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Master web developer by trade, Ken guided Pure Xbox through its first incarnation around the time of the Xbox One. Nowadays, you'll find him selling a wealth of retro goodness via SuperChallenge.
Review South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360)
Great or just m'kay?
Reviewing South Park: The Stick of Truth on a family-friendly site was always going to be a tough proposition. We may have to break a long-standing site rule or two here in order to describe the content and get our point across. After all, it doesn’t matter how much of an accomplished wordsmith you are, you can’t describe...
Review Fighter Within (Xbox One)
Fighter Without.
In a world where Kinect for Xbox One is seen as nothing but a gimmick designed to ensure that you pay more for a console than you otherwise would, it was imperative that the first Kinect-only experience was compelling. A Wii Sports for the Xbox One, if you will. So who better to leave in charge of such a thing than Ubisoft, the...
One man's struggle against the system.
The Xbox One has launched and – barring the odd faulty unit, which is to be expected when you’re building over two million of the things – it’s all gone relatively well. Stock is still short of course, but that’s to be expected given the high demand and the time of year. The fact is though, that most...
Addiction, thy name is Peggle.
When PopCap’s John Vechey took the stage at E3 2013 to announce the company’s new titles, he expected the announcement of Peggle 2 to be something of a megaton. “Ladies and gentlemen, PEGGLE 2!” he bellowed, as the room went dark and a short video trailer took what seemed like aeons to kick in. During the...
Review Angry Birds: Star Wars (Xbox One)
Flies in the oink-ment.
Try and find somebody who’s never played an Angry Birds title, and you’ll find that it’s a tough ask. After launching on mobile devices a few years back, the game has gone from strength to strength, and is now – as we all know – available in a million different varieties, for a million different devices. There’s a...
News Inaccurate Reports Claim Microsoft Charging Users to Repair Faulty Xbox One Consoles
Unbelievable.
It appears that - as is the norm - Microsoft is under attack from a section of the Internet today, following claims by a relatively unknown site that the company is charging users in order to replace faulty Xbox One consoles. The report, published by "TheNewsReports.com" claims that one person in the UK was told that in order to get...
Review Powerstar Golf (Xbox One)
Swingin'!
If there’s one thing every console apparently needs, it’s a golf game. Whether you’re seeking realism in one of EA’s PGA-licenced affairs, or firing up the over-the-top action of the excellent Everybody’s Golf series, there always seems to be at least one available relatively early on in a console’s life-cycle. Powerstar Golf...
Feature The Fix-Up: Improvements The Next Xbox One Dashboard Must Include
Get it sorted, Microsoft!
The Xbox One dashboard, or operating system, will be getting updated at some point in the future. There haven’t been any announcements regarding timing, but given that the Xbox 360’s dashboard was given a complete makeover via a firmware update at least twice, it’s pretty much a given. At launch, the Xbox One...
A point of view.
When it comes to ticking all the indie boxes, someone at intriguingly named developer Quantum Astrophysicists Guild seems to have had a long old list to run through when it comes to The Bridge. From furnishing the game with a black and white pencil sketch art style, via allowing you to fast-rewind time with a simple button press,...
Review Deadfall Adventures (Xbox 360)
Buried alive.
When we previewed Deadfall Adventures a couple of months ago, we were promised by the publisher that there was a lot of work to be done. Some graphical elements would be cleaned up, the gunplay would be tweaked, and framerate fixes would be put in place. In short, the normal last-minute polish and clean-up work would be done in order...
Knocked out.
When THQ went pop and Take 2 picked up the rights for the valuable WWE franchise, we envisioned that WWE 2k14 would be something of a transitional title. From the outset, it’s clear to see that the usual yearly changes have been made. A few new fighters are in place, and old ones have updated movesets, attire, entrance videos, and...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Xbox 360)
Turtle-y dire.
Being fans of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, we were looking forward to this year. A slick-looking reboot of the show was already in full swing, and Activision had not one, but TWO new games due to hit the Xbox 360 to celebrate. We already know what a massive let-down the digital title – Teenage Mutant...
Review Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360)
Sing hearty!
To say that there’s a world of difference between Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and the original game in the series, would be the understatement of the year. We only raise the point in fact, as there seems to be a somewhat vocal group of folks who have decided that the series hasn’t progressed at all. It still features that...
Another lap.
In the history of Formula One racing, there have been only four Grands Prix that have ended with as many runners as have started. The 1961 Dutch GP, the 2005 Italian GP, the controversial 2005 US GP (which only had six starters) and the 2011 European GP. We were close this year, with only one failing to finish in the Belgian GP, but all...
Top corner.
The football season is in full swing, and with the EA and Microsoft cosying up over the FIFA series this year, it looks like it’ll eventually be a big 2013 for the franchise on Xbox platforms. Sales aren’t what they were last year in the early going, but with the Xbox One version of FIFA 14 being bundled with preorders, some players...
Ice and simple.
The puck has dropped on the new NHL season and as sure as day follows night, that means that EA have been at work on their yearly update to the NHL game franchise. This year, the build-up to the game’s release seemed to focus more on who was going to be the athlete on the cover (it ended up being the Devils goalie Martin Brodeur)...
Exclusive Xbox One Stage Show Twitter Storm Kicks Off
Transphobia and giveaways?
We've already spoken about what we think about the Xbox One stage show at this year's Eurogamer Expo, but more drama kicked off on the final day of the show, with show presenter Fraser Millward being called into question regarding his treatment of one of the female contestants who took part in the show. Laura Kate Dale...
Yellow card
With Xbox Live Arcade going through one of its quality spikes of late, it seems that every week, there’s another big-name title just waiting to separate you from your cash. In the past month or so, we’ve seen Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Charlie Murder, Disney Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, DuckTales Remastered
Review World Series of Poker: Full House Pro (Xbox 360)
Fold 'em.
When Full House Poker hit Xbox Live Arcade back in 2011, it had one thing that other play-money poker games did not – Texas Heat. For those who never played it, Texas Heat was a gameshow-style poker tournament, presented on a schedule. Each half-hour “show” consisted of three levels of play, with better (or luckier) players being...
Review Saints Row IV (Xbox 360)
The Saints go marching in.
Saints Row IV is insanity itself. There's no other way of really opening proceedings, other than to say that. From the various “homages" to great video games that have passed before, to the off-the-wall comedy and the racier portions of the game, the whole thing feels like it's assaulting your brain from start to...
News LocoCycle Locked In For Xbox One Launch
$20 to you.
Twisted Pixel's next title LocoCycle has been double-confirmed as an Xbox One launch release. A digital-only title, LocoCycle looks like it has all the makings of a pretty memorable game. You play as the sentient motorcycle I.R.I.S., which can jump and kick enemies. I.R.I.S. also has a mechanic named Pablo clinging on for dear life at...
Up close and personal.
At a small building in London’s Waterloo area on a bright and sunny Wednesday, Microsoft decided to give the UK press their first taste of the Xbox One. Spread across three floors, the event showcased Kinect, Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct,
Believe in it.
At a small building in London’s Waterloo area on a bright and sunny Wednesday, Microsoft decided to give the UK press their first taste of the Xbox One. Spread across three floors, the event showcased Kinect, Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct,
Stunning.
At a small building in London’s Waterloo area on a bright and sunny Wednesday, Microsoft decided to give the UK press their first taste of the Xbox One. Spread across three floors, the event showcased Kinect, Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct,
