Author Archives: Steve Murray
Franchise Hockey Manager 2 Review: Shattering Shanahan
When I was in university, the one game that we played religiously was the latest EA Sports NHL games. Sure, it’s not the best investment of money because the games are largely the same year-to-year but we still all loved playing (and trash-talking). Being a fan of Football Manager, I also gave Sega’s hockey management sim Eastside Hockey Manager a try but was a broke college student so I was limited to the free trial. That and you could cheat your way to the Memorial Cup by literally buying players from other junior teams so where’s the fun in that.
Now, there’s a new player in the sports management sim genre. Out of the Park Developments, who also make the popular Out of the Park series of baseball sims, is getting into the world of hockey with Franchise Hockey Manager. How have they handled the transition from grass and bats and chewing tobacco to ice and skates and stitches on the bench?
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Mark Hamill’s Epic Star Wars Card Autographs
One of the celebrities that you often hear about being a good and funny guy is Mark Hamill. He might have been typecast as Luke Skywalker for most of his career before a career renaissance as a voice actor. What you might not know is that Hamill has a history of pretty unique autographs. A recent collection of Star Wars cards signed by Luke Skywalker surfaced online and they’re a pretty good read.
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Fallout 4 and StarCraft II Sell Millions of Copies on Launch Day
I’m not sure if November 10th will go down as a landmark day in gaming history but to investors in Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, it certainly will. Both companies had their big holiday releases last Tuesday with Fallout 4 and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, respectively. Both companies are reporting millions of units sold within hours of their games launching.
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Game Trailers Roundup for November 16, 2015
This week’s Game Trailers Roundup is pretty quiet with only five trailers for you. Two of them are from EA for the upcoming Battlefront and the next UFC game which we might have already mentioned today. Meanwhile, the latest Nintendo Direct brought us trailers for Xenoblade Chronicles X, Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.
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The EA Sports UFC Cover Curse is Real
If you’re a video game or football fan, you’re probably aware of the Madden Curse. This is the ongoing coincidence (or curse) that players on the cover of the annual EA Sports Madden NFL game either have a very poor year or suffer an injury. The curse has claimed far too many victims for me to summarize here.
And if you’ve been on the internet in the last 36 hours, you’ll know that Ronda Rousey just lost her first professional MMA fight to massive underdog Holly Holm. This happened the same week that Rousey was announced as one of the cover stars of EA Sports’ upcoming UFC 2 game. It’s leading people to think that Madden isn’t the only EA Sports game that’s cursed.
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Doctor Who: Sleep No More Review
If there’s one favourite trick of the Moffat era of Doctor Who, it’s making you afraid of the seemingly ordinary. We’ve seen homicidal statues that move when no one’s looking, carnivorous shadows and being alone in the dark. This week, regular writer and Moffat partner in crime Mark Gatiss has a go at making you scared of the seemingly ordinary. This week’s episode tries to make you scared to sleep.
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Geek Links of the Week
In a sad follow-up to last week’s Geek Links, Star Wars superfan Daniel Fleetwood died just days after his special last wish advanced screening of The Force Awakens. [Digital Spy]
TPP analysis continues to roll in as people sift through the massive document. Apparently, it’s as bad as everyone feared. [Daily Dot]
SteamOS was designed to be a superior operating system for gamers. Analysis says not to believe the hype. And just in time for Steam Machines too. First people complain about the controllers, now this. [Ars Technica]
In a story that is spiralling out of control on Reddit, reports indicate that an EA rep “bribed” (quotations taken directly from the news story) mods of the Star Wars Battlefront subreddit to remove certain posts. [PlayStation LifeStyle]
Did you see Jamie Lee Curtis at BlizzCon? Probably not because she showed up incognito in WOW cosplay. [Kotaku]
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How The Internet Works (Infographic)
Have you ever wondered how the internet works? I don’t mean packets of information going from a server through a network to your computer. I mean how information actually moves across the internet. How does the cycle of information take us from a little incident to full-blown web outrage and back to no one caring in a matter of days? Fortunately, I have a handy little infographic that explains how the internet works.
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eSports Weekend Calendar: November 13 – 15, 2015
If you’re a fan of StarCraft, you didn’t have to wait long after the release of LOTV for the first major tournament in the new expansion. This weekend sees eight top Korean players including WCS semi-finalist Rogue and superstars like Zest, Bomber and Parting in TotalBiscuit’s ShoutCraft Invitational II.
The two big MOBAs also have big events this weekend. Dota 2 is holding the first of three majors starting this weekend with the group stages of the Frankfurt Major. It’s the first stop on the road to The International 2016. Whether it means more to the winner than a $1.1 million payday remains to be seen. In Korea, some of the top Korean League of Legends teams are in the final stages of the KESPA Cup with the semifinals and final this weekend.
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Ori and the Blind Forest Review: Games as Art
How long does it normally take to figure out if a game is any good? It’s not a topic I’ve ever given much thought to until I started writing this review. Ori and the Blind Forest makes a very strong first impression with an opening scene that is guaranteed to make you cry in the first ten minutes of the game. It doesn’t take you long to realize you’re playing one of the best games of 2015.
et geekera 