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By Matt Keller - Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:31pm
The video game industry may outweigh Hollywood in terms of box office grosses, but there's one thing they have that we don't; multiple revenue streams. Rentals, home video income, TV rights can turn a box office dud into something marginally profitable. Video game publishers get one shot at it – the game you buy off the shelf or off your digital download service of choice. Beyond gouging the hell out of Australian gamers, publishers don't really try creating other revenue streams.
There is a way – tapping the collector's market.
There is a way – tapping the collector's market.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:00pm
Over the last decade, there have been some pretty amazing innovations made in the technology sector, particularly the games industry. The sort of stuff you could only dream about back in the 90s is effectively today's reality. Yet even as some of these innovations are made, other aspects of the games industry's products seem to be devolving from where they were previously.
This week on The Warp Pipe, we'll take a look at a few examples of the industry's backwards and forwards movement.
This week on The Warp Pipe, we'll take a look at a few examples of the industry's backwards and forwards movement.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Nov 8, 2009 12:30pm
There have been a couple of sleepless nights at The Warp Pipe household lately; a large rat getting into the crawlspace and scurrying along the walls, a set of nearby security lights staying on all night, and some exam related panic from my partner all contributed to reduced snoozing hours.
The inability to sleep usually results in deep thought, and it just so happened that most of these thoughts were related to video games, so this week we'll have a look at a couple of random video game related thoughts.
The inability to sleep usually results in deep thought, and it just so happened that most of these thoughts were related to video games, so this week we'll have a look at a couple of random video game related thoughts.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Nov 1, 2009 12:31pm
I have no doubt that many of you have heard about Demon's Souls, From Software's new hardcore Action-RPG that just hit the PlayStation 3 in the USA, courtesy of Atlus. Demon's Souls has developed a reputation for being a little bit more difficult than your average video game. That reputation is well-earned; upon receiving my copy of Demon's Souls this week, the game swallowed me up, spat me out, ground my face into the pavement and generally made a mockery of my skills.
I loved every minute of it.
I loved every minute of it.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:30pm
Activision and Infinity Ward earned the ire of PC gamers across the world this week when they announced that Modern Warfare 2 would not feature a server browser, support for dedicated servers or allow user created mods. It's a slap in the face to the PC gaming community, who supported the Call of Duty series from day 1, before it hit consoles and became the cash cow it is today. The move is clearly driven by greed on behalf of Activision, who, obviously not content with charging PC gamers the same price as their console brethren, feels the need to nickel and dime them with paid DLC as well.
In honor of Activision's latest act of greed, The Warp Pipe is going to take a look at some of video gaming's corporate blunders and near-misses.
In honor of Activision's latest act of greed, The Warp Pipe is going to take a look at some of video gaming's corporate blunders and near-misses.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:31pm
Over the last couple of weeks, The Warp Pipe has focused on sending people down the collector's path, first with how to get started, and then where to look. This is strictly for the folks who want the original, tangible experience – if you're happy with digital copies or emulation, go and hit up Steam, GOG or the Virtual Console.
This week, we're going to round out our series on game collecting with a few recommendations of classic games you should add to your newly started collection. Everybody knows about the classics like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario World, so we'll be looking at games that were originally overlooked, have been forgotten over time or were left in Japan.
This week, we're going to round out our series on game collecting with a few recommendations of classic games you should add to your newly started collection. Everybody knows about the classics like Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario World, so we'll be looking at games that were originally overlooked, have been forgotten over time or were left in Japan.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Oct 11, 2009 12:30pm
Collecting older video games is ever so much fun, even if some weeks leave you so cash strapped that baked beans on toast seems like a royal feast. The week just passed was one of those weeks, as I finally got my filthy mits on the highly sought after SNES RPG Terranigma and the Nintendo 64 adaptation of legendary RTS Starcraft. Given that these two together cost about as much as three or four new release games, I think that I will be leaving Nathan Drake and Eddie Riggs to sit on the store shelf until Christmas.
For our second look at the world of games collecting, we'll discuss the process of acquiring your old games, and where you should start shopping.
For our second look at the world of games collecting, we'll discuss the process of acquiring your old games, and where you should start shopping.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Oct 4, 2009 11:31am
Having a massive video game collection is every young gamer's dream. As you get older, those dreams start to fade as reality sets in and life becomes busier. A few of us hold onto the dream and start to pursue it when we've got a bit of money rolling in. My girlfriend and I decided to resume our video game collecting activities earlier this year, so I thought that over the next few weeks, I'd share with you a few things about collecting video games.
This week, we'll look at how you should go about getting your collection started.
This week, we'll look at how you should go about getting your collection started.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Sep 27, 2009 9:01am
The Wii introduced motion controlled gaming to the masses, and showed that you don't need the latest and greatest hardware to succeed in the gaming market. As expected, Microsoft and Sony are trying to get in on Nintendo's action, announcing motion control devices of their own. At the Tokyo Game Show this week, we got another look at the PlayStation 3 motion controller, and even got the first bunch of associated game announcements. It seems that motion controlled gaming is going to be the next big thing.
But do we actually want motion controlled gaming to take over?
But do we actually want motion controlled gaming to take over?
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By Matt Keller - Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:01am
In our recent review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, there were a few negative comments in the feedback section regarding perceived spoilers. The events referred to in the complaints about the review actually appear not only in the first hour of the game, but also in the game’s publicity materials, including its many trailers and on the packaging. So where do you draw the line when it comes to spoilers?
This week, The Warp Pipe will examine the nature of video game spoilers and discuss the introduction of a statute of limitations.
This week, The Warp Pipe will examine the nature of video game spoilers and discuss the introduction of a statute of limitations.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:27am
Thousands of video games make it to market each year, but not everybody is satisfied by the latest product found on store shelves or on your favourite brand of digital distribution service. Some games are stuck in other countries, never brought to our shores or translated into English, others are stuck in development hell, or even just remain in the back of our minds as the product of wishful thinking.
This week, The Warp Pipe highlights a few video game projects we’d really love to play that are, unfortunately, not in development, and probably never will be.
This week, The Warp Pipe highlights a few video game projects we’d really love to play that are, unfortunately, not in development, and probably never will be.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Sep 6, 2009 9:00am
This Wednesday marks the 10th Anniversary of the US launch of the Dreamcast, Sega’s last home console. For Sega fans, the Dreamcast was a rollercoaster ride; anticipation and hope of Sega’s second coming, a riotously successful launch and tons of awesome games eventually crushed by the PlayStation 2 hype train, piracy and Sega’s poor financial state. It also introduced some important concepts to the world of console games that we now take for granted.
This week, The Warp Pipe will reflect on the Dreamcast’s highs and lows and highlight some of the better parts of its library.
This week, The Warp Pipe will reflect on the Dreamcast’s highs and lows and highlight some of the better parts of its library.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:01am
It’s the last weekend before the beginning of the traditional holiday rush, where players are flooded with new game releases and essentially spoilt for choice. We’ve all been through this rigmarole before and despite the fact that this year’s line-up is a little thinner thanks to key delays and early releases, we’re still going to be suffering from light wallets and a lack of free time by the end of November.
Like every holiday season before it, there are going to be winners and losers. This week, The Warp Pipe is going to focus on the wildcard releases of the holidays – the games that could be big hits, or fail to catch on.
Like every holiday season before it, there are going to be winners and losers. This week, The Warp Pipe is going to focus on the wildcard releases of the holidays – the games that could be big hits, or fail to catch on.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:01am
Earlier this week I got stuck into Madden NFL 10 for my yearly dose of American Football and the associated review. Pressure is on these sports games developers to deliver new features year after year, despite the rather constricted 12 month production style they face. Sometimes major features introduced in one year of a sports game will be axed two or three years down the track – and in some cases even reintroduced as “new” features down the line.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at some of the major sports game features which have been cut over the years.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at some of the major sports game features which have been cut over the years.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:01am
As the gaming industry flourishes, its influence begins to spread to other kinds of media. We’ve had movies based on video games, TV shows dedicated to covering the industry and many books on a variety of industry topics. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been stocking up on gaming related books, and dedicated the occasional column to them, which we call The Warp Pipe’s Gaming Book Club.
