This is not really a list of the best games of the decade, opinions are far too subjective and fluid for me to assign arbitrary rankings to ten years worth of games... and ten years is a long time in the gaming world. What was earth-shattering and insurmountable in 2000 was par for the course just a few years later. It is impossible and unfair to compare games separated by such vast technological leaps. Thankfully, if one thing has not changed over the years, it is the ability of certain games to grab hold of you and suck you in, taking you for the rollercoaster ride of your life before spitting you back out, triumphantly victorious and maybe even a little moved by the experience.

Each game below could be the 'best' game of the decade. Heaven knows they are all worthy candidates. They span not only ten years of history, but bridge three console generations. It seems like yesterday I begged my dad to drive me to Game after school one Friday to pick up that day's big release: Baldur's Gate II. I was thirteen years old. The next decade of life experiences would shape me into the person I am today... with a little help from a whole bunch of video games, of course!

Each of these games have stolen a little bit of my soul over the past ten years, to the point where at one time or another I must have proclaimed each of them to be the greatest thing EVER. So, with no further ado, here are my games of the decade (presented in their order of release):

Deus Ex

Release date: 26 June 2000
Platform: PC (later ported to PS2)
Developer: Ion Storm
Genre: Sci-Fi Action-Adventure

A misunderstood masterpiece from the start, Deus Ex still stands as a unique example of the action-adventure genre. Played from a first-person perspective, Deus Ex is at first glance a shooter with some stealth tactics and stat building tacked on; but in reality Deus Ex is a game much closer in spirit to a first-person RPG-adventure, a System Shock or an Ultima Underworld. In fact, it is possible to complete the game killing only three people. Deus Ex creates a delicate balance between an open-world sandbox game and the more linear design found in most shooters. The beautifully realised cyberpunk world of Deus Ex can only be travelled through in a mostly linear way, moving from point A to B as the story progresses; but how you get from A to B, what you do on the way and in what manner you complete your missions are almost entirely up to you. Go in guns blazing, sneak in through the back door, talk your way past the guards, hack through the defenses... any way is equally valid and most importantly, equally interesting. This presents immense replay value which, aided by the great setting and storyline, ensures Deus Ex is a game to stand the test of time.

Me, Myself & Deus Ex: My brother picked up Deus Ex sometime in 2000 (actually, I think he borrowed it from a friend and never gave it back, naughty boy) and for a while I never really touched it. I was still heavily into Quake II and Half-Life and was stuck trying to play Deus Ex in the same run-and-gun manner. Then everything changed after a chance encounter with Neuromancer, a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson that pushed me to try the game again. Finally I got was Deus Ex was trying to do. I placed myself in that seedy futuristic world and started playing the game with my head rather than my gut and a twitchy trigger finger. Even now, when I play a game I think: "What would J.C. do?"

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Release date: 29 September 2000
Platform: PC
Developer: Bioware
Genre: Fantasy Role-Playing

I know I said I wouldn't pick favourites, but everyone must know by now that where this particular beardy CRPG is concerned I'm totally biased. A straight sequel to the first Baldur's Gate, a game that reinvented a rather stale fantasy CRPG genre, BGII expands an already solid game into a veritable masterpiece. It's traditional, some these days might say too traditional when put together with decidedly aged isometric graphics and an old-fashioned interface. Not that it's ever been cool to like Dungeons & Dragons. Baldur's Gate II is a geek's paradise, set in amongst the swords and sorcery of the Forgotten Realms and featuring a story that is deep, dark and personal, not to mention lengthy and involving; something that would become a real trademark of developers Bioware. The world is fascinating to explore, the characters are likeable and often amusing, the villains are as evil as they come. I urge everyone who has ever liked a western-styIe RPG to give Baldur's Gate II a blast. Or better yet, to keep yourself occupied for the next year or so: play the first game and it's expansion, then this and it's expansion, Throne of Bhaal.

Me, Myself & Baldur's Gate II: As I mentioned above, I rushed to buy BGII as soon as I could on release day. It was the first game that grabbed my attention enough to want to do that, thanks in no small part to my thorough enjoyment of the original game. By Jove, I've never been sucked into a game quite as much as I got sucked into BGII. It was tough, it was exciting, it was huge and it kept me going on and off for the best part of a full school year. I've played through the game maybe five or six times since then and each time I find something new, an undiscovered side-quest, an awesome item, a different strategy for defeating my enemies. I can't imagine I'll ever stop returning to Baldur's Gate II.

Final Fantasy IX

Release date: 16 February 2001
Platform: PlayStation
Developer: Squaresoft
Genre: Fantasy Role-Playing

For this list, I found it hard to choose between this and the technically superior Final Fantasy X (which appeared on the PS2). In the end the humour of FFIX, the high fantasy trappings and a storyline mostly free of teenage angst won out. The black sheep of the series, this game is sadly overlooked by most; a real shame because IX features some of the most memorable plot lines, locations and characters out of all the JRPGs I've played. It bears more resemblance to the true fantasy of the 16-bit Final Fantasy games than its two immediate, sci-fi tinted predecessors, and could even be accused of being old-fashioned in its setting and manner. But if it ain't broke, don't muck with it. FFIX introduces some well thought-out new features, helpfully streamlines some of the character development and most importantly, has a better story than any previous game in the series. It's easily the equal of Final Fantasy X and the holy trinity of IV, V and VI. And it easily bests VII and VIII. Opening the floor for the slighted masses: now.

