Runaway creative director Emma Johansson on the many benefits of diversity in gaming, the secret to making chilled-out but highly addictive mobile games, and why Animal Crossing rules. When Dunedin mobile game company Runaway went looking for an artist to join their newly-founded studio in 2010, they struggled to find anyone in New Zealand suitable … Read more
One of 2016’s best games has had its best feature, Elusive Targets, turned back on. Jessica Alouette explains what makes Hitman special, and why you shouldn’t miss out on it. The former headmaster sits on a roof, learning to use his new recording device to help him write a book. People in the streets below … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. This highlights package sees José Barbosa and Joseph Harper try to honour our new PM by building a statue of her in Minecraft. This post, like all our gaming content, comes to your peepers only … Read more
This weekend Minecraft had its very own global live streamed convention, Minecon Earth, in which new developments and updates for the game were announced. Jessica Alouette talked to corporate VP Matt Booty about the big picture. Minecraft’s next evolution is called “The Update Aquatic” and will be focusing on the wildly popular game’s ocean environments to add coral, … Read more
Propel has released their new high-performance Star Wars-themed drone. Sam Brooks went to the lavish launch event, somehow flew the drone, and reports back. Until last Thursday I had never been to Sydney, and I had never flown a drone. I have done both of those things now and feel like a fuller human because … Read more
Ten years of Assassin’s Creed games is a long time to run around stabbing things. In this hybrid review/chin stroking musing session, José Barbosa wonders if it’s time for the Brotherhood to fall on its own sword. There’s a moment in any ongoing creative endeavour when one reaches the precipice of one’s efforts; this is … Read more
What happens when New Zealand’s top magicians get together with some of the best in the business from overseas? Daniel Smith went along to the NZ Magic Convention in Wellington to find out. On a normal day, anyone venturing via elevator or many stairs to the 16th floor of Wellington’s James Cook Hotel would find … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. This highlights package sees José Barbosa and Ashley Noel Hinton load up for Call Of Duty WWII Zombies. In a brutal multi-hour event host José Barbosa and guest Ashley Noel Hinton deal out some split-screen … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. This highlights package sees José Barbosa and Madeleine Chapman playing Crash Bandicoot: the N.sane trilogy. Now the new 2017 cleaned up version of the Crash Bandicoot trilogy is out, On the ‘Reg decided to give … Read more
There’s a new version of the Xbox out and its makers reckon it’s the most powerful home console out there, complete with 4K output and very high FPS. José Barbosa gives the One X a hoon. Regardless of the context and circumstances, when you get your hands on a new console it’s a good buzz. … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. Once again into the breach head Joe and José and this time they try out wrestling IP WWE 2K18. It’s a good whack of flying elbows, DDTs and brutal damage dealt out with folding chairs. … Read more
Duncan Greive plays the SNES Mini and recalls a time in his life when it was the one thing he wanted to be happy. When I was a child, all I wanted was Super NES. I grew up in London in the ‘80s and my mum was deeply fearful of all things that weren’t English … Read more
Calum Henderson reviews this year’s pretender to the Hatchimals throne, a cool-but-rude robot called Cozmo. In the future robots will do just about everything. They’ll provide us with healthcare and drive our cars, they’ll do the washing up and if the movie RoboCop proves an accurate prophecy, keep our city streets safe from crime. Eventually robots will … Read more
After a long hiatus, Sam Brooks took himself back to the Armageddon pop culture expo in Auckland. What he found was meaning in the things we love enough to dress up in public for. I haven’t been to Armageddon in ages. I think the last time I went was when they gave out demo discs … Read more
Arguably the best part of Armageddon is the cosplay, so we sent photographer Joel Thomas along to the Auckland event to capture the colour and creativity. (Also keep your optics peeled for Sam Brooks’ write up of the cosplay contest coming later today). This post, like all our gaming content, comes to your peepers only … Read more
