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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Microsoft first announced their move into the action-adventure genre when they scored temporary rights to Rise of the Tomb Raider. Now with ReCore they have their own title – but is it any good? A couple of years ago, Microsoft announced they had obtained exclusive rights to Rise of the Tomb Raider, at least for … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on our Twitch channel. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. This week José Barbosa is joined by The Spinoff writer and boy wonder Hayden Donnell. Watch as the two … Read more
100 years ago to the day New Zealand entered the Battle of the Somme, laying down life and limb to protect France from the German Empire. But what if France had never been in the First World War? Seems ridiculous right? Not if you’re Battlefield 1 developers DICE. On the 4th August, 1914, the army … Read more
In association with our mates Bigpipe we’re livestreaming a different video game every Wednesday at 7pm on our Twitch channel. Join José Barbosa and a cast of roped in innocents for a journey into utter mayhem. This week José Barbosa is joined by old mate Ashley Hinton for a heaping wad of low-fi hacker puzzle … Read more