A Festive Musical Interlude

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

If you hadn't noticed already IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! Last year the Gameov3r blog was pleased to present a Christmas song from forum members Fifi and Shine. This year they've gone one better and not only recorded a Christmas song but they posted a short You Tube clip too. Take it away guys!



Merry Christmas from Gameov3r!

If you can make reindeer antlers look good, can play a musical instrument or if you have a bright red flashing nose then the Gameov3r FORUM is the right place to be at this time of year. It's a bit safer than walking the streets with a flashing red nose that's for sure.

Moley Christmas!

Have a holly jolly Christmas! And if you can’t then you can have a jolly moley one instead with Monty’s Christmas Special. This cracking little game is still available to download and best of all it's still free.

If you’re a forum member you may have already read my posts about this game. If you don’t know who Monty Mole is …. He’s an 8 Bit legend. He’s been "Wanted", “Innocent” and “On the Run”. Then it was “Auf Weidersehen” from Monty before one final fling in “Impossamole”. Some might say that Monty Mole later transferred his allegiance to Nintendo where he hid in holes in the ground in Mario games.

Monty’s Christmas Special is a tribute to all of Monty’s past games and this one is probably the best of them all. It has great SIDesque music, it looks and plays beautifully and offers a decent challenge thanks to the excellent level design. If it had been an official release back in the day it would have gathered itself a Crash Smash award and a Zzap Gold Medal with ease. If you’re looking for some festive gaming kicks then you need look no further.

I actually downloaded this last Christmas, please don't start singing Wham songs, but have yet to finish it. I intend to put that right and have a good old go at getting through it during this years holidays.



Visit Monty’s Christmas Special web page HERE or simply download the game by clicking HERE

Like getting things for free? Then the Gameov3r FORUM is probably not for you. Gameov3r requires your soul in return for membership.

Ghosts of Christmases Past

It has become a bit of a tradition for me to get out my old consoles and computers during the Christmas holidays and this year has been no exception. I've been up into the loft and amongst others I've brought back to life my Megadrive, SNES and my C64. My wife is not happy. But anyway, games I've played so far include the seasonal Daze Before Christmas, Madden 93 - I always play as the NY Jets and I don't know why, NHLPA93 - I always choose to be Edmonton and again I don't no why, Road Rash 1 & 2, Desert Strike, Exploding Fist and Suspended. I even rediscovered the delights of Rollo to the Rescue and have been playing the slightly festive James Pond 2 on my GBA. I just love all this cartridge, cassette, 5 1/4" disk, game swapping madness! I love it as much as I loved playing all the way through the latest games. Must be an age thing.

Two things have struck me while I've been playing on these old machines. No, number 1 isn't my wife hitting me with her high heeled shoes from across the room. No, the first thing I noticed was that so far this holiday I have spent as much time playing all of my older games as I have spent playing just one current generation game, Tomb Raider Legend on my Xbox360, so far this holiday. The second thing I noticed was that Electronic Arts used to release, wait for it, GROUND BREAKING games! They created and published games that other publishers could only dream of or simply wouldn't take a risk on.

We all know only too well the EA licences that now monopolise today's charts, all those once great games that have spawned huge franchises that release and re-release sequel after, often lacklustre, sequel year upon year. But in the deep murky past there are so many great games. Many gamers will remember; Racing Destruction Set, B.O.B, Archon, Bards Tale, Where in the world and Where in time is Carmen Sandiego, Boulderdash 2, Caveman Ugh-lympics, Chuck Yeager's Flight Simulator (a 3d flight sim on the C64!), Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Power Monger and Zool. I can go on and on...... so I will. There's Centurion: Defender of Rome, M.U.L.E, Wasteland, Crüe Ball, Rampart, Neuromancer, The Untouchables, Robot Rascals, TKO and more. Even the original Fifa was risky. Taking on the might of top down kings Kick Off and SWOS at their own game. Isometric computer footy wasn't new but it had never been able to compete with the speed and fun of the top down twosome. Fifa took everything that was great about Kick Off and SWOS, made it look gorgeous, include tricks and flicks, set the gameplay in treacle and viola! It was a massive risk that paid off and ironically Fifa is now one of the reasons EA take a lot of stick.

Not all of these EA games are classics of the same calibre as Archon but there is a tangible commitment to fun, variety and quality for the benefit of the gamers. How could it all go so wrong and when did EA get all cynical and more interested in their profits than the gamers?

Let's not end this here. After all it is the holiday season and so I'll leave with a jolly thought with tinsel on it. XBox LIVE Arcade has done a good job of releasing games that would have been in our shops a few years ago but that now would never ever have seen a shelf in the local game shop never mind be lucky enough to sit there gathering dust. Better still the new Wiiware channel will go a step further and give developers the freedom to be ground breaking and once again we'll see new innovation, creativity and variety in videogames.

