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Abyssal Pixels: Why Do Gamers Like Grinding?
No, not the act of smoothing something or cutting something with a circular saw or that thing people do in clubs with filthy strangers that they might knock up in the immediate future. Since the dawn...
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Everything Is Overrated: Long Games
Game length is a touchy subject for a hobby as expensive as gaming. When you’re putting down $60 or more for a game that cost millions to develop, you expect a certain amount of content to be there....
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That’s What She Said: Life Is Strange – Episode 4
Spoiler Alert: This piece contains major spoilers for Life Is Strange. Do not read this unless you have completed Life Is Strange – Episode 4. I have always found the most interesting part of Life Is...
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Toast On Jam: A Little Transparency Goes A Long Way In The Games Industry
I’m standing in the shower, exposed. There are two doors protecting me from the outside world, from the judging gaze of people, and I can take comfort in that knowledge. As humans we inherently encase...
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A Cataclysmic Dawn: Rocket League Shouldn’t Be Played Alone
I’ve been playing a lot of Rocket League recently; I enjoy Psyonix’s blend of football and vehicular madness, and it’s a good time killer between my university work, classes and other obligations. A...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Moment Of Appreciation For The Women In Our...
Yesterday was National Women’s Day in South Africa. The annual public holiday was originally meant to commemorate some 20,000 women marching to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition the 1956...
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Everything Is Overrated: Buying New Games
It’s nearing the end of the year which means one thing for us gamers: tons of new games are releasing soon. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, Until Dawn, Disney Infinity 3.0, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom...
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Toast On Jam: I’m Really Bad At Games And That’s Kind Of A Good Thing
I really love gaming. It’s right up there with reading and breathing as hobbies go. Unlike most of my other hobbies though, I’m quite awful at gaming. I’ve also occasionally choked on air so there’s...
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A Cataclysmic Dawn: I Love Fallout Shelter For The Same Reasons I Loved...
Fallout Shelter is Bethesda’s mobile game, revealed at E3 and immediately launched for iPhone, with it recently being ported to Android. In it, you manage a Vault of your choosing, controlling its...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: How The Witcher 3 Shatters The Illusion Of...
Last week I wrote about appreciating the women in the games we play, the ones that are done well anyway. Thanks to the sixty-or-so people who gave that column a read. Elsewhere on the internet,...
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Abyssal Pixels: The Completionist Conundrum
Sweat drips down your brow as your fingers move nimbly across the your controller. All of the skills you’ve gained throughout this perilous and tiring journey is being displayed right in front of you....
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Everything Is Overrated: PC Gaming
Find anywhere on the internet where anyone is saying anything positive about console gaming and chances are you’ll find a PC master racer “informing” them about how much better PC gaming is and that...
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That’s What She Said: Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture
I am generally an avid fan of games which focus more on story and atmosphere, character development and emotions than one with just a fun combat system. The idea of a game just being about walking...
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Toast On Jam: Publishers That Treat Their Games Badly – The Deus Ex Debacle
Any creature with kids, except the ones that eat their young (placenta counts, you monsters), will tend to do everything it can for its young. We nurture them, we protect them, we teach them all we...
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A Cataclysmic Dawn: Larger Games Need To Be More Engaging
Large, expansive games are becoming more common with the technology to support detailed, open worlds. Worlds from Revolutionary Paris to the expanses of Mordor are not quite yet a dime a dozen, but...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: Lessons On Bad Practices In Gaming
It has been brought to my attention that my columns have a tendency to take too long to introduce a point, and then take too long to conclude that point. In an effort to appease these critics, harsh...
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Abyssal Pixels: The Cost Of Gaming
As I write, I’ve just came home from BT Games where I traded in 5 PS4 games and 3 Xbox 360 all so I can get Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain: A Hideo Kojima Game. In my mind it was worth it...
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That’s What She Said: Impressions Of The New Cooler Master Product Range
I went along to the Cooler Master press event for the launch of their MasterCase 5 last week. This was fancy as all hell because (1) being a gaming columnist rarely gets me any freebies and food is my...
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Toast On Jam: Could 2015 Be A Vintage Year In Gaming?
Year in and year out we’re delighted and entertained by games throughout those 12 months. Perhaps without quite realising it, there’s scarcely a ‘bad’ year in gaming, rather just one that isn’t as...
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A Cataclysmic Dawn: Rocket League And The Witcher Held My Attention With...
One of the most often criticised aspects of games is repetition: players often find fault with games that are too linear in their mechanics, even if they have tons of content surrounding it. This can...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: Let’s Talk About Immersion
It’s that time of year again for gamers. Like the last day of exams if you’re in school, or the single week of cold if you’re from Durban. This is the time of year that is as close to Christmas (or...