In the latest edition of The Warp Pipe’s Gaming Book Club, we’ll look at EA: Celebrating 25 Years of Interactive Entertainment and the Book of Games duology.
In the latest edition of The Warp Pipe’s Gaming Book Club, we’ll look at EA: Celebrating 25 Years of Interactive Entertainment and the Book of Games duology.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Aug 9, 2009 9:01am
With the winter gaming drought in full swing and little interesting news happening, one has plenty of time to sit around and play old games and do a lot of research. Sometimes while doing research for The Warp Pipe, we find out some pretty cool stuff – every now and then we'll package it up for your enjoyment. This week is one of those weeks – hooray for learning.
In our latest compilation of video game facts, we'll discover the origins of Mario's friend/foe Boo, discuss gaming's most valuable collectable and reminisce about box art changes.
In our latest compilation of video game facts, we'll discover the origins of Mario's friend/foe Boo, discuss gaming's most valuable collectable and reminisce about box art changes.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Aug 2, 2009 9:01am
Video game-to-movie adaptations have always been pretty terrible, outside of one or two which make the cut as mindless popcorn flicks. Everybody knows it, so there’s no need to dwell on that fact. We know what makes these movies bad – departure from the source material, low production values and horrible talent both on and off the screen. In spite of this, many games, regardless of their suitability, are being optioned for film production.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a couple of video game film projects that are currently in the pipeline.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a couple of video game film projects that are currently in the pipeline.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:57am
The video game industry has come far in the last thirty years, but we still can’t shake the perception that everything needs to be released in the fourth quarter of the year. It has gotten better, particularly in the last two years where heavy hitters like Grand Theft Auto IV, Resident Evil 5 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl were released in the first half of the year. Q4 2009 is still stacked with high profile titles, some of which will inevitably be overlooked in favour of Halo 3: ODST, Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2.
This week, The Warp Pipe is going to shed a bit of light on titles which are deserving of your attention this year, but are at risk of being lost in the Q4 shuffle.
This week, The Warp Pipe is going to shed a bit of light on titles which are deserving of your attention this year, but are at risk of being lost in the Q4 shuffle.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:01am
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been on a major retro kick. This old game bonanza recently took a sharp turn to the world of point and click adventures of the LucasArts variety – just in time for the release of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (which is quite good) earlier this week. The first three Monkey Island games – Secret, LeChuck’s Revenge and Curse, are universally loved, but the fourth game, Escape, tends to be written off as a bad egg.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a number of factors which can and have caused popular game series to fall out of favour with fans.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a number of factors which can and have caused popular game series to fall out of favour with fans.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:02am
After a couple of months of collecting older video games, my partner and I finally found copies of what’s effectively known as the “holy trinity” of Super Nintendo RPGs – Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars – in excellent condition. She’s delighted, being a fan of Japanese RPGs since the dawn of gaming, but I’ve got this feeling of emptiness. That got me thinking about things in a gaming context – how often do you feel that the quest is the more rewarding part of the experience, and that the ending is a bit of a letdown?
This week, The Warp Pipe is going to serve up another round of quick thoughts and observations loosely associated with video gaming.
This week, The Warp Pipe is going to serve up another round of quick thoughts and observations loosely associated with video gaming.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jul 5, 2009 9:01am
When you spend most of your gameplay hours wrangling new release games for review, you do not typically get the opportunity to sit down and soak up the atmosphere to the same extent as a regular player does. Once those end credits roll, you’re onto the next one; sometimes a cause of frustration, particularly when the summer movie season is in full swing and rushed licensed titles are piling up on your desk, leaving you totally jaded. Sometimes you just need to step back from it all and remember what you enjoy about the hobby.
This week, we’ll look at a few of those little things that we really like in video games.
This week, we’ll look at a few of those little things that we really like in video games.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:01am
Lately, the Warp Pipe has been looking to the past for its gaming fix, rather than getting wrapped up in the present or worrying about the future. Perhaps it’s as a result of a strict regimen of movie tie-ins and yearly sequels on the review plate, or something to kill the time between E3 and the holiday season – I don’t really care enough to sit around and think about it. Whatever the cause is, I have retro fever, and have it bad.
This week, we’re going to take a look at the three incarnations of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker.
This week, we’re going to take a look at the three incarnations of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:58am
Playing new release video games is something I love – enough to dedicate my working life to it. Sometimes you just get a little burnt out on new releases; some games are so similar they all start to merge together into some sort of gelatinous video gamey blob. These times usually make you want to go back in time a bit and seek out some retro fun. The retro gaming scene seems to have shifted since my last trek through the dank pits of the pawn brokers and auction sites, and not for the better.
This week, we’ll reflect on what’s happening in the retro gaming scene, and look at some recent acquisitions.
This week, we’ll reflect on what’s happening in the retro gaming scene, and look at some recent acquisitions.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jun 14, 2009 8:59am
With E3 over and most worthwhile new releases more than six months away, most of us will spend our time looking to the future, waiting for our most anticipated games to hit shelves. Hype and anticipation of new gaming releases isn’t really for me – I’ve been burnt enough times to know better, so instead, I’ve been looking to the past and spending some time with some old favourites, and other games that time hasn’t been so kind to.
This week, The Warp Pipe travels back in time to shatter the myth and memories surrounding popular NES title Battletoads.
This week, The Warp Pipe travels back in time to shatter the myth and memories surrounding popular NES title Battletoads.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jun 7, 2009 9:01am
E3 is over; the crowds have gone home and are getting some much needed rest, the booths are packed up, and people are arguing over who “won” E3. The fact of the matter is that we, the gamers, won E3. If you’re anything like me, your wanted list more than doubled over the course of the show. Many games I thought I wasn’t interested in blew me away, while the ones I was looking forward to seeing more than delivered. We’ve bore witness to many surprise unveilings, something that was lacking from the E3s of recent years. It was the first time in years where I actually felt excited watching the show unfold.
In this special post-E3 edition of the Warp Pipe, we’ll look break down the big announcements of the show, discuss the games we’re most looking forward to and check the results of last week’s predictions.
In this special post-E3 edition of the Warp Pipe, we’ll look break down the big announcements of the show, discuss the games we’re most looking forward to and check the results of last week’s predictions.
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By Matt Keller - Sun May 31, 2009 9:01am
E3 begins on Tuesday morning at the ungodly hour of 2am (AEST) and the Games On Net crew will be bringing you the latest news from the show – we’ll have a few people over there working the show floor, and a full team of newsbots here in Australia posting the latest news, videos and screens of newly announced games. With the show reportedly back to full strength this year, it’s going to be big, so I hope you enjoy our coverage and that your developer of choice announces something you want.
To get into the E3 mood, this week’s Warp Pipe is going to hop on the bandwagon and make a whole bunch of E3 predictions.
To get into the E3 mood, this week’s Warp Pipe is going to hop on the bandwagon and make a whole bunch of E3 predictions.
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By Matt Keller - Sun May 24, 2009 8:58am
During the week, while my created fighter was having his face pummelled by a superior opponent in UFC 2009 Undisputed, I couldn’t help but think about how much busier this May has been. In years past, many writers have been starved for work in May – this year I’m struggling to get on top of it. Such a thing is not made any easier by the fact I can’t stop buying games for my personal gaming, particularly imports.
In a vain attempt to justify the time and money spent on these games, I thought we’d take a look at a few games that are currently big on the import scene.
In a vain attempt to justify the time and money spent on these games, I thought we’d take a look at a few games that are currently big on the import scene.
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By Matt Keller - Sun May 17, 2009 8:59am
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had a look at a selection of the best games produced by Australian and New Zealand-based developers over the last 30 years. To round off our series of locally focused Warp Pipe content, we’ll be looking at a selection of games that Australian developers are currently working on. It’s not necessarily an exhaustive list – many developers are keeping their cards closely to their chest, but it should give you an insight into what locally produced games will hit shelves in the next twelve months or so.
