That guy's a Maniac...

A.K.A it's 1998 again, A.K.A Richie and Cunzy's gaming tastes are so on the beaten track that there's a well worn runnel slap bang in the middle of the beaten track, the very beaten track if you like, and that's the only place we'll ever walk. Apologies to all those indies, new IPs, unique genres and innovative games we're only playing stuff we know, stuff we played already, remasters, re-releases and sequels. Looking through the games of 2019 I made myself actual chunder with how boringly quotidian our games list was going to be. We apologise to both of you in advance. IT WAS ALSO A BUMPER FUCKING YEAR FOR GAMES. It's like 1998 again. The Switch is the new PlayStation and we've not been excited for """"""new""""" releases like this for a long time. I think we picked up almost all of these on launch day and it's been a long time since a year has inspired us to do that. In no apparent ord

We've not been this excited for a new game for a while. Yes, there are National Dex (or lack thereof) 'woes' but we can't wait to jump into a new region, on the big screen, we're relatively spoiler free and there seems to be a tonne of quality of life improvements including, finally, thankfully being able to change natures of pokémon (easy mode though?). Will the open fields and valleys actually be open? Will the end game content be more Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby or X/Y ? Will the new additions to the pokédex end up as fan favourites or niche beasts? Has Omastar made it in? Funny how games can sometimes still get us like this.

Yo,  WoW's Character creator is shit. Just putting that one out there. Don't get me wrong the initial models are fine, but when it comes to customisation of the actual character its pretty fucking limited. especially when you compare it to the multitude of slider scale options seen in other games. Curiously not much has really changed on this even in today's iteration of WoW. So lets jump into it. I am just going to mention a few of the races and the more iconic looks. If you, gentle reader, feel that there are looks missing that is because the looks are so fucking bland and indistinguishable that they are not even worth mentioning. Foresaken Male, is actually probably the best in terms of "individuality" i.e different looking from one male foresaken to the next.  First up Bondage Zombie, easily the most iconic look of the undead characters, leather straps to hold their skulls together, they are blind, yet at no disadvantage... I guess you don

In roughly a week a swathe of 30-40 somethings are going to relive and re-start a habit in a bid to re-misspend a misspent youth. There is a swell of hype in niche pockets of the Internet as people get more and more excited for the launch of World of Warcraft Classic . But why? Why is there the familiar toot-toot of the hype-train on the horizon for a product that is over a decade old, has a newer shinier iteration currently out and available to play, and a product that held marmite-like, positive and negative criticism when it was out. Just to clear things up I have bought my ticket (e d: and a train drivers hat, matching t-shirt, undies and socks and the special edition coke cans ) and I am on the hype train! I am genuinely looking forward to Classic, but my goals and approach are going to be massively different to it, as will it be for much of the community. So I'm gonna play a little bit of devils advocate here... Upon launch many, many people will just be diving in fo

Pokémon Sun introduced the idea of regional forms or variants of pokémon previously known and loved from other games and it looks like the same is going to be true for the Galar region in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield . We got a first glimpse of four new form pokémon as well as a newbie Morpeko so we'll take a look at that too. Flaming Galar Region On the brink of the UK's collapse, Game Freak have seen fit to commemorate the end of the state by setting  Pokémon Sword  and  Pokémon Shield in a region, heavily inspired by the UK. In particular it seems that the British Empire and industrialisation are being celebrated with the coal pokémon Rolycoly and a new Weezing form inspired, it seems, by factory owners. What better way to celebrate colonialism and the tens of thousands of children that died working in factories for a pittance? Here's the new Weezing: Richie: Yaaaaas Fairy/Poison, dig that shit! Maining Weezing, calling it now! I cant abandon my fire-rabbit