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Abyssal Pixels: Performance Ratings And Why They Are Bad
If you’re at all interested in Japanese games then the concept of performance ratings should be familiar to you. You play a mission and then you get a score based on your performance. Usually in an...
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Toast On Jam: Diamond Dog And Other Common Features That Need To Die
I don’t like dogs, never have. They smell bad and slobber and are so high maintenance and mildly racist. As I write this there is a cat on my lap. Sure, she’s an egocentric prick but she’s very...
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A Cataclysmic Dawn: Tony Hawk And Nostalgia
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 released this week, to the horror of those who bought it. Although the community was promised a game which recreated the glory of the old Tony Hawk Pro Skater games which...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: So Just WTF Is Wrong With Video Games?
If there is any single identifier that could be used to classify 2015 in the games press world, it would undoubtedly be: “I don’t like this thing, and that’s a problem.”I say this as someone who,...
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Abyssal Pixels: Boredom Vs Enjoyment – The Divide Of The Open-World
Since the start of this generation, open-world games have been out in full attendance. We seem to be moving further away from the linear style of game design, with more and more games adopting the...
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That’s What She Said: A Dear Diary From Geralt Of Rivia
Dear Diary:Why is Yenn so mean? I really don’t understand it. Okay fine, I do, partially, but surely you need to get over the whole “you had sex with my friend AND YOU HAD AMNESIA at the time” thing...
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Toast On Jam: Broken Virginity, Boardgames And Broadened Horizons
This past weekend was rAge (Really Awesome Gaming Expo). If you’re unfamiliar with what that is then you’re likely not from around these parts. That’s okay, it’s irrelevant to the rest of this column....
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: rAge Is A Reminder Of The Real Reason We Play
Every time I get asked what my favourite part of rAge 2015 is, or what the highlight of the expo was, or even what my overall impression of the show was, my response deviates only slightly from a...
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Abyssal Pixels: Fight The Power
For all the praise that I shower on us gamers, I’m in full understanding that we are a fickle bunch. When we don’t like something, we make it known and the vocal minority is all but ready to ruin it...
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Toast On Jam: Female Hoodlums And Street Racing – How Accurate Is AC Syndicate?
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate manages to do quite a lot right, a surprising amount when all is said and done. Especially given the laboured state of the series. One thing that I wondered throughout my...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: Playing Hero Is Boring
I’ve always loved playing the good guy in games. For as long as I can remember, it made me feel good to do good deeds in games, and I revelled in the glamour of it. I was the messianic harbinger of...
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Abyssal Pixels: Where Are The Viking Games?
Historical periods and games go together like milk and Oreos. There’s a massive pool of existing stories that inspiration can be drawn from or it can provide a fascinating backdrop for a narrative....
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That’s What She Said: Life Is Strange – Episode 5
Spoiler Alert: Please do not read further if you have not completed Life Is Strange, Episode 5: Polarized. We finally reached the end of Life Is Strange (LIS) and well, I’m still reeling from what...
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Toast On Jam: What The Hell Was EA Thinking With Need For Speed?
I really like Need for Speed, we’re talking Carly Rae Jepsen levels of really liking something, but there are so many issues with it that beggar belief. Issues arising from elements and functions...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: What Assassin’s Creed Can Learn From Fallout
I’ve never quite understood that phrase about not comparing apples with oranges. Both are fruit. Both grow on trees. Both have a specific taste. Both have a certain set of nutrients contained within....
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Abyssal Pixels: Fallout 4 Made Me Lose Faith In The Gaming Industry
Oh boy that is quite the title, but stick with me here.Fallout 4 recently dropped, as you might have heard, and it has been the darling of the internet. News sites have not stopped covering it since...
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Toast On Jam: Fallout 4 And Backwards Compatibility – Gaming’s Unhealthy...
A number of my columns this year have been about forward momentum – learning from our mistakes, improving our gaming experience and making peace with that which we cannot change. At no point was there...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: A Survivor’s Guide To Fallout 4 With A Partner
When people talk about relationships being a bumpy road filled with obstacles, trials and tribulations, what they’re really referring to are Bethesda games.Nothing tests the bounds of a relationship...
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Abyssal Pixels: Role-Playing – The Absurd Versus The Faithful
Immersion is one of the topics which I have harped on ad nauseum during my years as a writer. Since gaming is my primary source of escapism, I tend to take it very seriously and given that I’m quite...
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Life, The Universe And Gaming: 2015: Muh Oppressions, And Other Things
Oh what a year it’s been.We’re now at the end of 2015, and boy do I have a lot to say about it.Sometimes people like to start these kinds of things with “Remember when…?” but I think that’s a bit...
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