The upcoming Aussie projects we’ll be looking at include Fuzzyeyes’ Edge of Twilight, Infinite Interactive’s Puzzle Kingdoms and Team Bondi’s LA Noire.
The upcoming Aussie projects we’ll be looking at include Fuzzyeyes’ Edge of Twilight, Infinite Interactive’s Puzzle Kingdoms and Team Bondi’s LA Noire.
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By Matt Keller - Sun May 10, 2009 9:02am
So this is it, Duke Nukem Forever is finally gone. Even though I hopped off the hype train many years ago, there was always part of me that hoped it’d come out some day, and the removal of that sliver of hope has left this odd sense of emptiness. That game had been in production for slightly under half my lifetime, shocking really. What are all of us hack writers going to joke about now? Anyway, we’ll continue our retrospective on the best games to come out of Australia and New Zealand, from developers who took less than 12 years to develop and release their games.
This week’s edition includes Melbourne House’s Transformers, the former Irrational Games’ Freedom Force and Auran and Activision’s joint real-time strategy effort, Dark Reign.
This week’s edition includes Melbourne House’s Transformers, the former Irrational Games’ Freedom Force and Auran and Activision’s joint real-time strategy effort, Dark Reign.
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By Matt Keller - Sun May 3, 2009 9:01am
In honour of ANZAC Day last weekend, we decided to start a series of Warp Pipe columns dedicated to the best games developed in Australia and New Zealand. One column wasn’t enough to look at the best of what our local teams have offered the world, so over the next couple of weeks we’ll continue to look at the best they have to offer, the best collaborations they’ve been involved with, and what’s on the horizon.
This week’s edition looks at another five Australian and New Zealand developed titles including the recent Wii smash-hit de Blob, the classic platformer Halloween Harry, and the post-apocalyptic strategy stylings of Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.
This week’s edition looks at another five Australian and New Zealand developed titles including the recent Wii smash-hit de Blob, the classic platformer Halloween Harry, and the post-apocalyptic strategy stylings of Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:00am
Yesterday was ANZAC day, where we honour and remember the soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who fought at Gallipoli in the First World War. On this patriotic occasion, we thought it’d be a good opportunity to spend the next couple of weeks looking back at some of the best games developed or co-developed in Australia and New Zealand, as well as taking a peek at what’s on the horizon.
In this week’s edition, we’ll look at our first batch of titles, including Melbourne House’s 1982 adaptation of The Hobbit, Ratbag’s dirt racer Powerslide and Interactive Binary Solutions’ Flight of the Amazon Queen.
In this week’s edition, we’ll look at our first batch of titles, including Melbourne House’s 1982 adaptation of The Hobbit, Ratbag’s dirt racer Powerslide and Interactive Binary Solutions’ Flight of the Amazon Queen.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:00am
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of research into games I might have missed in the last 20 or so years, targeting games for acquisition and addition to our rapidly growing video game collection. Along the way, I’ve rediscovered a bunch of games that have been forgotten by time; some of them are totally obscure and bound to not interest most of you, but some are associated with some big name franchises.
This week, The Warp Pipe will dig up and examine a few of these forgotten games.
This week, The Warp Pipe will dig up and examine a few of these forgotten games.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:01am
Today is Easter Sunday – a religious occasion for some, a celebration of new life for others, but almost universally celebrated with the gorging of chocolate. A common fixture of Easter Sunday for many children is the Easter Egg Hunt, a concept which stretches over into the world of video games, where instead of chocolatey goodness, game developers hide little secrets, amusing anecdotes and references to past products.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a couple of our favourite video game Easter Eggs.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a couple of our favourite video game Easter Eggs.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Apr 5, 2009 9:02am
With the new release barrage over, I’ve been spending a bit of time revisiting some of the games I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with. One such game is Resident Evil 5, which I am quickly discovering has a lot of post-endgame content and stuff to unlock. As much fun as it is grinding out levels to get new treasures and battle points to exchange for weapon upgrades and unlockables (I love my L. Hawk with unlimited ammo), I found myself turning to a play guide to find a better way.
This week, The Warp Pipe takes a look at the progression and usage of video game play guides.
This week, The Warp Pipe takes a look at the progression and usage of video game play guides.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:00am
With the end of March upon us, we make the translation from crazy game release period to crazy game announcement period. A few bits and bobs were revealed at GDC this week, but we’ll start seeing the real juicy stuff in the next 2-3 months, particularly with the apparently re-energised E3 happening in June. I think this year we’re going to see a lot more games released during the American summer time – the current release schedule already has Ghostbusters, InFamous, and The Sims 3 are already lined up for the first month. Is possible that gaming sales could top the summer box office?
This week The Warp Pipe will share a bunch of random thoughts and observations on material vaguely related to video games.
This week The Warp Pipe will share a bunch of random thoughts and observations on material vaguely related to video games.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:00am
With development costs spiralling out of control and the banking sector destroying the economy, many publishers find themselves needing safe projects to ensure stability and entertain the prospect of profitability. The Guitar Hero cow can only produce so much milk in a year, and Madden NFL is a once per season occurrence, so how does one make more money? The answer can be found in one’s dormant IP; franchises like Ultima, Final Fight and Pitfall which haven’t been used in some time, but have powerful brand recognition.
This week The Warp Pipe will examine a few IPs that we’d like to see revived in the near future.
This week The Warp Pipe will examine a few IPs that we’d like to see revived in the near future.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:16am
The gaming press has been around since the early 80s, but continuously faces criticism that it needs to “grow up”. The criticism is fair, but it assumes that all components of the press are dribbling morons and that other forms of entertainment do not suffer from the same issues . One merely needs to watch E! or MTV News for five minutes to see that the same level of immaturity and obsession dominates the coverage there too. The main difference is that those forms of entertainment also have coverage that caters to the high brow audience.
This week, The Warp Pipe will discuss some of the challenges the gaming press will need to face in order to produce more meaningful content, and share a few ideas of what we’d like to see.
This week, The Warp Pipe will discuss some of the challenges the gaming press will need to face in order to produce more meaningful content, and share a few ideas of what we’d like to see.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 8, 2009 8:58am
Last week, I had the opportunity to review the SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection for the PlayStation 3 (which you can read here), a product which, although filled with some fantastic games, left a really sour aftertaste. What caused these feelings of displeasure towards Sega was the utter lack of care that they had in producing said compilation. They see the compilation as a quick cash grab, but I think there is the potential to do whole a lot more with this kind of product, and ultimately make it more successful.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Mar 1, 2009 8:58am
March, the busiest non-Holiday month of the release calendar is now upon us, and as such we’re a bit overwhelmed here on the reviewing side of things at Games On Net. Fortunately, we’re not too busy to bring you another helping of The Warp Pipe, though we were distracted enough to not notice that we recently passed our 50th column. Go us!
This week, The Warp Pipe runs through another list of our most wanted remakes.
This week, The Warp Pipe runs through another list of our most wanted remakes.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:57am
Things have gotten rather busy again on the reviewing side of things here at Games On Net, with plenty of games (both good and bad) ready to receive the review treatment. As is usually the case, there are a few games in there that should have been a lot better, but rushed releases or questionable design decisions make them insufferable.
Such things lead to large amounts of agitation, and the need to vent, so this week on The Warp Pipe, we’ll be complaining about annoying things in the industry.
Such things lead to large amounts of agitation, and the need to vent, so this week on The Warp Pipe, we’ll be complaining about annoying things in the industry.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:56am
Street Fighter IV is just five days away, and it’s seen a lot more hype than any fighting game release in recent memory. Fifteen years ago, the fighting game was the most popular genre in the arcades and on home consoles, but over time, people started to lose interest. The latest versions of one-time best-sellers like Virtua Fighter and Tekken barely made a dent on the charts. Fighting games aren’t dead by any means, but their popularity is just a fraction of what it once was.
