December 2010 Archives

SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: A man was hit by a car and injured while trying to play a real-life version of the 1980s video game "Frogger" on a busy road.

The 23 year-old was heard yelling, "Go!" before sprinting into a four-lane road similar to the one featured in the game.

It was announced today that one of the most influential figures in the UK's videogame industry is to be made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's 2011 New Year's Honours List.

Miles Jacobson, Studio Director of the award-winning and hugely successful Football Manager franchise, is to be awarded the honour in recognition of services to the videogaming industry.

The latest game in the series, Football Manager 2011, went straight to number one in the all-format charts and has spent five weeks at the top of the PC charts since its November release. Selling in excess of six million copies worldwide, Football Manager has been topping the UK PC charts for the last six years, as well as doing very well on the PSP and on iTunes.

Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive, said: "It is very humbling to be awarded such a prestigious accolade for doing something I enjoy so much, and one that enables me to indulge in my passion for football and videogames. I hope to be able to continue working in this fantastic creative industry for many more years to come and try to help it reach even more people.

"Whilst honoured to have been recognised in this way, it's really further recognition for the whole team at Sports Interactive around the world especially after Oliver and Paul Collyer, the founders of SI, received honours last year."

Miles has been involved with Sports Interactive for over 15 years having started working with the Old Street based company in 1995 as a games tester and worked his way to the helm as Studio Director.

During Miles' time at the studio, Sports Interactive has gone from strength to strength, with over 15 million games sold, six titles in the top 10 fastest selling PC games of all time list in the UK (including five of the FM series) and over 200 weeks at number one in the PC charts. Sports Interactive also has five games in the top 20 best selling PC games of all time in the UK. Sports Interactive has so far won four BAFTAs, a plethora of Golden Joysticks, awards from Develop, MCV, Indin and Fasttrack as well as various awards from magazines and websites around the world for their work on one of sport's most successful franchises.

Under his stewardship, Sports Interactive has also signed sponsorship deals with AFC Wimbledon (main club sponsor since their inception), Luton Town (youth team) and Watford (official partner of their Harefield Academy work).

In 2009 Miles was involved in a ground-breaking deal which saw the Football Manager database officially 'signed' by Everton Football Club as part of its back-room staff and many people from inside the football world are involved with helping ensure that the simulation is as accurate as possible.

Before working in gaming, Miles had a successful career in the music industry in A & R at Food Records & Universal music, working with bands such as Blur, Fat Boy Slim, Feeder and the Bluetones.

Outside of Sports Interactive, Miles is heavily involved in other areas of the games industry, such as being on the BAFTA games committee, the Develop conference advisory board and as a founding trustee of the GamesAid charity.

Transport yourself into your very own Disneyland with this truly innovative and exciting adventure from starring Mickey Mouse.

First things first - I have seen some awful reviews of this game on the net by the so called experts.

For that reason I was kind of dreading playing it as I actually really love the Harry Potter franchise.

I also have two daughters who love the films and love the lego game too. We have just got Kinect so the idea of a Potter game on the new motion sensor seemed perfect.

I decided that I would let the real experts decide and I bit the bullet and handed them the new Potter game.

Well I kind of did but they ended up playing in between me playing it.

This is the Potter equivalent of a hack and slash really - there is a huge emphasis on battles and repetition can be a problem.

Really though the focus of this game is on the Kinect influenced gameplay.

I wanted to put this game on and be able to wave my arms about casting spells accurately at people and pretending to be a wizard with fire in my fingers.

I was amazed that this is very much the case, throw your arm back and cast spells, put both hands forward to form a protective shield and basicaly just run around bouncing spells off other people.

You can do this in single or co-op mode and you follow the story of the film closely.

The graphics and cut-scenes are very good and quite honestly if people do have a huge proproblem with this game I don't really see their point.

Yes it's repetitive but just the whole concept of a Potter game where you can throw spells using your arm is more than enough for me.

It's packed full of characters, events and quirkiness from the Potter World and has a fair dollop of magic, mischief and enjoyment.

Room for improvement sure but this is a hell of a start....

The first of the Wii games to move over to Kinect?

Originally a hit on Nintendo's pioneering motion console we now have a version created for the next generation of gaming on the Kinect.

One of a few sports titles to coincide with the release it is a bit of a surprise package and well worth a look.

Just last week we reviewed Sonic Colours - an excellent game that show that the little blue hedgehog and pals have stood the test of time.

Now as gaming moves into the next generation with Kinect he has been as quick as ever to join in the fun.

This game was the perfect choice for my 4-year-old daughter Lily, not only is she a big fan of Cooking Mama style games she is a fully fledged Dora disciple.

I mentioned Cooking Mama because this game has a fair bit in common with it, some of the mini games work on the same principles.

Simple food challenges like twirling pizza, chopping and stirring are great for kids on the DS - it is a good interactive platform for them.

The one thing I liked the most about this title was not only that Lily had so much fun playing it but also that it incorporated simple maths like counting into the game too.

This is the perfect kids friendly game with cutesy colourful visuals and a great title for those Christmas stockings.

Educational, interactive and fun - what more could you want?

A FANTASTIC toy/gadget that let's you act out those superhero fantasies and become the mighty metal-clad warrior that is Iron Man.

Another launch title for Kinect from makers Ubisoft this time in the sporting arena.

The first game that really highlights how Kinect could be used in a grittier capacity.