In case you missed it last time, The Fortnight in Games is a bi-weekly rundown of the bigger and more interesting stories that have happened in the gaming world, with a healthy helping of shit jokes dolloped in for good measure.
As ever, each story below contains a link to the fantastic Video Games Chronicle (VGC), the spiritual successor to CVG and the best site for high quality, well-researched daily gaming news.
For some reason, many of us have been staying home recently. Something to do with us all being anti-social or something, I haven’t really been paying attention to the news.
Whatever the reason, there’s a chance you may be at a loose end when it comes to keeping yourself entertained, and you may have found yourself spending your evenings taking part in that new national pastime: scrolling endlessly through Netflix’s menus and never choosing anything to watch.
Part of this is because the app versions of Netflix never really let you properly browse the full catalogue: often you have to specifically search for something by name to find it. But who’s got the time to investigate the catalogue and find all the good stuff?
HELLO THERE, FRIEND.
Yer man Scullion has put together a list of 40 movies and shows on Netflix UK related to video games. I haven’t seen them all and therefore can’t vouch for their quality, and some are clearly aimed at children: then again, some of us have children, and most of us are kids at heart anyway.
In today’s busy times, it’s sometimes difficult to keep on top of all the big gaming news.
Although there are a number of high quality websites out there reporting news on a daily basis, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day to sift through hundreds of articles.
Yer man Scullion is here to help with The Fortnight in Games, a fortnightly (obviously) rundown of the bigger and more interesting stories of the past two weeks.
Every story below contains a link to the wonderful Video Games Chronicle (VGC), the spiritual successor to CVG and the very best place for high quality, well researched daily gaming news (and I’m not just saying that because I write the odd review for them).
If you want to know about any of the stories you see below, clink on their respective links to head to VGC and get significantly more detail. And fewer shit jokes, which is an extra bonus.
This article is available in both written and video format. The video shows the games in action while I read the article as a voiceover, so if you watch the video you don’t need to read the written article that follows since it’s the same ‘script’.
And so, the curtain draws on 2019 and it’s easily been one of the most exhausting years for yer man Scullion, most notably with the completion of my SNES Encyclopedia, which should be out in August 2020.
That’s not to say I haven’t had time to squeeze in my fair share of gaming, though, so here’s my ten favourite games of the past year. Continue reading “The 10 best games of 2019”→
Earlier this year I found myself spinning a hell of a lot of plates. Not only was I dealing with the usual juggling act of my 9-to-5 job, my freelance work and my Tired Old Hack work, I was also still getting used to the ‘new father’ role: my daughter only turned a year old this past June.
In the second half of this year another fairly large plate was added to the mix in the shape of the SNES Encyclopedia, another 180,000 word epic that soaked up all my free time.
You can blame this one for the lack of regular content. The kid, not Shenmue III. I haven’t even had time to start that one yet
Eventually some of the plates had to stop spinning, for the sake of my own health. The first was my 9-to-5 job: I decided to take a financial hit and drop down to two days a week, so I could watch my daughter for the other three days.
Because the move to part-time meant freelance money was more important than ever, and because I was also contractually obliged to finish the SNES Encyclopedia in time, I had to temporarily stop another plate spinning: Tired Old Hack.
Since I started the SNES Encyclopedia in June, I’ve written just 14 articles on the site. They weren’t all full-fat articles, either: two of them were linking to YouTube videos I’d made, two were podcasts and two were Game Club articles, essentially inviting readers to play a game together.
That leaves eight ‘proper’ written articles in six months: this is nowhere near the level I wanted to hit, but there simply weren’t enough hours in the day, and the reality was that my paid commitments had to take priority.
Finally, however, my situation has changed: the SNES Encyclopedia has been written and sent off to the publisher, Serena’s a little older now and is a little easier to take care of, and I’ve set a routine in place that means when I start on my third book it’ll no longer take over my life like the SNES one did.