In this week’s edition of The Warp Pipe, we’ll look at a few factors that I believe lead to this decline in popularity of the fighting game genre.
In this week’s edition of The Warp Pipe, we’ll look at a few factors that I believe lead to this decline in popularity of the fighting game genre.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Feb 8, 2009 8:57am
With our economy speeding towards a recession, many of us have to crack down on our non-essential spending (when the government isn’t giving money away). That means fewer nights out on the town, homemade lunches, and a lot less to spend on games. It’s all well and good to say you’re going to spend less on games, but it becomes a lot harder to do so when games like Killzone 2, Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV start showing up.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a few ways to make your gaming dollar go further.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at a few ways to make your gaming dollar go further.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Feb 1, 2009 9:01am
I’d planned on having a topic that was a little more robust for this week’s Warp Pipe, but the record heatwave working its way through Adelaide and Melbourne and my lack of air-conditioning has pushed that back a bit. Fortunately, my time with Melbourne’s 40+ degree summer days will be cut short as I’m packing up and moving back to Queensland.
The cheap little fan on my desk is working just well enough to enable the compiling of another list of random video game facts and trivia.
The cheap little fan on my desk is working just well enough to enable the compiling of another list of random video game facts and trivia.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:02am
Over the Christmas/New Year break, I had an opportunity to finally read a bunch of books I had bought in the early parts of 2008. With the appeal of video games broadening, more book publishers seem willing to take a chance on books about the medium. Like any form of entertainment, a large number of these books just don’t cut it, so we’ll be spending a couple of columns this year looking at books based on gaming, and find out which ones are worth reading.
The first two books to feature in The Warp Pipe’s Gaming Book Club are The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven Kent and Get Rich Playing Games by Scott Steinberg.
The first two books to feature in The Warp Pipe’s Gaming Book Club are The Ultimate History of Video Games by Steven Kent and Get Rich Playing Games by Scott Steinberg.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:57am
After a couple of weeks of rest, The Warp Pipe is back with renewed vigour. We’ll be shuffling things around a bit this year to find the best fit; you’ll notice that the column will be a little shorter and perhaps less retrospective than it has been, but the point here is to both inform and entertain, and I hope to be doing a lot of that in the next 12 months.
To kick things off this year, I’ll be putting on my fortune teller’s hat and making predictions about what will happen in the video game industry in 2009.
To kick things off this year, I’ll be putting on my fortune teller’s hat and making predictions about what will happen in the video game industry in 2009.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:58am
With Christmas rapidly approaching, The Warp Pipe is calling time for 2008. After 45 columns without a break this year, I’m clocking off a little early to read a few books, watch some movies, replay some of 2008’s best games and of course, fly to Queensland to spend Christmas with the family. The Warp Pipe will be back on the 18th of January with a few minor tweaks and a couple of bold predictions for 2009.
Speaking of bold proclamations, The Warp Pipe made a few just before the start of the second, third and final quarters of the year. I thought we’d use the final column of the year evaluating my ability to predict the quality of soon-to-be-released video games.
Speaking of bold proclamations, The Warp Pipe made a few just before the start of the second, third and final quarters of the year. I thought we’d use the final column of the year evaluating my ability to predict the quality of soon-to-be-released video games.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Dec 7, 2008 8:52am
2008 is beginning to wrap up; the last major releases of the year are on shelves, and the industry is preparing to take a breather. Normally, we’d have quiet time until February, but a quick look ahead suggests that the releases will be rolling out from mid-January. At this stage it looks like Capcom is going to rock the quarter after having held their big guns off from the holiday rush - Bionic Commando, Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV are all set for release in the first ten weeks of the year.
This week the Warp Pipe will look at the downfall of Midway, and investigate how they can rebuild and move forward.
This week the Warp Pipe will look at the downfall of Midway, and investigate how they can rebuild and move forward.
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By Matt Keller - Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:57am
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Next Thursday’s marks the end of the big release season (unless you’re feverishly anticipating the release of Pony Friends), with Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider Underworld and the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV rounding off a rather good year. This week marks the end of our five part special on the best games of 1998 with Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Baldur’s Gate, Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Worms 2 going under The Warp Pipe’s microscope.
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By Matt K - Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:56am
This week marked 10 years since the release of Half-Life; no doubt some of you jumped on the $US0.98 deal offered on Steam to celebrate the occasion and are reliving the memories of years past. Half-Life is just one of five games we’ll be looking at in the fourth part of the Warp Pipe’s celebration of all things 1998. In addition to Valve’s explosive debut, we’ll also look at Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Myth II: Soulblighter, Banjo-Kazooie and Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit.
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By Matt K - Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:02am
With review season at its peak, wallets are empty, gamers are busy and reviewers are jacked up on caffeine and too busy to do anything else, so The Warp Pipe is spending November looking back at some of the best games released in 1998. This year was particularly important because it played host to many of the games that are considered to be amongst the best of all time.
This week’s column revisits another five great titles; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War, Starsiege Tribes, Thief: The Dark Project and Xenogears.
This week’s column revisits another five great titles; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War, Starsiege Tribes, Thief: The Dark Project and Xenogears.
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By Matt K - Sun Nov 9, 2008 8:54am
1998 was an eventful year to say the least. The Lewinsky scandal was in full swing in the US, anti-trust proceedings were brought against Microsoft, the Major League single season home run record was broken after 30 years, and a little blue pill brought relief to millions of impotent men around the world. It was also a landmark year in the gaming industry, with the release of many successful new franchises or brilliant sequels. With the release season in full swing and my time dedicated to reviewing, I’ve decided to take a trip down Memory Lane to celebrate the 10th anniversary of some of the best games to grace our consoles and PCs, and to examine their ongoing influence and see how they hold up today.
This week’s edition of The Warp Pipe includes Rainbow Six, Metal Gear Solid, Fallout 2, Pokemon Red/Blue and Grim Fandango.
This week’s edition of The Warp Pipe includes Rainbow Six, Metal Gear Solid, Fallout 2, Pokemon Red/Blue and Grim Fandango.
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By Matt K - Sun Nov 2, 2008 9:01am
1998 was one of the most influential years in our industry, with the release of many groundbreaking new titles and high quality sequels. Games such as StarCraft, Half-Life, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid were all released in that year. Since I’m oh-so-busy with reviewing games at the moment, I thought we’d spend November taking a trip down memory lane with some of the big releases from what was the best year in gaming (so far). We’ll look at what each game was about, what influence it had on the industry, and how it holds up today.
This week’s edition includes Resident Evil 2, Tekken 3, StarCraft, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Unreal.
This week’s edition includes Resident Evil 2, Tekken 3, StarCraft, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Unreal.
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By Matt K - Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:02am
So the Max Payne movie is out now, and it sucks. Hard. I don’t think I’ve actually paid money to see such a bad film at the cinema before. While it seemed like the style of the game would lend itself well to the medium of film, one doesn’t have to look too hard to find the elements which made the project go off course. So this week, The Warp Pipe is going to break down the elements which make these movies crap, and pinpoint why these projects almost always go wrong.
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By Matt K - Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:57am
After emerging from beneath a large pile of games to write this week’s column, I can’t help but think how much I love this time of year. Sun in the sky (for a few hours in Melbourne, at least), non-scorching weather and major game releases each and every week. The upcoming Christmas break even facilitates the ability to play these newly acquired games for decent stretches of time. One has to feel sorry for those working in retail during this avalanche – before you chastise them for forgetting your little pre-order trinket or not remembering the difference between your mah-jong games, consider that they’re regular people with real feelings, and having over 200 new releases to track and lines full of other people to serve kind of makes it difficult to remember everything.
This week, The Warp Pipe will continue its Sega Mega Drive 20th anniversary celebration with a look at the machine’s fall from grace.
This week, The Warp Pipe will continue its Sega Mega Drive 20th anniversary celebration with a look at the machine’s fall from grace.
