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ACA Neo Geo (Switch) review directory

Published on March 16, 2017March 23, 2017 by Chris Scullion8 Comments

This isn’t the first time a Nintendo system has been graced with the presence of the once-great Neo Geo.

In late 2007 the Wii’s Virtual Console service started getting Neo Geo titles. By the time the Wii died, over 50 of the beauties were available to buy.

While (at the time of writing) the Switch has yet to get a Virtual Console of its own, that doesn’t mean you can’t still get stuck into some retro goodness.

Enter the brilliantly-named Hamster Corporation, a Tokyo-based studio which has acquired the rights to a bunch of Neo Geo games. Continue reading “ACA Neo Geo (Switch) review directory” →

My 100 best (and worst) ONM headline jokes

Published on January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 by Chris Scullion5 Comments

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.

Today though, I’m sharing 100 of my headline jokes – be it the headlines themselves or (most often) the snarky one-liners under the game name in previews and reviews. Continue reading “My 100 best (and worst) ONM headline jokes” →

Cover Me Badd #5 – The 25 worst Wii game covers

Published on November 27, 2016 by Chris Scullion13 Comments

Cover Me Badd is my regular series looking at the worst video game covers in history. Each article will focus on a specific format. If you missed it, catch up on Part 1: NES games, Part 2: SNES games, Part 3: Nintendo 64 games and Part 4: GameCube games.

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.

‘Enjoy!’ Continue reading “Cover Me Badd #5 – The 25 worst Wii game covers” →

The 30 best Wii U games

Published on October 14, 2016November 2, 2016 by Chris Scullion9 Comments

This is the eighth 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, the full list of other ’30 Best’ articles can be found at the bottom of this page.

’30 Best’ will now be a regular 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.

There’s a saying in gaming when it comes to Nintendo. Well, there isn’t really but I’m making it up now and I’ve decided it should be one.

When Nintendo does well, it does really well. Look at the Wii, the DS, the SNES, the Game Boy Advance.

But when it does badly – the GameCube, the Virtual Boy – it does really badly, finishing a distant last place against its competitors.

Such was the fate of the Wii U, a console that arrived on the heels of the wildly successful Wii and somehow went on to undo all the fine work Nintendo’s motion-sensitive phenomenon had managed. Continue reading “The 30 best Wii U games” →

Lego Dimensions complete character guide – every Year One character reviewed

Published on September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 by Chris Scullion8 Comments

This week marks the beginning of ‘Year Two’ of Lego Dimensions, the fantastic toys-to-life game by long-time Lego game studio Traveller’s Tales.

Because Year Two introduces a whole bunch of new franchises to the mix, a lot of players will be getting into Lego Dimensions for the first time.

With that in mind, I’ve put together this enormous guide to all 46 characters released during the game’s first year: that’s the 44 main ones and the two limited edition characters Green Arrow and Supergirl. Continue reading “Lego Dimensions complete character guide – every Year One character reviewed” →

15 games that sound ruder than they actually are

Published on August 25, 2016August 25, 2016 by Chris Scullion3 Comments

It’s hard work getting your game spotted on shop shelves sometimes, what with all the other titles vying for the public’s attention.

Sometimes you need something to catch their eye: a strong cover image, some positive magazine quotes from reputable publications, something like that.

This one isn't in the list but it was a strong contender — This one isn’t in the list but it was a strong contender

And sometimes you just need a title that makes people stop, do a double-take and say: “hang on, what?”

A few games over the years have had names that caught me off-guard and made me think: “They can’t really mean that, can they?”

Of course, most of the time they don’t mean that at all, and it’s just an unfortunate coincidence that their game’s title also happens to mean something offensive.

With that in mind, here are fifteen of my favourite examples of classic “did they really call it that?” moments. Continue reading “15 games that sound ruder than they actually are” →

The 30 best Vita games

Published on August 13, 2016 by Chris Scullion17 Comments

This is the seventh 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, the full list of other ’30 Best’ articles can be found at the bottom of this page.

’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.

“I didn’t even know it had 30 games!”

This was the predictable reply I got from all manner of clever individuals every time I informed my Twitter followers that my next ’30 Best’ article would be dedicated to the Sony PlayStation Vita.

It’s little wonder, to be fair. Sony abandoned its handheld quicker than David Cameron abandons his children in pubs, which led to the understandable consensus that the Vita was dead before its library had a chance to grow.

In reality, the Vita does have 30 great games. Indeed, it’s got plenty more than that: I’ve added another 15 at the end of this list for good measure, and even then there were some I had to leave out. Continue reading “The 30 best Vita games” →