9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors And Virtue’s Last Reward Are Being Ported!

After the chilling and thrilling conclusion to the Zero Escape Series Zero Time Dilemma it has been announced that its first two chapters are being released on other devices. 999 which previously released on the Nintendo DS and later IOS is presumably being released on Steam.

I would also assume that Virtue’s Last Reward will also be released on Steam as it has already been released on cand Playstation Vita.

This series is really a niche series and if you haven’t played it I highly suggest that you do. The mastery of the writing is by far some of the best I have ever seen. The story revolves around games of deception and murder. The characters all link between the games sometimes reappearing in later games.

These games will alter your thoughts and make you think about them long after you have finished playing them. Not only are they intellectually challenging they are filled with amazing escape rooms.Really the whole series makes you think and I feel like I have grown from playing it.

Now it has not been said when these games will be released but it should be sooner than later. All I know is this series will forever be high on my list as it really tells a story like no other series I will probably ever play.

The Perfect LEGO Doctor Who Videogame

In a time where LEGO Doctor Who is a thing, it’s hard to imagine now that at one point it seemed pretty unlikely to happen. Eleven years ago, despite the hugely successful revival the show just didn’t have the global reach. Fast forward eleven years and Doctor Who is talked about everywhere, from the pizza heaven of Italy to the McDonalds’ country of America. Doctor Who even got a level pack in the hugely popular toys­to­life game LEGO Dimensions. Yet there’s still no LEGO Doctor Who videogame…

So how would a LEGO Doctor Who videogame work? In this article, I will break it up into four areas: the hub, characters, vehicles and narrative (including gameplay).

The Hub

 

In a LEGO Doctor Who videogame, what else could the main hub be other than the TARDIS? The TARDIS is the show’s one remaining constant throughout its entire fifty three year history. Companions come and go, Doctors leave…but the TARDIS always remains. Imagine being able to explore the TARDIS corridors, enter the library or take a dip in the TARDIS swimming pool. In the control room, the central console should allow you to change the TARDIS’s desktop theme as well as travel to six hub worlds: Gallifrey, Skaro, Present Day London, New Earth, Victorian London and the Cavemen Era.

Gallifrey being the Doctor’s home planet would offer a fun place for Whovians to explore. I would want to be able to visit iconic places like the Time Lord Academy, the Citadel and the Death Zone. Skaro, meanwhile, would give you the other edge of the coin as the home of the Daleks. We’ve already seen the potential of an explorable Skaro in the Doctor Who Adventure World on LEGO Dimensions but there is one notable thing it misses out: the Dalek City. I want to be able to explore the Dalek corridors and maybe even stumble across a certain Barbara Wright who needs rescuing from them.

Present Day London of course would need to be a hub world given its importance in the new series. The majority of the new series companions are from London and only one is from anywhere other than the present day (Captain Jack Harkness). Whilst it doesn’t seem as exciting a place to explore as the previously mentioned hub worlds, it could be made more exciting by the ability to enter UNIT’s headquarters in the Tower of London and explore the Black Archive.

The only Earth location as prominent as Present Day London in Doctor Who is arguably Victorian London. Victorian London is something the show has explored as far back as 1967’s The Evil of the Daleks. Possibly the most famous Victorian London serial is 1977’s The Talons of Weing Chang, featuring two of the show’s most popular supporting characters in Jago & Litefoot. Victorian London could give you the chance to meet Jago & Litefoot at the Palace Theatre…or those other popular Victorian ­based characters Vastra, Jenny and Strax at 13 Paternoster Row.

As for The Cavemen Era, whilst admittedly it would a little limited in its potential as a hub environment it would make for a nice callback to the very first serial. The cavemen could give you various quests to complete such as making fire or helping an injured caveman.

New Earth would offer a larger variety of things to do. One of the things I would find fun in this setting would be trying to find a cure for the injured patients (maybe as part of a hub world quest). Flying through the Macra­i nfested motorway of Gridlock would be hugely enjoyable and being able to visit the hospital from New Earth would make for a nice bonus.

The Narrative

 

Okay, so we’ve covered the Hub…but what should the narrative actually be about?

Well, for a start I don’t think I’d want to see a LEGO version of already­ existing Doctor Who stories with the first LEGO Doctor Who video game. That could come with a later game, akin to how LEGO Marvel’s Avengers followed LEGO Marvel Superheroes. The first LEGO Doctor Who game should be an original storyline that pays tribute to the show’s entire history.

