Category: ChartedPage 9 of 51

A British history of popular video games, told one sales chart #1 at a time

“Profile points” – Need for Speed: Shift

With structural innovations missing or misfiring, there’s one thing left for Need for Speed: Shift to fall back on, and it’s there in the title.

“Uprooting trees, destroying cars” – Colin McRae: Dirt 2

I absolutely loved Codemasters’ early driving game breakthrough Colin McRae Rally and its first sequel. By the time Dirt 2 came out a decade or so later, I…

“The golden goose is on the loose” – Guitar Hero 5

[Hot on the heels of The Sims 3, it’s time for another guest post from Martin!] In the early days of the pandemic, facing an indeterminate period of…

“There’s no escape Joker. I will find you” – Batman: Arkham Asylum

[For this guest post, I welcome back Jaylee Warren, who previous wrote about Metal Gear Solid 3. Jaylee is a queer comics writer from the Pacific Northwest. Her…

“The toss is crucial” – Ashes Cricket 2009

There is no getting away from the same central truth that was there in 1995 and 2005. Popularity and formats come and go, and that truth remains. Cricket is a long, slow game.

“The bridge” – Wii Sports Resort

[For this guest post, I’m once again very happy to hand over to Matt Gardner, editor of the excellent site GameTripper (which I hope to be on again…

“A fine effort from that distance” – Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10

[For this guest post I welcome back Richard Moss, who previously wrote about Sonic Drift and Pro Evolution Soccer 5. Richard is creator of the excellent documentary podcast…

“Punch it out” – Fight Night Round 4

For all that Fight Night Round 4 includes its share of razzle-dazzle, and of gnarly close-ups of guys getting punched in the face, it is keener on boxing as a slow and tactical sport.

“Mankind is your mask” – [Prototype]

Prototype is a tremendously ugly game…

“Lifetime Happiness Points” – The Sims 3

The ‘Evil’ trait is an interesting one, because evil in the Sims universe is a rather nebulous concept…