Game Design Ireland » Top5

Top 5: Open World Games

Colm O Sullivan — Fri, 30 May 2014 12:22:09 +0000

Open world games cover a vast array of different genres; vary greatly in terms of size and scope. Open world games can trace their roots back to Richard Garriott and his Ultima series that started this gaming trend back in the early 80’s. In 1984 Elite was created by two small time British developers and helped to pioneer the 3D aspect of open world games. Since then a year doesn’t go by without a release of an open world game or even several. So of all the open world titles too have come out over the last number of years, which ones ranked better than the rest?

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Top 5: Games That Never Were

Colm O Sullivan — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 13:05:01 +0000

Over inflated budgets, managerial fallout, publishing deals revoked, creative blocks or simply just much too ambitious design concepts. These are some of the numerous reasons why some games are cancelled or postponed and in all likelihood will never see the light of day. The list of video game projects that have been cancelled would stretch for an entirety. Some are merely conceptual pieces not going any further then a couple of design sketches others can be cancelled just as the project is entering into their final stage of development. The five games in this list illustrate the various different ways some games end up on digital rubbish tip.

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Top 5: First Person Shooters

Colm O Sullivan — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:04:30 +0000

For the majority of Top5 posts and most other articles, I generally attempt to stay objective in my views. However this Top5 list is a far more personal catalogue of games that are classed under the often maligned genre of First Person Shooters. Admittedly many games in this genre tend to be void of any measure of game design and are simply just copycat titles. Yet some FPS games manage to rise above the rest and due to their perspective are able to create truly immersive experiences. As mentioned this list is populated with the FPS games that in my opinion are better than the rest. There are many not mentioned but with only five to pick, inevitably some are going to be left out.

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Top5: Upcoming Games of 2014

Colm O Sullivan — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 11:36:22 +0000

2014 is not only the year of Family Farming and Crystallography (Study of Atom Arrangements) according to the UN that is. It is also a year in which many long awaited titles will be released. Some of which have been continually delayed or are wrapping up on the beta testing phase. There will always be the annually released titles like Call of Duty and FIFA that you set your watch by. It is the new IP that provide the biggest intrigue. In previous years sequels and remakes dominated the video game charts but this year is set to break that trend, with a good number of new IP set to be released. 2014 will be the year that many developers will have to fulfil the promises that they made and hope their games live up to expectations.

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Top 5: Indie Games of 2013

Colm O Sullivan — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 13:03:51 +0000

2013 has been a busy year for the video game industry. Two new consoles where released with all the fanfare and fanboyism that goes with it. As always there are the regular releases that launch like clockwork, the likes of Call of Duty, FIFA and Assassin’s Creed come to mind. This September also saw the release of one of the most highly anticipated games of the last few years with Rockstar finally getting GTA V on store shelves before quickly flying off again. Rockstar hitting $1 billion in sales in less than a week.

However away from the media circus that revolves around the mainstream titles in the industry, I have being looking into the indie titles that aren’t necessarily any less popular but without the hundreds of thousands spent on marketing. A few titles that have looked to tackle subject matter and gameplay mechanics that aren’t often covered by mainstream video game culture. Games that don’t operate on the same business or development cycles as is expected in the video game industry.

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Top5: Simulation Games

admin — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 12:15:35 +0000

Some games make us feel invincible, firing round after round against an alien menace to save the world all the while holding some screaming damsel in the arm not cradling a pulse rifle, others pull on our heart strings with deep emotional involvement (Aerith Gainsborough) while others play on our fears, zombies shuffling past in the dead of night etc. etc. Some games however make us gods among men.

The latter is one of my favourite types of game, usually grouped under the “simulation” category but not to be confused with the classic Flight Sim type game or the surprisingly addictive Euro Truck Simulator. These are “business and construction management simulation” games and despite having a genre title like that have proved to be some of the most challenging and immersive games I’ve ever played.

Now, I’m by no means saying that this list is exclusive, like my last article the following is all personal opinion and there are so many games out there it would be impossible for me to have played them all. Yet of those I have played these are my top five.

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Top5: Retro Android Games

admin — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 12:23:53 +0000

I’ve been playing games for years, since I was five or six and my father came home with a NES, which may also be an indicator to my age and rapid advance towards the grave, as I grew older we ended up with more consoles in the house each bringing with it numerous hours of joy, frustration, gamepad throwing rage and the plethora of other emotions we associate with gaming.These days however I’m more involved with the dev side of things, not to say I don’t game, several level 90 Warcraft characters attest to that but being a functioning, mature adult I find it increasingly more difficult to justify spending a whole weekend sat in a dark room powering through every Sonic game .

So you can imagine my delight when I managed to get my some decent emulation software installed on my tablet, no longer was it a glorified diary/reddit delivery device, now it was a magical seven inch gateway to my childhood and a golden opportunity to pick up on some games I’d missed, finish games I’d never managed to previously and scare fellow bus passengers by occasionally screaming obscenities at an electronic device.

So I’ve decided to put together my “Top 5” games that I’ve been playing. It’s worth noting that these are not Android releases nor are they HD remixes these, these aren’t my favourite games ever, they however the five that I’ve found to be the best on the tablet.

It’s also worth noting that I use a seven inch tablet with a Bluetooth gamepad hooked up to it so these may not play as well on a smartphone or whatnot.

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