Videogames

The annual hi-tech gaming festival of choice 'kicks off' this week with the usual showcasing of half-ready, half-baked and, occasionally, brilliant games and gaming technology. Nintendo's plans to show the 3D Nintendo 3DS and the 'eve of conference'...

Self-styled 'psychological action thriller' Alan Wake has finally appeared on the XBox after several years in development hell. The mystery adventure format recently received a boost when Heavy Rain was released, but it needs more successes to continue...

Zelda: Twilight Princess and Okami suggested that the Wii would have a lot to offer RPG players, but there really hasn't been much of interest since then. Aragon's Quest seemed unlikely to help a lot, as a game offering a linear stroll through the Lord...

As Christmas approaches the traditional wave of blood-drenched first-person 'shooters' and 'slashers' is cleaning up at the stores. This year's crop includes Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Wolfenstein, Left 4 Dead 2 and Uncharted 2. Most...

Add-ons and fillers don't usually catch our attention. Until we heard about a certain confusion over different versions of Assassin's Creed 2. The differences between the PS3, the XBox and the delayed PC versions are obvious when ordering. We went online...

We've been struggling to find any videogame RPG releases to preview over the last few weeks. There are some good RPGs out there but they haven't run up and grabbed us by the throat. It looked like we'd be waiting for Dragon Age and Assassin's Creed 2...

Time for a quick look at what's on offer for videogamers this Christmas. (We'd have no problem waiting until December to get started on Christmas, but that's not really practical given the time it takes for deliveries to arrive in the UK). Videogames...

Human Revolution is definitely the most open-ended, challenge-focused videogame released so far this year. There's lots of action on offer, but the gameplay isn't limited to shooting everything in sight. Instead for much of the game players can progress...

Diving adventure Endless Ocean was quite successful on the Wii. The diving and exploration side of the game worked well, allowing players to meet a wide variety of marine wildlife. The 'adventure' gameplay was more limited and didn't go beyond looking...

The Final Fantasy series has managed to retain the videogame RPG crown for several years. Early sales of Final Fantasy XIII already suggest that the now familiar mix of glossy graphics and extended RPG gameplay will be another huge success for Square...

Sony's online multiplayer world for kids has grabbed plenty of signups since release. It offers a familiar mix of roleplaying, exploration and arcade games, much like that found in other virtual worlds for kids such as Neopets and the BBC's Adventure...

The continued success of Sony's massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG) Free Realms is linked to providing their youthful audience with a regular supply of new content. So far, the site hasn't disappointed and those who can pay a bit extra are now enjoying...

There are more so-called 'free game' sites out there than you can shake a stick at. Most of these sites are saturated in eye-popping ads and merely offer cut down versions of tiresome platform, puzzle or 'shoot 'em up' titles. Hopefully, the kind of sources...

Two new RPG titles for the PS3 and XBox 360 have sparked further controversy about videogame content. Darksiders puts players in charge of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, while Dante's Inferno takes players on a combative tour of Hell. There...

Heavy Rain stood out as a likely winner when we posted our Videogames 2010 page. Plot-centred, point-and-click investigations aren't exactly new to videogaming but Heavy Rain's murder mystery 'spin' looked likely to impress and innovate. We're please...

It's been a long wait for any new console videogames that genuinely justify the label RPG. Which makes it far from surprising to find Rockstar's 1940s detective 'adventure' L. A. Noire plastered across every games-related media outlet. (There were even...

In an ideal world there'd be gaming cafés on every street corner and plenty of local players always looking to try out new boardgames and Tabletop RPGs. Unfortunately, this is probably never going  to happen, because most cafés can't afford to set as...

After checking out over twenty Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs), it's safe to say that there's a bewildering choice of MMORPGs out there. They range from the fairly familiar and straightforward World of Warcraft (WoW) series, through...

Our young playtesters were let loose on Sims Animals 2 (Wii), Sims 3: World Adventures (PC) and MySims: Agents (Wii). All three titles were played at length and the kids enjoyed most of what they came across. There was, however, a clear difference between...

Red Wasp Design have just sent along a bunch of screenshots for their forthcoming iPhone game Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land. RPG players won't need any introduction to the horrors of Call of Cthulhu and CoC: The Wasted Land sets out to stay true...

Blizzard's long-awaited Real-Time Strategy (RTS) videogame Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty is due for release on 27th July 2010. In keeping with the RTS formula the PC-based Starcraft 2 is all about gathering resources, making munitions and wiping out your...

Well not so much homework. Sims 2 and its many add-ons have sold millions of copies but the franchise was definitely due for an update. Too many repetitive tasks, impossible targets, 'more of the same' expansions and moody Sims have made each successive...

Got to have that new game on the first day of release? Totally 'blown away' by the cover art? Can't wait to start shooting any zombie Nazis that might have escaped last time? If so, not to worry, there are millions of fellow sufferers. The games industry's...

Amazon UK has posted some excellent 'Half-Term Deals'. The offers include a few of the best videogames we've looked at in recent months. If you live in the UK, or nearby, Sims 3, Darksiders and Dragon Age: Origins are among the most heavily discounted...

Just come upon some good deals on videogames while preparing a post about games and activities for World Cup 2010. The World Cup post will follow shortly but some of the offers at Amazon US and Amazon UK might be time limited, so we'll go with that first....

In the middle of the on-going search for free or next to free games I bumped into a link offering cheap copies of Torchlight. Such links are often best avoided but this was pointing straight to the Steam download service. Safe territory and source of...

It's almost time to reach for the Cuban cigars, fill a glass of rum and reload your revolver. The soon to be released Tropico 3 for the PC and XBox is due to hit the cobbled streets on November 6th/ 13th. El Presidente has gone all 3D and looks very...

Unimpressed by Prince of Persia? Concerned Project Natal might make you look like you're in the middle of a Sand Dance? Not to worry! There's sun, sand, and the distinctive aroma of a Cuban cigar in the air for anyone with a PC. El Presidente has returned,...

A promising start to the 2010 videogame line-up rapidly became overloaded with predictable shooters and linear gameplay. Genuine RPGs were few and far between, with those that did appear offering little novelty. Fortunately, 2011 is looking rather better,...

A scan through most of the videogame releases planned for 2011 shows a largely welcome set of straight sequels to the major titles involved in the shift towards more varied gameplay in late 2009- early 2010, e.g. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin's Creed...

'Serious Games' that set out to deliver some form of training or learning have been around for years. Unfortunately, almost all of these games put the 'learning' before the fun, which usually involves bolting weak videogame elements on to content-heavy...

Not long to go until the World Cup, so it's time to look at what's on offer to help fans get a bit more involved. BBC The best place to get started is probably the BBC's World Cup 2010 Sports hub , which has fixture lists, tables, team guides , squad...

Time we returned to some straight games coverage. Zoo Tycoon 2 has been around on the PC for a while. The release of several expansion packs speaks for the popularity of the game. Zoo Tycoon 2 is great entertainment for kids over the age of 8 or 9,...