The best way to do that would be through a Multi­Doctor adventure. If the TV series can’t give us all thirteen Doctors onscreen at the same time, then let’s see LEGO do it. Better yet, let’s see LEGO actually bring together the surviving actors to voice their Doctors. William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee could be voiced by David Bradley, Reece Shearsmith and Sean Pertwee and if Christoper Eccleston can’t be enticed, Nicholas Briggs did a pretty decent impression for the Destiny of the Doctor audiobook Night of the Whisper.

And what of the companions? Well, I would like to see some of the most iconic companions joining the Doctors but it would be a bit much to expect every companion to appear in the main narrative. Mary Tamm, Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen are sadly no longer with us and their deaths are too recent for their characters to be recast so sadly they can be ruled out. There’s no reason why Ian, Jo Grant, Ace or Leela couldn’t be a part of the narrative though and I would be open to Jemma Powell reprising her role as Barbara Wright from the Big Finish audios. Rose, Captain Jack, Mickey, Donna, Amy, Rory and Clara I would like to see a part of the same narrative also.

One thing I wouldn’t do is have the companions stick with their respective Doctors. Part of the fun of LEGO Marvel Superheroes was seeing the various characters from Marvel’s comicbook history interact with one another. I loved the bizarre combinations of Captain America and Mr Fantastic or Wolverine and the Human Torch. I would therefore want to see strange combinations like the first Doctor and Donna or the 11th Doctor and Zoe Heriot.

I would also want the iconic LEGO brick to be a big part of the story. My storyline would be as follows:

The Master is searching for the legendary Time Brick; a brick which grants its user the ability to erase time periods from existence. In order to help him claim the brick, the Master has teamed up with some of the Doctor’s deadliest enemies including the Daleks and the Nestene Consciousness. In order to combat this threat, Kate Lethbridge-­Stewart brings together every Doctor and a few of his most loyal companions. Can they get to the Time Brick before the Master?

One of my favourite things about the gameplay of the LEGO videogames are the puzzle­solving mechanics. My idea for a LEGO Doctor Who videogame therefore would see a large focus on solving puzzles in order to progress the narrative. Of course, the story would still see you fighting the Dalek Emperor or fending off the Wiirn but rather than achieving this through brawn you would be required to solve various puzzles such as mesmerizing a button pattern or solving a Pac­Man style maze. The Doctor has never been a fan of using fists and a LEGO game would have to reflect that as much as it can whilst maintaining the traditional LEGO formula.

Characters

 

Earlier in the article, I mentioned how including Sarah Jane, the Brigadier and Romana 1 in the main narrative would be unrealistic due to their unfortunate deaths, however their inclusion would be possible through characters that can be unlocked by completing quests in the hub worlds. The LEGO games generally don’t tend to give characters who aren’t in the main narrative dialogue (unless it’s LEGO Dimensions) so if they were to be included as playable characters outside the campaign recasting wouldn’t be required. In fact, it could make for a nice tribute that their characters live on through other mediums.

As well as Sarah, the Brigadier and Romana 1 I think it would be a good idea if the game allowed the other companions not in the main narrative to be unlockable also. I wouldn’t just want a handful of companions playable, I’d want to be able to play as them all. Every single one of them has played a big part in the show’s history (yes, even Adam Mitchell) and the LEGO games tend to have huge rosters anyway so I’m sure Traveller’s Tales would be able to find room to fit them all in.

Of course, no good hero would be complete without his enemies. And the Doctor is a good hero. There is therefore no way I would want to see a LEGO Doctor Who videogame

without a few of the Doctor’s enemies as playable characters. The Daleks would simply have to be playable – could you imagine a LEGO Doctor Who game where they aren’t? – but preferably as characters this time. I don’t like Traveller’s Tales’ decision to make the NFC Dalek in LEGO Dimensions a vehicle. Sure, the actual ‘Dalek’ is the Kaled mutant inside but the prospect of driving the travel machine is not as much fun as the idea of actually playing as a LEGO Dalek. Other villains I would want to play as include the Ice Warriors (I mean, they even have the LEGO hands), the Vashta Nerada and the Axons.

