Ready Up

Author: Anthony Nicholson

  • Checking out Akibaoo

    Take a stroll with Anto as he shares one of his favourite stores to visit in Tokyo’s electric town district, Akihabara!

  • Dramatic Battle Northern Ireland 2009

    This month of August had me travelling up to Northern Ireland to take part in Dramatic Battle Northern Ireland 2009. The competition itself had three games: Blazblue, Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter III: Third Strike. All winners on the day would have their entry fees into Super Versus Battle (which takes place this month…

  • You’re Free to P(l)ay

    When reading the above title you might think that I’m selling the latest pyramid scheme. Alas, I’m not clever enough to even know where to start with a scheme like that, let alone run one to begin with. No, what I’m here to write about is the ever present “Free to Play” online game system.…

  • Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram

    One of my favourite pastimes is pretending to be a gigantic robot fighting other gigantic robots. But since I can’t be a gigantic robot in real life, I’ve decided to make do with Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (or Virtual-On for short). Story-wise, there is a story here but I’m not sure if anyone even actually knows…

  • A Real Arcade Scene

    I think it’s safe to say that the U.K. and Ireland’s Arcade scene has been overthrown by the mighty power of the home console. Very few arcades exist with reasonable prices and experiences that can entice many to stray from their joypads (or keyboards). It wasn’t always this way. Arcades would be full at weekends…

  • Bad Influences

    I think it’s safe to say that I’m console gamer. I grew up more so around a joypad then that of the old tried and trusted mouse and keyboard combo. However my tastes lately have been like that of a pregnant lady’s odd craving. And it’s all thanks to (eugh) PC Gamers. PC elitism can…

  • Nihon Here I Come! (Insert Yeehah!)

    Oh what things to see and do! That’s right, I’ve booked myself 18 days of pure bliss within the delights of Tokyo’s precious bosom. From March 12th to March 29th I shall practise my Kobanwa’s and Genki Desu Ka’s until my gaijin (foreigner) friendly pals stick sushi in my mouth and make me swallow (I’m…

  • Xbox Live Arcade (Stick)

    So usually when one purchases himself an arcade stick for the price equivalent to a small child, you think he bought it for his profound desire to perfect some sort of Street Fighter character. But today I wanted to try something different. What if an arcade stick was used to play… Arcade Games. Now settle…

  • Missed Opportunities

    It’s true that missed opportunities can come at any time in life. We can sometimes regret not taking that chance to experience one fine moment which we either decided to pass on or worse, weren’t even aware of to begin with. What if it happened a lot more than we were actually aware of? Well…

  • An Ode to the Demo

    Thank goodness for the demo! Once again it has saved me from making the fatal mistake on the gaming borders of I will play or I won’t play. When I first saw pictures of Mirror’s Edge I thought, “that looks neat”. Then realising that this isn’t the fifties, I moved onto better phrases like “wow…