Author: Chris Scullion

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).

Guitar Hero Live vs Rock Band 4 – which is best?

Published on December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 by Chris Scullion4 Comments

I’m an enormous fan of rhythm action games, and was still happily buying every new Guitar Hero and Rock Band game even while everyone else was losing interest in the genre.

It goes without saying, then, that the return of both series in 2015 was a massive deal for me, and the fact that both actually seemed significantly different from each other made things even more interesting.

Not everyone’s as obsessed with this genre as I am, though, so it’s understandable that the vast majority of gamers would probably only want to buy one of these games. The question, then, is which is best: Guitar Hero Live or Rock Band 4?

Having bought both games at launch (with my own cash, I should stress) and spent a couple of months with each now, I reckon I’m in a good position to give you my unbiased, detailed opinion on which of the two you should go for. Let’s rock. Continue reading “Guitar Hero Live vs Rock Band 4 – which is best?” →

Cover Me Badd #1 – The 20 worst NES game covers

Published on December 5, 2015August 27, 2019 by Chris Scullion8 Comments

Cover Me Badd is the first in a regular series looking at the worst video game covers in history. Each article will focus on a specific format. And no, I haven’t misspelled ‘bad’, you pesky youngster.

Hammerin' Harry isn't in my list. So that should tell you something — Hammerin’ Harry isn’t in my list. So that should tell you something

As anyone who’s read my film review site will know, I’m a fan of shite things. If something’s painfully awful I’m right on top of it like white on rice.

One of my favourite examples of this is video game covers. If you know me you know I’m a massive retro gamer and over the years I’ve seen my fair share of terrible game box art, to the extent that I’ve become something of a crap cover connoisseur.

In the first Cover Me Badd article on Tired Old Hack I’m going to kick off by exposing the worst game covers for the console most dear to my heart, the trusty Nintendo Entertainment System. ‘Enjoy’. Continue reading “Cover Me Badd #1 – The 20 worst NES game covers” →

WWE games by the numbers: a stat nerd’s paradise

Published on December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 by Chris Scullion6 Comments

I love wrestling games. All of them. Even the shite ones.

Wrestle War on the Mega Drive? Love it. WCW Backstage Assault on the PlayStation? Love it. World Wrestling Championship on PS2? Okay, not that one.

Of course, given my lifetime passion for WWE, it’s the games based on that particular promotion that I love the most. There isn’t a WWE (formerly WWF) game that I haven’t played.

Recently, WWE 2K16 was released. It’s the 57th WWE video game released, and if that stat excites you a little then grab some tissues, because that’s the tip of the iceberg.

Yes friends, I’m about to take you on a tour of WWE game history using nothing but stats and numbers. It’s going to be the nerdiest thing to happen to wrestling games since someone created Dragon Ball and Avengers characters in WWE 2K15. Continue reading “WWE games by the numbers: a stat nerd’s paradise” →

Lego Dimensions Starter Pack review

Published on November 11, 2015 by Chris Scullion8 Comments

Disclaimers: This review is not based on a free review copy. I pre-ordered it from Amazon and bought it with my own money. The review covers the Xbox One version of the game. While there are references to other characters not included with the Starter Pack, this article should by and large be considered a review of the Starter Pack only, and whether choosing to buy it alone (with no plan to buy any additional packs) is worth your time and money.

Lego Dimensions is a game about shaking things up. It was marketed with a #BreakTheRules hashtag, and this mantra is persistent throughout: not just in terms of its storyline, but also the game’s structure itself.

You see, at the heart of Lego Dimensions lies a massive inner struggle, one that questions a fundamental part of what makes Lego games so well-loved.

But we’ll get to that. Continue reading “Lego Dimensions Starter Pack review” →

Xbox One backwards compatibility – the 20 best XBLA games to play now

Published on November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 by Chris Scullion1 Comment

The first batch of backwards compatible games launches on Xbox One on Thursday, giving players the chance to play 104 titles from the Xbox 360 catalogue on Microsoft’s current-gen console.

Some of these are retail games: the likes of Assassin’s Creed II, Fallout 3, the entire Gears Of War saga and the first Mass Effect (but not the other two, oddly) are in there.

These are well-known titles so chances are you don’t need a hack like me (tired and old or otherwise) to tell you if they’re any good.

However, the vast majority of games on the list are Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games – titles that were only made available to buy digitally through the Xbox 360’s online storefront. Some are relatively new, others stretch all the way back to the Xbox 360’s launch a decade ago.

If you’re a long-time Xbox 360 owner then these titles will be familiar to you, but if Xbox One is your first Microsoft console – or even if you’ve only had a 360 for the last couple of years – there may be a few that don’t ring a bell.

With that in mind, I’ve put together this list of the 20 XBLA games on the backwards compatible list that I personally consider must-owns. In alphabetical order, mind: I can’t be arsed with any “number 17? It should have been 16 you prick” nonsense. Continue reading “Xbox One backwards compatibility – the 20 best XBLA games to play now” →

Licensed To Thrill? #1: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween

Published on October 31, 2015 by Chris ScullionLeave a comment

Licensed To Thrill? is my new video series looking back at licensed video games based on movies, TV shows, celebrities or brands. Though it’s a video series, you may be more of a reader than a watcher so there’s a written version after the jump.

Continue reading “Licensed To Thrill? #1: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween” →

ICYMI – Beach Buggy Racing review

Published on October 17, 2015February 13, 2016 by Chris Scullion1 Comment

ICYMI (or In Case You Missed It, if you’re an old fart like me) is my new video review series looking at games that for whatever reason weren’t fully covered in bigger sites. The video is below, if you want the written version you’ll find it after the jump.

Continue reading “ICYMI – Beach Buggy Racing review” →

The Games Media Awards – loved or loathed?

Published on October 15, 2015 by Chris Scullion1 Comment

The Games Media Awards (or GMAs for acronym fans) took place last night, and with it came the usual outpouring of moany tweets, mostly from people who weren’t there.

For those not in the know, the GMAs are a UK award ceremony in which some members of Britain’s gaming journalism industry are given little plastic blocks to commemorate their top-notch journalising over the past year.

In case you’re curious, here’s who won last night. Continue reading “The Games Media Awards – loved or loathed?” →

Video on Tired Old Hack – my plans

Published on September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Chris Scullion5 Comments

Here's a stock image illustrating that, because sometimes list features add stock images for comedic effect — A man watching one of my videos, yesterday

If you’re a regular Tired Old Hack reader (well, as regular as you can be given how sporadic my posts are), you’ll have noticed I’ve started making video content.

This is a relatively new medium for me and I’m still trying to figure out various bits and pieces but so far the response has been pretty positive, for which I’m hugely grateful.

With that in mind I thought I’d put together a wee article detailing my future plans for video content on Tired Old Hack, so you know what sort of ideas I have bubbling away and what to expect in the relatively near future. Continue reading “Video on Tired Old Hack – my plans” →