Archive for December, 2011

Discover the best games for your iPad and iPhone

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

If you love games, this is the book for you. Packed with all the best games for iOS, iPad & iPhone Games Directory shows you how you can turn your smartphone or tablet into a device to rival home consoles. Covering every gaming category on the App Store, over 300 games are reviewed, highlighting the best apps on offer. From Cut The Rope and Angry Birds to FIFA 12 and Scrabble, you’ll find all the games you’ll ever need in this ultimate guide.

Aaron Asadi, Editor In Chief, stated; “The iPad and iPhone are the ideal devices for gaming. Accessible, portable and reliable, they are certainly giving traditional consoles a run for their money. With the book, you’ll discover the must-own games from every category on the App Store, from quick time-wasters to games that will have you hooked for months. If you own an iDevice and you want to find the best games for it, this is the place to be.”

The iPad & iPhone Games Directory is on sale now (24/11) from the Imaginebookshop priced £9.99.

It’s Hugo Time

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Like many other gamers, we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of Street Fighter X Tekken. The reason for this excitement? Well Hugo is in it.

He’s my favourite Street Fighter character, and not just because I’m amazing at pulling off 360s with him whenever I play Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. No I love Hugo, because he reminds me of myself.

He’s constantly misunderstood, as many ignorant gamers think he’s from Capcom’s scrolling fighter Final Fight, he isn’t, but he was inspired by Final Fight’s Andore. He’s also a big overwight man, who can hide this obesity due to his high stature. Ultimately though, I love Hugo because, beneath his unfriendly appearance he has a heart of gold. Just like me.

I once jokeningly told a Capcom PR that if Hugo was a secret character in Street Fighter IV I’d give the game a 100% on principal. I was lying of course, but that doesn’t stop me from getting giddy whenever I see his new 3D form in Street Fighter X Tekken.

I was able to play a few games recently with him, and he plays just as I was hoping he would. Needless to say, the wait for Street Fighter X Tekken can’t come quick enough.

NowGamer reveals its Top 50 Gaming Moments

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

NowGamer has revealed its Top 50 Greatest Gaming Moments. It’s an epic look back at those moments that have really helped define the medium. Memorable scenes, events and moments of games that live on in the memory long after their worlds have been saved, the credits roll and they’ve been traded in.   

We were pleasantly surprised to see how much retro gaming love made it in (admittedly though, it’s mostly console centric). Entries include the first pair of trousers you ruined fighting your first Cyberdemon, zombie dogs providing business for Raccoon City’s double glazing salesman, and (one of Darran’s suggestions) the second stage of Strider.         

Best of all though, accompanying many of the entries are quotes from the developer responsible, with the likes of Naughty Dog, Telltale Games, Epic Games, Sony Santa Monica, Hideo Kojima and Infinity Ward all contributing.

Check out the Top 50 Greatest Gaming Moments now – and have your say in the comments section below. 

 

NowGamer passes 1 million unique visitors

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Imagine Publishing’s games website breaks records.

NowGamer, Imagine Publishing’s flagship games website, has passed 1 million unique visitors for the first time in its history.

NowGamer reached 1,151,450 unique visitors for the month of November. The figures include 402,309 visitors in the UK and over 2 million page impressions.

More readers than ever before are coming to NowGamer to get their buying advice, gaming news and guides to playing the latest games.

Launched in 2009, NowGamer has attracted a strong, dedicated following of core gamers with high quality, exclusive content.

Nick Jones, NowGamer’s Editor in Chief, commented, “To reach this milestone in such a short period of time is a fantastic achievement for the team and I want to congratulate everyone involved. But this is just the beginning for NowGamer, and I see this as very much just the completion of stage one. We’ve got our sights set higher now, which is ultimately to make NowGamer the best gaming site in the UK.”

See why NowGamer is read by over a million people every month. 

[Source: Google Analytics]

The BBC Micro turns 30 today

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

30 years ago today the BBC Micro was first unveiled. The computer became a firm fixture in classrooms across the UK in the Eighties thanks to its tie with the BBC’s Computer Literacy Project, a television show aimed to teach children the basics of computer science.   

Looking for a versatile computer with which to base its project on, the BBC approached a number of British computer manufacturers in its search. But it was Cambridge-based Acorn Computers who won the contract after impressing with a demo of its new machine, the Proton. The Proton was unveiled on December 1st as the BBC Microcomputer System and came in two flavours, Model A (16K) and Model B (32K)

Thanks to the publicity of the show, the BBC Micro became hugely popular on its release, particularly in the education sector. However the arrival of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 the following year saw these more affordable computers dominate the interest of Britain’s software industry and with it the lion’s share of the market. Having established itself as a bit of a teachers’ pet, the BBC Micro failed to enjoy the same level of success.

It was a real shame too as the BBC Micro was a versatile piece of kit with a library of fantastic games – Frak!, Repton and of course the epic space trading game Elite – that show off its power.

As the Beeb celebrates its 30th birthday today, Elite’s co-creator, David Braben, shares with us his thoughts on the computer.

“The BBC Micro (and the Acorn Atom – which in many ways was very similar), inspired a generation with the accessibility of technology. A great many people, me included, had our eyes opened to how easy it was to get a computer to do amazing things. Through schools, this changed the lives of many people in a good way. Many of those people went on to do great things as a result; just look around places like here on Cambridge’s Science Park to see the results 30 years on!”