Me, Myself & Final Fantasy IX: I was a rather late convert to Sony's PlayStation console. At the time I was almost totally a PC gamer and missed out on some true PS1 cIassics of the day. In fact, I ended up playing most of them later on my PS2. As a result, Final Fantasy IX was actually one of the first PS1 games I played all the way through rather than just spending a few hours with at a friend's place. This could have left some residual nostalgia I suppose, but only a truly great game would have sucked me in for the 70+ hours I spent on that first playthrough. I still have that memory card somewhere.

Wow, this is getting a bit wordier than I imagined! Necessity (or rather, Gamespot) dictates that I split this blog into more than one part, so that's it for Part 1. Part 2 to follow shortly, then possibly even a Part 3!

The End: 2009

You know, the slightest suggestion of snow and the country grinds to a halt. Today there's 11 inches of it outside my front door and since a quick phone-around confirms I'm the only one brave enough to even try to get to work... well it's a day off for everyone. Brrrrr. Gives me time to present my all-encompassing 2009 yearly blog thing though. 2009, so long.

Ah, 2009. Not the greatest year ever for gaming, with few titles truly catching my eye. The autumn release schedule was notably sparse this year with many high-profile releases getting pushed back to Q1 2010, although, considering how many good games were overlooked by the public in 2008's over-stuffed pre-Christmas rush, that's probably not a bad thing. Anyway, I managed to scrounge together an arbitrarily ranked list of what I consider to be the most worthy games of the year.

Better Than Life

1. Dragon Age: Origins (PC/X360/PS3)

I've been waiting for Dragon Age since about 2004, so it's safe to say my expectations were pretty darn high for Bioware's fantasy opus. Thankfully everyone's favourite Canadians delivered the goods with a dark, bloody, mature tale that features sterling work at every turn. Superb storyline, top-notch voice acting, cIassy graphics and a marvellous game underneath it all. Hopefully Dragon Age will give the flagging CRPG genre a righteous kick up the backside.

2. Borderlands (PC/X360/PS3)

In any other year this could be sitting pretty at the top. As it is, second place is nothing to be ashamed of as Borderlands more than delivers everything that could be asked of it. It looks fantastic and plays like the mutated offspring of Fallout 3 and Diablo, raised on the road by Mad Max. Here's to a bright future for this fun new IP.

3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC/X360/PS3)

Is it that much better than Modern Warfare? Not really, and it didn't justify the hype and launch hysteria. Taken for what it is, though, Modern Warfare 2 is a great shooter and a real blast to play. Courting controversy for sure, it's about damn time a game series dared to do the realistic modern shooter thing properly, rather than falling back on the safety net of a science fiction or World War II setting. Sometimes we just want to shoot the real bad guys, OK?

4. Resident Evil 5 (PC/X360/PS3)

I've been a big fan of Resident Evil since the PlayStation days and I haven't really been disappointed yet, despite the series getting gradually more action based and sadly losing some of it's survival horror roots. The fifth main-series installment isn't as good as number four, but a fresh setting earns RE5 major brownie points.

5. Torchlight (PC)

Hmm, a hack-n-slash action-RPG with an emphasis on loot and skills, made by the folks that made Diablo. Count me in.

6. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)

An excellent DS game. Yes, there are a few out there. The fourth Kingdom Hearts game is a great addition to the series. If anyone had told me ten years ago that a mash-up between Final Fantasy and Disney could ever work, well I'd have laughed in their face... before begging them to show me more! Let's hope the franchise keeps pumping out games of this caliber.

7. Wolfenstein (PC/X360/PS3)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein was one of my favourite games ever and even now I break it out occasionally to kill Nazis and banish supernatural beings. Wolfenstein isn't quite as good overall, but it does a fantastic job of bringing the series up to date. It looks stunning too.

8. Blood Bowl (Multi)

Ah, Blood Bowl. I remember you fondly, along with Man O War, Talisman and even Warhammer back when it was good and not an over-simplified mess for the Yu-Gi-Oh kids. Yeah, I was a geeky kid. Still am. Anyway, Blood Bowl was a particular favourite of mine back in the day and I was pretty chuffed to hear about a new video game version. I don't even like sports games particularly, but there's something about pulverising pointy ears with your mean green team of big'uns. WAAAGH!!!

9. House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

Blam! Blam! Blam! Take that *****! Ahem. House of the Dead was long an arcade favourite of mine and while no home version has lived up to that experience Overkill does a pretty fine job. Presented in a sleazy Planet Terror grindhouse manner Overkill revels in being as bad as possible while still providing hours of zombie splattering entertainment. Hand Cannon recommended.

10. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC/X360)

Only a year since the first Left 4 Dead saw us teaming up with three pals and bringing bloody murder to the zombie hordes? Yes, but any more of that is welcome here. You may have noticed I like zombies (or the destroying thereof) so despite a lack of originality and a slight whiff of a cash-in, Left 4 Dead 2 gains the final spot in my list for this year.

Gunmen of the Apocalypse Award

Once again the game development world provides ample opportunity for the world's moral compass to cry outrage. Thankfully most of them end up sounding like idiots, allowing us all to experience the fun of aiming one set of pixels at another set of pixels for hours on end. Really. This year's award for excessive amounts of death and destruction is awarded to Borderlands, not because it's the most violent game released this year, but because of the in-game characters total blaise reaction to the violence in their world, meeting each gunshot with liberal lashings of gut-wrenching humour.

