Game Feature: The Video Game Awards 2011

Spike VGA Summary & Awards It's that time of the year December is upon us award shows are coming out of our ears and the Video Game Awards (VGA) have come and gone. The wacky over the top award show that barely even focuses on the awards half the time is over. Did you completely forget it was on? Did you just have no idea it even existed? Well have no fear we have a write up of the whole show world exclusives, all the awards and all...

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Gaming Feature: Saving - Nuances and Nuisances

To save or not to save? Saving, it has been an integral part of gaming ever since it was first used. Rudimentary incarnations of it came in the form of passwords, where one would enter a series of characters to enter a specific point in the game. ...

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Game Feature: A Retro Flashback of Gaming Greats

Do you remember... Final Fantasy VII? This game holds a very special place in my heart. As a kid, I can remember playing this on the PS1, not quite understanding it as well as I do now, and maybe not playing as well as I could now, but dammit, I had fun. If you ever played this game, maybe your experiences differed slightly, but however you played the game, Final Fantasy VII is hailed as one of the greatest games in the universe ever....

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Gaming feature: Hands on with Skyrim

I used to critique games until I took an arrow to the knee... After the excruciatingly long wait, finally, the nine divines have blessed us with the gift of the fifth installment into the Elder Scrolls Series. Oh Talos, we thank ye for Skyrim and its amazing gameplay, huge, HUGE beautifully decorated open world and the captivating stories we learn about on our journey. Okay, so perhaps some would say I'm overreacting here, and whether you think...

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Gaming Feature: Freshly Ground Pokémon

Grinding - A tedious tale of repetitive leveling Around the internet forums I usually frequent, there’s a specific season that goes around, every time a new entry in the series is released, the forums will have a tendency to become more interconnected than usual; I don't mean people taking a slight interest back in the game, it gets pretty hardcore there. Soon after, I guess I get swept in all the fun as well. Two important things were realized...

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Game Feature: Australia fights for their video game rights

A fight against the censorship and lack of Australian adult video games Australian gamers have been fighting a long and hard battle to try and secure an adult rating for video games. The highest rating games can be awarded, at this very moment is MA15+. This has lead to a lot of video games that should have been classified as an adult only game getting an MA rating, meaning teenagers are currently allowed to go out and buy these violent video...

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Band of the Day: Engraved Metal

Engraved Metal AKA: Engraved Genre: Heavy Metal From: Turriff, Scotland Performing since: 2008 Facebook/Reverbation/Youtube Music Spotlight is a focus piece on various talented artists across the world, while any band may be featured it is usually smaller and less well known artists that get picked. This month's choice is a band featuring two of Confab's writers: Engrav...

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Game Review: Dead Island

Tropical paradise. Now with more zombies! Publisher: Deep Silver Developer: Techland Platforms: PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/PC Genres: First-Person-Shooter/Horror Release Date: September 9th 2011 Price: PC- £29.99 Xbox 360/PS3- £39.99 (RRP) Ok, let me just say this straight off the bat, I'm a huge zombie nut. I don't know why, but there's something so strangely compelling about the idea of undead humans stumbling around and feasting...

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Music Review: Nickleback - Silver Side Up Album

Couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing, so I wrote this review instead... Released: 11th September 2001 Genre: Alternative Metal/ Post Grunge/ Rock  Tracks: 10 Price: £4-£11.99 Record Label: Roadrunner Records Facebook/Wiki/Youtube Official Website For an album that has reached #1 in various countries including United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada you know there has to be something good about it. This was the third album published...

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Competition Corner: Win Fun Games!

Competition Corner Update: New game added: Gish! Plus 3 Microgames by the creators of Voxatron! We have four sets of the Humble Voxatron Debut Bundle to give away. That's four fantastic games for free! For a chance to win three exciting games for your Windows, Mac or Linux computer just do the following steps: Go to this article and answer the poll on the page. Answer the question below:  Which operating system...

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Game Feature: Humble Bundles and Indie Trundles

 I'd buy that for a dollar! The Humble Indie Bundles (Humble Bundles) are a series of bundled DRM-free multi-platform games, that were sold at a 'pay what you want' price point. The proceeds are split between the indie developers, two gaming related charities (Child's Play and EFF) and Humble Inc, which pays for the bandwidth and development of the promotion. The first Humble Indie Bundle went on sale from May 4 through May 11, 2010...