Something that many complain about when it comes to the LEGO rosters are the inclusion of generic characters like ‘Angry Cannibal’ from LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean or ‘Gryffindor Boy’ from LEGO Harry Potter Years 1­4. Doctor Who, being the marvelous show it is, has many infamous background characters though who would be fun to play as despite appearing generic. The Policeman from An Unearthly Child is one example. Or how about

Man Eating Chips from The Bells of Saint John? Perhaps the most popular inclusion would be Pigbin Josh from 1971’s The Claws of Axos. Simply put, LEGO Doctor Who: The Videogame would make the generic characters fun.

Vehicles

None of us think of Doctor Who for the vehicles but there are still a number I’d want to see. I particularly would love to be able to drive Bessie around Gallifrey as the 11th Doctor. Bessie had a small cameo in the LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who level pack The Dalek Extermination of Earth and it would be nice to be given the option to drive her around next time round.

Speaking of Pertwee Era vehicles, wouldn’t it be fun to pilot the Whomobile? Just imagine flying it above the fields of New Earth. What would make it even more fun is that you could be the Celestial Toymaker piloting it around. Imagine the Celestial Toymaker piloting one of the Doctor’s most well­known vehicles! Try telling me you wouldn’t want to see that.

Go on. Try.

You can’t, can you?

Because it would be undeniably awesome.

There aren’t really many other vehicles to mention, other than a UNIT Jeep. Spaceships would offer the most variety – not really surprising for a sci­fi show. You could have a Dalek spaceship, the Valiant, a Sontaran Battlecraft Pod, Cyber­ship…the list is endless. I’m sure if Traveller’s Tales were to release a LEGO Doctor Who game, the number of spaceships would be higher than the number of Earth vehicles. There would likely be a number of generic vehicles to make up the numbers (a random car here, a random bus there…) but from a LEGO Doctor Who game I would expect a higher emphasis on spacecraft overall.

Having said that, driving a UNIT Jeep around the Cavemen Era would be fun.

So those were my ideas for a LEGO Doctor Who videogame. We can only hope that one day Traveller’s Tales and LEGO will announce plans for a Doctor Who game. Doctor Who

would make the perfect LEGO videogame that I am sure many would buy and if it were to be as good as LEGO Marvel Superheroes, then one thing’s for sure: we’d be in for a trip of a lifetime.

REVIEW: Total War Warhammer

Review: This article goes in depth about a game and opens a dialogue about the positive and negative aspects that compose that game. At the end of the review, the author notes whether he or she feels this game was worth playing. Keep in mind that this review reflects the author’s opinion; you may have a different experience with this game!

Time Spent: 41 hours

Platform: PC-Only Release

Retail Price: $59.99

What do you get when you combine a popular strategy PC game series with the long established canon of a tabletop war game? Do you think the two would sync together beautifully or would doing such a thing only end up in failure? Video game adaptations of tabletop war games such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, and Warmachine really only seem to have two outcomes: spectacular success or crushing failure. While the Dawn of War franchise has received a generally favorable reception from critics and fans, Games Workshop‘s PC port of an iOS game called Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch – Tyranid Invasion flopped and has garnered a mixed response. Several Warhammer games are set to release in the coming year and only time will tell if they show promise.

Thankfully, Creative Assembly has a track record of producing decent strategy games. While Rome 2 suffered a botched release and tried to accomplish too much and Attila: Total War incorporated a number of features that should have existed in Rome 2 (with Creative Assembly still charging full retail price for their newest title), the studio accomplished something wonderful with Shogun 2 and Medieval 2. Even their less polished titles still had flavor and flair with a intricate attention to detail that demanded respect. But what about Total War: Warhammer? The Warhammer Fantasy universe is one filled with rich lore and diverse factions each with their own history and style. From the vicious Orcs and Goblins to the murderous forces of Chaos to the regal High Elves and the daunting hordes of Skaven, Warhammer Fantasy incorporates all of the elements of a high fantasy world clearly inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and amplifies it in wonderfully absurd ways. While I prefer Warhammer 40K, its fantasy counterpart exudes an intense appeal and significantly less grimdark.

Somehow through sheer creative genius, hundreds of hours of labor, a great deal of luck, or a combination of these three things, Total War: Warhammer is a resounding success. Unshackled by the bindings of real history and given the freedom to create a world steeped in fantasy with powerful heroes and monumental villains, Creative Assembly has crafted one of their best (if not THE best) Total War games yet. I am aware that this is a bold claim and please do not mistake me. Total War: Warhammer has many flaws. These flaws, however, do little to jeopardize the experience of the game.

