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Videogame reviews for the whole family, not just the kids. I dig out videogame experiences to intrigue and interest grownups and children. This is post-hardcore gaming where accessibility, emotion and storytelling are as important as realism, explosions and bravado.

Everyone's a gamer these days, but reviewers like to talk as if it's the reserve of the elite hardcore. Sure, graphics and sound used to be important to me, but these days I choose games that make me smile, or intrigue me. The problem is finding those experiences that will really work for me amidst all the hype and noise.

Read more about me.

BioShock Infinite is the much anticipated first-person shooting video-game that follows up Irrational Games' breakout success with the original Bioshock. Beautiful visuals, pitch perfect audio and intelligent level design create a world you'll want to explore. That is to say, to the untrained eye this looks and feels like any other video-games released this year... read now

Fri, 28 Jun 2013 Loading comments...

When video games are described as provocative, it usually means they have found a way to further their joyous dance with violence and promiscuity. Spec Ops: The Line has a different agenda though, which is that it has an agenda -- not the usual prerequisite for most entertaining shooting games that sell by their millions to old and (too) young alike... read now

Thu, 09 May 2013 Loading comments...

Train is a very unusual game, a one off board game that puts players in charge of death camp transportation, but what implications does it have for videogames?.. read now

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 Loading comments...

Flower easily won my surrender with its fields and cities -- three hours well spent. In undoing my reluctance to spend time on films, books and video games it reminded me of other commitments I'd like to renew during Advent... read now

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 Loading comments...

Video games make me happy. In fact I'm realising it's not happiness that I get from them but joy -- that non-productive companion of happiness... read now

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 Loading comments...

Alan Wake is a survival horror adventure on the Xbox 360. You control Wake, an ill-fated writer, as he journeys into the collapsing nether-world of his imagination. If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea, hold judgement a moment as I felt just the same before playing... read now

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 Loading comments...

Bioshock 2 faces the connundrum of a broken world and lays the blame at our feet. For someone of faith, the vivid conjuring of Rapture is a fascinating challenge to a judgemental deity. In the quiet between the fighting we hear the frightful idea that the world's problems are in part our own doing... read now

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 Loading comments...

Papo and Yo wears its more-than-entertainment credentials on its sleeve. It's a game about the fear and pain of growing up with an abusive and alcoholic father. Unlike other games I've reviewed here, I know this to be so not because of what I've read into the experience but because that's what creator Vander Caballero has been vocal about in the build up to release... read now

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 Loading comments...

The Internet has the unique ability to polarise humanity. Even a cursory visit to its virtual shores will turn up endearing stories of human sacrifice and love right alongside an underbelly of darkness and pain... read now

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 Loading comments...

Platform videogames concoct a mix of precision jumping, running, ladder climbing, puzzle solving and exploration. Mario, Sonic, Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy have delivered this kind of entertainment over the last 30 years... read now

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 Loading comments...

Videogames aren't famous for telling stories. They prefer to engage heart and mind with agency and interaction. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception folds this premise back on itself in an effort to combine storytelling and action. What results is a game that is about more than shooting, clambering and saving the world... read now

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 Loading comments...

Although Journey was a more disruptive presence in the Exeter Cathedral service, it was also a much more engaging one. In the hustle of elements and meaning, both the game and the worship space benefited... watch now

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 Loading comments...

Rather than standing on opposite sides of the debate, religion and video games have a lot in common. Of greatest interest to me it their similar posession of overlooked stories that offer meaningful ways to view life and the future... read now

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 Loading comments...

Dropping a PS3 into a Cathedral worship service is a recipe for disaster. What could be more inappropriate in the ancient liturgy of the church than expensive complex technology?.. watch now

Mon, 14 May 2012 Loading comments...

From Greenbelt to Theatre to TEDx to a Cathedral. Videogames can be found in the most unexpected places. When they are it's fascinating to see the enthusiasm they garner from both gamers and non-gamers... watch now

Mon, 14 May 2012 Loading comments...

Aliens vs Predator let's you walk in another man's shoes - or in fact another race's footwear. Throwing you into battle from the viewpoint of the marines, aliens and predators the seemingly short storyline is a joy to play through - and got me wondering if our differences can ever be resolved peacefully... read now

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 Loading comments...

Do games offer a valuable resource to engage with dark taboo topics? I suggest that video games can provide a safe play-space in which we can explore our responses to potentially frightful and scary topics - abandonment, loss, death, abuse and war... read now

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 Loading comments...

Games are usually seen as disposable entertainment with little cultural worth. But at an event at GameCity 2009 I spend an hour watching a video game being played that was unavoidably similar to church experiences on many levels. Given half a chance and it seems that games have a lot more to offer than we may realise... read now

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 Loading comments...

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