one. Matthew Codd explains why Ghost Recon Wildlands is culturally insensitive, socially irresponsible and a chilling celebration of violent American imperialism. And the gameplay sucks too. This is Bolivia Like most of South … Read more
A new game ten years in the making attempts to adapt naturist Henry David Thoreau’s classic Walden. But far from the rich and luscious text of Thoreau’s hippie bible, Walden, a game is closer to a bowl of plastic fruit, writes Don Rowe. Few games start with an advertisement for endowments in the arts and humanities. But … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for these highlights from a journey into utter mayhem. Laden with costly virtual reality gear host José Barbosa and his mate Ashley Noel Hinton tackle … Read more
Is the mainstream video game industry kidding itself and, by extension, us? Eugenia Woo unpacks the excuses often presented as reasons to avoid diversity. This essay was originally posted online on August 25, 2016. The issue of diversity in video games is polarising. BioWare’s Manveer Heir said it best – “there is a vocal crowd in … Read more
This week sees the launch of a nationwide eSports league featuring more than 50 teams from high schools around the country. But is this whole thing legit? Like, are they actually going to let kids play computer games as a sport? We sent Eugenia Woo to the High School League open night to find out. Parents … Read more
It’s a mystery that deserves an answer. Alice, the protagonist of all six Resident Evil films, has not once made an appearance in the video games. This could not be by accident. To get to the bottom of this enduring riddle, Uther Dean interviewed some of the key players in both the films and the video … Read more
Rubbish knock-off licensing seems to hound every mega popular entertainment property out there. (Exhibit A). Among the most questionable products are boardgames based on video games – but the DOOM boardgame might just be an honourable exception, as Liam Maguren discovers. I’ve written about DOOM three bloody times for The Spinoff. I thought I had … Read more
2017 is barely through the turnstile, but already ‘best game of the year’ designations are being made. Leo Rae-Brown suggests that despite its flaws, the vicious Nioh deserves your consideration. To say that Nioh has been long-anticipated is an understatement. It practically fell off the face of the earth for nearly a decade after its announcement … Read more
Pokémon Go slayed 2016 and with a new update it might very well nail 2017 as well. Joseph Harper has ripped into Gen 2 and oh boy, he likes it. When Pokémon Go launched last year, it was downloaded by approximately fifty million people who leapt at the opportunity to feed berries to, throw balls … Read more
Launching on March 1, Horizon: Zero Dawn is the next big AAA IP for the PS4. Josh Drummond has a hoon and finds a game that pulls from everywhere, but transcends its magpie tendencies. A girl, in a world very different to our own, is taken in by a strange tribe and raised as an … Read more
It is primal. It is the true modern ouroboros. It is Snake, the twisty-turny frenzied reflection of ourselves. In Snake (as in life) the obstacle to overcome is ourselves. Here a bevy of Spinoff writers each play a single round (enforced), compare scores and eventually crown a winner. Mr Duncan Greive My first phone was … Read more
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road set the standard for our current film fetish for post-apocalyptic desolation. Ashen, the first game from Wellington-based Aurora44, looks to do the same thing with games. Don Rowe speaks to CEO Derek Bradley and Animation Director Simon Dasan about the maturation of game design. You might expect that a game developed in Avalon Studios, … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. This week José is joined by Hayden Donnell and together they navigate the early access online multiplayer game: Conan … Read more
We’ve made the world a cornucopia of distractions and fidgety little things to keep us from achieving our potential as sentient beings. It turns out that the makers of all these doodads are, as expected, pure evil because they love hiding away secret games in software. It’s a double down on mindless game and here … Read more
The 16th entry in the venerable Tales series of JRPGS has fans salivating. Eugenia Woo finally got her hands on a copy and found a beautifully designed game let down by stilted plotting. Ever since Tales of Phantasia in 1995, Bandi Namco (formerly Namco Tales Studio, formerly Wolf Team) have basically been operating an assembly line … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. Rise to the spirit of the fight with Spinoff Gaming editor José Barbosa and his guest Skye Pathare and … Read more
For only the 7th time in NZ’s history, the Office of Film & Literature classification has banned a video game: the highly sexualised Japanese game Gal*Gun. This week two of our writers examine and respond to the decision to ban the game in question and we ask the Chief Censor to expand and explain his office’s … Read more
For only the 7th time in New Zealand history, the Office of Film & Literature Classification has banned a video game: the highly sexualised Japanese game Gal*Gun. This week two of our writers examine and respond to the decision to ban the game in question and we ask the Chief Censor to expand and explain his … Read more
For only the 7th time in New Zealand history, the Office of Film & Literature Classification has banned a video game: the highly sexualised Japanese game Gal*Gun. This week two of our writers examine and respond to the decision to ban the game in question and we ask the Chief Censor to expand and explain his … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe Broadband we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook Live. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. José is joined by old mucker Ashley Hinton and together they enter a barely glimpsed world involving a school … Read more
Video games are crafted, introspective experiences. Frequently though, these small worlds demand or produce skills that spillover into the physical world. Expert gamer and at-least-average real world person Dan Taipua sets out some of the better skill trees developed through a life of gaming. 1. Hooking up If you’re going to play video games, you … Read more
If you’re planning a trip to San Francisco, you’re in luck. Using Ubisoft’s open world hacker-fest Watch Dogs 2, which is conveniently based in the city, The Spinoff has compiled a grand tour of the city with plenty of tips for the new visitor. May contain scissor lifts and banjos.
No-one knows who they are in the ‘real world’, but the members of Viva La Dirt League are famous in the only place it counts: the Internet. They tell Hayden Donnell how to walk their path to success. Until six months ago, Alan Morrison, Rowan Bettjeman and Adam King were just workaday losers like you … Read more
Right when the Pokémon Go orgy was at its height, Joseph Harper filed this review. It was to become one of our most controversial gaming posts ever as Joseph found it overwhelmingly pointless and bad. Originally published July 8, 2016 When the Pokémon GO trailer was hurled onto the internet last year, it seemed too … Read more
Ever wondered how to sound like you’ve been hit by a log? Way back in April, actor Shawn Ashmore (Xmen, The Following, Animorphs) was doing the press rounds promoting the XBox time travel game Quantum Break. Shawn gave José Barbosa an exclusive acting masterclass. Originally published April 15, 2016 Phew. What a rollercoaster. But there’s more! … Read more
2016 marked the 35th anniversary of the MS-DOS operating system. The OS has since been used to power industry, calculate distances to faraway nebuli and discover the secrets of Shakespeare. Katie Parker used it to fight tree demons and mine space crystals. This is her story. Originally published April 20, 2016 Once upon a time, … Read more
Recently the Media Design School held their 4th annual Girls in Games event. Targeting mainly girls in years 9-10, the extravaganza aims to encourage more female participation in the games industry. Ace coding educator Alice Gatland was in attendance and reports back in the form of a text adventure game. (If you’re using a mobile … Read more
No Man’s Sky was one of the most anticipated games of all time. Then it crashed and burned on launch, abandoned and even hated by players. This is the story of what happened next. No Man’s Sky was doomed from the start. Touted as the biggest game of all time – a space-based exploration title … Read more
As 2016 levers itself off the cliff, our writers put quill to parchment and look back over the past twelve months. The good, bad, rubbish, awesome and the henchest: we rank and rate it all. Best AAA Game Don Rowe: EA UFC 2 My key factor for deciding ‘best’ comes down to what did I … Read more