Tag: Games journalism

It’s (Tired Old) Back!

Published on by Chris Scullion3 Comments

Last October I posted an article called ‘Tired Old Hack: a word on the coming months’.

It explained that I was about to start work on a new project that would “take up a massive chunk of my free time” and that as a result the number of articles on the site was going to take a hefty knock.

Six months later, that project – a 190,000-word book – is now complete. Expect more information on that in a while: there’s still some work to be done by the publisher before we’re ready to share the news and I can start trying to convince you lovely swines to pre-order it.

That’s news for the future, then. The news today is that – now the book’s finished – Tired Old Hack is back up to full speed again, meaning you can expect far more regular and varied articles instead of just the occasional reviews and podcast episodes I was posting during the site’s downtime. Continue reading “It’s (Tired Old) Back!” →

Kirby Star Allies (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion1 Comment
Nintendo / HAL Laboratory
Nintendo Switch

The Switch is a little over a year old now and the continued roll-out of established Nintendo (and Nintendo-related) franchises is ticking away nicely.

Zelda? Check. Mario Kart? Check. Splatoon, Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles, Pokken Tournament? Check times five.

There’s more to come: Hyrule Warriors is out in two months, and we’ve obviously got a Donkey Kong Country game, a Fire Emblem, a Smash Bros, a Yoshi game, Metroid Prime 4 and a new Pokemon in the distant future. Slowly but surely, fans of every series are getting games aimed at keeping them happy.

This week marks the next step in the process, with Kirby getting to take centre stage on the Switch for the first time. Continue reading “Kirby Star Allies (Switch) review” →

Totaku figures #01-06: World exclusive review

Published on by Chris ScullionLeave a comment

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an absolute fiend when it comes to collectible figurines.

Yer man Scullion currently owns a complete set of 70 Lego Dimensions characters, a complete set of 105 Disney Infinity figures, 116 amiibo – incomplete, because nobody needs two Kirbys – and precisely zero Skylanders (because obviously).

Later in March the first wave of Totaku figures hits the UK and US. They’re going to be sold exclusively at Gamestop in the US, and in a handful of stores in the UK (most notably GAME).

Given my obsession with collecting similar figures, you’d hopefully agree that I’d be the man to trust when it comes to reviewing these Totaku thingies.

It’s fortunate, then, that I’m lucky enough to currently have final samples of the first six figures, and I’ve managed to secure them before anyone else.

Friends, here is your world exclusive first review of Totaku figures #01 to #06. Continue reading “Totaku figures #01-06: World exclusive review” →

Bayonetta 1 & 2 (Switch) review

Published on by Chris Scullion2 Comments
Nintendo / Platinum Games
Switch, Wii U (Switch version reviewed)

If you ask me, this is definitely the best social climate to release a pair of games about a sexy witch who has an outfit made out of hair that makes her naked any time she attacks with it.

Don’t worry: I can already imagine some of you getting nervous. That’s a discussion for another website, and given it’s an important topic (and rightly so, in my opinion) I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding said discussion elsewhere before too long.

It would be daft, though, not to address the skimpily-dressed elephant in the room: Bayonetta 1 & 2 are very much games that would result in plenty of uncomfortable conversations if they were brand new releases and not ports of games that are nine and four years old respectively.

Much like my review of the significantly more questionable Senran Kagura: Estival Versus on PS4, though (don’t click that if you’re at work), I’m going to spare you the morality lesson here. It’s up to you to investigate the content and tone of these games and decide if they’re suitable for you or any younger gamers in your life: my job is to tell you if they’re actually fun to play.

In that respect I can confirm that yes, yes they are. Continue reading “Bayonetta 1 & 2 (Switch) review” →

The Tired Old Hack Winter Games Challenge

Published on by Chris Scullion3 Comments

Chances are you’ve probably noticed that the 2018 Winter Olympic Games have just kicked off in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

To celebrate this, I’ve decided to take a look back at the history of Winter Olympics video games: the good, and the very much not so good.

In the Tired Old Hack Winter Games Challenge I’ll be uploading daily videos over the course of the 2018 Games, as I proceed through the history of the winter games genre. Continue reading “The Tired Old Hack Winter Games Challenge” →

VHS Preservation Project #8: GameCube / GAME promo video

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The Video Game VHS Preservation Project is an attempt to digitise as many video game VHS tapes as possible for the purposes of preservation. Click here for more information.

