Posts By Mat Growcott

The Final Fantasy soundtrack has managed the impossible this year, beating out the likes of Beethoven and Mozart to come third in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for 2013. It managed to jump thirteen places over last year and stands both as a testament to the dedication of gamers to this particular body of music, and to a changing attitude towards the medium. There are still several comments asking why on earth video game music is allowed to be…

There have been a number of attempts to bring the MMO to consoles and they have, by and large, been unsuccessful. Instead of building a game to play with a controller in front of the TV from scratch, developers instead adapt a game built around dozens of keyboard keys and a mouse. They're often surprised when that doesn't work. Defiance is a game that brings together the spirit of third person multiplayer gaming and the massive, persistent world of the MMO, ...

Sony have today announced that it is closing Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Asia and Sony Computer Entertainment Pan-Asia, replacing all three companies with Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia. The one company will run across several territories, not entirely unlike SCEE has been doing for years. This will mean several big changes to the way these territories are run. Although it seems odd timing – what with it being ...

Nintendo are adding a little bonus to the pre-paid points cards that they’re selling in Japan. They’ll now double as AR cards for the 3DS. With a variety of different characters to choose from and interaction between characters confirmed, wannabe photographers of all ages will have the opportunity to snap some of the most famous gaming characters in the world. Announced yesterday (April 1st) in a mini-Nintendo Direct, you’re able to use ...

Of all the nonsense we'll see today, this is probably going to be the most annoying. Valve have placed an entry for Half-Life 4 into the Steam registry. After so many years of teasing for Half-Life 3, I'm sure there are more than a few fans who will find this a little close to the bone.

50 is a simple game. Flick a coin down a wooden plank with painted numbers and make up to 50. No more, no less. Sometimes the numbers are in a different place, sometimes the surface area they cover is a little smaller and you’ll need to target more accurately, but for all intents and purposes, scoring 50 is all you need to worry about.

It’s been only a little over twelve hours since we got our first proper look at Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and less since we discovered the voice of Solid Snake and Big Boss, David Hayter, would not be reprising his role. It’s odd – especially since the Japanese Snake actor is confirmed to be returning – and it’s made people angry. Some even feel dedicated enough to petition Kojima and Konami in the hopes of changing ...

THQ is gone and many of its top IPs have been bought up by other companies. This has meant some fantastic bargains for gamers across all platforms, but it seems that those days may be over. Several THQ-published games, including Red Faction: Guerilla, have disappeared from the EU PlayStation store. No word yet on if these titles are still available for download, or if the new owners are just changing the splash-screens, but if there's any THQ games that you've ...

With the almost unthinkable announcement that David Hayter would not be returning for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, many people have taken to trying to explain why that might be. Perhaps Richard Doyle is coming in, now that Big Boss is getting older? Maybe a young Solid Snake is appearing, voiced by the only guy we thought could play the character? All are possible, if a little unfounded. The theories don’t hold much water when you realize Akio…

Can Kojima say or do anything that isn't later seen as part of some big conspiracy? In December 2011, the Metal Gear Solid creator posted a tweet about game promotion in the western market. At the time it had people scratching their heads - it didn't really fit with anything he'd been promoting up until that point (certainly not Metal Gear Rising). Move forward a year and a bit, and things are starting to fall into place...