What this ultimately means is that I can finally do something I’ve been looking forward to doing for months: I’m picking up that plate, putting it back on the pole and spinning it again, with the aim of not stopping it this time.
When it comes to the Legend of Zelda series, one game stands out in particular as something of a black horse: a game that defies the normal conventions of the series and introduces a bunch of new ideas.
That game, of course, is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
What’s that? You were expecting it to be Link’s Awakening? Nah mate, Zelda II. It’s proper side-scrolling and everything. Give it a go, it’s good.
Gemhunter hits the 15-episode milestone with a return to the PS2, and this time we’re taking this shit to the beach.
I’m reliably informed that this one is actually called Summer Heat Beach Volleyball, even though the box clearly makes the title look like Beach Volleyball: Summer Heat.
Regardless, this is one of the last games published by Acclaim, which went bankrupt just a year later. Should it be blamed for it, or was it actually a good game? Let’s find out.
Gemhunter is my video series in which I try out forgotten, ignored, licensed or shovelware games I’ve never played 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. Enjoyed this video and want to see more? You can find past Gemhunter episodes here.
Tired Old Hack is an ad-free site for your browsing convenience. If you enjoyed this article please consider donating to my Patreon account.
Alternatively, if you’re a UK reader and can’t afford to support me on Patreon, please do your normal Amazon UK shopping via this link. Tired Old Hack is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk and affiliated sites.
Hack of All Trades is my regular video series in which I try out ‘simulator’ games based on actual jobs to see how well I’d fare doing those jobs in real life.
I recorded the first Hack of All Trades a mere fortnight before my daughter was born, so it’s hopefully understandable that episode 2 comes a mere 13 months later. Safe to say the third video will have a much smaller wait.
This time I’m taking a look at PC Building Simulator. Released on the PC earlier this year, it’s just launched on Xbox One, Switch and PS4. I decided to give the Xbox One version a go to see if I’ve got what it takes.
PC Building Simulator is available now on Steam, Xbox One, Switch and PS4.
In order that I could make this video, I received a code for the game from a PR. The content of the video was in no way influenced by this.
If you enjoyed this and other videos and want to help me make them more frequently, please consider donating to my Patreon account.
Don’t want to commit to a regular payment? I’ve now got a PayPal ‘tips’ jar: if you like what you read feel free to chuck yer man Scullion a couple of quid here or there and help stock up my Irn Bru fund so I can continue working away like a bastard.
Alternatively, if you can’t afford to support me on Patreon, please do your normal Amazon UK shopping via this link or Amazon US shopping via this link. Tired Old Hack is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk and affiliated sites.
Nintendo / Intelligent Systems, Koei Tecmo Nintendo Switch
There are two genres of console game that strike fear in the heart of reviewers: RPGs and turn-based strategy.
Both tend to take many tens of hours to beat, and given that this inevitably results in a need to ‘take our work home’ with us and commit a large chunk of time to them, the thought of reviewing one fills many with dread.
Yer man Scullion received review code for Fire Emblem: Three Houses about a week ago. Considering it’s not only the latest game in a much-loved turn-based strategy series but also has new features that make it more like an RPG than ever, it’s a lethal cocktail of free time devastation.
The reality, dear reader, is that this game can’t be beaten in a week. Not if you want to play it properly, and also have an adult life with a family and a job. As such, this isn’t a completed review.
After asking my lovely Twitter followers whether I should keep playing and turn in a review late, or just review what I’ve played so far, they showed their commitment to the cause by turning in a reliable 228/228 vote. So I’ve just decided to do the latter.
To make it categorically clear, then: this is not a full review. I have not completed this game. And from what I’ve been told by some peers, there’s a moment something like 40-50 hours in (that I have yet to reach) where shit goes down and everything properly kicks off, so this isn’t even a review of the meat of it.
There are two genres of console game that strike fear in the heart of reviewers: RPGs and turn-based strategy.
Tired Old Hack 