Set right before the “End Times” in Warhammer Fantasy, Total War: Warhammer allows players to take control of one of four factions (five if you purchase the Chaos DLC): The Empire, Dwarves, Vampire Counts, and Greenskins. Each faction has a unique play style and certain mechanics that dramatically alter how a player must approach his or her grand campaign. Well balanced and filled with plenty of powerful units, the Empire is a perfect choice for the gamer who wants to do it all. They have some of the technological innovation of the Dwarves (the human god Sigmar did save their king in millennia past), cheap line infantry, heavily armored shock cavalry, and wizards who can support their allies or crush their enemies using a plethora of magic. As a radical counterpoint, the Greenskins field numerous cheap units that generally excel at melee combat with some heavily armed and armored infantry and terrifying monstrous creatures that crash through enemy lines and decimate their forces. Even more frightful is that if an Orc army reaches a certain “fightiness” (a measure of how much the Greenskin armies have been fighting and raiding that, if too low, the Orcs and Goblins will begin to fight each other and suffer attrition), a WAAAGH! will begin and an entirely new army appears next to your original. This army will target whatever your first army attacks and this momentum can catapult a savvy Greenskin player forward through several enemy cities.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!! (You have to have at least 3 As)

As I mentioned before, Creative Assembly’s attention to detail usually shows in their Total War franchise of games. From the design of the units to the background information present in their encyclopedia, the developers certainly spend a great deal of time doing research in order to present a moderately accurate product. Total War: Warhammer is no different and the absolutely stunning units and their relative accuracy to the tabletop game left me impressed. While I understand that transposing a tabletop war game into the digital realm necessitates some sacrifices in terms of a unit’s rules or abilities, Creative Assembly has faithfully reproduced many of the faction’s units. Though I wish that they included all of the units present for each faction in the tabletop game, you can still train and command many of the most iconic units and Creative Assembly can always continue to add content as they go.

In fact, in the most recent update released, Creative Assembly added the Blood Knights for the Vampire Counts faction. On the tabletop, these elite shock cavalry can butcher enemy units with impunity. For Total War: Warhammer, the Blood Knights are Tier 5 (the highest tier) Shock Cavalry that have impeccable defense, a bone-shattering charge, and have frenzied attacks so long as their leadership remains high. Should Creative Assembly continue to add units to each of the factions and remain this dedicated to preserving their rules and roles from the tabletop game, then their latest title can only stand to improve. I am disappointed that we can only choose from five of the existing Warhammer Fantasy factions. While this is not to say that the starting five aren’t important, other factions like the High Elves, Lizardmen, and Skaven play incredibly influential roles in the story of the Fantasy world. Their absence seems to be an intentional and displeasing decision in order to streamline the experience and keep players from becoming overwhelmed. In fact, it appears to represent how Total War: Warhammer is meant to be played. Factions can only capture certain territory: The Empire can only capture territory belonging to other human factions and Vampire Counts while the Dwarves can only capture territory belonging to the Greenskins (and vice versa for both). I understand this decision from a mechanical standpoint, but it can cause some headaches when a player wishes to deal with a city that belongs to a faction he or she cannot conquer and can only loot or raze. What keeps that faction from simply settling the city once more?

This can become a major thorn in that player’s side and without proper planning, that player’s armies may begin to suffer from attrition by traveling through territory not intended for his or her faction. It’s a curious departure from the norm of Total War and while it generally tends to work in Warhammer, it still becomes annoying. Diplomacy, a system rarely fleshed out in the Total War series of games, still sees little improvement though factions do seem more intelligent in how they do business with you. Certain in-game events may also cause a faction to seek an alliance or form a confederation more readily which offers players a rare moment of respite when assailed by a powerful enemy. This is a move in the right direction and hopefully Creative Assembly applies this in their future games.

The greatest and probably most influential change that exists in Total War: Warhammer is the fact that your faction leaders can never die. Even if you spend 200 turns playing the Grand Campaign or if an enemy hero manages to assassinate him, that faction leader will always live on unless you conquer his final piece of territory and destroy his last army. Even other heroes and lords can never die from old age which gives the player an unprecedented level of control over how that character develops throughout the life of the campaign. We all understood why important historical figures could not live forever in the other Total War games: historical accuracy. Tokugawa Leyasu died, Alexios Komnenos died, Augustus died, all of these men and women eventually perished because that’s what happened in real life. With a game based off an event in the Warhammer Fantasy universe about men and women who defy the odds and exist in a fantasy world, we can witness our heroes become truly legendary. This, above every other facet of Total War: Warhammer that I love, stands out as Creative Assembly’s best decision. Bravo, ladies and gentlemen.

