'Midtown Madness 2' - 2000

Only just now realising how formative a moment it was to watch my dad turn the TV's saturation all the way down in order to de-colourise 'Casablanca'...

'Deus Ex: Human Revolution' - 2011

'Blade Runner' - 1997

'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' - 2006

Well hello! I took a bit of an unplanned break from social media for a few months. Had a bunch of life happen. Travelled South East Asia for a bit. Now I'm back! What did I miss? Are we still mad at *insert just about any common game design element*?

'1979 Revolution: Black Friday' - 2016

'The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings' - 2011

'Race Driver: Grid' - 2008

Just when I thought I was out entirely they bring out the "Ekranoplan vs Hovercraft" action sequence and I'M BACK ON BOARD!!!

Oh dear Lord! I'm sorry 'Quantum of Solace', I take it all back! You're fine! You did fine!

I had never finished this game previously, because it's actually a pretty dismal time, but I decided I may as well this weekend and, oh boy, it really is just 'Call of Duty 4' with all of the life sucked out of it. Really poor moment to moment gameplay punctuated with pointless mechanics.

'007: Quantum of Solace' - 2008

Also, if you're a 'Hitman 3' owner and you haven't yet played the new, incredibly elaborate 'Casino Royale' homage they just released (with Mads Mikkelsen!), it's really great.

Io Interactive gave Bond his scar. I'm 100% on board.

'L.A. Noire' - 2011

Just a tiny little addition to the list today, on why 'Half-Life' made the modern videogames industry...

Oooh! If you haven't played 'Deathloop' go snag it for free. Genuinely an underappreciated gem.

Some interesting breakdowns of the age demographics on that second chart there. I'm just going to leave another one here and you can draw inferences if you want...

Well that's fundamentally quite disappointing...

'Grim Fandango' - 1998

#IRLAestetics - Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor - Kodak Gold 200

So I just finished 'Red Dead Redemption' last night, a game I sat down with and absolutely devoured (which is rare for me, I tend to flit between games a lot). It's a shame it took so long to come to PC, because it's easily vying with 'Bully' to be Rockstar's best game.

'Grand Theft Auto IV' - 2008

'Battlefield 3' - 2011

'L.A. Noire' - 2011

'Assassin's Creed II' - 2009

And after a much longer than intended hiatus, we're back! Turns out that when you don't crowdsource your 'most influential games of all time' list it's a lot of labour to produce *glares at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts*

'Assassin's Creed III' - 2012

'Starlancer' - 2000

To that point, you have no idea how exciting it is to get photos back from the lab for the first time in over two decades. A genuinely magical experience, I recommend it.

Don't have access to my PC at the moment, which is why you're getting more "life" posting. I'd apologise, but I did say that when I shifted over to Bluesky I was going to aim to be less dedicated to the gimmick...

I swear, you would not pick this as a design from 1978. You could easily see this as having come from the last decade.

'SimEarth' - 1990

'Star Wars: Republic Commando' - 2005

'A-Train' - 1990

In a decade or so people with traditional researcher skills are going to be worth their weight in gold. If you're smart, learn those skills now.

Being in the East Bay is a key to understanding why SimCity 2000 looks the way it does You ever wonder why the terrain in SC2000 is dull brown and dotted with random trees? Because that's what the hills actually look like in Orinda, where the game was made!

This is also an opportunity to remind people that 'Elite Force' cribbed (drew inspiration from would be a disingenuous framing of what this is) Ron Cobb's original design for the bridge of the Nostromo.

'Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force' - 2000

The curse of being a Maxis fan who lives in the East Bay is seeing a building and thinking "I'm pretty sure that building is in SimCity 2000" and then being RIGHT

'Batman: Arkham City' - 2011

'Alien: Isolation' - 2014

Returning to the new "Enhanced" GTAV, and the night driving vibes raytraced reflections are actually amazing.

My top 21 most influential games of all time continues with 'Final Fantasy VII', a game that I feel has a complicated legacy...

'Thief' - 2014

A short and sweet addition to my list of the 21 most influential videogames of all time today: 1996's 'Pokémon'...

'Dishonored : The Brigmore Witches' - 2013

Your library book is 872 weeks overdue. #TheElderScrolls #Oblivion

The Operative: No One Lives Forever (2000) Watch out, ladies