Mr. Flibble Award

This year's pansy award goes to a great reinvention of a timeless adventure series, proving it's not all about blood and glory. It's mostly about treasure.

Out of Time

Two games I'm sure could have made it into the top five or so, except that I haven't had a chance to play them yet.

Stoke Me a Clipper

What's worse than a disappointing game is a disappointing game based on something you loved as a child. Seeing something you grew up with and cherished into adulthood destroyed by crappy design, poor controls and generally being a piss-poor rush-job. That's edging close to soul-destroying territory.

Future Echoes

Or, the games that should be populating 2010's list.

Back to Reality

I have to go now... there's an eight-foot snowman staring at me.

Month in Review: December 2009

First things first: Happy New Year to all of you. Hopefully 2010 will bring all manner of good things your way. I've got a couple of blogs planned to usher in the new year, but firstly I'll get my final monthly blog of the noughties (is that what we finally decided they were called?) out of the way. December 2009, in review.

New Acquisitions

Well, nothing spectacular to see here. I picked up the third Scene It because I really liked the first two games in the series and because I'm a total film geek. Simple movie trivia, good for a relax and great to play with friends, though it does feel more like a cheap add-on (read: cash-in) than a fully-fledged game. I've not played the CSI game yet, I only really got it because it was unbelievably cheap (possibly a pricing goof). If it's anything like Hard Evidence though, I'll probably play it through solely for the points...

Christmas pressies! Turns out three of those suspiciously game-shaped packages were actual games, and what a bunch of crackers they turned out to be! I've wanted Borderlands since I saw the first screenshots of it's visual styIe Totally unique look and feel, plays like a cross between Fallout 3 and a first-person Diablo. Utterly addictive. More zombie-splattering action for the Wii and one of my most anticipated DS games round off Christmas Day. Being a fan of both Final Fantasy and traditional Disney characters, I really liked Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 and I reckon 358/2 Days (what a mouthful...) will be no different.

Having Boxing Day fall on a Saturday meant I got the day off work this year, so I took the opportunity to hit the sales hard. Got myself a ton of DVDs and Blu-rays and a nice handful of games. Mirror's Edge was a fiver, the others were all between ten and twenty quid. All brand new, of course! Having said that, I didn't indulge in the best deal of the sales: HMV selling the Beatles Rock Band set for £40! Didn't really want it myself, but a bloomin' bargain for some!

Games Played

Borderlands (PC)

This game is bloody fantastic. I love the whole graphic novel styIe look of the game, I can't think of any other game that looks even remotely similar (feel free to enlighten me, of course). Kudos to whoever decided to change the visuals from their original realistic look. It plays great too, like I said above it's a real melting pot of genres: a first-person shooter, a loot-and-experience-driven RPG, a sci-fi adventure... it's really funny too. I love the weapons, the enemies and the characters. I have no idea why people seem to see this as a game that can only be enjoyed in multi-player: I haven't tried the multi-player or co-op yet, but as far as I am concerned the single-player game has more than enough entertainment value! I'm currently playing as Lilith, the Siren and I've just hit level 25. I'm in and around New Haven right now, after about 18 hours of gameplay.

Dead Space (X360)

Modern survival horror at it's best. System Shock meets Solaris meets rage-infected monkeys, an excellent thinking man's shooter that features some truly trouser-destroying moments of terror. I'm finding it pretty challenging too and I'm only up to Chapter 5! It only makes it all the more rewarding though. I've dinged 9 achievements too, for 130 points.

Dragon Age: Origins (PC)

Damn, I finished it already. Roughly 60 hours, start to finish, and that's just for the main quest and probably 50% of the side-quests. An epic work of fantasy, one of the best games I've played in a long, long time and a real nostalgic throwback for me, bringing to mind old-school CRPGs and even fantasy novels such as those by the late, great David Gemmell (if you haven't read anything of his, you're truly missing out). Having completed one play-though, I'm going to give it a little rest for a while (maybe until after I've devoured Mass Effect 2) before trying again with another character.

Fallout 3 (PC)

I went back to Fallout 3 after finishing Dragon Age, ran through the remainder of the main storyline again and then took my time savouring the DLC. I've got all the packs except for Mothership Zeta and was bummed the PC version of that wasn't included in the half-price deal on the 27th, kinda unfair if you ask me. Anyway, I enjoyed all the packs, Operation Anchorage and Broken Steel the most. I timed it all pretty well too, hitting level 30 part-way through the last quest I played. So, over two complete (and very thorough!) play-throughs with wildly different characters, plus playing through 80% of the available DLC I'm pretty confidence I've exhausted Fallout 3. For now. I've ticked off 20 more achievements too for an extra 500 points.

Scene It? Box Office Smash (X360)

Playing this again with a couple of friends was the catalyst for getting the new edition (see below). I played a few games of this one evening, trouncing the competition and scoring 7 extra achievements (115 points) as a nice surprise.

Scene It? Bright Lights, Big Screen (X360)

Troucing the competition with new and updated questions. Yeah, it's smelling a bit like a cash-in and it's hardly high-octane pulse-pounding gaming, but sometimes it's fun to just kick back with something simple. Plus, I can play with people that don't like games! 13 new achievements for 220 points, too.

