Download the App and get your first issue free

As of this week, you’ll be able to buy every issue of you favourite Imagine magazines via the Apple iTunes Store and read it on your iPhone or iPod Touch and, for those lucky enough to get one, the apps will also be compatible with Apple’s iPad.

The app costs £1.19 and comes free with one issue of the magazine; subsequent issues will cost £2.99. You can also buy back issues or subscribe to the digital edition for 6 or 12 issues – all from within the App using an iTunes account.

You can flick and zoom through the pages of the magazine, share issues and bookmark favourite pages. The magazine can be read in either landscape or portrait format.

To download the Retro Gamer app, simply search iTunes Store for Retro Gamer Magazine or hit this link.

26 years and almost as many console generations separate these two characters, but there’s no denying their similarities - It’s the deep sea diver helmet that does it. Had Nintendo fitted its G&W diver sprite with a nice drill piece, like the one Big Daddy is showcasing here, he would’ve made easy work of that giant cephalopod blocking him from his fortune.

As far as weird box arts go, a picture of wrestler who is either a) headless and has his bodiless opponent in a headlock, b) is headless but has his own head in a headlock, or c) simply has a very long neck and can bend it backwards in a way that makes it seem as though he’s headless but has his own head in a headlock, has to rank pretty high in the ridiculous stakes. 

The game surely can’t be as bad as the box art though, can it? The game’s called ‘Pro’ Wrestling, and that ‘pro’ bit probably stands for professional wrestling…or maybe it’s Probably Wrestling??

So here’s the game’s title screen. Everything looks in order. Though the fact it nicks the fist punching through the logo idea from Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! is a bit lame – especially as the game isn’t about punch things, but more about grabbing men in leotards called Fireball.

We opted to play as Orient Express, but only because they had the best name, and one of the wrestlers sports the most diminutive and tightly packed facial features ever seen on a character sprite. The other, similarly, sports the most impressive mouth hair.

To be fair, the presentation is pretty good. Here you can see my wrestlers entering the ring. Either they’re wrestling at a school, or judging by the size of their heads in comparison to those of the spectators, they are 30 feet tall.

One of the weirdest features about Pro Wrestling is the fact that whenever you attack, and it connects, the game tells you the name of the move you’ve just performed. Here, I’ve just been punched, and the game’s told me as such. Cheers game. Shame that I keep looking at the hot wrestling action and missing your helpful annotations.

[The Verdict]

This one is a clear case of pretty bad box art for an equally naff wrestling game. Nice colourful visuals, but sticky controls and god-awful collision detection.

There’s nothing we like more than a quirky retro gaming story, and this one certainly tickled us. If you’re an avid movie and retro gaming buff then you’ll likely appreciate the fine level of lampoonmanship on display here. Talented Aussie artist, Robert Penney, has taken a selection of recent movies (and Prison Break) and reimagined them as ancient CVS games.

On the list is Battlefield Smurph (aka James Cameron’s Avatar), the budget as it sounded Snakes On A Plane, the gonzo monster movie Cloverfield, the The Fast And The Furious movie that starred Sonny Chiba, and Prison Break. We’ve added a scan of the Avatar box below. If you’d like to see the rest they can be found on Kotaku. Simply follow this handy link here: handy link 

If you’re reading this Robert and are open for requests we’d love to see you have a stab at District 9, The King Of Kong and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

Story and image from Kotaku  

How It Works moves from strength to strength as first issues have sold fantastically across the board. With a record uptake for subscriptions after just two issues, as well as a growing staff of editorial experts, How It Works magazine looks set for a bright future.

With issue three of the magazine on sale from 31 December, this amazing new title from Imagine Publishing dedicated to explaining all things science and technology, is continuing with its penchant for accessible, entertaining articles packed with fact and opinion. So, if you ever wondered how holograms are produced, or how a nuclear reactor works, or even how astronauts are trained, then look no further than How It Works.

