Gaming

Part of my PlayStation 2 and Xbox (original and 360) collection
Part of my PlayStation 2 and Xbox (original and 360) collection

Gaming is my main hobby these days. For the most part, I’m a retro gamer – I’m very much not a fan of DLC-laden games and the release now, patch later attitude that has crept over from the PC scene. I like being able to pick up a game, knowing that what I’m holding is the full game.

As you may be able to see from the photograph to the right, I’m a game collector. My main areas of focus are the Sega Game Gear (because I had it when I was a kid and it’s great fun) and the Sony PlayStation 2 (because it’s arguably the most successful console ever released, even beating the Atari 2600).

GameHammer

I don’t just collect consoles, I also enjoy retro computers; with a particular fondness for the Amstrad CPC, the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore Amiga. I use these consoles and computers to produce retro game reviews as part of my GameHammer series.

I have a list of games I intend to review for GameHammer but I’m always happy to hear from viewers who want to suggest a good or bad game to take a look at. If you have a game you loved (or hated – there’s nothing wrong with tearing into a bad game) from the past, do let me know and if I can get hold of a copy, I’ll happily review it.

GameHammer started out as a simple show where I would play a game and comment on it as I played but it has now turned into far more than that. The current episodes are more like a short film where the focus is a review of the game but it’s done in a far more stylised way; often taking themes from the game and running with them to make something far more entertaining to watch than a simple let’s play.

GameHammer One Shot

The point of the GameHammer One Shot spin-off series was to give a quick first impression of a game that would otherwise not get a review. These tend to be far more simple games than those that would become part of a review on the main GameHammer show.

These videos originally kept the style of the first few GameHammer videos, where it’s a simple play-and-comment video but now I’m trying to bring some more interesting editing to the videos, to make them visually more appealing.

GameHammer Extra

Sometimes a video won’t fit into either the GameHammer or GameHammer One Shot formats. Maybe it’s a top ten, maybe it’s a game room tour, or maybe it’s something else. As long as it’s game related, it will be a GameHammer Extra video.

There’s no set theme for these videos, they are written, produced and edited in whatever way is best for the video in question. I try to keep them as fast-paced and visually interesting as I can; so each one ends up looking and feeling different.

Favourite Games

I’ve played a lot of games over the years, on a lot of systems but these are the best I’ve played on each system. Sometimes it was a very difficult choice to choose a top game but I’ve put a lot of thought into which was the one that I would come back to time and time again and those are the ones I’ve put onto this list (although I have added some runners-up in brackets on a few systems because it was a really close call).

  • ZX Spectrum: Manic Miner
  • Amstrad CPC: Magicland Dizzy (runner-up: Uridium)
  • Commodore 64: Uridium
  • Nintendo Game Boy: Tetris (runner-up: Super Mario Land)
  • Sega Game Gear: Columns (runners-up: Out Run, Slider)
  • Sega Mega Drive: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (runner-up: Gods)
  • Super Nintendo: Super Mario World
  • Sony PlayStation: Tekken 3 (runner-up: Silent Hill)
  • Sony PlayStation 2: Out Run 2006 (runners-up: Guitar Hero II, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
  • Microsoft Xbox: Project Gotham Racing 2
  • Microsoft Xbox 360: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (runners-up: Halo: Reach, Batman: Arkham City)
  • PC: Civilization (runners-up: Railroad Tycoon II, Elite: Dangerous)
  • Arcade: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (runners-up: Final Fight, Metal Slug 3)

Complete Plays

I’ve completed a number of games live on YouTube, as part of my daily live streams. Several of these full plays have been uploaded as videos in their own right. Here’s the list, for your viewing pleasure.