Eugenia Woo has a date with evil in a RPG that drops moral decisions on the player like a tonne of bricks. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. That’s Nietzsche. I remember someone trying to explain that to me ages ago using the tired example of … Read more
Resident death artist and rampager Morbid Slang Angel 69 gets his blackened fingers on Dead Rising 4. The zombie murder-thon series has many fans and one of those is The Spinoff’s own Morbid Slang Angel 69. Here he outlines his favourite kills after a week with the game. It’s pretty safe to say there’s plenty … Read more
The latest installment of Final Fantasy has been released from its cage into the arms of millions of fans. Resident Fantas-ites(?) Eugenia Woo and Matthew Codd settled around the old Skype and discussed what worked, what didn’t and why the little things matter. Matthew: So. Final Fantasy XV. Eugenia: Final Fantasy XV. It’s been a … Read more
Dan Taipua and his friend Chris met at a Presbyterian college, and have never been to church since. Last week though, they set out on a pilgrim’s quest for gaming relics – travelling to 10 different Cash Converters stores in a single Saturday. When Chaucer wrote of pilgrimage he brought tales from a miller, a friar, … Read more
After nine years in development hell, The Last Guardian has finally been released. Don Rowe enters a mysterious and melancholy world and finds the masterpiece of director Fumito Ueda’s career. The first time I calmed Trico the bird-dragon with a gentle pat I felt certain he was going to die. Nothing in the plot would … Read more
The Spinoff once again reshapes the media landscape, this time with The Spinoff Snapchat Gaming Review. This week Madeleine Chapman gives Out Run a hoon. Follow the old Spinoff on Snapchat at the_spinoff. Thanks. The extent of my gaming ability ends as soon as two hands are required, working in unison. Which is why old … Read more
After two and a half years of part-time development, Auckland indie dev Steven Wu has released his first game, Ink Wars, on the app store. Don Rowe speaks to Wu, by day a project manager at Spark, about the challenges and triumphs of building a mobile game while holding down a job, and why Kiwi devs … Read more
Diehard fanboy Matthew Codd has his jaded eyes scrubbed clean by the latest in an infinite number of Final Fantasy titles. I had a lot of skepticism going into Final Fantasy XV. Like many other lifelong Final Fantasy junkies, I was disappointed with the direction that Final Fantasy XIII took the series; prior to release, … 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. With Bethesda’s latest sequel in the stealthy-shooty-steampunky series now out, Don Rowe and José Barbosa get stuck into the … Read more
Not content to close out 2016 relaxing in their billowing piles of Pokémon Go cash, Gamefreak have just released two new Nintendo handheld rpgs, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Joseph Harper took them for a spin. It’s been a massive year for Pokémon. Celebrating 20 years since their first generation handheld games, the company has … Read more
Matthew Codd slinks his way through steampunk assassination simulator Dishonored 2 and becomes almost constantly overwhelmed by a grueling style of intricate level design. Dishonored 2 has some of the most fascinating level design I’ve seen in a game. Each area is made up of a complicated network of streets, buildings, and passageways, giving you … Read more
Mathew Codd interviews the art director at Arkane Studios, Sebastien Mitton, about the intensive four year process that went into creating Dishonoured 2 and it’s funky fantasy setting. One of the most memorable things about Dishonored is Dunwall, the city in which it took place. Though heavily inspired by Victorian-era London and Edinburgh, it worked … Read more
Deep in the bowels of the Internet, thousands of pitiful men are embroiled in a heated debate over the merits of two virtual women from the video game The Witcher 3. Hayden Donnell, a loser from Mt Albert, writes about how he almost became one of them. The beautiful gift of freewill, granted to all human beings, … Read more
The new FIFA Mobile game is a satisfying but less life-destroying alternative to its console counterpart, writes Calum Henderson. Every couple of weeks I entertain an increasingly vivid fantasy in which I quit my job, buy a PlayStation, withdraw from the world and spend all my time at home playing video games. By video games … Read more