Here are a few sample highlights from issue three:

Electric supercars – Thought that electric cars were slow, un-sexy beige boxes on wheels? Think again! How It Works blows open the world of high-performance electric cars with an in-depth look at the Tesla Roadster, Shelby Aero EV and eWolf e2 among others.

The International Space Station – Ever wondered what it would be like to live in space? Well think no more, as How It Works explores all parts of life on board the ISS. From how the ISS was built to how astronauts create water on board, this feature has it all.

The Great Wall of China – No, it can’t be seen from space, but it can be seen in How It Works. We explore how, when and where this great wonder of the world was built, bringing you the amazing facts.

How sharks survive – Made famous in the movie Jaws, many portray sharks as mindless killers. However, there is a lot more to these three-dimensional beasts than first meets the eye and How It Works brings you the scoop.

eBooks – A new fad which will pass in time, or the next stage in the evolution of reading? Whatever your opinion, How It Works explodes open the technology which makes eBooks work. From where to buy, to component lists, to a head-to-head face-off between brands, this feature contains everything you need to know.

Issue three of How It Works is on sale 31 December and can be picked up at all major supermarkets, WHSmiths, newsagents and Barnes & Noble.

www.howitworksdaily.com

Inside the issue before the current one, I had the pleasure of speaking to Simon Phipps, creator of one of my all time favourite 8-bit action titles; Switchblade.

Just before the issue went on sale though, Simon mailed me to say that chatting about the game had inspired him to work on an idea that had been swilling around in his head for some time. Well obv I jumped to thinking that he was about to start work on a Switchblade sequel for iPhone, and got very excited.

Sadly, though, that wasn’t his news. However, my disappointment softened when I opened up his attachment and saw this awesome papercraft model of Hiro looking back at me.

We think they make excellent Christmas decorations, and as it’s very nearly Christmas we thought a well-timed blog post was in order. 

Simon has made more models – including Rick Dangerous – and all are all available to download from his website. 

In a slight change to our usual transmission, we’ve decided to actually play and rush-review the games behind some of videogames most rubbish box arts to see if they are actually jerky or whether their covers hide some real gems. First up, Vice: Project Doom.

There were two things about this game that made me want to immediately play it. The first was the title, the second thing was also the title. The box art for this brilliantly titled NES game is truly dreadful, you’ll get no arguments from us – it kinda looks a little like a knock-off copy of Die Hard but starring Simon Cowell and Danni Minogue, and with a marketing budget so tiny that its artists were forced to create the cover using coloured pencils. It did allow curiosity to take over our better judgement though. And if you see this box art and are currently getting a similar worrying pang, fret not. We’ve played the game, and have even gone to the trouble of including a few screenshots to document our experience. And would you believe it, despite looking like an utter turd of the highest turdiest order, Vice: Project Doom is actually a pretty decent and well-presented NES game. And here’s why;

Here’s the opening intro, where some mysterious anime guys talk about some important guy they don’t want to see go missing actually doing just that. We found this bit to be a little confusing if we’re honest, especially as one of the guys thinks ‘it’s raining’ is a great way to end a conversation. The graphics look good though, don’t you think?

Then we were introduced to our character – a cop – and jumped straight into this quirky top-down racing/shmup bit where we had to apprehend an absconding perp (presumably the guy that’s gone missing). This section seemed to knick gameplay and sprites from Super Spy Hunter, but we forgave it because we liked the way that when we drove into boxes and traffic cones they would fly into the air and get bigger. Damn this game is so awesome.

After our hero apprehended his target, he discovers the driver has a claw for a hand, and immediately decides he wants to get to the bottom of why – bad news for those anime guys we suspect. We’re then greeted to the game’s title screen. OMG, we’ve just realised that we have just played this game’s intro. OMG x 100,000,760!  

As if that’s wasn’t cool enough we get to the real meat of the game: this enjoyable side-scrolling platform action game that boasts slick graphics, varied – if a little random (pumpkin-headed spectres and hopping monks…Mmm) - enemies, three choices of weapons (sword, handgun and grenades), quirky boss fights, plus the ability to actually deflect enemy projectiles.