Who would have thought that gamers actually enjoy watching their heroes develop and become badasses? Further still, the campaign map of the Fantasy world is stunningly gorgeous. Mountains in the shapes of skulls steam with magical energy while volcanoes erupt and the Chaos Wastes spew forth rampant magic. Dwarven cities glimmer with clean architecture while the castles of the Vampire Counts exude despair. Down to the design of the units, Creative Assembly did a fantastic job breathing life into this digital world. Not all of the unit models have a great level of detail; Mannfred seems to lack the regal intensity of his tabletop model and the Bretonnian units have little variety despite the plethora of outstanding paint schemes made by the many fantastic painters of the hobby. Still, these hiccups remain few and far between.

Thorgrim Grudgebearer rides his golden throne carried by his Dwarf bodyguards. Awesome.

While Creative Assembly certainly plans on releasing more content for Warhammer, they have opened up the game to extensive modding support. Many men and women have contributed to the growing and colorful modding community; from simple unit redesigns to reworking of existing factions and enabling gamers to play as factions such as Bretonnia and the Varg (who are not normally playable in the Grand Campaign), the user created content for this game will continue to flourish so long as Creative Assembly encourages its growth. I eagerly await what these talented men and women in the community will make next.

As a final note, Creative Assembly recently released a paid DLC package called “Blood for the Blood God.” Initially expecting the addition of Khorne-based Chaos units, I found that this additional content provides the following (source):

• Blood spurts
• Gory spatter on unit models
• Limb and head dismemberment (humanoids and non-legendary characters)
• Zombies, skeletons and Grave Guard may continue to fight after dismemberment!
• Explosive Gibbing from deadly mid-torso strikes
• Blood-drenched UI elements
• New random, global campaign events that generate greater carnage in battle

This DLC pack currently costs $2.99 and while that certainly isn’t a great deal of money, this feels like content that should have already existed in the game. Creative Assembly has a record of releasing similar paid DLC for their past Total War titles (or in the case of Attila, an entire game) that should have been a part of the primary content. I am grateful that this doesn’t impact the game in any way and I fully support a company’s right to add extra content for a price. It still, however, begs the question: What else will companies consider “premium content” and to what extent will they go to exclude it from their base game? I feel like this is a slippery slope that has only grown in the recent years.

Thankfully, Total War: Warhammer‘s base experience can easily fill hours of your time. Ladies and gentlemen, trust me when I say this: this is one of the best Total War games to date.

Happy gaming!

-Valiant

An Interview With Gaming Legends ‘The Oliver Twins’

It’s time for another interview on Skatronixxx.com,  this time we chat to gaming legends The Oliver Twins. Yes I used the word legends. Although you may not be familiar with thier names if you were a gamer in the 80’s or even the 90’s you’ll definately know thier work.

I approached The Oliver Twins to see if they would be interested in an interview as not only are they responsible for one of mine and my  older brothers’, favourite game series of all time ‘Dizzy‘ they also come from my neck of the woods too. So the chance to interview not only gaming legends but also local heores, was a chance that could not be passed up.

A few back and forth emails and the interview was done. Let’s find out some more about the newest members of #TeamSkatronixxx extended family and my new friends Philip and Andy Oliver.

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1) How did you get into the games industry?

Andrew and I had been first been inspired to make games when our older brother bought a second hand Sinclair’s ZX81. We were 14 at the time and were fascinated at being able to control what was displayed on our family TV. We’d wanted a colour computer after this and moved on to a Dragon 32 in September of ‘82, then a BBC Micro B. In‘85 we bought an Amstrad CPC 664 and then met the Darling Brothers who were just setting up Codemasters – this was where the success really started. Within 5 years we’d written 25 Amstrad CPC games and 17 Spectrum games – 42 games! We were working an average of 16+ hours a day, 7 days a week! After this we went on to write a LOT more games!

The longer version of how we got into the games industry and our first 10 years is in the book coming out shortly from Fusion Retro Books :-

https://fusionretrobooks.com/products/the-story-of-the-oliver-twins

(also more info onwww.OliverTwins.com & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins

 

2) Perhaps one on the most famous games you created was the Dizzy series, how did this idea come about and why did you go with an egg, rather than a human?