Space Siege (PC)

A disappointment all round. I fired this one up for a breather right before Christmas, I didn't want to start playing something huge in case I got something awesome for Christmas that would drag me away from it! Borderlands, I'm looking at you! Anyway, I ran through Space Siege in under ten hours, which is really the main source of my disappointment. Both Dungeon Siege games, while never great, were huge, sprawling hack-n-slashers with multiple and vastly differing environments to explore and interesting enemies to kill, plus tons of loot to gather, companions to recruit and skills to learn. Space Siege is short, painfully linear, with practically zero variation in either levels or enemies. There's no real inventory system; you can collect a handful of weapons, but rather than searching out better ones, you just upgrade the ones you have using spare points that seem to pour from every crate and corpse you encounter. Those parts upgrade you, too. Having said all that, I stuck it out till the very end, so it must have something going for it. Oh yeah: it's acceptable mindless shooting for when you really have nothing better to do.

In Conclusion...

2009 is over. Some great games were released and it's a shame that I haven't had a chance to play all that I wanted to. I'll be doing a blog shortly on the year in review and hopefully I'll be able to catch up with some of the games I missed soon enough too.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a great day. Even if you don't celebrate this particular holiday, be good to each other, okay?

Me, I'm just waiting for the family stragglers to arrive before we kick things off properly. I had a nice lie in this morning (pretty knackered after moving 16 meters of shop on my tod yesterday for January sale set-up) and right now I'm eyeing some suspiciously game-shaped packages under our tree (well, they might be DVDs) :P

Enjoy the holiday folks!

Month in Review: November 2009

Well, I managed to get myself stuck with yet another console this month. The space under my TV is at a premium right now, not to mention the constant battle for plug sockets.

New Acquisitions

It's been a long time since I squeeed like a little girl over a game. It's been even longer since I bothered to go out of my way to pick up a game on release day. In fact, I know for a fact the only other two games I have purposefully gone to the store on release day to buy were Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate II (a.k.a. Best Game Ever). Which is appropriate since Dragon Age is like totally awesome and combines the best bits of both of those games to make a game which, while not perfect, is pretty darn close to it. Anyway, that's the brand new game right there, next to the brand new and very shiny Collector's Edition strategy guide, bought solely for the last 60 pages - chock full of concept art, world background and lore and other goodies.

One shiny new Wii. Not the black one I was eyeing so enviously, but a vanilla white one. Not pictured are the free boxed Sports Resort/Motion Plus set or the (highly impractical) bigger outer box that containeth the whole shebang. One hundred and thirty-five squids only.

A handful of Wii titles to get me on my way. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Dragon Quest Swords were brand new and bought online, while Super Paper Mario and Red Steel were used pickups from Game. Red Steel is a bit naff but it was only £2.97 so can't complain much.

One reason the Wii appealed to me was the ease with which light-gun styIe arcade action could be applied to the system's control scheme, and with some juicy Resident Evil and/or House of the Dead zombie holocausts looking ever more likely I decided I needed an appropriate weapon to dispatch these foul foes. Obviously the official Zapper was right out, the whole two-handed cramp-o-rama design put me right off, so my weapon of choice was narrowed down to two: the pump-action shotgun I'd seen in Game or this epic HOTD Hand Cannon. In the end, the cool factor won out. Blam!

And here are the first two games to benefit from my nifty new peripheral. HOTD Overkill was brand new, while Ghost Squad was bought used.

Just so my 360 didn't feel left out after all the attention my Wii and PC have got this month, I picked up Wet new for £15. It's been on my radar for quite a long time now so I'm glad I managed to get hold of it.

Games Played

Dragon Age: Origins (PC)

Absolutely spiffy. As you may have gathered from my gushing above, I'm a tiny bit of a Bioware fan. Stemming of course, from the fact that everything they touch is gold. Dragon Age: Origins (okay, we get you're looking at a franchise here, still, the name could do without the sutitle) is to my mind, everything Neverwinter Nights 2 should have been (Obsidian, if you are ever called upon to make a sequel, take notes). It's a great PC RPG - yes, it's a PC game and no amount of shoddy last-minute ports can change that - that takes right back to the beautiful CRPG glory days of a decade ago, except that now it's gorgeous to look at too! If I have a complaint, it's that Dragon Age as a whole lacks the cinematic quality found in Mass Effect and even Jade Empire. I also would have preferred a dialogue system closer to ME's. Anyhoo, enough blathering. I'm 42 hours in and while I'm a fair way through the main quest, I know I've barely scratched the surface of this thing.

Fallout 3 (PC)

I'm on my second full run-through of Fallout 3. This time I'm playing as a complete and utter bastard and my word, isn't it fun? My initial plan was to play the DLC I've obtained since my first play-through, but I haven't got to that yet. The sheer scope of the original game is keeping me occupied. Also, I've devoted most of my playing time of late to a certain other PC RPG. I have managed to ding another four achievements though, for 80 points.

House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

Let's face it: as a non-American I'm pretty clueless about the whole grindhouse 'thing'; my own personal experience of the genre is limited to whatever Quentin Tarantino tells me to watch. But if there's one thing us Brits appreciate it's satire, and satire done well, even if in this case we can't really relate to the thing that is being satirised. I've read enough harsh reviews of Overkill to come to the conclusion that 90% of the people who've played this game don't even realise it's a pisstake, let alone a pisstake of a genre based on taking the piss. And it's a (insert F-bomb here) good pisstake. Parody by imitation and all that. So I'll just say that I've really enjoyed this House of the Dead incarnation, of which I've played about halfway through so far with my trusty Hand Cannon.