[Conclusion]

This is clearly a win for the game, and a monumental loss for its box art. The artist people responsible should be ashamed of themselves.

Lego Mario can also double up as a giant egg cup

No Travellers Tales aren’t in talks with Nintendo to bring us a Lego take on the seminal platform game series (well they could be, but we’re not privy to the news), but rather some talented Lego fan has painstakingly constructed a 6 ft Mario out of the Danish building blocks.

The sculpture was unveiled to attendees at Lego World Fair this October and is said to be made up of over 40,000 Lego bricks (and we can believe it too). It was recently bought on eBay for over $5000, with the money raised going to the Ronald McDonald House Charity in the Netherlands.

Story and image via Kotaku  

It’s the drug of choice for many, but just how does alcohol get you drunk, and why do we suffer from the side effects?

There are actually many kinds of alcohol in the chemical world, but the one we drink the most is ethanol. It’s the particular shape of an ethanol molecule that gives a glass of beer or a shot of the hard stuff its specific effects on the human brain. The molecule is very tiny, made up of just two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom. Ethanol is water soluble, which means it enters the blood stream readily, there to be carried quickly to all parts of the body (most notably the liver and the brain). It’s also fat soluble; like an all-access pass through various cell membranes and other places that are normally off limits.

A certain portion of the ethanol you drink passes through your stomach to your small intestine, is absorbed into your bloodstream and carried to your brain. That’s what we’re really concerned with. Research has not conclusively determined exactly how ethanol accomplishes all of its various effects in the brain, but there are some well-supported theories. The slow reactions, slurred speech and memory loss of a drunk are probably caused by ethanol attaching to glutamate receptors in your brain’s neural circuitry. These receptors normally receive chemical signals from other parts of the brain, but instead they get an ethanol molecule. This disrupts the flow of signals and generally slows the whole brain down.

Ethanol also binds to GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptors, which normally serve to slow down brain activity. Unlike glutamate receptors, ethanol actually makes GABA receptors more receptive, causing the brain to slow down even more. But alcohol isn’t simply a depressant, because it also stimulates the production of dopamine and endorphins, chemicals that produce feelings of pleasure. Research hasn’t yet revealed the exact mechanism involved, but it may be similar to the way ethanol stimulates the GABA receptors.

For more bite-sized and in-depth, science-infused information pick up a copy of How It Works, the latest science and technology magazine from Imagine Publishing. The first issue goes on sale 29 October in UK and end of November in the US. It features such awe-inspiring subjects as; a look inside the Eurofighter Typhoon, the causes of extreme weather like tornados, tsunamis and hurricanes, the Bugatti Veyron, vision and sight, nuclear subs and the Large Hadron Collider. The magazine is complemented by a constantly updated website located at www.howitworksdaily.com.

The magazine that feeds minds is available now!

Ever wondered about the world around us? Do questions like how do sharks hunt, how big is the sun and what’s inside an iPod fascinate you? Then get to the shops and buy a copy of How It Works magazine, a new accessible, entertaining science and technology title that delivers absorbing articles packed with facts and information on sale today across the UK.

How It Works covers the environment, history, science, space, technology and transport, and is packed with facts and information. The first issue boasts over 831 amazing facts and explanations, including how sharks hunt, why we get drunk, how fireworks explode and a look at how the world’s leading jet fighters measure up. Other topics covered in issue one include: bionic eyes, extreme weather, 3D movies, ejector seats, snake bites, iPhone 3GS, thermite, spacesuits, brain freeze, medieval castles and digital cameras. The companion website www.howitworksdaily.com features more fascinating facts and amazing videos.

How It Works goes on sale in the UK today and is available at all good newsagents, supermarkets, Barnes & Noble, Borders and online at www.imagineshop.co.uk. It will be available in US at the end of November.