We’d created the platform game Super Robin Hood in September ’86, our first game for Codemasters and it was a massive success. We moved onto Ghost Hunters, where the player controlled a human running around a haunted mansion shooting ghosts. However, it was very difficult to get any personality into the sprite – since the volume of screen space he occupied and the resolution of the screen, meant we had to squeeze it within 24×32 pixels with a choice of just 3 colours, it really didn’t give us any room for an expressive character. So whilst developing it we played around with a large face, which meant little room for a body or limbs. So we designed the body into the head and dispensed with limbs, leaving only red gloves and boots which occupied less space. As we tidied him up, so he became egg shaped. We didn’t use him in Ghost Hunters obviously, and instead designed a whole new magical fantasy World for him to exist in. He got called Dizzy because we decided that rather than do a regular jump he would spin, a feature derived from a rotate command within our sprite package (Panda Sprites) we’d developed a year before and was used in all our games for speeding up development. We used to aim to complete each game in around a month.

 

3) You were also the brains behind Interactive Studios that later became Blitz Games Studios, one of the UK largest game producers for over 20 years, how did this come about?

In the early 90’s, we set up an office and started hiring talented, enthusiastic game developers. We created a productive environment, designing original games and for cashflow stability sought development contracts, like the GhostBusters 2 contract we’d done previously for Activision, for games based on major brands, movies & toys. By the end of the 90’s we had over 100 staff and renamed to Blitz Games Studios, by the end of 00’s we had over 230 staff!

There are so many games, about 60, a lot more if you multiple by the number of different versions we did of each, so it’s hard to select a few examples, but here are a few highlights: Glover, Chicken Run, Frogger 2, Fusion Frenzy, Dead to Rights 2, Pac-Man World 3, Karaoke Revolution, Spongebob, Puss in Boots and Epic Mickey 2.You can see them ALL here… http://www.blitzgames.com/archive + http://www.blitzgames.com/ (here’s a list …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_Games_Studios)

 

4) Can you tell us a little bit about Radiant Worlds?

The technology and games market shifted widely as the world changed to digital distribution and adopted smart phones for casual games, so in late 2013 we set up a new company, Radiant Worlds, focused on delivering one constantly evolving awesome game called SkySaga. It has just over 100 people working on it and is in Alpha testing right now, with many features being constantly added. It is easily the most exciting game we have ever worked on. Find out more at http://www.SkySaga.com

 

5) Do you have any thoughts on the rise of indie developers and do you think this is a good thing for the games industry?

Digital distribution and great tools/engines have lowered the barrier to entry for developers across the globe. It’s exciting, but challenging. It’s easier to reach a massive global audience, but it’s easier for everyone else too. So the challenge is creating a great game that will get noticed and making sure the business side adds up well. It’s no good developing a great game and ignoring the finances. For game players, it’s amazing! There has never been so much choice, such amazing diversity and so many awesome experiences.

 

6) It seems like gaming is going back to the late 80’s with the return of virtual reality headsets, do you think this is a good thing for the games industry and how would you compare the virtual reality headsets from the 1980’s to those that are coming out today?

The ultimate aim of the game developer is to make incredibly immersive games, making players feel like they are really there. The dream of the holodeck may have started in the 80’s, but the technology wasn’t there to support it. Now the technology is getting a lot closer and you can have incredible experiences that do feel superior to simply watching a game on a monitor or TV screen. There’s still a long way to go, but the path now is very clear and we’ll see a lot of activity in this area over the next few years. It’s the biggest growth area of the games industry and will drive technology to exciting new places.

 

7) Talking of retro games making a comeback, I saw that the handheld Spectrum console on Kickstarter is progressing, could we expect to see any of your games featured and have you considered the possibility of releasing an emulator so we could see your previous games on the new platform?

There is a nostalgic value to playing the retro games and it’s fun to be at the heart of it. You can play a lot of our games from the 80’s in a browser at http://yolkfolk.com/playdizzy and I’m sure any devices supporting emulation of 8 and 16 bit games will support our games just fine!

 

8) You come from the same area as myself and went to the same school as fellow Skatronixxx writer Deadpool_1984 and amongst others Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden. How hard do you think it is for rural people to get noticed and do you think they need to move to bigger cities to progress their ideas?

It’s true we grew up in Trowbridge going to Clarendon School. We’d say that the advantage of a digital world is that when you’re online it doesn’t matter where you live! You have access to all the same information and access to the same market place as those that live in London, New York or Los Angeles. The opportunities are there, but so too are the challenges of rising above the competition. There will be winners, and with the games industry being so massive, the rewards can be huge… as Notch, author of Minercraft, can demonstrate.