In Conclusion...

So many games, so little time. Can't believe it's December now...

So, after several years of umming and ahhing over it, I finally got myself a Wii. I'd just about convinced myself that I didn't really want one, that it was just a gimmick, so I was happy to let this one go by. But then my local supermarket started flogging 'em for £135 complete with Wii Sports, Sports Resort and the Motion Plus thingy... and my resolve crumbled into dust. After all, I've got every other Nintendo console (well, aside from the Virtual Boy, and we won't go there) so I couldn't put it off forever!

The way I see it, I've got my PC and 360 for the latest well 'ard system-straining games, and the Wii will do for all the fun oddities that are about these days. Actually, I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of 'games for gamers' titles that are actually available for Nintendo's machine. I always assumed the software library for the Wii was so bloated with crap that I'd only ever want a half-dozen games at most - a major reason I put off buying the damn thing - but already I've drawn up much longer list of must-have Wii games! Eeeek!

Anyway, I've had the console for nearly two weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. I've picked up a couple of games already and have another few on the way. Next up is to get my hands on a Zapper; I'm a total sucker for light-gun games and I'm dying to play all those Resident Evil/House of the Dead games.

So, does anyone want to throw out a few recommendations for killer Wii games? I know I've already got a long list (featuring all the obvious ones: Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy etc.) but does anyone have any other, perhaps lesser-known games for me to explore? I'm up for pretty much any type of game, hell I'll even check out sports titles as long as they make innovative use of the controls. Also, any good Wiiware? I've got free points burning a hole right now.

Month in Review: October 2009

A drastic cut-back this month. Not for financial reasons or anything, it's just simply due to carboot season being pretty much over and a horrible time at work taking me away from any other bargain hunting. October is Christmas set-up time for me and it was a real pain in the butt-ocks. Management playing musical chairs, floods in my friends newly-acquired store, horrendous supplier issues, long (long) weeks and an outbreak of incompetance among the weekend staff. But hey, it's done now. Just in time for a slew of killer new games, some of which I hope to pick up in the run-up to Christmas (the one in December).

New Acquisitions

A brace of PC games that have been out for quite a while but have been sitting on my wishlist since release. I really like WWII games, so finding these new and sealed in a 2 for £10 deal was great. One downer, MoH:A is a ****** to install if you have anything newer than the included two-year-old Ageia PhysX drivers. Which means if you're a sensible computer user who likes to keep things like drivers up-to-date you can't play without rolling back about five versions. I think the developers should utter a collective "D'oh!" and get to work on a fix, pronto.

Fade to Black (and its prequel, Flashback) were two of my favourite PC games back when I first starting playing computer games seriously (sometime in the mid-nineties); cIassy sci-fi adventures from French company Delphine (also of Another World fame and, erm, Shaq Fu). The original PC versions I owned have long since been misplaced (or they're sitting in the loft somewhere) and besides they would require too much DosBOX tinkering to work so picking up a hassle-free PS1 copy on a carboot for 50p seemed like a smart thing to do.

And finally, introducing Lurky and Murky the baby Murlocs. I love freebies.

Games Played

Fallout 2 (PC)

I polished off Fallout 2 this month. Oh, how I love thee, despite thy aged interface and slow gameplay. Just as when I replayed the first Fallout I'm surprised at how quickly I rattled through the game, clocking in at just under 35 hours, and how much I remembered from all those years ago. I suppose that's a real indication of greatness, that something sticks with you for all those years despite playing hundreds of other games in the interim. I've decided to jump back into Fallout 3 again now, to play through the add-ons I haven't tried out yet. I might leave that until I upgrade my computer though (I've got the bits, so it's just as Soon(TM) as I can be bothered) - as even though my current rig can handle the game perfectly well, it's always nice to crank those sliders right up to the top!

Guitar Hero: World Tour (X360)

I didn't get much of a chance to play 360 games this month. It's talent show season which means my mum takes over the living room (and therefore, the big TV). After putting up with annoyingly untalented imbeciles ruining perfectly good rock tunes last night though, I put my foot down and shredded through a couple of sets of GH4. I'll be picking up 5 soon, I suppose.

In Conclusion...

Less than a week until Dragon Age! Yippee!

* Die große Fotographien sind hier.

Month in Review: September 2009

Another cracking month. That comment about cutting back on the game purchases? That turned out to be an outright fabrication on my part.

New Acquisitions

A bit of hardware first. Got this nice little 19" TV from my brother. It's a Samsung LE19B450 LCD TV/monitor and is absolutely amazing. It's going to be my new bedroom TV, which means it will be my first port of call for PS2 and GameCube gaming. It's also got my brand spanky Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray player (bargain buy from Richer Sounds) hooked up at the moment, but that's only a temporary measure so I can watch multi-region DVDs in bed. 1080p is a bit wasted on a 19".

Huge stack of Spectrum games from a guy on eBay. I bought them in one job lot for £9. Some commons, some cIassics, some rarities, a nice bundle all round. Only one duplicate (Dan Dare II) and even that was an improvement on my first copy.