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By Matt K - Sun Oct 12, 2008 8:57am
It has been a rather scary week, watching the markets around the world take a beating on the back of the credit crisis. The game companies in particular are taking a beating on their stock price, not only having to contend with poor market conditions, but speculation about reduced consumer confidence and purchasing in their busiest quarter. The free fall of the Aussie dollar would be really disconcerting if there was actually something to buy for my imported Wii, so I’ll thank Nintendo of America for releasing nothing but crap this quarter.
The Sega Mega Drive is due to celebrate its 20th birthday later this month, so I thought we’d take a little trip down memory lane over the next couple of weeks.
The Sega Mega Drive is due to celebrate its 20th birthday later this month, so I thought we’d take a little trip down memory lane over the next couple of weeks.
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By Matt K - Sun Oct 5, 2008 9:07am
For many days during this year, I’ve often sat and pondered the changes that have occurred in our industry since I first started gaming. Industry leaders change, talent moves around, new series rise to prominence and sometimes fall from grace after overexposure. New technology is often the catalyst of many such changes; look at what the rise of the HD consoles has done to the Japanese development scene. With the first rumblings this week about the successors to the Wii and PlayStation 3, I can’t help but wonder what the next formats will offer, and what direction the industry will take.
This week The Warp Pipe looks back on how LucasArts transformed itself from one of the most innovative developers in the industry to the unfortunate place it is today.
This week The Warp Pipe looks back on how LucasArts transformed itself from one of the most innovative developers in the industry to the unfortunate place it is today.
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By Matt K - Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:02am
From beneath a pile of games, I have briefly emerged to write this week’s column. Let’s just accept the fact that the video game industry is never going to learn how to manage a release schedule. It’s getting silly now – most of the big titles are hitting on the same day! The season has just started, and I’m already overwhelmed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it looks like there will be a drought between the end of November and March.
This week, The Warp Pipe travels into the trivia vault again for another round of random video game facts.
This week, The Warp Pipe travels into the trivia vault again for another round of random video game facts.
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By Matt K - Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:57am
The Holiday flood begins this Thursday with the release of an ungodly amount of games, including Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Crysis Warhead and Wipeout HD, and doesn’t stop until the week before Christmas. To save you all a bit of time, I like to run through the release list at the start of a given quarter, and make sweeping generalisations as to the quality of upcoming games.
Last week’s Warp Pipe covered the games of October, so this week we’re looking at November’s big hitters, including Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead and Mirror’s Edge.
Last week’s Warp Pipe covered the games of October, so this week we’re looking at November’s big hitters, including Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead and Mirror’s Edge.
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By Matt K - Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:37am
2008 has been a little different from the standard industry year, in that we’ve seen a lot of major titles released outside of the holiday shopping season. Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots were all released in the first half of the year. One would think that that might make for a less than stellar holiday line up, but the game publishers of the world (bar Nintendo) are inclined to prove otherwise.
Over the next two weeks (due to the sheer number of releases), The Warp Pipe will be boldly predicting the quality of new games in the next quarter.
Over the next two weeks (due to the sheer number of releases), The Warp Pipe will be boldly predicting the quality of new games in the next quarter.
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By Matt K - Sun Sep 7, 2008 9:03am
Lately I have found myself more annoyed with the usual bunch of video gaming trends and pop fiction tropes. Bipedal English-speaking aliens, anything with Jedi or Jedi-like characters in it and endlessly cycled fiction crutches like the Xanatos Roulette and characters that never seem to die. Perhaps the anguish of waiting for my new machine has made me extra edgy (especially with Spore: Galactic Edition staring me in the face), but am I the only one that thinks it’s time that fiction writers (in all mediums) tried something new? Or is this just Sturgeon’s Law in practice?
With this week’s Warp Pipe, I thought we’d take a look at another round of classic video games that could use a remake or reimagining.
With this week’s Warp Pipe, I thought we’d take a look at another round of classic video games that could use a remake or reimagining.
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By Matt K - Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:45am
In the next couple of days I get to rejoin the PC gaming sphere with my first full upgrade in over four years. With two years having passed since the last major PC release I played (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), I've got a lot of catching up to do. The midyear sales helped me to amass a backlog of the best PC gaming has had to offer during that time (Company of Heroes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Supreme Commander and Crysis to name a few), so I imagine I'll be pretty busy breaking in the new hardware. If you're looking to make the jump to some new hardware, check out the Uber Value PC thread on the forums for some worthy advice.
This week, I thought we'd take a look at a few things Sega could do to regain their former glory as one of gaming's superpowers, look at Segagaga, a Japanese game that lets you do exactly that and revisit the awful Way of the Warrior for the 3DO.
This week, I thought we'd take a look at a few things Sega could do to regain their former glory as one of gaming's superpowers, look at Segagaga, a Japanese game that lets you do exactly that and revisit the awful Way of the Warrior for the 3DO.
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By Matt K - Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:52am
Going away for a holiday is meant to be a relaxing experience, and with only 2 hours to go before I'm due to leave, the airline's online check-in system has already malfunctioned on me. It'd be nice if this minor inconvenience is the only thing that goes wrong, but after experiencing significant delays every time I've flown in the last year, I'm not getting my hopes up. My Nintendo DS and a couple of gaming books are going to be charged with maintaining my sanity in the event of delay. Wish them luck.
We'll continue with The Warp Pipe's subsection medley this week, with a review of Matt Fox's rather hefty book The Video Games Guide, and a look into the drum-bashing fun of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, the odd Japanese FPS effort Breakdown, and the face-smashing action of the classic beat 'em up Alien vs. Predator.
We'll continue with The Warp Pipe's subsection medley this week, with a review of Matt Fox's rather hefty book The Video Games Guide, and a look into the drum-bashing fun of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, the odd Japanese FPS effort Breakdown, and the face-smashing action of the classic beat 'em up Alien vs. Predator.
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By Matt K - Sun Aug 17, 2008 7:57am
When The Warp Pipe began, we had the intention of bringing you a reasonably large feature each week, followed by a couple of recurring bits generally intended to educate and entertain. There was at one stage intended to be an injection of humour, but my self-deprecating antics can't compete with the likes of LOLcats, Faildogs, Ctrl-Alt-Del and whatever else is at the bottom of the Internet comedy barrel. Somewhere along the line, the main features started getting a little too big, so the smaller sections essentially got the short end of the stick. This week, we'll run through a few of the bits that would have appeared if I knew how to stick to a word limit.
We'll look at one of Sonic the Hedgehog's cartoon appearances, the budget-priced historical experience of Medieval II: Total War, the Japanese-only Dragon Ball Z RPG Legend of the Super Saiyan and a Megadrive game that's bound to give you nightmares.
We'll look at one of Sonic the Hedgehog's cartoon appearances, the budget-priced historical experience of Medieval II: Total War, the Japanese-only Dragon Ball Z RPG Legend of the Super Saiyan and a Megadrive game that's bound to give you nightmares.
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By Matt K - Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:44am
For some people, remake is a dirty word. For the most part, we have Hollywood to blame for this, with Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake of Hitchcock's classic Psycho starting a relative flood of bad recreations of older films. In more recent years, this has culminated in the horror remake craze, where just about every slasher film from the late 70s and early 80s has either been remade, or a remake is in pre-production. Remakes are seen by executives as being relatively safe due to audiences' familiarity with the source material.
On the other hand, remakes are not seen in such negative light when it comes to video games. In some cases, limited technology available at the time has limited the creator's vision, or has made a game very hard to revisit or almost unplayable at a later date. In this week's Warp Pipe, I thought we'd spend some time looking at games I'd like to see remade.
On the other hand, remakes are not seen in such negative light when it comes to video games. In some cases, limited technology available at the time has limited the creator's vision, or has made a game very hard to revisit or almost unplayable at a later date. In this week's Warp Pipe, I thought we'd spend some time looking at games I'd like to see remade.
