GamesRadar - PS2 Features

The 7 most beautifully animated 2D games (Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus)

Nov 20, 2009

There’s something very special about the process of old-fashioned, frame-by-frame, 2D animation. In the old days, the only way to get your animated character to wave his or her arm was to spend hours upon hours painstakingly crafting each frame and constantly readjusting your work to make sure everything flowed correctly. Now you just set a couple of keyframes and let a computer do it all for you. ...

The secret shops of Akihabara (PlayStation 2)

Nov 19, 2009

Whether you’re looking for electronics, hardware, anime, games, or anything remotely geeky, you’ll find it in Akihabara, a bustling shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. Located just north of Tokyo Station, Akihabara is really three towns in one. It’s a haven for tech hobbyists, a paradise for anime fans and gamers, and a popular tourist destination. ...

Games that were hated before they were released (Shadow the Hedgehog)

Nov 19, 2009

Some games just never stand a chance, do they? Hated on from the moment they’re announced for a variety of reasons, they’re critically stoned by journos and gamers long before anyone lays finger on pad. The following titles all fall into this category of pre-release hatred. Whether they betrayed their series’ heritage, alienated PC gamers or their developer simply shouted his big fat mouth off too much; these games loved ...

Fanboys: 8 reasons why they deserve some respect (PlayStation 2)

Nov 17, 2009

To be called a 'fanboy' is one of the worst insults in gaming. It suggests a misguided person characterised by an irrational devotion to a piece of software or soulless mega-corporation. A person incapable of intelligent thought. A person that is a despised twat.

But wait. Let's cut them some slack for a moment and think what purpose fanboys actually serve (beyond being a dumping ground for derision). We fancied a bit of a challenge, ...

Mature games remade for the Wii family (Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure)

Nov 12, 2009

The Wii is the home of clueless casual gamers, housewives and grannies: fact. Ok, so that’s not entirely true, but there’s no doubt the aforementioned groups have helped propel the little white box into the sales stratosphere. But while they’re undoubtedly the backbone of Nintendo’s current business model, there’s only so long they can last on Wii Sports and Wii Fit. That’s why we’ve taken some of ...

The Top 7… Tasteful game heroines (Beyond Good and Evil)

Nov 9, 2009

Like comic books and movies, videogames tend to present an exaggerated representation of men and women. Dudes are typically muscle-bound meatheads with powerful jaw lines and a thorough understanding of all forms of combat, while women generally have back-breaking chests and dress like strippers regardless of their profession. ...

50 iPhone games you need to play (PlayStation 2)

Nov 6, 2009

Is there anything better than a bag of popcorn, a cushy sofa on which to recline and an iPhone or iPod Touch loaded with games? Well yeah, there is, especially considering what popcorn fingers can do to a touchscreen. But when you’re on a bus on your way to work, being able to punch up a bloody gorefest like Alive 4-ever or kick it through the uprights in a football sim does help while away the commute time. ...

100 A buttons (PlayStation 2)

Nov 6, 2009

How many times in your life have you pressed “A” on a NES controller? Though we may not specifically remember every single occurrence of A-button pressage, we are left with a lingering sense of what that little red dynamo could do. Jumping, mostly, and sometimes shooting or punching or maybe some other stuff if it was one of those weird games. ...

TalkRadar UK #12: Busking Hero (Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King)

Nov 4, 2009

The team discuss the merits of DJ Hero as an educational tool, what everyday activity would make a good game and read out your confessions ...

Useless game heroes who couldn’t save the girl (God of War II)

Nov 3, 2009

There are several sure-fire ways to check for heroic DNA in a video game character. An addiction to wearing tank tops (the more torn the better). Crew cuts so kempt you could grate cheese on their craniums. But the one thing sewn into the heart of every true hero’s genetic makeup is an unwavering talent for saving the girl.

Above: Not a hero (we’re assuming the racoon’s a chick)

Sure, it might be a bit sexist, ...

The Top 7… Things we hate about sports games (MLB 09: The Show)

Nov 2, 2009

Where are the flying cars? For years, our science fiction promised us that in the 21st century, we’d all be zipping around the country with speed and style in shiny hovering vehicles. Sadly, we all know how that turned out. It sure seems like we were made the same kinds of promises about our “next generation” of sports games too. ...

Halloween masks! (Katamari Damacy)

Oct 30, 2009

So you didn’t have a Halloween costume this year. Boo hoo. Well, GamesRadar will come to the rescue yet again. All you need is some paper and a printer (and some scissors to cut out the eye holes), and you’ve got yourself a quick last-minute Halloween costume in, well, a minute! You’ll be the star of party. Or you’ll just be laughed at ...

Horror movies that would make great games (Manhunt 2)

Oct 30, 2009

Incestuous. That’s the best way to explain the ongoing relationship between horror films and games. First games stole from films in early licenses like Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then horror films stole from games, most obviously in the ‘works’ of Uwe Boll like House of the Dead and BloodRayne.

...

50 3D milestones in gaming (PlayStation 2)

Oct 30, 2009

All this week our friends at 3D World have been looking at the landmark 3D titles in gaming, starting in the arcades and charting the most cutting-edge advances in 3D technology all the way to the games that we play on home consoles today.

Night Driver (Atari, 1976)

Generally held to be the very first 3D video game, Atari’s Night Driver managed to conjure a 3D experience out of very little computing horsepower by ...

The bloodiest games you've never played (Shadow of Rome)

Oct 29, 2009

Ah, Halloween. Easily one of the most predictable weeks of the year. See, as a content site, we have to come up with ideas every single day, so when a massive holiday comes around, it’s like a free ticket that tempts any and all websites to jump on the festive bandwagon. In fact, holiday-themed internet articles are now the easiest way to tell what time of the year it is. ...

Gaming's freakiest monsters: A biological study (Contra: Shattered Soldier)

Oct 28, 2009

Perhaps better than any other creative medium, videogames have managed to recreate entire ecosystems of imaginary creatures and presented them in an observable context. Books and movies may offer detailed glimpses of anatomy and behavior, but only in videogames does the observer interact with organisms and experience behaviors first hand. ...

TalkRadar UK #11: Special moustache edition (Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King)

Oct 28, 2009

This week the team talk about how they build features, what character they'd be in a game and Cundy's impressive 'tache ...

WWE SmackDown 2010 story creator goes Hollywood (WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010)

Oct 27, 2009

Remember when you were a kid and you’d use your action figures to act out scenes from your favorite movies and TV shows? You’d move them around, imitate the voices as best as possible and have a great time reenacting a scene from Back to the Future or Anne of Green Gables. We decided to recapture that time in our lives (roughly three years ago) by playing WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010 and its Story Designer mode. ...

The 37 greatest zombie triumphs (Resident Evil 4)

Oct 27, 2009

You don’t have to see or play absolutely everything on this list to be a proper zombie connoisseur, but you should at least know them. These are the genre’s defining relics. Some are responsible for the very creation of the zombie mythos, others adapted and advanced it, while the rest simply encapsulate it so exquisitely that they must be experienced. This may not be everyone’s definitive list of zombie lore ...

How to craft a perfect storyline in WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010 (WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010)

Oct 26, 2009

It’s been a busy 2009 thus far for the WWE. On SmackDown, reigning champ CM Punk has driven Jeff Hardy into premature retirement after an epic summer-long battle, and now seemingly has the backing of WWE management as he enters a feud with the Undertaker over the World Heavyweight Title. Meanwhile on Raw, both D-X and John Cena have endured a miserable year thanks to the attentions of Randy Orton’s Legacy group. ...