GamesRadar - Xbox Features

GamesRadar's Thanksgiving Thanks-travaganza (Xbox)

Nov 27, 2008

At the GR towers, we have a considerable amount to be grateful for. Not including the usual family/friends bull, we ve decided to share with you the aspects of gaming that we are most thankful for. Read on for reflections of our humanity! ...

GamesRadar's 100% game-free gamer gift guide (Xbox)

Nov 26, 2008

Hardcore gamers are a nightmare to shop for during the holidays. We’re as biased and finicky as a political columnist with OCD and we have the patience of a man on fire. Thus, any time you buy us a video game, you’ve got a 90% chance that we either aggressively dislike it or already bought it, beat it, and are currently blogging about how we’d make the sequel sooo much better. ...

Your 2008 Black Friday deals (Xbox)

Nov 26, 2008

Black Friday is probably the best holiday of the year. If you’re like us, you’re scoping out sweet deals for yourselves (or if you’re a good person, for your brethren). It’s almost a point of pride waiting in line at 4am just so you can snatch up cheap DVDs, games and other assorted electronics from your favorite retailer (extra points for wrestling something away from an older person). ...

A history of videogame chainsaw killings (Xbox)

Nov 21, 2008

The evolution of Buzz-Argh-Squelch action throughout the ages. ...

10 adverts that would actually work in games (Xbox)

Nov 20, 2008

Pretty much every gamer thinks that in-game advertising is a load of old cock. As if constantly being blitzed in the real world by demands to buy more stuff wasn't enough, the brazen pimping of products is now a well established business in the realms of the virtual.

But while we unanimously concur with the old cock consensus, that hasn't stopped us knocking together this list of 10 in-game adverts that we think would actually work for ...

TalkRadar 27 – it's a g-g-girl! (Castlevania Curse of Darkness)

Nov 14, 2008

This is it folks, the massive barrage of new games that’s threatened us for months while we patiently twiddled our stupid thumbs over the entire summer. Why can’t they release this crap steadily throughout the year (and don’t say “Christmas”)?

Anywho, we’re talking up the many, many new games this week, including Call of Duty, Mirror’s Edge and Banjo Kazooie, plus the Top 7 and a boatload of community goodness. ...

101 game facts that will rock your world (Xbox)

Nov 14, 2008

Fact: We love facts. And the world of gaming is absolutely littered with astonishing/pointless/obscure trivia to cram into your brain. So, not-so-hot on the trail of last year's tepidly received 101 things you didn't know about games, we bring you another staggering list of game-related info detritus for your consuming pleasure. Memorize both gargantuan lists and become the ultimate know-it-all gamer. ...

The Top 7... worst release dates EVER (Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy)

Nov 10, 2008

Videogames, like movies and music, live and die by their release dates. A smartly planned launch can make a niche product soar to unpredicted heights or cause a long-respected franchise to slip beneath consumers’ radar. ...

Amazing game innovations you never even noticed (Xbox)

Nov 7, 2008

Fable II is all sorts of incredible. There's plenty to astound and amaze, but there's one easy-to-overlook feature that has really impressed us. The dog. He's loveable, he's faithful and, if you treat him right, he's useful too. But if Peter Molyneux hadn't done such a fine job highlighting the brilliance of Fable II's pooch, would we even have noticed?

And that got us thinking. What other features haven’t been ...

The Bluffer’s Guide to Japanese Gaming (Xbox)

Nov 5, 2008

We've all been stuck talking to that guy. You know him. He subscribes to Famitsu, only plays imports and claims he can decipher the extra-terrestrial scrawlings of kanji. He's the Japanophile and he treats other gamers with contempt. He's a pain in the ass. But now you can bend his kazoo out of shape with our Bluffer's Guide to Japanese Gaming.

Simply read our guide and we almost guarantee that you'll be able to comfortably fudge your ...