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By Matt K - Sun Aug 3, 2008 8:56am
It's been a pretty dull couple of weeks at The Warp Pipe, with too much time spent chasing Xbox 360 Achievements (through Thrillville: Off the Rails, Spider-Man 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) and waiting around for Soulcalibur IV and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 to be released. Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network look to be heating up over the next couple of weeks – they still don't hold a candle to similar services on the PC, but if this is a sign of things to come, then I am all for it.
This week, I thought we'd pay a visit to the trivia vault to learn another bunch of fun video game facts.
This week, I thought we'd pay a visit to the trivia vault to learn another bunch of fun video game facts.
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By Matt K - Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:26am
In a somewhat baffling turn of events, I've found myself glued to MLB 08: The Show on the PSP in recent weeks. Normally baseball is an exercise in boredom and mediocrity, but Sony's recent MLB games have some interesting new ideas, mainly the Road to the Show mode, where you control a single player and skip everything where your guy is not involved. You take the player from his rookie Spring Training with a Major League club of your choice, through the world of Minor League Baseball and (when you're good enough) into the Majors, living the dream of suburban kids all across America.
My self-diagnosed addiction to The Show led me to thinking about the level of progression (or lack thereof) of sports games in recent times, which is our main topic for the week. We'll also take a look at LucasArts' superbly budget-priced Sam & Max Hit the Road and revisit Nintendo's oft-overlooked Game Boy masterpiece Donkey Kong.
My self-diagnosed addiction to The Show led me to thinking about the level of progression (or lack thereof) of sports games in recent times, which is our main topic for the week. We'll also take a look at LucasArts' superbly budget-priced Sam & Max Hit the Road and revisit Nintendo's oft-overlooked Game Boy masterpiece Donkey Kong.
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By Matt K - Sun Jul 20, 2008 10:38am
So the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit has wrapped up. Bitter fanboys are sure to have run out of tears, at least temporarily, while tired journalists are no doubt catching up on some much needed sleep. I have no doubt that many of you have long lists of games you're now salivating over even more than before – better start putting those pennies aside. On the other hand, those of us on the reviewing side of things are currently wondering how on Earth we're going to manage to cover all of the fourth quarter's games without going insane.
This week, we'll reflect on the events that transpired during the three manufacturer press conferences and discuss our thoughts and any potential ramifications, and we'll also look at a few of the best games that were on show.
This week, we'll reflect on the events that transpired during the three manufacturer press conferences and discuss our thoughts and any potential ramifications, and we'll also look at a few of the best games that were on show.
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By Matt K - Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:15am
It has been bitterly cold and wet in Melbourne this week, but fortunately I've been too busy to worry about freezing my butt off. We're all trying to clear our plates here before the E3 train hits us next week – a week of 2am starts for the home team, and a couple of days of madness for Ignant, who will be our man in the field at the show. I'm sure we'll have all sorts of exclusive information and kickass trailers (quota free for Internode users), so stay tuned for what should easily be the best local E3 coverage.
We're going to step away from the E3 hype for a bit, and take a look at the video game career of Batman, in celebration of this week's theatrical release of The Dark Knight.
We're going to step away from the E3 hype for a bit, and take a look at the video game career of Batman, in celebration of this week's theatrical release of The Dark Knight.
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By Matt K - Sun Jul 6, 2008 9:06am
Mid-year sales tend to be pretty awful, but one particular Australian retailer was running out a lot of stock for around the $5 mark, mainly on the PC, PS2, DS and Xbox 360. Needless to say, this week, I came home a couple of hundred dollars poorer and weighed down by bags of games, yet could not find many of the titles I wanted due to the store having been raided by people buying up multiple copies of the one game to trade or sell on eBay. Such is life. I'm still trying to wrestle my way through Alone in the Dark on the Xbox 360, a game with some stunning ideas, but absolutely horrendous controls and far too many bugs and glitches.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at the current Q3 release list, gauging the perceived level of hype and giving a brief impression as to the quality of each game.
This week, The Warp Pipe will look at the current Q3 release list, gauging the perceived level of hype and giving a brief impression as to the quality of each game.
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By Matt K - Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:31am
This weekend marks the midway point of 2008, a milestone which has either come very slowly or out of nowhere, depending on your perception of time and space. I find myself in the latter group, stuck in a state of mind where it's March or April, largely out of desperation for some warm weather. Most of my recent time has been spent wrestling a Metal Gear Solid 4 review, which you'll see on the site soon, and the new Alone in the Dark game, which has some promising concepts destroyed by wretched controls and a multitude of glitches.
With the midway point reached, I thought I'd take the time this week to look back at the major events and releases of the first six months of the year.
With the midway point reached, I thought I'd take the time this week to look back at the major events and releases of the first six months of the year.
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By Matt K - Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:06am
Reviews have been attacking The Warp Pipe from all directions this week, but I'm sure by the time you're sitting down to read this, I'm taking a much needed break. It hasn't really been a very interesting week in the world of video games - we're lucky that those big Xbox 360 leaks hit the wire on Tuesday, or the industry would have been about as exciting as a 24 hour Today Tonight marathon.
This week we're going to take a look at some of the more impressive Xbox 360 Achievements, revisit Bethesda's Terminator: Future Shock and finish up with another new section called Removing the Rose Tint.
This week we're going to take a look at some of the more impressive Xbox 360 Achievements, revisit Bethesda's Terminator: Future Shock and finish up with another new section called Removing the Rose Tint.
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By Matt K - Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:08am
It's back to regular Warp Pipe programming after another pair of retrospectives. After two series retrospectives in about six weeks, I'm a little worn out on the concept; fortunately, there is little in the way of major franchise releases coming out this year (that we know of), so I should be able to take a decent break. I spent some of my newfound free time checking out the Game On exhibit at ACMI – it's quite a good little show, and it's still running for another month, so Melbourne readers who haven't checked it out should do so as soon as possible.
This week, we look at the issue of quality in licensed products intended for children, revisit the 1994 classic Street Fighter: The Movie, and introduce a new section called Flawed Masterpieces, which looks at games that fell just short of being classics.
This week, we look at the issue of quality in licensed products intended for children, revisit the 1994 classic Street Fighter: The Movie, and introduce a new section called Flawed Masterpieces, which looks at games that fell just short of being classics.
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By Matt K - Sun Jun 8, 2008 9:49am
The wait for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is almost over. It has been about three years since the original announcement, yet it feels much longer if you're a dedicated Metal Gear fan. Early reviews have been unanimously positive, though they seem to suggest that the game is the ultimate piece of fan service and not very accessible to those who haven't played a Metal Gear game before. For the readers and writer of this article, that's probably a good thing. I think I'll yank the cord on my DSL later today to prevent inadvertent spoilerage before Thursday.
The final part of our Metal Gear retrospective will start where the first one left off, with a look at Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and finish up with some pondering about the future of the series.
The final part of our Metal Gear retrospective will start where the first one left off, with a look at Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and finish up with some pondering about the future of the series.
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By Matt K - Sun Jun 1, 2008 8:55am
If you can cast your mind back about six weeks, you'll remember that The Warp Pipe ran a three part retrospective on the Grand Theft Auto series. It was a pretty exhausting task, but the three parts were the most popular Warp Pipe columns to date, so we're going to continue to deliver the odd retrospective article. Since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is less than two weeks away, I thought we'd spend the next two weeks looking back at the last 21 years worth of Snake's adventures.
This week, we'll look at the events leading up to the conception of Metal Gear, and examine each game in detail up to and including Metal Gear Solid on the Game Boy.
This week, we'll look at the events leading up to the conception of Metal Gear, and examine each game in detail up to and including Metal Gear Solid on the Game Boy.
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By Matt K - Sun May 25, 2008 9:41am
It's just been one of those weeks here at The Warp Pipe, where it was almost impossible to sit down and actually work. For some unknown reason, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy sank its teeth into me, and wouldn't let go until I completely finished everything in the game. It's the first platformer/action hybrid that I've got 100% in for a couple of years, so it's left me feeling pretty good. It also helped wash out the awful aftertaste left by Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal. While I mourn the loss of animation pioneers like Chuck Jones, Tex Avery and Friz Freleng, I'm glad they're not alive to see what Warner Bros. has done to their creations.
