That guy's a Maniac...

Mario Kart 8 was released for the WiiU in 2014 and the Deluxe version of the game came out for Nintendo Switch in 2017. The Mario Kart series of games remain highly popular and although the longevity of these titles through online racing means that these games demand high prices years (almost decades in the case of Mario Kart 7 ) after release, the communities that build up in these games are rarely subject to academic enquiry or basic coverage in the average games media.  Fascinatingly, because Nintendo EAD, the developer of the game and Nintendo the publisher take online harassment and bullying seriously players of online Nintendo games and games on Nintendo platforms often have a highly limited mode of expression to communicate with other players when playing online together. This is of interest because enterprising players use the limited tools they have to contrive and develop new languages and forms of expression through cosmetics in games (costumes, 'emotes', equip

In what was a rather typical week in gaming for some reason journos gave a lot of air time to that rape game, crap opinions about  Anthem evolved and game journos all had the same opinion about Nintendo Labo VR Kit. It continues to be disheartening to us that games journalism just isn't very good still. The broader games industry has a wealth of issues from understanding employment law to widespread amoral attitudes foster on the forums and in spite of this rather than because of it, it produces those games we love to lose ourselves in. Having a respected and professional industry of critics around it would also help a little bit to raise the perception and cultural standing of gaming instead, with rare exception, it's a race to the bottom for coverage of the hot topics and well, why read a hungry hack's regurgitated press release when you can watch your favourite streamer play the thing for four days straight instead. Considered critical opinion is very rare and many of

Introducing a little micro feature on the the buttons we press and joysticks we waggle! Recently I was rummaging around in my computer detritus box. A box which contains, SD card adaptors, proprietary USB cables for devices I have long since lost, devices which have long lost proprietary usb cables, external dvd drives, scratched DVDs with ancient Linux distros  etc etc and Controllers, I have collected quite a few, and I'd like to share a few of may Favourites. First up is this bad boy! The expertly knocked off SNES Controller, the 8bitdo SF30: Oh man there is so much to love about this controller. First up, just look at it! Its a fucking upgraded SNES controller. It is a thing of beauty, and honestly I had my doubts and reservations before I took the plunge and bought it. Given how good it looked, it was a bit concerning: what were the sacrifices here? Is it going to feel cheap, is it going to me heavy cuz its wireless etc. Most specifically I was concerned about tho

Acid rounds is a semi regular, irregular spot on TGAM for games we have beasted from start to finish. Richie: Oooh a spaceship, flying game that is a change of pace for you , what made you snap this one up? Cunzy11: Since Colony Wars and Rogue Squadron series ended back in the 1890s, it feels like there's been a drought of proper space 'em ups. Sure there's been variants on the theme like spreadsheet manager EVE Online , top down ships FTL , almost ships flight fighting in the new Battlefront but no real proper space games ( Elite Dangerous , No Man's Sky, Kerbal Space Program ?). I'd been lucky enough to catch the single tweet from Gamescom announcing that  Everspace was coming to the Switch, got too excited and decided to pick up Manticore: Galaxy on Fire in the meantime. Richie: What sets this one apart from all the other sci-fi shootery games that swell the marketplace? Cunzy11: That it was out at the time. Seriously. It's extremely playable

Acid rounds is a semi regular, irregular spot on TGAM for games we have beasted from start to finish. Richie: I heard that Into the Breach is a game by indie cunts for indie cunts, why are you an indie cunt? Cunzy11: Okay, so yes. In some circles. It's one of those indie darling games. Particularly amongst those bearded, shoes and no socks PC boyos. I'd managed to miss all the hype completely and against all the odds spotted it on the eShop on sale and thought it looked cool. Imagine my surprise to see it on every fedorad arm-tat hipster's game of the year lists. And quite fucking rightly too. I liked it well after it was famous. Richie: So its a hipster strategy game? X-Com: Avocado edition? Cunzy11: *clears throat*  it's a retro styled, tile-based, time travelling, rogue-like, dungeon runner with mechs, tanks and kaijus. Yes. Yes it's X-Com: Avocado edition.  Richie: Right so you beasted this on the Switch, What made it tear you away fro

We treated ourself to Starlink: Battle for Atlas , Ubisoft's buildable ship toys-to-life game over Christmas seeing as the starter pack and accessories were criminally discounted and we love a good space flight ship game (we're somewhat in a renaissance after years of nothing!) & didn't have enough single title use plastic crap. I'm loving the game, so much that I'm savouring it rather than smashing through to hit the credits but in lieu of a longer post on it here's some postcards from Atlas taken using the excellent photo mode, added as a bonus free update over Christmas! Photo mode comes with a range of tools and filters and we've spent shockingly long snapping away. SHIPS We're playing it on Switch, so obviously Arwing is best but we're a little bit in love with Pulse, the saucy little red number piloted by ex-racing driver Chase. It's true that red ones go faster. This one we call 'BLUE'. It hangs above our sex bed in ou