The Top 7... Fictional Presidents (Metal Gear Solid: Substance)

Nov 3, 2008

Did you know there’s an election coming up?! Neither did we! Unfortunately, it seems the GR staff is just a few citizenships and felonies shy of the right to vote. But that doesn’t mean we can’t hammer home the importance of the electoral process. Because whether you know it or not, We The Gamers of America have been living through the worst era the presidency’s ever seen. What - No! Not George W. Bush. ...

SkeleTONS: nearly every bony bastard in the gaming universe (Ninja Gaiden Black)

Oct 31, 2008

A few months ago we had this idea to make a “Skeletons of Street Fighter” feature. Street Fighter IV hype was asploding across the webs (GamesRadar included) and we felt there was no better time to excuse a barrage of boney bastards across the site.

Then we thought, “why stop with Street Fighter?” There’ve got to be a billion goddam skeletons creeping through virtual graveyards just begging to have their toothy visage slapped on the immortal internet. Who are we to deny them such a privilege? So, without further yammering, we present, just in time for Halloween (y Dia de los Muertos), the biggest batch of skelleys you’ve ever seen... ...

All the Golden Joystick Awards winners (Xbox)

Oct 31, 2008

The Golden Joystick Awards 2008 has just wrapped up. If you missed the live broadcast... where the hell where you? But no matter. If you were one of the 856,262 gamers that voted, you'll probably be interested to know who won what ...

Why scary games are never scary (Silent Hill 2)

Oct 28, 2008

They can be creepy. They can be disturbing. They can obviously be gross, gory and gruesome. Are videogames, however, really that scary? Do they truly, honestly frighten you? We don't think so, and here are 13 reasons why. ...

Cute characters that are actually creepy as hell (Xbox)

Oct 28, 2008

At first glance they look cute. Fluffy cartoonish friendly faces all smiles and big eyes. But look harder and look closer. Harder. Closer. You see? They're not squishy lovable cuddlies. No. They're the disturbing denizens of night-time head terrors. Sinister villains parading themselves as candy-coloured pleasantries. Look harder closer at the following and - with our creative guidance - you'll see them for the horror beasts they ...

The Top 7… least scary moments in scary games: Redux (Silent Hill 2)

Oct 27, 2008

This week marks two important milestones for GamesRadar: the start of Halloweek, a weeklong series of horror-centric features, and the two-year anniversary of our weekly Top 7 lists. To celebrate both at once, we’ve dredged up the original Top 7 article - back from before we had our formula down and our shit together – and updated it with fresh art, better layout, a few revisions and videos that actually work. ...

The most ridiculous game box quotes ever (Xbox)

Oct 24, 2008

Please, never pick up a game you've never heard of and assume that it must be decent because some big publication said that it was "groundbreaking" or "a rollercoaster ride." Even if we said it.

Except in rare cases when they are pulled from early reviews, or when they appear on re-released editions of games, the quotes on the box come from previews. What is a preview, exactly? A preview is what's written after a bunch of PR people show off the best parts of a game, explain how conceptually brilliant it's all going to be, and tell the writer that the horrible glitches are "being ironed out." ...

15 years of “FIGHT!” (Xbox)

Oct 23, 2008

The requisite opening taunts are out of the way and the players hold perfectly still, beads of sweat forming on furrowed brows while white knuckles clutch brightly colored joysticks. The intensity, the sheer focus could suffocate a small mammal. ...

Real activities that never should've become games (Xbox)

Oct 22, 2008

Have you ever wanted to be really gruff and a little bit frightening without actually having to grow a beard, build up a considerable potbelly and slap a McCain/Palin sticker on your car? Well, there are games for that (most of them published by Cabela’s). Or maybe you’ve always dreamed of being a celebrity dog trainer, a curling champion, a gardener… any of this sound appealing? Yeah, probably not, but there are games for ...

TalkRadar Compendinarium (Xbox)

Oct 21, 2008

Finally! We’ve been cranking out Podcast Gold (with some scattered Silver) for the better part of a year now, much to the delight of an extremely small portion of the internet. That’s right, TalkRadar is growing every day, currently sittin’ pretty with a 5 Star iTunes average, thank you very much. But we’ve yet to organize them in one easy-to-find location. Until now.... ...