Gemhunter is my new video series in which I try out forgotten, ignored, licensed or shovelware games for the first time in the hope of finding a hidden gem.
The video is presented unedited so you can experience the game for the first time as I do.
Up first is 25 To Life, Eidos’ 2006 gangsta ’em up on Xbox. Could Gemhunter start off with a bang and open the series with its first gem? Find out… Continue reading “Gemhunter #1 – 25 To Life”
If you’ve been following me on social media you may know that I’ve been suffering problems with my wrist lately.
Long story short, for the past five weeks or so, my right wrist starts ‘clicking’ after about 15 minutes of computer use (be it keyboard or mouse), and if I continue to do it, it gets to the point where my hand locks up and can only ‘snap’ into an open or closed position. It’s not nice.
My doctor is treating it as a bad case of RSI for now and he’s instructed me to take the next few weeks off work and refrain from any typing (I’m writing this out on my phone with my left hand – bless you, Google Keyboard).
I really don’t want to stop doing Tired Old Hack stuff, but writing long articles is now out of the question and doing edited videos is too (because I’d be using the mouse for hours at a time).
My solution, then, is to bring back Gemhunter. Continue reading “The return of Gemhunter”
This review is presented in both video and written form. The video is at the top of the article, while the written transcript can be found underneath. While I’d prefer you watch the video (since it lets you see the game and hear my dulcet tones too), I appreciate some prefer to read reviews. This way you have both options. Continue reading “Hard Reset Redux review”
This is the sixth in my ’30 Best’ series of articles in which I discuss my favourite games ever on a system-by-system basis for the first time in my career. In case you missed them, I’ve already covered the 30 best Wii games, 30 best Amiga games, 30 best DS games, 30 best GameCube games and 30 best Dreamcast games.
’30 Best’ will now be a monthly series, thanks to my lovely Patreon followers helping me reach a stretch goal. If you want to contribute and help me reach my next goal (to start a Tired Old Hack podcast), please visit my Patreon page.
It says a lot about the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that more than a quarter century after it first launched, there are still some who claim it’s the greatest games console that ever existed.
It’s easy to see their point. The SNES was host to a wide number of technically impressive games, many of which redefined existing genres or created entirely new ones altogether. Continue reading “The 30 best SNES games”
‘The week in games’ is my weekly series covering the week’s gaming news in a (hopefully) humorous way. If you missed the last edition, check it out here.
Capcom has confirmed that the names of the two chaps who fight each other at the start of the Street Fighter II arcade intro are Max and Scott, putting to rest 25 years of speculation.
In further news, the company is also expected to announce that the massive skyscraper that features at the start of the Mega Man 2 intro is called Colin.
Continue reading “The week in games 27/5 – snake in a PS4, shit Mega Man”
In case you haven’t gathered already, I’m an unashamed fan of all things retro gaming.
I have fond memories of simpler times, when it was obvious where you stood with a game: beat this level, unlock that, get the ending, piss off happy.
A time when there was no need to worry about microtransactions, expansion packs, title updates or working servers.
Basically, what I’m getting at in a roundabout way is that I fondly remember gaming back in the days when Super Sprint was considered the dog’s balls. Continue reading “Grand Prix Rock ‘N Racing review”
‘The week in games’ is my new weekly series covering the week’s gaming news in a (hopefully) humorous way. If it seems familiar it’s because I tested it out with a couple of articles last year, but now it’s here to stay in a weekly form.
Microsoft has finally properly cancelled Project Spark. The free-to-play game is no longer available for download, and if you already have it online services will be cancelled from August.
Anyone who bought the retail version of the game will be getting the price refunded into their Microsoft account. The company will be holding emergency talks to discuss how to recoup the £79.98 they’ll lose as a result of this. Continue reading “The week in games – cancelled titles, starter Pokemon”
You may have heard the World War I story about how, on Christmas Day in 1914, British and German soldiers stopped their fighting for one day, opting to toss their differences to the side and instead play football and exchange gifts on No Man’s Land.
In my school, we had our own war. It was far more frivolous – lives weren’t lost and we used words, not weapons – but it still mattered to us. And on one special day, we had our own truce too. Continue reading “The day the console war stopped”
Typical. A couple of months ago in my Beach Buggy Racing review I complained about the lack of kart racing games on current-gen systems. And now here’s a second one.
What I should have moaned about was the lack of great kart racers, because it’s safe to say Coffin Dodgers doesn’t exactly scratch that itch. Continue reading “Coffin Dodgers review”
Earlier this week I clocked up a full ten years as a video games journalist (as you’ll know if you’ve already read my article on my favourite memories).
It’s a milestone I’ve wanted to hit ever since I started back in May 2006, because it’s one thing to get your dream job but another to do it to a decent enough standard that you get to stick around for a long time.
At the end of my recent article, I said “here’s to another 10 years”. And I do have a long-term plan that will, all going well, mean I’m still writing about games in 2026.
That’s assuming video games still exist then, of course – for all I know we could just end up paying to have Steam achievements injected into the base of our spines.
The first step of my plan is a potentially controversial one: I’ve launched a Patreon account. To address this, allow me to reuse the tried and tested ‘fake Q&A’ technique in an attempt to convince you that I’ve thought this through properly and that, if you aren’t interested, your Tired Old Hack experience won’t suffer as a result. Continue reading “I’ve started a Patreon! (also: why I’ve started a Patreon)”
Tired Old Hack 