I've always had a soft spot for this old LCD handhelds, and since the real collectables (such as Nintendo Game & Watch) are usually well out of my price range I'm content with whatever quirky little games I can pick up in charity shops and at carboots. These were picked up in a charity shop for £4. I only really wanted the Captain Scarlet one, but they were all together in a baggie so I figured what the hey? It's for charity.

But then I had to go and spoil it all by buying these two Game & Watch games off eBay. I got Mario's Cement Factory and Snoopy Tennis. They are not mint, so I got a bargain price on them, but they are still in very good nick and work fine.

Minty fresh Famicom versions of a couple of early Dragon Quest games (3 and 4). Dragon Quest is one of my favourite game series, so I was thrilled to see these two mint games go for a couple of quid each. Just collector's items to me though, since my Japanese is non-existant.

Ten Commodore 16 games that work on my Plus/4. The real reason I bought this lot (other than the price, just £2) was the inclusion of Tutti Frutti, a real gem from my childhood.

A couple of new PC games from the Zavvi autumn sale. Bargains both, Space Siege was less than £4 and the second Fallout 3 add-on pack (containing Broken Steel and Point Lookout) was £10.95 just a week after release.

A shopping spree in town only turned up two games, but at a pound each who's to complain?

Eight complete NES games from various sellers on eBay. All are in good to mint condition and priced between £4 and £6 each. Double Dragon II, Rygar and Duck Tales are awesome.

Another selection of items from eBay. The NES Max controller and SNES Game Genie are both boxed and complete and only cost a couple of quid each. The black cart is a Codemasters release, Ultimate Stuntman, one of the rarer UK NES titles.

Another minty fresh Famicom collectable I couldn't bear to pass up. This one is Final Fantasy I & II on a single cart and the whole thing is practically new, with map, manual, guide book, warranty etc. The white cart so is clean it hurts my eyes.

A small score from the first carboot I went to this month. Harvest Moon for PS2 is complete and as new. The Space Invaders handheld itself is also as new, but the box is a bit battered. Total cost for both: 70p.

Another small score from the second carboot of the month. These were all £1 each and are all complete.

Games Played

Crime Scene Investigation: Hard Evidence (X360)

Yes, I bought and played this game solely for the points. Actually, that's a lie. I bought and played this game because it cost me practically nothing and it's a mindlessly easy way to spend an afternoon lazing in front of the TV. Any large increases to my Gamerscore are simply icing on a cake that is really only for fans of the show or people who know that the cake tastes like cardboard in the real world and enjoy pointing out flaws in the recipe. I have a degree in forensic science (specialised in fire scene investigation, so lots of burnt cake round here) and believe me when I say that rarely is the cake as delicious as the television would have you believe. Enough about cake, anyway, I'm starting to sound like GLaDOS. Five achievements here, for a whopping 1000 points. Cake.

Fallout 2 (PC)

I haven't played Fallout 2 since 1999. That's ten years since I last sampled one of the greatest CRPGs in history. Sure, I've played the first game several times and last year I was wowed by Bethesda's brand new take on the series, but I still have the fondest memories of Fallout 2. Dark, funny, tough... and despite the graphics and interface aging horribly, the gameplay is damn near perfect. 12 hours in and I'm at Vault City.

Guitar Hero: World Tour (X360)

Goddamn it, I'm never going to catch up with all these Guitar Hero games. Five's out now, Van Halen is on it's way... slow down! Nonetheless, I'm taking my time sampling all that World Tour has to offer. Namely, a disappointing setlist. Was I spoilt by GH3? I've hit 8 achievements so far, for a paltry 65 points.

In Conclusion...

Huzzah! Plenty of retro goodies. Hopefully I'll be getting my mucky paws on some new releases in the next few months too; there's a whole bunch of upcoming and just-released titles on my wishlist: Dragon Age, Guitar Hero 5, Wet, Ghostbusters (finally a domestic 360 release), Brutal Legend, Kingdom Hearts DS, Borderlands, Lego Indy 2... eeek! No time to talk, gotta catch up before I go splashing out on new releases. My 360 backlog is horrendous.

* Once more, big pictures here.

Month in Review: August 2009

Suffice to say, this was an excellent month for me. A real retro month too, with nothing newer than a few N64 games added to my collection. I even managed to re-acquire a massive chunk of my childhood.*

New Acquisitions

To start things off, I bought this little lot from the guy who runs the Retrogamer Fanzine**. A smashing guy with a bunch of stuff for sale, mainly old computers (Sinclair, Commodore, Amstrad, BBC etc.) but some console stuff too. I bought the tape deck to replace the broken one I got with my recently-purchased ZX Spectrum+, a joystick interface for the same and a handful of complete games of the adventure/role-playing type. The Hobbit (the loose tape) was a freebie and is a killer text adventure.

All cheap eBay items, plugging some of the more glaringly obvious gaps in my NES collection and picking up a few semi-rarities (Bucky O'Hare and Godzilla) as well. All in excellent complete condition, some real retro cIassics. Godzilla also has the honour of being the 100th NES game in my collection (98 PAL, 2 NTSC).

These were picked up in a charity shop for a pound apiece. The CD is a promotional soundtrack featuring tracks from various Zelda games (original NES to Wind Waker); I have no idea where it originates from. Probably a freebie with a game release. I only saw the CD at first, but then I spied a GBC box under some videos and pulled out a mint, complete copy of Zelda DX.