The eighth tape in my VHS Preservation Project is the first in my collection that celebrates the Nintendo GameCube.

This is a video that was given away free to customers of GAME and Electronics Boutique in the UK, in order to promote upcoming GameCube games.

It’s a mixture of official trailers and gamepay footage captured by GAME themselves, and as such the video quality varies quite a bit throughout. There’s also a brilliantly poor quality section at the end in which they try to shill third-party controllers.

Continue reading “VHS Preservation Project #8: GameCube / GAME promo video” →

Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #2

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Following some really positive feedback on the first of my more casual, unscripted review round-ups, it’s time for a second helping. Reviewed in this episode are:

• Tallowmere (Switch)
• Rock ‘N Racing Off Road DX (Switch)
• Aces Of The Luftwaffe: Squadron (Switch)
• Antiquia Lost (Switch)
• Ittle Dew 2+ (Switch)
• It’s Quiz Time (PS4)
• Star Wars: Battlefront II (Xbox One)
• WWE Mayhem (Android)
• Mom Hid My Game! (Switch)
• Arcade Archives: Vs Super Mario Bros (Switch) Continue reading “Video: Review Round-Up Unscripted #2” →

The Tired Old Hack Alternative Game Of The Year Awards 2017

Published on by Chris Scullion3 Comments

Well, 2017 is finally coming to an end, and you know what that means: it’s time for every video game site to give its end-of-year awards.

I mean, it would be if most of them hadn’t already posted their awards in early December so they could all enjoy well-deserved Christmas breaks.

Not yer man Scullion. I’ve waited until the very last minute to give you my picks for the year, because I’m fashionably late like that.

Let’s face it, by now you’ve probably seen a million articles with awards for ‘Best Racing Game’, ‘Best PlayStation Game’ and the like being given out. Me adding my own to the mix would be about as effective as flicking a box of matches into an active volcano.

So here, then, are the Tired Old Hack Alternative Game Of The Year Awards 2017, many of which are slightly less conventional than you may be used to. Enjoy. Continue reading “The Tired Old Hack Alternative Game Of The Year Awards 2017” →

Pinball FX 3 on Switch – all 30 launch tables in one video

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Pinball FX 3 launched on the Switch last week, giving pinball fans a whole wealth of flipper-based goodness on their grey / red-and-blue / yellow / pink and green baby (delete as applicable).

The base game is free to download, and comes with one free table, Sorcerer’s Lair.

However, there are also 29 other DLC tables that are available for purchase. While a couple of these – Portal and The Walking Dead – are standalone one-off tables, the others come in packs of two, three or four tables.

Because Pinball FX 3 tables feature things no real-life tables can (like CG characters walking around and hidden sections opening up to reveal mini-tables), each varies wildly in style and as such it’s unlikely that all 30 will appeal to you.

To make life easier, then, I’ve put together this enormous video showing around a minute of footage for every single table in the game, so you can see what’s on offer and better choose which tables take your fancy. Continue reading “Pinball FX 3 on Switch – all 30 launch tables in one video” →

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) review

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Nintendo / Monolith Soft
Nintendo Switch

What a difference seven years makes.

Back in 2010, the first Xenoblade Chronicles launched in Japan. The UK got it a year later, but North American audiences were annoyed that they seemingly weren’t getting a sniff.

This resulted in Operation Rainfall, a protest campaign run by US gamers who wanted to see Xenoblade Chronicles (as well as The Last Story and Pandora’s Tower) released in their region.

Eventually, nearly two years after it launched in Japan, Xenoblade Chronicles was finally released in the US. Nowadays, though, it’s a different story.

A handheld port of the game hit the New 3DS in 2015, and this time the gap between eastern and western releases was a mere eight days.

The Wii U spiritual successor Xenoblade Chronicles X did take a while longer (seven months) to make it outside of Japan, but when it did it enjoyed full parity with Europe and the US getting it on the same day.

And so now here we are with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the first ‘proper’ sequel and the first to have a proper worldwide launch day. We’ve come a long way. Continue reading “Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch) review” →