Every so often, a game appears on a region-locked system that garners a lot of attention from those unfortunate enough not to have access to said, usually Japanese, hardware. Recent examples of this would be Gal Gun and Idolmaster on 360 (before it came to PS3) and more relevant, the Senran Kagura games that appeared on the 3DS. With the release of Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus on Vita, however, import fans – as well as those with a love of the more bizarre, risque side of import gaming – have...

Playing The Room on the iPad feels a little like you might imagine the TV show “The Crystal Maze” (with Richard O’Brien) might play if it were set in a creepy antiques shop once owned by Indiana Jones’ cousin, at the time he was allegedly dating Lara Croft for a few months.
When faced with an intricate looking box, pretty much anyone will want to know what’s inside. The Room relies on this, presenting the player with a hugely complex safe, disguised as a box. Opening the box requires searc...

It's not everyday that you see a giant ant crawling across a skyscraper, reach the ground and then charge you head on. One is surreal enough, but an army of giant ants all intent upon your demise is something that only psychotropic substances can handle. So come, if you please, into the wondrous world of The Chikyuu Boueigun. The Chikyuu Boueigun aka Earth Defence Force is released under the "SIMPLE 2000" label, and is aimed at punters with not much money and who want a satisfyingly quick gamin...

Considering Samus can freely morph into ball-form whenever and wherever she so desires, it would seem more than likely she was the first choice to host a pinball game. Not, it seems, to Fuse Games. Back in 2004 they literally squashed, squeezed and squished together Mario’s plump form in Super Mario Ball (also known as 'Mario Pinball Land'). To be kind, it was an awkward mess whose only saving grace was its scrumptious visuals. Technically, Fuse did a remarkable job with the GBA, creating sharp...

Video games are nearly 40 years old, depending on where you start the count. For such a young industry, it has seen an incredible amount of diversity and creativity. There are a lot of books on various gaming subjects. Though as pointed out by John Szczepaniak in his Kickstarter campaign, there are not a lot of English-language books covering Japan. Only a handful, and usually focusing on Nintendo. There have been a lot of video game related Kickstarters, but John's has to be one of the most...

A system that has maintained production for 20 years, and can boast of many hardware innovations from built in microphone, to Disc based add on and even internet modem. A system that was the birth place of some of today's biggest franchises in gaming, a system that pioneered many things in its lifetime. Its name? The Nintendo Family Computer. Although known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in the West, the Japanese counterpart was superior in every aspect. It is perhaps surprising then, that...

Halo 4 marks the return of Master Chief to the popular first person shooter franchise, albeit for the first time not developed by Bungie. Sporting all the Halo hallmarks this iteration begins an exciting and fresh revitalisation of the series, with some bold design decisions and a clear commitment to the core gameplay that has been carried off with stunning execution.
It's clear that Halo 4's designers have sat down and spent a lot of time analysing what has and hasn't worked in earlier title...

Possibly the most unlikely conversion of any game ever became a reality. No one ever thought that a Tekken game would ever make it on to a Nintendo system never mind the humble GBA, but it has happened, and in all its 3D glory (nearly). Most people would be sceptical that such a graphically advanced game as Tekken could be possible on a system that is designed to play host to mainly 2D games, but thanks to a lot of fiddling and 2D Mode 7 trickery, Namco have managed to create a respectable looking han...

Retro Revival 2013 is this weekend, 18 & 19th May at Wolverhampton Race Course. There will be Freeplay Arcade & Pinball machines, Retro Consoles, Computers, Virtual Reality Machine, Cosplay, and Competitions. Special guests inc Bob Wakelin, Simon Butler, Bill Harbison, Archer Maclean, The Oliver Twins, The Newsfield gang (Roger Kean, Oliver Frey, Robin Hogg and Paul Rand) probably a few more too. But enough about dressing up and official announcements, what gaming challenges will RetroCollect have ...

One of the most playable multiplayer games of the 90's is back on the Gameboy Advance! It may have a shallow quest element bolted onto it, but the multiplayer is still here. And another retro rehash it may well be, but then who cares? As after all, this is Bomberman we are talking about.
First, the bad... After a lame opening sequence the menu screen appears, and the two main sections of the game are there for you to choose. Now, I'm 99% certain that 99% of you will never even bother...