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Gaming, Reviews May 3, 2010

Dragon Age: Origins Mac Game Review

Not too long ago I did a review of Dragon Age: Origins, looking at the PC and console versions. Back when I was first playing the PC version the Mac version was announced and released, and I started playing – knowing that I would come back to provide a review on the port at a [...]

FastCrawl (2006, RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Got any plans for lunch hour? Let me show you one of the best dungeon crawlers you can start and finish before going back to work! It seemed that 2006 was the ‘year of the casual game’ … everyone was attributing the success of the DS and the allure of the Wii to the desire [...]

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess Review

The Hype: Take control of the aristocratic demon known only as The Duke in an upwards-scrolling platformer and chase down fleeing monsters. The Reality: Let’s face it – if the title of the game “Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess” doesn’t immediately intrigue you … you need to inject more whimsy into your life. And once [...]

I Don’t Know If It’s Art, but I Like It!

Image courtesy of WebMuseum I love Jackson Pollock … but there are many who despise his work and would argue that his technique, described as “”all-over” painting, pouring paint rather than using brushes and a palette, and abandoning all conventions of a central motif”, isn’t art at all. I also love Derek Bailey … but [...]

Serious Sam Gold (1st & 2nd Encounter) (2001/2002, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

I was amazed in early 2002 when I came across a jewel-case FPS game at my local EBGames for $19.99 called ‘Serious Sam: The Second Encounter’. The images on the back looked quite nice and the description of a fast-paced action romp sounded like a complete blast – and somewhat of an anachronism. The funny [...]

Don’t Trust That Label!: The Netbook Gamer

Image courtesy of GameSpot There are two paths I take when working on games to review for the Netbook Gamer: on the one hand I love to dig up classic PC games from the late 90′s that will still run on WIndows XP. On the other hand – particularly recently – I have been pushing [...]

Dragon Age Origins: PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review

The other night I was watching VH1’s ‘100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80’s’, and was thinking about Bioware and the whole ’spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate 2′ thing surrounding Dragon Age: Origins. Baldur’s Gate 2 is the 2000 classic PC RPG that is not just one of the best RPGs ever but one [...]

Where the HECK Did All of Those PSP Games Come From?

A couple of weeks ago when Apple introduced iPhone OS 4 something struck me, but I had forgotten it until someone on a forum was asking me about the amount of games on the PSP … then it came back to me. Do you remember when Apple announced the new iPod lineup in September of [...]

Mass Effect 2 (RPG, 2010): PC/XBOX360 Game Review

Way back in late 2007 (early 2008 on PC), Bioware released a game that was unique and interesting in several ways: it was their second game featuring all-new intellectual property (Jade Empire was first), a game designed from the start (or so we were told) as a trilogy, and the gameplay mechanic was a third-person [...]

Tron 2.0 (2003, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

As a long-time techno-geek I loved the Tron movie back in the early 80′s and pumped loads of quarters into both the Tron and particularly Discs of Tron arcade game a few years later. I have watched the movie on a couple of occasions over the decades, but never owned or rented a copy until [...]

PSP Charger Conundrum: Sony Reminds Us It is the Leader in User-Unfriendly Design!

As a gamer, gadget-hound and someone who has been a reviewer of games on a variety of platforms for nearly a decade, I frequently get questions about games and gaming systems. These range from ‘what system should I buy my kids’ to ‘how do I get by this boss’. But yesterday I got one that [...]

Vampire The Masquerade – Bloodlines: GearGames Retrospective

Hello, L.A., you’re up way past your bedtime, aren’t you? That is the line that greets you when you arrive at your apartment ‘haven’ in Santa Monica after a poorly done cutscene and wonderful tutorial, coming from a radio show that is just one of the many delicious undercurrents that make Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines [...]

Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (2003, RPG): The Netbook Gamer

The only thing better than playing a great game is getting a great deal on a great game. Heck, even a great deal on an average game is a pretty great thing! As I’ve said in the past, I came back to the RPG genre on the PC after a long absence in mid-2003, starting [...]

Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf … MMO Game?

Like many others, I joke with friends who regularly line up for the new edition of Madden NFL or NBA or NHL or whatever annual sports game they choose, that they are really just paying an annual subscription fee for roster updates and tweaks. Apparently EA Games was listening, and has released the dominant golf [...]

Dead or Alive Paradise: PSP Game Review

When you hear a title like Dead or Alive, you naturally think about scantily clad women in bikinis prancing around an island giggling and … WHAT?!?! OK, so perhaps you would think of the famed fighting game franchise … but that isn’t what you get here. But let’s get to the real question: is the [...]