Acid rounds is a semi-regular, irregular spot on TGAM for games we have beasted from start to finish. Richie:  Oh here we go again, TGAM bragging about games they have beasted from start to finish... I'm sure you all REALLY care! Well strap yourself in, pin back those eyelids and set your faces to stun, as to day we talk about Cunzy allegedly beasting Final Fantasy Explorers . So over to you Cunzers, why on earth did you by this game? Cunzy1 1: In the absence of charisma, charm, or any interesting facet about me really, I've decided that the interesting thing about me will be I'm the person who likes spin-offs better than the main series. So that's why I'm here to tell you Final Fantasy Explorers is better than any numbered Final Fantasy game of recent years. Richie:  Is Cloud in it? Cunzy1 1: Of course! Although not as a real character. Characters from lesser Final Fantasy games appear as 'summons' by equipment magicite made from bits of gear. Eq

Games. Cost. Money. well, in most cases, unless: You are a thief or pirate. You have managed to get some bundle with free titles  Some 24 hour Xmas day promos to get game X (released X years ago).  Or! That one time many years ago Xbox gave away a submarine game (?!) cuz Xbox live was buggered. Games are odd beasts, they offer literally infinite hours of entertainment. Yet through the variety of platforms such as, Steam or PSN Store, and somewhat even when they were physibles, we 'collect' them, literally increasing our potential hours played to the schoolyard idiom of "Infinity x2" There are SO MANY out there competing for your attention. Most of them frantically and avidly jumping, shouting and screaming, while the hypetrain still has momentum - just after their release window. But slowly as they begin to age, the respective platform stores (valve) start to hug them tighter bringing them close to their bosom, they whisper sweet nothings, offering the

On August 27  Blizzard is launching their WoW re-boot: WoW Classic.  15 years ago, as our steadfast and loyal readership will remember, I just wouldn’t shut up about WoW, offering almost daily updates on the most mundane aspects of my (crappy) fire mage. And I shall be re-joining the masses this August, this time as a Human Paladin.  I have dipped my toe in and out of WoW, over the course of its evolution, to it’s current iteration. Though I have not partook in the past 3-ish expansions. WoW has changed a lot it's so fast paced and it’s almost impossible to die, but I will lay out my grumbles on what it has become at another point . One of my favourite things in WoW was “Transmog”, which initially was collecting pieces of armour or weapons and by taking it to a dude in-game, he could make one look like the other. Previously this worked by having to own the armour you wanted to Transmog with, resulting in bags and banks full of low level armour. Nowadays, however you “colle

The community is up in arms, pitchforks have been raised, picket boards have been lovingly crafted with catchy slogans for social media. The mob is revolting. What's This Noise Then? There is no National Dex (terms in bold appear in the glossary at the end) in the upcoming  Pokémon game, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield , it's not #brexit, its #dexit. There is a grumbling controversy fluttering in the forums and the social medias as people are furious that a thing has been 'taken' away from them because not all of the currently available Pokémon will be catchable or transferable in the upcoming games for the first time in the mainline series of the games since last year's Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go Eevee  2002's Pokémon Sapphire and Pokémon Ruby . And as semi-professional contrarians, we straddle that high horse and RP a bit of devils advocate. Is taking the  National Dex away a bad thing? As of the end of Generation

Every now and then a conversation sparks up round the water cooler at TGAM Towers that goes along the lines of someone asking "So is gaming mainstream yet?". Hours, insults, fisticuffs and a reminder on policy on worker in the work place later, inevitably the conclusion is a firm not yet .  We're not expecting an overnight transformation. But what would it take?  We have game inspired video games at the Box Office (okay so they're rarely great), Final Fantasy menus in restaurants, Splatoon and Pokemon collaboration ranges with Uniqlo, LEGO collaborations with Blizzard, Midway and SEGA. Museum exhibitions on video games, design and art. Gaming content seemingly dominates large swathes of the Internet from Youtube through to Youporn. Yet admitting that you choose to spend your time playing video games every now and then still feels, in the UK at least, akin to admitting that you strictly only eat the faces of babies because that's where the softest meat is.