 

9) What can we expect to see from you in the remaining months of 2016 going forward into 2017?

The answer from now on will always be SkySaga! We will just keep adding and adding, keeping it ahead of its competition and making it the best game possible and for the largest audience possible.

 

10) Tell our readers one fun fact about yourself

We may have been the best-selling authors on the Spectrum, but we didn’t program on a Spectrum! We didn’ t know how to use its quirky keyboard and never played any games on a Spectrum, except ours when testing them.

 

11) Finally what advice would you have for upcoming games developers?

Never be shy! Work hard, be ambitious and push yourself, creatively and technically and shoot for the stars.

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 You can follow The Oliver Twins at the following sites –

• Twitter – @TheOliverTwins

Or visit thier official website here

Check out some images from the Oliver Twins greatest games below:-

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JULY COMPETITION TIME!! Win ‘World Of Warcraft’ And ‘Starcraft’ Guest Passes!

It’s  the 1st of July and that means one thing, it’s time for the JULY COMPETITION TIME!! 

Here at Skatronixxx.com we want to reward our fans and loyal readers and how will we do that you ask? Well it’s quite easy to be honest all you have to do is follow the click here ‘
a Rafflecopter giveaway ‘ and perform the steps required and BOOM you’re in the prize draw to win a guest pass not only for World Of Warcraft but StarCraft that allows you to play up to level 20 for free, yes FREE!!!

You may be thinking, well there’s no pics on this link, how do I know you’re being legit? Well here’s the photos below.

Just incase you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what World Of Warcraft or StarCraft are, check out these videos below that show the kinda fun you could be having courtesy of #TeamSkatronixxx , What are you waiting for? ENTER NOW!!

CLOSING DATE IS 31ST JULY AND WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED THE NEXT DAY

 

BioShock The Collection Officially Announced

For what seems like an age ago, 2K retweeted an image of a Big Daddy and a Little Sister via the BioShock Twitter account. Soon after this, 2K ‘accidentally’ leaked a load of screenshots for the ‘BioShock Collection’ earlier than planned.

Finally, after a few weeks of silence, we have now been treated to an official release date and a shiny new trailer to go with this excellent news.

As you’d imagine, all three titles in the series will be included: BioShock, BioShock 2, and their most recent masterpiece BioShock Infinite, plus all single player DLC.

It’s also been confirmed with the collection, that we’ll get a director’s commentary from creative director Ken Levine and lead artist Shawn Robertson, plus some extra behind the scenes goodies.

From the trailer below you can see that this isn’t a complete ground-up remake, but a very nice tidy and polish for the PS4 and Xbox One.

For those as excited as me, you can pick up this gem September 13th on console, where as PC players will only be getting the first two remasters, and sadly not Infinite.

SNIKT!

Destiny: Rise Of Iron Releases DLC Content

This is it Guardians. We are about to again defends our last city against another amazing and ancient opponent known as ‘ The Plague ‘, but this time it is coming with fallen and created a new technology that is far beyond greater than themselves. The Lord of Iron needs our help to defeat them and to seal them once again but this time once and for all!
There’s will be a new campaign which will happen into three new places on Earth:

• The Plaguelands
• Felwinter Peak
• The Wall ( remember where you woke up the first when starting destiny)

The DLC will contain new missions, a cinematic story and new quests. But what about co-operation? Do not worry Guardians as Bungie love us so much, they haven’t forgotten that we like challenges, among these are:

• New raids will come through
• New and updated strikes
•  Patrol and Public Events will come while searching for resources to upgrade your equipment.

About talking equipment, what would be a Destiny DLC without new armors and new weapons but the most surprising surprise they could have done for all the fans is to actually put back the famous rocket launcher: Gjallarhorn. If you pre-order the DLC , you will have it in black, which looks really cool to be honest but do not worry, everyone will have access to it after finishing the main campaign but just not in black.

When it comes to the online players there is going to be a new Crucible to test your abilities against each other with:

• New maps
• New modes
• Various new features as well.

I hope you are ready for the new challenges you will all be facing as the Lord of Iron needs us to defend Earth.

I will all see you on Destiny the 20th of September 2016.

