Hookshot Inc. caught up with designer Mike Boxleiter in the midst of a soul-searching road trip to find out what's going on.
Interview: 600k downloads but Gasketball still “feels like a dud”
Despite widespread critical acclaim, well over half a million downloads and a huge player base, Mikengreg's iPad title Gasketball is struggling in other ways.
Modern Classics (sort of): Snake
Time for some history righting. Over the past few years laurels have been placed on the brow of many and varied games and platforms for spreading the lure of gaming to the casual and mass market. Angry Birds, Words With Friends, Draw Something.... but what about the gem that kickstarted mobile gaming? What about Snake on the Nokia 6110 handset?
Modern classic: Mutant Storm Empire
I'm a huge fan of follies. You know, the pyramid some nutcase built in a graveyard and then paid a tramp to live in for a year, the network of tunnels, leading nowhere and constructed for no obvious reasons. Mutant Storm Empire has the feel of a folly to it - and I only mean that in a good way.
Modern Classics: Robotron 2084
You can't download Robotron on XBLA anymore. I fired my copy up the other day, and the online leaderboards had been turned off too, which has left a hole in my heart where my 1200th worldwide ranking position should be. Why write about it as a modern classic, then? Because it was once available, I guess. Oh, yeah: and because it's the single greatest videogame ever made.
Requiem for an Olympiad: the demise of Playman Summer Games
The Olympics will be missing one major competitor this year – no not an athlete, an unofficial video game companion: the delightful Playman games.
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Modern classics: Gravity Bone
Hello! Please don't read this until you've actually played Gravity Bone, because it will totally ruin the surprises. Also: play Gravity Bone. It's amazing! And it's free. You can't really afford to miss out.
PC only, though. Gah! Just buy one, eh?
Modern classics: how NOM invented mobile gaming
Modern smartphone gaming as we know it began in 2003 with NOM. That's quite a sweeping statement, but until burgeoning Korean developer Gamevil launched this beautifully minimalist adventure, mobile games were fighting against – rather than embracing – the form factor.
But NOM loved phones...
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Modern Classics: Bejeweled Blitz
I recently rocked up at the PopCap stall at an EA press event, and found myself ushered towards a Bejeweled terminal. Panic set in. My knowledge of games that are good when you blow people up was suddenly rendered useless. The nice PR lady looked at me quizzically.
Modern Classics: Magnetic Billiards – Blueprint
Standing on the edge of Magnetic Billiards addiction is a daunting thing. You can see the drop, but there's no clue as to how deep it goes. Like Drop 7, the rules and tactics of your every play are guided by self-discovery rather than developer diktat. This said, the faces of lovable Pickford brothers still pop up at every opportunity to nudge you along your way to frequent revelations that pop and fizz in your mind.
Modern Classics: BloodRayne: Betrayal
In the latest of our Modern Classics series, looking at the best downloadable games ever made, Chris turns to BloodRayne: Betrayal, a favourite title by one of his favourite studios, Wayforward.
Elegant, stylish, and wonderfully nasty, this is a Gothic slice-'em-up that you mustn't miss out on. read more