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Game Feature: Student Experiences - Video Games Design

Many of us love playing games so why not make them? Ever sat their playing a classic video game, and had the desire to make your own game? The follow article is a in-depth look into the starter year for studying a Games Design course in Scotland. University: Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland, UK Course: Games Design and Production Management Abertay University is one of Scotland's leading universities for computer game related courses....

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Game Review: Game Dev Story - iOS/Android

Ever wondered what it was like to run your own games company? Developer: KAIROSOFT CO.,LTD.          Platforms: iOS Devices/Android phones Genres: Simulation/Strategy/Casual Release Date: April 21st 2011 Price: £2.49/£1.60 (Android) Game Dev Story appeared on digital shelves out of nowhere, there was very little coverage about it; a surprise hit. Once it was released however, it...

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Feature: Stereotypes - The Crazy Cat Lady

Worst Superhero-name... ever!  Those of you who regularly watch the popular American sitcom 'The Simpsons' will be well acquainted with the rather alarming character of Eleanor Abernathy - more affectionately known as 'The Crazy Cat Lady'. Most commonly seen screaming indecipherable nonsense and throwing her beloved pets at passersby, it's fair to say that she's a shining example of stereotyping. Elderly spinster with no friends or hobbies,...

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Feature: Urban Explorers

 Urban Exploration: A City Adventure An Old Observation Tower  We've all had our own experiences relating to urban exploration which is the exploring of abandoned or derelict buildings, structures and facilities in an urban environment. Though some people's experiences may be from more rural areas they're still under a similar kind of exposure to an architect's nightmare: Decayed buildings.   What lurks inside here? I...

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Game Feature: Localisation Company - Carpe Fulgur

Carpe Fulgur LLC: A war against Engrish What is the problem with the general English speaking population when it comes to Japanese games? More often than not, it seems to be the language barrier....

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Game of the Day: Terraria

Terraria - Minecraft in one less dimension Most gamers don't need an introduction to Minecraft, it's one of the most popular sandbox/building games on PC. Terraria is a similar game that plays in two dimensions instead of three. Though it does differ in some key areas. The graphics are a throwback to the 16 Bit generation with games like Mario, Sonic and Bomberman. ...

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Feature: Life in the countryside

 Country Living The Countryside. Tractors trundling through fields of wheat, bales of hay piled high in barns and gruff-voiced farmers toiling away happily amid the muck and mess. Perhaps you imagine picturesque villages encircled by winding rivers, or a quaint village shop selling only local produce. Round, rosy-cheeked people in wellies and dungarees, smiling and waving to each other in merry greeting as they go about their business. Photo...

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Music Review: Will Leatherbarrow - Songs For Sleepless Nights Album

Will Leatherbarrow: Songs For Sleepless Nights Review Released: October 2011 Genre: Acoustic/Alternative/Folk Tracks: 16 Price: £6 Contributing Artist: Amy Brain Facebook page   Bandcamp page  Youtube Page Songs For Sleepless Nights is the first album published by artist Will Leatherbarrow, which features many acoustic style songs, performed and written by Will himself, with the exception of 'Cold Water' in which...

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Tip of the day: Snake on Youtube

Internet Tip of the Day Ah Youtube, where would we be without it, and what would we watch? Youtube is the number one (non-pornographic) video streaming and sharing website in the world, probably... Today's tip is a little Easter egg that some of the employees of Youtube embedded (Get it?) into their video player:...

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Game Review: Resident Evil 4 HD - PSN/XBL

Resident Evil Retrospective & RE4 HD Review Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Platforms: PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 (3.6GB Download) Genres: Third-person-shooter, Survival horror Release Date: September 20th 2011 Price: £15.99/$19.99 or 1840 MS points 'Whatddya buyin', Stranger?' Retrospective The Resident Evil series is one of Capcom's most well known and cherished franchises originating from the PlayStation era. A series...

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Music Review: Opeth - Heritage Album

Opeth: Heritage Music Review Released: 14/09/2011 Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal, Jazz Fusion Label: RoadRunner Songs: 10 (2 Bonus) Heritage is the tenth album to be released by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, and the follow up to the simply fantastic 'Watershed' album from 2008. This album shows straight from the beginning, the departure from their death metal roots and a journey into the prog-rock, pyschedelic musical sounds...

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