GamesRadar - PS3 Features

The 10 most common game design mistakes (Half-Life 2)

May 22, 2009

Making games is hard. Making fun of them isn’t. It’s really, really easy, actually. Of course, we wouldn’t be so critical if we didn’t love them so damn much (and if we weren’t, you know, critics). We think games are just the bee’s knees, and that’s why we get so pissed about all the stupid crap they do ...

Guns that don’t shoot bullets (Half-Life 2)

May 6, 2009

“Guns don’t kill people, bullets do.” But do they have to? Not at all, and in fact, this is all the destructive power you’re going to get out of shooting bullets. ...

Five rules for introducing your girlfriend to gaming (Half-Life 2)

Apr 15, 2009

I’m not a miserable sexist ass; I’m just a practical observer. One thing I’ve observed is that men and women are different (I figured that one out pretty early on). Since I’m a rational person, I’m aware that nothing is entirely one way or another. Even the divide between life and death is ambiguous (uh, zombies, amirite?). ...

59 levels to play before you die: G - L (Half-Life 2)

Mar 21, 2008

Legions of exasperated gamers whined that Kratos' escape from the bowels of Hell - complete with rotating columns of bladey cartilage, platforms of bone and two huge towers of spinning blades - was 'stupid', 'cheap' or 'toohardIwantmymummy!' but we loved it. ...

Gordon Freeman: Strongest personality in gaming (Half-Life 2)

Jan 18, 2008

18th Jan, 2008 [Warning: Like our Portal article from December, this piece features some pretty heady discourse, and also benefits from a visit from Mr. Narrative Theory. If that stuff makes you run screaming, then feel free to run screaming. Also, if you haven't completed Half-Life 2, leave now. This contains some inhuman spoilers.] Half-Life 2 is widely and rightly regarded as a modern classic. In terms of both gameplay and artistry there have been few, if any, games in the FPS genre which ...

Interview: Half-life 2's David Speyrer (Half-Life 2: Episode Two)

Jan 17, 2008

David Speyrer was interviewed for his job at Valve on the day the original Half-Life went gold in late 1998. He started working there soon after, just as Half-Life 2 began its lengthy development. Since then, hes risen through the ranks from programmer to project lead. Now, David talks us through some of the processes that led to Half-Life 2: Episode Two being the remarkable game it is. Warning: if you havent played Episode Two yet, there are spoilers ahead. Has Episode Two taken you anywhere ...

Team Fortress 2 primer (Half-Life 2: Episode Two)

Oct 9, 2007

Oct 9, 2007 The Orange Box goes live at 12:00 am Pacific Time on Oct 10, and 8:00 am in the UK. If you're on the beta now, prepare to own some noobs when the great unwashed come flooding in. And if you haven't preordered, you're going to need a headstart. Either way, it's time to brush up on a few of the lesser-known factors in the TF2 ...

Flash Gordon (Half-Life 2: Episode Two)

Jul 26, 2007

Having written sci-fi and horror novels such as Dad's Nuke, The Orchid Eater and The 37th Mandala, Marc Laidlaw joined Valve in 1997 during the development of the original Half-Life. He's a charming guy, and given the opportunity to speak on his specialist subject, he does so perceptively and at great ...

Valve's industrial revolution (Half-Life 2: Episode Two)

May 18, 2007

Back in 1996, two Microsoft executives quit their spectacularly high-paid jobs, formed a games company and made the best game ever. Twice. They didnt like the way retailers were throttling the industrys creativity, so they cut them out. They did what a lot of mod teams were doing, they hired them. They published any game they liked through their digital distribution network, however commercially risky, and saved several independent developers in the process. Their revolution was so successful ...

The most sick, morally questionable Achievements and Trophies (Hannah Montana: The Movie Game)

Sep 24, 2009

In the context of a game, Achievements and Trophies are harmless. They're just carrot-dangling tactics that we're happy to indulge for our greedy pursuit of intangible virtual rewards. We wouldn't think twice about nail-bombing a kitten orphanage if it meant five more gamer points.

But, let's say, purely for the purposes of this here article, that we take Achievements and Trophies out of their virtual world settings and reconsider them ...

Trailer Trash 10 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Jul 2, 2009

Thanks to the casual game asplosion, publishers are racing to put every possible leisure activity into Wii form. Our first page of Trailer Trash deals with a few egregious examples of activities that are more fun (and cheaper) in real life than on Wii. ...

Trailer Trash 7 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

May 28, 2009

In this week’s trailer trash, we’ve selected videos for casual games to outrage your brain. From downloadable shovelware to half-hearted licensed schlock, something here is guaranteed to make you shake your head in disgust. ...

Will there be any decent movie tie-ins this year? (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Jan 9, 2009

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Ghostbusters on C64, Aladdin, Goldeneye, Riddick: the list of great movie tie-ins is barely longer than Russell Crowe’s temper. What chances, then, of even seeing a few good ones during 2009? Can the year that sees Barack Obama’s inauguration, a Michael Jackson comeback, and a Star Trek movie that doesn’t suck, prove that anything is possible?

Ghostbusters: The Video ...

The Top 7... Failed Franchises We Know How to Fix (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

Feb 18, 2008

Videogames, television and movies frequently overlap. With so much cross pollination, you'd think the biggest and best film franchises would have respectable game adaptations by now, but that's just not the case, is it? Sure there are a handful of successful tie-ins, but many series flop around for years, seeing game after terrible game created with little or no regard for the source material. Well, we're sick of it. ...

Sony Gamer's Day - revealed! (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

Jul 26, 2007

Originally posted on May 22, 2007 Months before the 2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony Computer Entertainment of America flew a small army of journalists down to its headquarters in San Diego for its Gamer's Day, a pre-E3 sneak peek at games set to arrive on its PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP platforms. Featuring dozens of games from Sony and third-party publishers, several of which were unveiled and/or made playable for the first time, the event was a staggering look at a swarm ...

Exclusive video tour of Harry Potter's Hogwarts (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

Jun 29, 2007

Harrys back for his fifth year at the school of witchcraft and wizardry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is available in stores now (read our review). To celebrate, we have taken Harry and his friends around Hogwarts to show off the main locations of these magical hallways. We visit the Great Hall, Hagrids Hut and the Gryffindor Common Room, among other instantly recognizable locations. After the tour, grab your wand and transport yourself to the next page to see Harry ...

100 reasons fanboys hate shooters (Haze)

Mar 25, 2009

Cue the banjo! It wouldn’t be the Week of Hate without our trademark “100 Reasons” videos. In case you missed it, last year we targeted game platforms. So this year we thought we’d change it up and go after a few popular genres. Up first, the ubiquitous shooter. ...

The best and worst game promo T-shirts (Haze)

Mar 20, 2009

Amongst the games, press releases and bulging envelopes of cash curiously marked '9/10, yeah?' that we receive from publishers each day we also get clothing. Mainly T-shirts of random ill-fitting sizes. And they fall into three categories: Outdoors, Indoors, and Bin. ...

Gaming's biggest price drops (Haze)

Mar 18, 2009

Every gamer goes crazy for the great taste of low prices! As such, Valve founder sent forth a verbal boot to the ass at this year’s DICE summit, decrying publishers for rigid prices and an inability to keep the marketplace in flux. The internet rejoiced. ...

GamesRadar's Anti-Awards 2008 (Haze)

Jan 7, 2009

Just a few weeks ago we celebrated the very best of 2008 with our Platinum Chalice Awards.Today though, we must temper our merriment with disdain and head-sagging shame, for these are the moments that truly made our stomachs turn. ...