Chris Scullion is a Scottish video games journalist who's been covering video games professionally for 16 years. For the first six years of his career he worked at the Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK, then became the Games Editor of CVG before its untimely end. After setting up his own site, Tired Old Hack, Chris then joined Video Games Chronicle (VGC) where he is currently Features Editor. He has a passion for retro games and cataloguing their history, hence his ongoing series of console encyclopedia books (search his name on Amazon).
Well, it finally happened. Nintendo finally lifted the lid on the Switch and revealed all the juicy details.
The problem is, it did it in Japan. Which meant here in the UK we had to get up at 4am to see it.
Yer man Scullion did it. Because he’s a maniac. But there’s a real possibility you didn’t. Maybe you had work or school the next day, or maybe just “fuck that”.
The thing is, if that’s the case and you’ve just woken up and are ready to head out, you don’t have time to watch an hour-long presentation.
My six years at the Official Nintendo Magazine were (at the time of writing at least) the best six years of my career.
There were plenty of reasons for this: it was my first major job, it was the job I’d always wanted to do, and there was a massive reader base who regularly communicated with me (many of them still do to this day).
One of the main reasons, though, was that I always had the freedom to tell bad jokes.
I’ve told bad jokes all my life, but usually people at school and uni would groan and walk away. ONM was my chance to tell bad jokes to tens of thousands of people who were less tempted to bail because they’d already paid £3.99 for the privilege. Mwa haaaa.
Recently I was going through my ONM archives and I started chuckling at some of my worst jokes, many of which I’d forgotten over the years. It got me in a nostalgic mood, so I’ve decided to share said nostalgia with you.
I’m going to run a series of articles based on my time at ONM, sharing my favourite ‘funny’ moments. In the future these will include my best screenshot captions and my best review quotes.
Satan is ice-skating to work, pigs are getting their pilot’s licences and Mario is on the iPhone.
Yes, after years of ‘expert’ analysts saying Nintendo should make mobile games and Nintendo fans saying it shouldn’t, it’s finally actually happened.
The result is Super Mario Run, a game that’s split more people than a Hollywood divorce lawyer, with some saying it’s amazing and others claiming it’s a disaster.
Choice Provisions / Different Cloth PS4 / STEAM (PS4 version reviewed)
Creating a game with a unique gimmick can be a dangerous thing to do.
If it works well the result is a truly original game that not only brings something different to the table but could potentially inspire others to follow suit and build on it.
On the other hand, if a game’s built around a new gimmick and it falls on its arse, you’re left with a disaster and the realisation that maybe there’s a reason nobody else had tried it before.
Tired Old Hack turns two years old next month, and truth be told I still feel like the site’s in its early stages.
Since January 2015 I’ve been messing around with different ideas and article types, trying to see which ones stick and which are roundly ignored or disliked.
Now though, it’s over to you. I’ve put together a 20-question survey and I would massively appreciate it if you could fill it in.
It’s entirely anonymous (though you get the chance to put your name in at the end if you want me to know it was you), and there are loads of comedy GIFs in there in case the idea of surveys bores you to tears.
Last week Sony announced it’s releasing a special 20th anniversary version of PaRappa The Rapper for PS4, featuring enhanced 4K visuals.
For those not in the know, PaRappa The Rapper was a 1996 PlayStation game that is considered to be one of the first modern examples of the rhythm action genre.
I love Picross. I’ve loved it ever since a 12-year-old me visited the Edinburgh branch of Toys R Us back in 1995 and discovered Mario’s Picross on the Game Boy.
This relationship has survived 21 brain-teasing years. And, as in the best relationships, just as things look like they’re starting to go stale something manages to breathe new life into proceedings and remind me why I fell in love in the first place. Continue reading “Picross 3D: Round 2 review”→
A few months back I shared my choices for the 20 worst GameCube box covers. It was inevitable, then, that the Wii would get its turn.
The problem is, the Wii had far more games released for it than previous Nintendo home consoles, and many of them had truly horrendous box art. Since I really couldn’t decide on a final 20, I’ve instead gone with 25 to ensure I didn’t have to drop any of my choices.
As ever, click on a cover to see it bigger: some of them really do have to be seen in their full-sized glory.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know that Nintendo’s next console, now officially named the Switch, is a part-console part-handheld hybrid that’s due for release next March.
If you’ve been living under a rock you’ll also be unaware that the “unless you’ve been living under a rock…” intro is massively overused, so as far as you’re concerned I’m some sort of editorial genius. Everyone else thinks I’m a prick.
As the longest-running member of the Official Nintendo Magazine team back in the day, upwards of literally three or four people have asked my opinion on the Switch and what I’d like to see it do.
Here, then, is my list. Rather than specific game titles or franchises (that’s been done to death elsewhere and the usual candidates are obvious), here’s my wishlist of what I’m hoping will be included in the Switch hardware when the cheeky wee bastard launches next year. Continue reading “Nintendo Switch wishlist: 13 features I hope it… um, features”→
Well, it finally happened. Nintendo finally lifted the lid on the Switch and revealed all the juicy details.
Tired Old Hack 