Those visual novel games can be extremely hit or miss, but Matthew Codd reckons locally made Inverness Nights is a high water mark for the genre. A few months ago, Kiwi developer Maddi Mackenzie released Inverness Nights. “Break up with your boyfriend in Inverness Nights, a queer historical fantasy visual novel,” the media release said, calling … Read more
Twenty-one seasons in, South Park seems reluctant to die – and the intense licensing of the IP is no different. Don Rowe take the new video game version of everyone’s favourite depraved cartoon for a spin. I’m always nervous when franchises are ported across mediums. Not every show is fit for a game and vice … Read more
Don Rowe dips his toes back in the murky waters of the Upside Down with the Stranger Things mobile game. It’s almost inevitable these days that any somewhat successful media product will be iterated across every platform and medium like some entertainment rat king – “Popular Thing: The Movie, The Boardgame, Now a Book, graphic … Read more
Back by lukewarm demand On The ‘Reg is The Spinoff’s regular gaming session streamed live every Wednesday at 7pm on Facebook and Twitch. The first episode of this season sees José Barbosa and Joseph Harper playing brand spanking new Lord of the Rings cash in sequel Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Prepare for a lengthy discussion … Read more
Welcome to Top of the Pile, a gaming series in which two idiots are forced to play a game at the top of the ‘just released’ list. This week the walls come crashing in and our small lived are revealed in the session with run and gun zombie shooter When It Hits The Fan. This … Read more
Craig Cliff finds the narrative elements within the latest installment of the popular 2K franchise don’t work, unless you resort to a radical reading of DJ’s story. I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons or Zelda or anything normally associated with role-playing or fantasy. Y’know, things you might expect a novelist-in-training might wallow in while waiting … Read more
Eugenia Woo reviews HAMLET: The Video Game, a brave attempt to bring together the disparate worlds of gaming and theatre. HAMLET: The Video Game – A Shakespearean Stage Show is a mouthful. It’s also got all the earnestness of a high school production, with none of the good-natured missteps or overbearing parents being idiots in the … Read more
Don Rowe dives back into the borderline-narcotic world of Total War: Warhammer, reviewing the second of three games in the series. Ah McCain, they’ve done it again! Just when you were getting bored of the stupidly huge and successful Total War: Warhammer, strategy game powerhouse Creative Arts has only gone and dropped the second instalment … Read more
If Bill Shakespeare was around today, the old huckster would probably have a crack at making a video game. A stage show currently playing in Auckland aims to construct what that might look like, complete with Angry Birds and live Tetris. Eugenia Woo talked to director Greg Copper. Auckland’s theatre scene is no slouch. With … Read more
The much anticipated Cuphead has finally been released. It’s a tremendously hard and beautiful indie run-and-gun game and Sam Brooks, despite being notoriously bad at video games, gave it a brave hoon. I am very bad at video games. I feel like I need to preface this review, and any opinion I have on video games with … Read more
Welcome to Top of the Pile, a gaming series in which two idiots are forced to play a game at the top of the ‘just released’ list. Once again Joseph and José dive deep into their own mediocrity as even the relative quality of this licensed fighting game with recognisable characters can’t stir within themselves … Read more
Next up in Sam’s Celebrity Game Reviews, Sam Brooks plays an incredibly strange Kevin Hart game that is unfortunately aimed at families, maybe. How fortuitous to be reviewing a celebrity mobile game that is mildly relevant to the news of today. Last week, we found out that Kevin Hart cheated on his pregnant wife, and … Read more
Originally a mod of the military sim ARMA 2, Dayz and its creator, New Zealander Dean Hall, are responsible for the survival zombie horror genre we all know and are somewhat bored by now. José Barbosa loved the mod and initially started playing the full-on commercial standalone version in 2012. He now returns to the forests … Read more
Welcome to Top of the Pile, a gaming series in which two idiots are forced to play a game at the top of the ‘just released’ list. This week TOTP returns and what a game Joseph and José are forced to play. Say hello to fairy-tale set, talking animal board game Armello! This post, like … Read more