gaming – Page 2 of 2

7Feb

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Features

Dune: Fear is the mind-killer

Syed Ali discusses why the RTS game series Dune, despite being hugely influential in its genre, has been forgotten by even the most seasoned gamers. Perhaps due to the recent announcement of a possible rebirth of a new Dune TV series or a movie, or just simply because I love Dune (1969) the novel, I wanted to discuss the game Dune and its impact. It's themes and ideas are something that hark back to the 60’s concept of understanding the relation of the mind and body, but yet dreaming of a future shaped by the events of the past. This lead me to look into the second Dune, 'Dune II: Battle for Arrakis', which is largely considered the grandfather of the real-time strategy genre (also called RTS). The story of Dune is odd given the game is based on the movie Dune (1984), not the actual ...

Why do we love the Sims?

When conjuring up the image of a ‘gamer’, what might come to mind is someone void of human interaction, sitting in a dark room wearing a headset shooting imaginary bad guys on a screen. While this may be a familiar portrayal for some of us, there was always another kind of game which held my attention, and that of many others, for hours on end, right from the release of the first version in the early 2000s until now, where I admit the shortcut still sits on my desktop. The Sims. You’ve probably heard of it, and I’ll venture a guess and say you’ve probably played it at least once. The concept is simple - an imagined, virtual world in which you can design virtual people and buildings, and then control every aspect of their virtual lives. However, far from the fantastical worlds of many...

‘Pokémon Go’ through the eyes of an ignoramus

Orbital journalist Joanne Archer tries out the Pokémon Go app that has been taking the world by storm. Growing up, I did not want to conform to gender stereotypes. I played with boys and girls toys, had a football kit and wore tutus. Amongst the Beyblades, Bionicles and Action Men, I came into the possession of a deck of Pokémon cards. The game was the latest trade-able trend on the Year 3 playground and particularly sought after by my crush of the moment. Naturally, I had to get in on the action. At the age of eight the only thing I was interested in catching was the school's heart-breaker, not a Jigglypuff. 11 years later and I have a tin of mismatched Pokémon cards, some of which are certainly fakes, and little knowledge of what Pokémon actually is. Sure, I’ve heard the theme tune an...