A Christmas Treat

It's Christmas Eve and all through the house not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings are hung and the children are dreaming they'll find a Nintendo Wii and Mario Galaxy not a PS3.

Now, Christmas is not complete without a surprise and Gameov3r has a surprise for you. It's courtesy of forum members Fifi and Shine and, well, here it is......


Direct LINK.

Thank you both. I know getting this posted involved lots of emailing and even more time.

All that remains is to wish you all a very happy Christmas from everyone at Gameov3r. May all your presents be binary ones.

Have yourself a guilt free Christmas

This is not a videogame entry at all, unless you have an exercise bike in front of your TV and you ride while you play games. Specifically this is for the cyclists out there, there are a few of us on the Gameov3r forum, but don't worry if you're not a cyclist! This is interesting/useful/depressing for everyone and anyone that's having Christmas dinner.

Gameov3r dares you to indulge on Christmas Day and not feel guilty about it.

Below is a typical Christmas dinner menu but it also shows how many calories are involved and then how much riding time you'll have to do to burn them off.

Christmas Menu
Roast Turkey (90g) = 149kcal, 4g fat
Roast Potatoes (85g) = 127kcal, 4g fat
Stuffing (100g) = 231kcal, 15g fat
Bread Sauce (45g) = 42kcal, 1g fat
Roast Parsnips (90g) = 102kcal, 0g fat
Boiled Carrots = 14kcal, 0g fat
Boiled Brussels Sprouts = 32kcal, 1g fat
Gravy (50g) = 17kcal, 1g fat
Cranberry Sauce (30g) = 45kcal, 0g fat
Pork Sausages (20g) = 62kcal, 5g fat
Bacon (40g) = 135kcal, 11g fat
Total = 956kcal (calories), 48g fat
Hours riding = 1hr 49min 53sec

Dessert
1 port'on Christmas pudding (100g),
custard and brandy butter = 587kcal, 22g fat
Hours riding = 1hr 7mns 28sec

Snacks and supper
1 portion of mixed nuts (40g) = 243kcal, 22g fat
Hours riding = 27min 55sec

1 portion of cheese and biscuits = 394kcal, 27g fat
Hours riding = 45min 17sec

1 glass of mulled red wine = 245kcal, 0g fat
Hours riding = 28min 9sec

Total riding time: 4hrs 39mins 42sec

Times based on average speed of 15mph carrying 70kg

The example meal comes to 2,425kcal. Working on the 2,500 kcals daily guideline given for men on most food packaging Christmas dinner alone takes you over that. Given that you'll almost certainly want breakfast, a few other snacks and supper, Christmas Day can easily shape up to being a 5,000 calorie indulgence session. Source of food calorie counts British Nutrition Foundation.

Having a Christmas dinner? Got a bike? Diet? Got a belly to rival Gameov3r's? There's room for you on the FORUM. Gameov3r may want a Chunk's Truffle Shuffle Competition if you say your belly is bigger than his.

Prime Time

Nintendo rock! They have confirmed, as if we really needed it confirming, that they are numero uno in the video game industry. Not only have Nintendo given us unique and fabulous consoles in the Wii and DS but they are backing all this up with awesome software.

Metroid Prime is now amongst us and it is as good as you always wished it would be. If you’re a gamer you owe it to yourself to play this. The critical and public acclaim lavished on Samus’ final outing in the Prime trilogy is evidence already of this game’s destiny to be an all time classic.

16th November sees Mario back on UK shores for an out of this world epic. I suffered through all of the Game Cube hype and rumours that surrounded the alleged Mario 128. We waited and waited and, as we all know, it never arrived. The disappointment was tangible as Nintendo failed their fans and Maz only had eyes for Sunshine and GBA re-releases. Galaxy looks set to blitz every game that has gone before it and everyone will forgive Nintendo.

They’ll more than forgive though. With Prime, Mario and more on the shelves this Christmas Nintendo is going to own the festive period. The game buying public worship at the alter of Nintendo.

Is demand for the Wii going to out strip supply again this Christmas? Can Sony or Microsoft stop them? Get on the Gameov3r FORUM now to praise or slate as you see fit. Just don't bother talking about anything Christmassy or wishing anyone a Merry Christmas just yet. Gameov3r’s orders because “IT’S STILL OCTOBER!!*”

* I can’t actually quote all of the words Gameov3r used. We’d probably be shut down if I did! He did mention the name Stuart a few times amongst all the expletives though.