Gaming8811

Celebrate Captain America’s 75th Anniversary And America With Marvel Games

Marvel Games is a genius division of the Marvel World.These mobile games are rather fun and have a wide variety of characters. As usual with the Fourth of July coming they decided to introduce a new wave of characters to the game. What better way to celebrate America than with our all American boy Captain America?

First of all we have Peggy Carter as Captain America in Marvel Puzzle Quest. Peggy Carter’s show may have ended but she is as popular as ever. She looks majestic as the Captain and it looks like she will play similarly to Steve Rogers.

Next up we have a future Captain America in Avengers Alliance 2. I like this design as while it looks futuristic it is rather simple.

Next we have Sharon Carter the daughter of Peggy Carter and our Captain Steve Rogers if he never was frozen. Sharon Carter trained by both has become Captain America for her world.  Her lance looks like it is an awesome weapon and I bet she will be one of the cooler characters in Marvel Future Fight.

We have another Captain America costume in Conquest of Champions. Another simple Captain with a cool shield.

A Knight version of Captain America for Avengers Alliance. I love that they can really do whatever they want with these characters. As a knight it looks like Cap is even cooler!

Lastly Captain America takes on an older version for Avengers Academy. This is also a simple costume as it is based on his initial design. He is ready for war and he may need it at the Marvel Avengers Academy!

This really does look like a fun group of heroes and it is always just a little astounding to see how many versions of heroes there actually are. So have a patriotic 4th of July and celebrate it with one of my favorite heroes Captain America!

New Pokemon For ‘Pokemon Sun And Moon’ Revealed

Pokemon Sun and Moon is coming  November 18th 2016. Today they revealed new Pokemon as they usually do. Slow bursts of new Pokemon to raise the hype for the game. I for one am excited by these new Pokemon. I love building my team especially before the game comes out.

It might be sappy but I really connect with my team. By the end of the game these critters are my friends! So without further do here are the new Pokemon!

Charjabug the evolved form of Grubbin who was revealed at E3 is Bug Electric. Looks rather boxy compared to its grub shaped first stage

Vikavolt is the evolved form of Charjabug and retains the same type. He looks rather formidable and isn’t held back by a flying type weakness. He really is one of the cooler Pokemon in this generation thus far!

Drampa appears to be some form of aged dragon and is of the Normal Dragon type. I honestly have no idea what they could  do with this. But he could be majestic at the end.

Bruxish is a Water/Psychic fish and in the eyes of many is a monstrosity. It does look like a bad Picasso Pokemon which is rather humorous.

Cutiefly is a cute little Bug Fairy type Pokemon. Looks like something that would perch on you or somwhere nearby and just be adorable.

Togedamaru is the usual Pikachu clone, but he is Electric/Steel type. He is rather round and appears to be similar to a Porcupine. Could he evolve, or will he just stay cute?

Tapu Koko is the first island’s savior legendary. An Electric Fairy type who watches over the island and makes it safe. He fits the Polynesian warrior idea of Hawaii and looks rather formidable.

Now that these Pokemon have been revealed have any caught your eye? Have you seen something you hate? Tweet me @Starkwyrngamer with your thoughts!

 

Final Fantasy VII Monopoly Game Coming In 2017!

We have lately seen many video games being adapted into the old but still popular board game, Monopoly. Now it’s time for the Square Enix’s own classic game, Final Fantasy VII, to get morphed into the world of Monopoly. The classic  Monopoly items which are familiar to almost everyone will of course be modified accordingly to the theme of one of the most iconic 90’s roleplaying games. For those who don’t know, or remember, the items include the gameboard, tokens, deed cards, houses, and hotels. The board will naturally imitate the city of Midgar from the game.

The official description from Merchoid.com goes like this:“Delve into the evolving city of Midgar in search of the latest business opportunities. Perhaps you’ll buy up a string of plots for housing development for the people, or go industrial and build a Mako reactor plant.[…]Trade with fellow players to secure key location and facilities and watch as savvy buyers secure a big pay day. A roll of a dice and a shrewd business mind will pave your way to success… Just watch out in case Shin-ra bring your empire crashing down!”

The game should be available on 14th of April 2017 and you can pre- order it from merchoid.com to ensure you’ll get your hands on it first. The price is around 50$ or 52€.

The full contents of the game:

• 8 tokens
• 28 Title Deed cards
• 16 Chance cards
• 16 Community Chest cards
• Money pack
• 32 houses
• 12 hotels
• 2 dice
• Instructions

 

Play with passion!

auburn.geek