The rise of eSports is an invitation to bookmakers, argues Ed
Last week Microsoft unveiled World Series of Poker: Full House Pro Official for Xbox Live Arcade, a free-to-play sim designed to carve off a share of the monstrous, well-entrenched online card gaming market, following in the footsteps of paid-for titles like Full House Poker and Poker Smash. 14 comments
This isnt just an article, dear reader. Its a psychological rendezvous, a crossing of the ways twixt those who havent played a Devil May Cry game (or at least, not in real depth) prior to Ninja Theorys DmC reboot, and those whose hands have been cramped into fleshy sickles by the strain of tackling Devil May Cry 3 on Heaven or Hell difficulty. 15 comments
HMV's sins aren't those of physical retailers in general
Its often claimed that theres no place in the modern games industry for brick-and-mortar retailers. The truth, I suspect, is that theres no place in the modern games industry for brick-and-mortar retailers like venerable UK giant HMV, which joined Zavvi, Blockbuster, Comet and Woolworths on the autopsy slab earlier this week. Many of the faults attributed to the high street are actually the work of a select committee of ageing titans, too ponderous or obstinate to respond effectively to the growth of digital retail and the corrosive power of supermarkets. 15 comments
The release of Xbox IllumiRoom - whether built into the Xbox 720 or not - will mark the first time in two or three years that I give serious thought to the organisation of my bedroom. Its a chaotic place, my bedroom, and the melding of Kinect gestural interaction and projected 3D visuals suggested by Microsofts patent is thus a fearful prospect. 9 comments
Ed tries out Platinum's brawler, lives to tell the tale
Hi team! This is Edwin, closet Northerner, gentleman traveller and purveyor of smelly diary pieces about acute and crippling failure. You might remember me from such contributions to science as This Guy Sucks At Gears Of War, This Guy Sucks At Halo Too and my exhilarating video debut, Come See How Much This Guy Sucks At Medal Of Honor, Hey At Least Hes Ironic About It. 3 comments
Is Valve saving its best for the assault on the living room?
Ever wonder what the term half-life actually means? Ive just spent about half-an-hour researching it, with a view to constructing some kind of clever introductory analogy for Valves long silence on the subject of Half-Life 3s release - something about never being able to accurately predict an outcome, thanks to varying rates of nuclear decay and Gabe Newell being all coy about stuff, that heinous bearded monster. Before that, I was trying to make a decent headline out of this story about a T-shirt. Also, did you know that GLaDOS is going to be in a Guillermo del Toro film (only not really)? Yep, its a rock-and-roll world when youre covering Valve and Half-Life. 26 comments
Modern hardware companies appear to specialise in the solving of problems we dont know we have. Back in 2006, I wasnt aware that my life was horribly incomplete without the ability to touch-track through albums of funny cat pictures on the go, but then the goodly Reverend Jobs appraised me of the error of my filthy, button-pushing, non-procrastinating ways. 45 comments
Ive been proud of the work Ive done for the magazine, but as you might have noticed over the past few years my real passion has always been about making stupid stuff on the internet. With just a few hours left on the clock, Id like to use my last moments at OXM to say a quick thanks to you guys. 22 comments
We havent signed off for the festive season just yet, but I thought Id get our Merry Christmas blog/card/fireside chat out the door now, in case of beverage-related accidents this afternoon. 6 comments
We dont normally like to big ourselves up round here, and obviously Eds far too much of a gentleman to do it himself, but weve passed a traffic milestone that Im rather proud of: in November, OXM.co.uk notched up a million unique users. 19 comments