Nabbed these from eBay for £12. Complete in their box, perfect working order and a nice item for my collection. I didn't really know that wireless NES controllers existed, I always figured that technology game along a bit later. These actually work pretty well and will come in handy, but I don't know what the battery life is like. Not great, I suspect.

Zool for GameBoy, bought cart and case only from a charity shop for 99p.

Now, this is a treasure. It's probably only worth anything to me, but this is a Commdore Plus/4 computer from 1984, an upgraded version of the C16 that was unfortunately a complete flop across much of the world. It did have minor success in the UK, which is how I came to own such a machine as a small child. I spent hours and hours playing on this thing (before I owned a NES) and, partly due to my geeky interest in the micros of yesteryear, I still get pangs of nostalgia for this forgotten machine. My original Plus/4 broke many moons ago and I've been looking for a high-quality replacement for a long time. When this little lot popped up on eBay I just had to have it! It's in perfect working order, boxed and complete with boxed accessories. Shame the box has seen better days. The ten games are those originally bundled with the computer and actually made up a fair percentage of my original little collection.

These were all Buy-It-Now items from eBay. I actually grabbed these mere minutes after they were listed. The guy had a whole bunch of NES stuff, some real oddities too, but I just picked out a few since I'd already gone way overboard on purchases this month. The blue cart is a Famicom multicart, 220 in 1, probably some sort of HK pirate from the looks of it, but I really just got it for the Famicom-to-PAL NES converter (the black thing below it). It's not a HoneyBee, but it will do nicely. £4.99 for the pair! The other games were between £3 and £5 each, except for Zelda II, which was £10. Surprisingly, I've never owned an original copy of Zelda II on NES. I've had the GBA release for a while, though.

All complete, all in very good to mint condition, for £1.99 each. I can't remember the last time I saw complete GameBoy games in the wild!

I went to my first carboot in ages this bank holiday weekend (the weather has been too bad most weekends this summer) and scored a pretty good bunch of stuff. I got a couple of Grandstand handhelds for 50p each. The Computer Kid is practically worthless and I'll probably pass it along to a charity shop soon, but a similar loose Thomas to this one sold on eBay for £70 the other week and another is on there right now at £100 BIN! I'm not selling mine though. The four N64 games cost me £1.50 for the lot. The War of the Worlds PC game was £1. I'm a huge fan of The War of the Worlds book, movies and especially the Jeff Wayne musical, so I was thrilled to see the game sitting on a carboot. It's actually based on the musical, if you can believe that. Now I just need the PS1 game. The 2009 edition of the Guinness Gamer's World Records book was 50p.

Games Played

Double Dragon (NES)

A new acquisition that went straight into my Now Playing pile. I dug out my NES Advantage stick and spent several evenings with Double Dragon. I used to borrow this game from my neighbours all the time as a kid and never got any significant way into it. This time I was determined and, well, I did it. Shame it isn't multi-player though, kinda takes half the fun out of it. Next up, Kung Fu!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

I've put a few hours into Oblivion this month. I've mainly just finished up the Shivering Isles quest line, which will about wrap up this game for me. 75 hours or so on this save.

Hero Quest (ZX)

Loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... choose your adventurer... choose your level... loading... bzzzrrrt... loading... bzzzrrrt... crap, I missed it... rewind... zzzzzzip... loading... bzzrrrt... ah, here we go! Now, how the heck do I move? Hmm, hit random keys? OK! Now we're getting somewhere. Sigh. I really don't have the patience for tape-based games any more... and yet, I have to shake my head when people have the gall to complain about loading times in modern games. To be fair, Hero Quest is much too advanced for the Spectrum's measly 48k, so it's no small wonder it's a pain to get running. I persevere though, because it's gems like Hero Quest (yep, based on the awesome old Games Workshop board game) that not only got me into adventure/RPG games back in the day, but helped the industry develop the genre to where it is today.

Portal (PC)

I've had this sitting on my hard drive ever since it came out and strangely, I've never got around to playing it properly until now. Everyone said it was awesome, my brief foray into the game's first few levels confirmed this, yet I hesitated. Maybe it was because I am rubbish at puzzle games and was a little scared I'd end up crying tears of frustration and hating such a beautiful, clever game. Thankfully, I'm not as full of fail as I thought and I whipped through this in under four hours, loving every minute. The ending is just hilarious. Shame it's over so quickly. More, please!

The Secret of Monkey Island (X360)

I worked my way through the remainder of this gem of a game, a hilarious and worthy remake of an adventure cIassic. I'm really hoping that more old Lucasarts adventures get the same sort of spit and polish: Monkey Island 2, Sam & Max, Indiana Jones, Day of the Tentacle... the list is quite long. Monkey Island SE took me about six hours in total, it would have taken me much longer if it wasn't for a head full of half-remembered hints. Got a further 8 achievements, for 155 points. Play it old school.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy (PC)

It occurred to me that this is yet another PC game I've had sitting around for ages and never played through. No excuses here, Jedi Academy is every bit as good as Jedi Outcast and does the twirly lightsaber thing better than anything. I went Dark Side, of course, just to hear Jennifer Hale do evil. Took me about ten hours in total. Also, someone should totally do another Jedi Knight game. Dark Forces 4? 5? What are we up to now?

In Conclusion...