This week, we're going to dish up another helping of random facts, thoughts and opinions about the game industry, revisit a rather good Looney Tunes game called Desert Demolition and uncover the awesomeness that is God Hand.
This week, we're going to dish up another helping of random facts, thoughts and opinions about the game industry, revisit a rather good Looney Tunes game called Desert Demolition and uncover the awesomeness that is God Hand.
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By Matt K - Sun May 18, 2008 8:34am
This week at The Warp Pipe was mostly spent struggling trying to get a belated Mario Kart Wii review together. Every time reviewing a game seems a bit difficult or frustrating, I just remind myself that I could be stuck in an office being forced to pretend I give a damn about this week's Big Brother eviction. That usually results in me loving this job even more. I expected to like Mario Kart Wii a whole lot more than I actually did; the latest iteration seems to make the series' flaws more noticeable than ever before.
For this week's column, we'll discuss copy protection, revisit the spectacular Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner for PlayStation 2, and recommend a rather good budget-priced adventure game in Full Throttle.
For this week's column, we'll discuss copy protection, revisit the spectacular Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner for PlayStation 2, and recommend a rather good budget-priced adventure game in Full Throttle.
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By Matt K - Sun May 11, 2008 10:36am
One thing I've found particularly surprising over the last week was the rate at which my interest in Grand Theft Auto IV rapidly declined. I beat the game on Sunday night, yet haven't felt compelled to turn it back on since, which is strange, given how much I had enjoyed it. It's really lacking that level of supplementary content we saw in Vice City and San Andreas; much more effort went into the story, and the game is better for it, but I'd have liked more to do after the narrative was wrapped up.
This week's column is the final part of our Grievances series, focusing on Sony. We'll also take a look at the godawful Survivor game from late last decade, and give Guinness World Records' 2008 Gamers Edition the review treatment.
This week's column is the final part of our Grievances series, focusing on Sony. We'll also take a look at the godawful Survivor game from late last decade, and give Guinness World Records' 2008 Gamers Edition the review treatment.
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By Matt K - Sun May 4, 2008 1:04pm
So we return to regular Warp Pipe programming. It hasn't been that long since I did a regular column, but it feels like ages - the GTA articles (one, two, three) turned out to be a little more work than I thought they'd be, but I'm happy with the result. I took a little time off writing over the last week, tucking into Viking: Battle for Asgard and a few awful EA Sports games to push my Xbox 360 gamerscore past the 50,000 mark. Passing that mark seems to have killed my enthusiasm for the system at this point. Of course, I've also spent a bunch of time with Grand Theft Auto IV; it's a good game, possibly even great, but I've yet to see the things that are encouraging other reviewers to give it perfect scores, so I seem to be expecting it to pick up at some point.
As promised, this week we'll have a bit of a grumbly rant about what I don't like about Nintendo, we'll uncover the hidden gem that is The Red Star, and revisit the destructive fun of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
As promised, this week we'll have a bit of a grumbly rant about what I don't like about Nintendo, we'll uncover the hidden gem that is The Red Star, and revisit the destructive fun of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
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By Matt K - Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:59am
Last Sunday and Wednesday, we brought you the first two parts of this rather large Grand Theft Auto series retrospective. It's certainly been a learning experience for me; I've learnt a lot about the behind the scenes stuff, the foundation of DMA and how it got to be where it is today, but I also learnt a thing or two about planning and scheduling articles, keeping to word limits and so on. It took a lot longer to complete the task than I had intended, and damned if I just didn't want to pack it in and rediscover Vice City, or fly a Harrier Jet through the high rise buildings in San Fierro. After seeing a few videos that have snuck their way onto the web in the last few days, I have to say that I have not been this excited for a new game for quite a long time.
The first part of our feature looked at the early days of Grand Theft Auto, while the second part covered the three most successful entries into the series. The final part of the feature will look at the portable GTA games, Hot Coffee, and ask a few questions about the future of the series.
The first part of our feature looked at the early days of Grand Theft Auto, while the second part covered the three most successful entries into the series. The final part of the feature will look at the portable GTA games, Hot Coffee, and ask a few questions about the future of the series.
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By Matt K - Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:32pm
When I set out to write this Grand Theft Auto feature, I didn't expect that the article's length would spiral out of control. I wanted to provide readers with real insight into the Grand Theft Auto series, not just another listing of the games in the series with a few pretty screenshots. Once it was apparent that we couldn't cut the content down without sacrificing the quality of the article, the Internode overlords afforded me the opportunity to have a special mid-week edition of the Warp Pipe in order to let the fans read all about the series before the release of GTA IV on Tuesday.
The first part of our retrospective covers from the conception of the first game through to the release of the second. Today's second part concentrates on the period following the release of Grand Theft Auto 2 up to the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The first part of our retrospective covers from the conception of the first game through to the release of the second. Today's second part concentrates on the period following the release of Grand Theft Auto 2 up to the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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By Matt K - Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:10am
Normally on the Warp Pipe, we have a bit of a bit of a look at things affecting the current gaming environment, visit the games of days past and other obscure things, occasionally having a laugh or two along the way. For the last 10 weeks, I have been getting settled in and everyone seems pretty happy with the way things are going. It has taken a little bit of adjustment going from writing a column each month to writing one each week, but I enjoy the challenge.
We have always intended to deliver different types of content on the Warp Pipe, so to mix things up a bit, for the next two weeks - including a special mid-week edition - we will be doing a retrospective on the Grand Theft Auto series, just in time for the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on the 29th.
We have always intended to deliver different types of content on the Warp Pipe, so to mix things up a bit, for the next two weeks - including a special mid-week edition - we will be doing a retrospective on the Grand Theft Auto series, just in time for the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on the 29th.
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By Chienne - Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:21am
One of the most popular games in history is about to get a facelift. The original Pipemania was released back in 1989, and the sequel Pipe Dreams followed in 1991. Now, it's set for a comeback later this year, on DS, PSP, Wii, PS2 and PC, introducing an all-new audience to this race against time!
Puzzle gamers of all ages and experiences will play through hours of brain-teasing fun, in a frantic series of quests that will take the popular franchise and treat it to some updated gameplay mechanics, new graphics and new sound.
Puzzle gamers of all ages and experiences will play through hours of brain-teasing fun, in a frantic series of quests that will take the popular franchise and treat it to some updated gameplay mechanics, new graphics and new sound.
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By Matt K - Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:36am
The weeks seem to be flying by at an incredible pace, which is a good thing given how many highly highly-anticipated video games are released before the end of the quarter. When you're playing rubbish like Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, though, some days seem eternally long. Things do balance out, as I unexpectedly lost a large number of hours to Condemned 2's online multiplayer. It's very rare that an online game grabs hold of me – I think that the last one was the Day of Defeat 1.3 Beta.
The Condemned 2 online experience did leave me particularly sour about some aspects of Microsoft's online service, inspiring this week's main topic. To round out the column, we'll revisit Harmonix's pre-Guitar Hero effort, Amplitude and play the one of the worst games on the Master System in the form of The Flintstones.
The Condemned 2 online experience did leave me particularly sour about some aspects of Microsoft's online service, inspiring this week's main topic. To round out the column, we'll revisit Harmonix's pre-Guitar Hero effort, Amplitude and play the one of the worst games on the Master System in the form of The Flintstones.
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By Matt K - Sun Apr 6, 2008 12:02pm
The horrendous Melbourne weather did its best to prevent The Warp Pipe happening this week by knocking the power out multiple times and damn near sending a tree through my car's windshield. I've spent much of my week playing the despicable Two Worlds for the Xbox 360; it's the first console game I've played to date where I have had to enter in commands into an in-game console in order to turn off special effects like dynamic lighting and shadows in order to get the game to run at a playable speed. Maybe Microsoft should give the 360 a new slogan along the lines of "bringing the worst parts of PC gaming into your living room".
