Nintendo announced yesterday that, at the end of May, they will be switching off the online services for two of its more successful consoles, the Wii and DS.
Egon Too Soon: Harold Ramis Has Died
Good Old Games Shows You Some Love With Dungeon Keeper
For the grand price of free.
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Super Hexagon Creator Takes Flappy Bird And Makes It Amazing
I can’t stop playing *Maverick Bird*.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman: Feeding The Addiction
This article isn’t about me, but there needs to be some context; in 1994, in front of a packed college audience, I had to deliver a monologue.
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Review: Nidhogg (PC)
If games are dancing, then *Nidhogg* is the Argentinian Tango. Grace and blood, attacks and parries, personal space being fiercely invaded time and time again. Swift moves sometimes sliding into long-held pauses with heartbeat percussion as underscore. The name for developer Messhof’s newly-released fencing-come-LSD-trip comes from a huge dragon featured in Norse mythology, whose primary interest was the chewing of both life-trees and on the bodies of the unfit for eternity.
And once this game has you, there couldn’t be a more apt title.
Review: 47 Ronin
Japan is a beautiful country. I know that even though I’ve never actually set foot on its soil. Thousands of years of myth and steadfast tradition has long enthralled the more relaxed Western cultures, and cinema has always revelled in the deep cultures of its picturesque history. Modern filmic takes like the animated *Spirited Away* go into great detail to bring their Japanese worlds to life, and often this can result in deep, complicated and slow-burning plots that weave through character and mystery.
Unfortunately, *47 Ronin* is what happens when someone called Carl watches a Japanese samurai classic and thinks “you know, this could be more *accessible*.”
Simon’s Best Games And Movies Of The Year
It’s time to interrupt the endless barrage of Christmas calories
that I seem intent on shoving down my throat as quickly as possible
seriously, it’s like Gluttony Man in Se7en
but I don’t have my body tied down,
my arms are wilfully ladling anything alcoholic or sweet or tasty into my mouth
like it’s going out of fashion
to round up what I think have been my personal favourite games and movies of 2013.
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First trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar Celebrates Flight And Brings The Shivers
Even though *The Dark Knight Rises* is one of the biggest cinematic disappointments in recent memory, the first glimpse of a new Christopher Nolan movie still fills me with excitement thanks to *Momento*, *Insomnia*, and the masterpiece that is *Inception*. His new movie, *Interstellar*, is due for release next November. Here’s the first teaser:
Great Moments Of The Generation: Vanquish’s Opening Hour Staples Jaw To Floor
Shinji Mikami is a man involved in redefinitions. He created the modern horror genre with *Resident Evil*. He defined third-person stylish action with *Devil May Cry*. He followed these by redefining action games with *Resident Evil 4* and made the funniest, most hardcore brawler ever in the sublime *God Hand*.
Then he took a look at one of the staples of Western game design – the third person cover shooter, popularised by *Gears Of War* – and casually made a game that bests all of them. That game, *Vanquish*, isn’t just a standout moment of the generation, but is also one of my all-time favourite games. And it’s really down to jawache.
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The First Official Godzilla Trailer Is Here
I’m beyond excited about next year’s *Godzilla* reboot. All the pictures (and illicit footage) so far have just looked *right*. Want to see it in action?
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Great Moments Of The Generation: Leaps Of Faith In Mirror’s Edge
I had to go full circle with *Mirror’s Edge*. It took two returns and three purchases to finally become friends with DICE’s parkour adventure. First, there was love at the sight of the first trailer; blue skies and scrubbed white buildings as a playground for first-person running. Next, obsession with the demo, learning the quirks and characteristics to try and get the best time. But, then came the full game.
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Great Moments Of The Generation: The Trials Of Trials HD
Redlynx’s *Trials HD* burst onto the Xbox 360 in 2009, a shiny update of *Trials 2* that had been a PC favourite for a long time. The transition to console brought a few things to the table – a more playful attitude, perfect controls, and hundreds of Back buttons becoming suddenly spotlessly clean as impatient thumbs hammered them repeatedly.
For not only is *Trials HD* tense, brutal and gratifying, it’s also king of the *just-one-more-go*.
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Great Moments Of The Generation: Uncharted 2’s Jeep-Hopping
The extra power of the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation heralded an important development in gaming: the dreams of matching the cinematic narrative style so prevalent in Hollywood could finally be realised. In hindsight, this strictly linear approach had arguably more failures than successes – for every *Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* there was a *HAZE*, every *Heavy Rain* matched by a *Turning Point*. It was clear that pure power wasn’t enough – it had to be utilised not only by expert coders, but also by writers and directors who understood the need for deep, compelling characters in an exciting story.
And the absolute peak of this new wave was Naughty Dog’s expertly constructed *Uncharted 2*.
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Fast & Furious Badass Cast As Wonder Woman
Warner Bros have just announced that Israeli actress Gal Gadot will be donning Wonder Woman’s famous outfit for the sequel to *Man Of Steel*, currently known as *Batman vs Superman*. You may remember her from kicking all kinds of ass in the most recent *Fast & Furious* movies, so she’s definitely got the moves to match the jawline.
From director Zack Snyder in [Variety](http://variety.com/2013/film/news/gal-gadot-wonder-woman-batman-vs-superman-1200918310/):
“Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe. Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character.”
Some might say that she hasn’t got the stocky figure that Diana is known for, but remember that Michael Keaton was physically no Batman yet he turned out to be one of the best. It’s also reassuring that Warner have gone for an actress who has proven she can both act and fight. For me, this is the first real positive piece of news to come out of the production, so I can’t wait to see her cleaving her way through another movie.
*Via [i09](http://io9.com/gal-gadot-cast-as-wonder-woman-in-batman-vs-superman-1476488178)*
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