Yep, a smashing month all round. Lots of new acquisitions and lots of gaming. I've made a conscious decision to cut back on the purchases in September, it's getting a little out of hand. Maybe. We'll see. I'm not cutting back on playing, though!

* One again, due to Glitchspot's peculiarities, larger versions of all the pictures in this blog can be found here (games) and here (Plus/4).

** The Fanzine website can be found here: http://www.retrogamerfanzine.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Sorry it's not a clickable link, but Glitchspot reckons it's an invalid domain name. Wuh?

Month in Review: July 2009

The monthly blog is back with some great additions to my collection. Now my life has settled down (a little) and I have (slightly) more time for playing I should be getting back into the swing of things, slowly but surely.

New Acquisitions

Definitely my favourite purchase in a long time. This is an Adman Grandstand, the label under which the Fairchild Channel F was released in the UK. I bought it on a whim, because it looked so unbelievably retro, it's in fantastic nick (perfect working order, boxed with all the gubbins, manual and registration card) and I've always wanted a Channel F. This particular console dates from 3rd April 1978. How so precise? It's still got an Argos picking ticket stuck to the back! I haven't got any cartridges for it yet, but it's got tennis and hockey games built in.

All bought new from the multimedia clearout at work. Worms 2 was only £4 (£3 and change after staff discount) so that was an instant buy and the other games were just some casual pick-ups. Yes, I did buy CSI: Hard Evidence for the achievements... that, and it was only a fiver to begin with.

This disc includes the first two add-on packs for Fallout 3. I was going to just get them from the Marketplace, but this worked out cheaper. Bought new from the resurrected Zavvi (website-only) for under a tenner. I don't really like the new Zavvi as they are really slow, so I only buy from them when I see a real bargain.

A trio of PlayStation games from my local Oxfam. They were all 99p and are all complete and in good condition. Three decent games, but nothing special.

The original Lands of Lore for PC, from another local charity shop (Scope, I think). It's the enhanced CD version and is clearly a White Label release, but I don't mind since back in those days budget PC games still came with all the gubbins, manuals and whatnot. A cIassic golden oldie RPG.

I decided my NES collection could use fresh blood so I've kicked things off with a couple of cheap Buy-It-Now items from eBay. Both are complete and are in very good condition.

For the last few days I've been visiting my brother in Cork, Ireland (just got back late last night). It's a pretty dull city overall (sorry) and at first I couldn't find any decent stores other than an overpriced Game and randomly, a GameStop (we don't have those in the UK). But thankfully I found a junk shop that had a nice little slice of retro heaven. Everything from Atari to PS3... unfortunately it was all insanely priced. I picked out a couple of loose NES games that I knew were harder to find in the UK (Lemmings and a five-screw Mattel release of Clu Clu Land) and a SNES import game adaptor. I returned the next day and grabbed Battleship for NES and a complete copy of Heroes of the Lance for Spectrum - and a complete copy of Dragons of Flame stuffed in the same box! A nice haul overall, but it didn't come cheap, about €35 for the lot. Road Rash Jailbreak for PS1 was from a charity shop (€2) and Dark Chronicle (aka Dark Cloud 2) was €6.99 used from GameStop.

I also bought a couple of games on XBLA this month (my shiny new 120gb HDD was screaming at me to fill it up): the Secret of Monkey Island remake and the first Puzzle Quest game. 800 points apiece.

Games Played

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

I'm playing this again, wondering if I missed something killer the last time around. This is the second time I've played through the game and this time I'm being much more thorough. I've finished the main storyline and nearly every side-quest (I've checked the strategy guide to be sure) and I've borrowed Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles from a mate (sue me). Knights of the Nine fell quickly before my evil, yet dashing, rogue and now I am partway through Shivering Isles. It's probably just me, but I'm liking Shivering Isles ten times more than any aspect of the original Oblivion game... probably because it's all weird and Morrowindy. Got about 70-75 hours under my belt on this save game.

Guitar Hero: Metallica (X360)

I've finished the guitar career on easy to get back into the swing of things, now I'm working my way through medium and trying to five-star every song. The bassist career is up next. Overall, this is my least favourite Guitar Hero game; although I really like old-school Metallica, there aren't many of the supporting acts that float my boat. I've ticked off another 4 achivements in July, totalling 70 points.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (X360)

I'm simply working my way through the main storyline, doing every side quest I can, fighting lots of battles and having fun. Dinged 5 achievements so far, totalling 60 points.

The Secret of Monkey Island (X360)

I've only just really started, but the memories have come rushing back. I hope more old Lucasarts adventures recieve this treatment (especially Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis!), as it's just about perfect. Still touchingly old-school, but with enough modern polish to appeal to a wider range of people. Soon they'll be wearing my sword like a shish kebab! Ahem. I'm currently recruiting my crew of scurvy pirate scum, so I'm still on Chapter I. Got 2 achievements, for 25 points.

Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS)

This was my airport/plane/hotel game. I borrowed my brother's laptop, but that thing can barely run Windows so I was stuck with handheld gaming for the duration of my trip. I love Worms.

In Conclusion...

Well, that's just about it for this month. A pretty good month overall, especially considering I went through a gaming 'dry spell' of several months. Hopefully this new trend will continue over the next few months...

Edit: Clickable pictures (to take you to larger versions of the pictures) will be added when Glitchspot lets me. In the meantime, all these images can be found here (games) and here (Grandstand).