Phoenix Down Under: The Passion of the Gamer

What is it about video games that attract such devotion from fans?

Midnight showings may happen in cinemas for triple A titles as well as games, but most movie watchers don't spend a lot of time on the internet speculating and soaking up as much information as they can. Neither do they often insult strangers and speculate on internet forums, but then again, I've never met many truly die-hard film buffs.

Phoenix Down Under: CODBLOPS

Can't talk. Playing Black Ops.

Phoenix Down Under: The GOTD

Since approximately 10 years have passed since the last time anyone thought about this, let's sit back and take a look at what this decade has brought to the gaming world.

Here are my candidates for the Game of the Decade. You may be pleasantly surprised - or horribly disappointed.

Phoenix Down Under: MAG 2.0

MAG 2.0 is what MAG 1.0 should have been, but you can't say Zipper didn't try. You also can't say they didn't fail.

Phoenix Down Under: The Games Industry

Are second-hand games the bane of the industry? Is the system itself broken?

Phoenix Down Under: Linear is not a dirty word

Linearity in games is one of those topics that brings with it mixed views. Some people love completely straightforward games and can't stand having a world that's too lax in telling you where to go and what to do, and some enjoy the freedom. This is why many people didn't enjoy Oblivion... among other reasons. That's all fine and dandy though. You know what they say: different strokes for different folks.

Phoenix Down Under: Adults Only

Welcome to what will hopefully become a weekly occurrence - me writing a series of articles entitled Phoenix Down Under, and you reading them... though I'm not much of a Final Fantasy fan... Let's look past that. I am however Australian, and hope to provide the site with some kind of international perspective on the video game world - probably not a Cambodian or Madagascan one... yet. I'll stick with Australia for now. Then, my influence will encompass the globe.