After going all the way down the rabbit hole, Eugenia Woo is back to talk about impossible comebacks and the victors of the 2016 League of Legends World Championships. This is it. I’ll admit, when the World Championships started about a month ago, I was contemplating giving the tournament a miss. Sure, maybe I’d keep … Read more
The LoL Worlds Semifinals has wrapped up and it’s safe to say it’s been dramatic. Worlds correspondent Eugenia Woo summarises the action for your eyeballs. (Eugenia’s previous weekly recaps can all be read here.) Worlds’ month-long run is slowly coming to a close – the Finals will be on the 30th of October and like … Read more
According to Matthew Codd the creative enterprise that best captures the pain of schoolyard love is a free phone game from the Philippines. Matthew explores the angst and talks to the game’s teenage developer. A few weeks ago, while falling down a rabbit hole of “similar apps” links on Google Play, I stumbled upon a game … Read more
Orchestras around the world are desperately seeking new audiences. They’ve tried shorter concerts and even half-arse t-shirts, but one of the initiatives most successful at luring new concert goers is a series of shows with orchestras playing music from video games. Final Symphony, featuring the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the music of the Final Fantasy series, played recently … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe 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. Let’s travel back in time to the late 60s and to the southern United States for some open world FPS … Read more
After barely surviving a week of upsets in the second round of worlds, Eugenia Woo regains her composure and sorts the gold from the silt in the chaotic quarterfinals of the 2016 League of Legends Worlds. I was pretty fragile coming into the Quarterfinals after trying and failing to recover from the Darkest Timeline of last week. … Read more
An online feud spilled over into real world violence at MOTAT last night when passions erupted at the 2016 League of Legends national championship final. Don Rowe was there, and found it the most exciting part of the event. Last night, perhaps for the first time ever, the Museum of Transport and Technology played host to a … Read more
After having a hell of a time playing the original Until Dawn game on the PS4, Alex Casey is introduced to the new virtual reality version on the Playstation VR. (After you’ve witnessed these virtual horrors, revisit Alex’s original scream-fest.) Video edited by Joseph Harper The lovely gaming post was brought to your bleeding eyeholes by … Read more
It’s week 2 of Worlds and who better to recap the action and rank the players than Eugenia Woo, The Spinoff’s own LoL correspondent. (If you’re new to LoL Worlds and need a steer, try Eugenia’s handy beginner’s guide.) This was a bit of a jam-packed week for Worlds because a bunch of things almost … Read more
Here comes consumer level virtual reality peripherals for your console gaming. Alongside this uptick in personal digital stupefaction comes all Don Rowe’s hopes and dreams. Finally, he can start living. Edited by Joseph Harper Trip the light wicked with Bigpipe, the sweetest ISP in the land.
Forza Horizon 3 is a gambling addict’s dream disguised as a high quality racing game, writes Don Rowe. Forza haunts my dreams, whispering in the night, winking at me from beside the TV. ‘One more spin’, it says. Points for crashing, points for not crashing, extra points for getting points. It’s rats and cocaine water all over … Read more
This month planet Earth will shake as the League of Legends World Championships thunder across the globe. It’s the esports Superbowl and for the teams taking part there’s big cheddar to be made. Our LoL correspondent Eugenia Woo is covering the event all month with weekly round ups and standings, but first here’s a in-depth … Read more
Our LoL correspondent Eugenia Woo lists her teams to look out for after the first week of competition. If you’re new to the esport, have a look at her beginner’s guide to League of Legends. My standings are mostly based on the results from Week 1, but like any other sports fan I’ve got my … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe 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 Barbosa is joined by Spinoff staff writer Calum Henderson. The two grown men tackle the most grown … Read more
The Donbox is a regular series where killing machine Don Rowe watches a movie based on, inspired by, or just damn ripped from a video game. This week: Doom’s 2016 iteration has been celebrated the world over for it’s faithful honoring of the franchise’s roots. How does the 2005 film adaptation compare? Two minutes into … Read more