This week, we're going to run through the second quarter release schedule and make judgment calls on which ones are going to be worth your time. We'll also give our impressions of Contra 4, a game which mysteriously remains unreleased in Australia. Finally, we'll revisit the SiN anime movie.
This week, we're going to run through the second quarter release schedule and make judgment calls on which ones are going to be worth your time. We'll also give our impressions of Contra 4, a game which mysteriously remains unreleased in Australia. Finally, we'll revisit the SiN anime movie.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:20am
Easter has passed us by, and I'm sure many of you had a good time gorging yourselves on chocolate. The Warp Pipe spent its holiday nestled up to a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with a few hours dedicated to attaining that all important 100% in Bully: Scholarship Edition. It has been a busy week for gaming here, actually; I think I managed about 3,000 new achievement points since the return of my 360 (which pushed me into the top 100 Australians on MyGamerCard), I pushed my way through the majority of Smash Bros' single player modes and I've been reading Steven Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games, which I'll talk about more in a later column.
This week I thought we'd do something a little different: spurt out some interesting facts, insightful thoughts and bold proclamations. As promised last week, we'll look at one of Shiny's most underappreciated efforts in Sacrifice, and throw our cheap gaming buddies a bone with the Gothic Universe collection.
This week I thought we'd do something a little different: spurt out some interesting facts, insightful thoughts and bold proclamations. As promised last week, we'll look at one of Shiny's most underappreciated efforts in Sacrifice, and throw our cheap gaming buddies a bone with the Gothic Universe collection.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:20am
Writing this week's Warp Pipe is a difficult task; I've been as sick as a dog for a week, and there's copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl sitting on my desk. Much of the week was spent being grumpy at Australia Post for not delivering the game on time (usually 7 days from Canada, it took 10). Having only toyed with the latest fighting effort from Nintendo for roughly an hour, I can't make a definitive judgment, but I will say it is damn good fun. My Xbox 360 also made a triumphant return this week; the turnaround on warranty repair is really quite fast. I'm a little worried about the slower boot speed, but at the moment, it's running the best it has in ages.
This week, we're going to look into the PSP's rather dire software situation, revisit the truly awful Final Fight: Streetwise, and evaluate Winnie Forster's book, The Encyclopedia of Game Machines.
This week, we're going to look into the PSP's rather dire software situation, revisit the truly awful Final Fight: Streetwise, and evaluate Winnie Forster's book, The Encyclopedia of Game Machines.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:22am
With my Xbox 360 out of commission, it's been a very productive week for The Warp Pipe. I've had my big schnozz buried in a number of different gaming books this week, with another half dozen or so on their way from Amazon (look for more on those in a future column), knocked over the rather fun No More Heroes, written a handful of reviews and played several more games which shall get the reviewing treatment soon. I also spent a few nights rediscovering the goodness of the early seasons of The Simpsons, and catching up on Entourage. Yet, I still don't feel like I've done enough.
This week's column will look at the overwhelming prevalence of open world games, go hands on with the soon to be released Dual Shock 3, and revisit Aladdin on the Mega Drive.
This week's column will look at the overwhelming prevalence of open world games, go hands on with the soon to be released Dual Shock 3, and revisit Aladdin on the Mega Drive.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 9, 2008 11:33am
It's time for The Warp Pipe again, which is pretty scary for me – not only does it mean it has been already been a week, but it exposes the fact that I've done jack all in the way of work this week. Working from home requires a certain level of discipline and good time management skills. When you've got shelves full of unread books, unwatched DVDs and games that are yet to be played, not to mention a relationship to maintain with your partner, work can sometimes become less than important. Of course, it suddenly becomes really important when the deadlines are bearing down, you can't feed yourself and hired goons are knocking on your door for their money.
This week we'll look at the cause of my procrastination: Xbox 360 achievements, as well as sampling a rather neat yet overlooked DS title, and revisiting a soul-crushing strategy game from the early 90s.
This week we'll look at the cause of my procrastination: Xbox 360 achievements, as well as sampling a rather neat yet overlooked DS title, and revisiting a soul-crushing strategy game from the early 90s.
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By Matt K - Sun Mar 2, 2008 12:08pm
Usually for The Warp Pipe, March requires a certain writer's wallet to be sealed within a heavily secured vault to prevent him from spending too much money on games he'll leave sitting on shelf. Fortunately this year, a combination of lower income and a distinct lack of anything interesting being released, my wallet shall remain firmly pressed against my buttocks (with the exception of my import copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Okami: Wii Edition). I'm really surprised as March used to represent a dumping ground for PAL publishers for all of those titles that hit North American at Christmas time. Ignoring Nintendo, does that imply that the situation is getting better? The games that were delayed seem to be mostly niche titles – Beautiful Katamari, Persona 3, Odin Sphere. We should really be thankful that they're getting released here at all.
This week, we'll weigh in on the recent movements in the corporate world, take a look at Activision's bizarre (and rather offensive) way of trying to teach Spanish on the DS, and revisit the hackneyed Wing Commander movie.
This week, we'll weigh in on the recent movements in the corporate world, take a look at Activision's bizarre (and rather offensive) way of trying to teach Spanish on the DS, and revisit the hackneyed Wing Commander movie.
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By Matt K - Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:14pm
Well we've made it to the third edition of The Warp Pipe, meaning that you all obviously don't hate me enough to have me shut down and sent back to the salt mine that is accountancy. The Sega fans obviously weren't very riled by my attacks on the once-beloved hedgehog, which could possibly mean that they've begun to understand just how incompetent the company is. We'll continue spitting venom at big companies this week – it might have been a few years since this company did the dirty to one of my favourite developers, but it still irritates me to this day.
There's also a little more retro flavour on the console side of things this week as we take a look at one of the most wretched movie license titles to hit the NES, and Sega's anime-inspired light gun peripheral from the Master System. Take off those rose-tinted glasses, because the past is not always as good as you remembered it.
There's also a little more retro flavour on the console side of things this week as we take a look at one of the most wretched movie license titles to hit the NES, and Sega's anime-inspired light gun peripheral from the Master System. Take off those rose-tinted glasses, because the past is not always as good as you remembered it.
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By Matt K - Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:13am
So here we are with the second edition of The Warp Pipe, Internode Games Network's Sunday morning editorial. The reaction to the first article of the series was obviously good enough to keep me around a bit more, and I'm happy to continue to serve the Internode overlords so long as they give me scraps from the table and take me for walks. It took three of them to pry me away from the awesomeness that is Audiosurf this week, and they had to chain me to the desk and whip me every half hour to ensure I didn't go back to it.
As for the column itself, we're going to stick to the same formula from here on out, so if you don't like it have a whinge to your mum. She's the only one that'll care. Our main topic this week may contain sensitive issues for some Sega fans, but I'm sure they're used to the abuse by now.
As for the column itself, we're going to stick to the same formula from here on out, so if you don't like it have a whinge to your mum. She's the only one that'll care. Our main topic this week may contain sensitive issues for some Sega fans, but I'm sure they're used to the abuse by now.
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By Matt K - Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:56am
Welcome to the Warp Pipe, a new weekly editorial piece that will grace the pages of the Internode Games Network every Sunday morning. I've got a pretty basic plan in place for what's going to be in the column each week; I rant about something to do with video games, remember old games, make silly predictions and tell you the industry is full of poo, and then you jump onto the Internode forums and rant about how I know nothing and should be shot out of a cannon or be forced to ghost-write John Howard's memoirs.
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By Chienne - Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:22pm
So you have an Xbox 360, but you don't want to spend so much time sitting in front of the tv trying to navigate Xbox Live Marketplace with your controller? You'd rather log onto a website while you're meant to be doing work and check out the available downloads?
...now you can! Microsoft has just launched Xbox Live Pipeline - a sort of trimmed-down version of their marketplace, which lets you browse demos, trailers, themes and other downloadable content, all away from your console.
...now you can! Microsoft has just launched Xbox Live Pipeline - a sort of trimmed-down version of their marketplace, which lets you browse demos, trailers, themes and other downloadable content, all away from your console.
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