One is the video game phenomenon that took the world by storm and has enthralled millions through its sandbox game play and pure creativity. The other is a sci-fi film that defined the term blockbuster and created a whole cottage industry in special effects and merchandise. Together they are working
A personal blog about Computing, IT, Video Games based learning. The site is full of lesson plans, current practice and retro geek gaming and pop culture articles.
A personal blog about Computing, IT, Video Games based learning. The site is full of lesson plans, current practice and retro geek gaming and pop culture articles.
There is a free software created by Ian MacLarty called Reflections , and it's pretty awesome. Using your webcam it creates a trippy explorable landscape with strange hues and colours. I think it's weird and unsettling, but in a good way like rocket in salad. Give it a try, the link is below!
The current generation of computing is extremely powerful and many of the triple A releases are geared towards realism. Now as a gamer I love the bloom and particle effects, 1080p and next generation graphics but sometimes all I crave is an art style that looks beyond mere graphic fidelity. Whilst a
The Adventure Game genre started in the 70's with the advent of computer mainframes at universities. The first know example being Colossal Cave Adventure created by Will Crowther . These were the early days of computing so software publishing houses were pretty much non-existent. It was up to ind
At our school we have been using the game Abzu as a stimulus for writing. I've spoken before on numerous occasions about how video games can be used as a contextual hub for learning and in the past we have used some games to help on the learning journey. I have played and completed Abzu in my
I picked up the latest issue of Retro Gamer and was excited to see that as well as featuring awesome art by Oliver Fray ( who I have really like ) it had an article on shoot 'em ups. Whilst reading the article and munching on old skool treats I got to thinking about the genre. My first exp
A blog about animation, pop culture, video games and games based learning. The site is full of free innovative lesson plans for teachers, current teaching practice ideas and retro geek gaming and pop culture articles.
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were released 10 years ago and so I thought I'd do a retrospective on some of my favourite games of all time. I had a Nintendo 64 and PS1 and my interest in gaming was waning. It wasn't because the games coming out were bad but rather I was at univers
For over 40, 000 years, since the first cave paintings were discovered, telling stories has been one of our most fundamental communication methods. I wrote an article a while back discussing Storytelling With Games . I discussed how as teachers we can use games to provide children with a deep emoti
Star Wars is a phenomenon and a huge part of pop culture. It is not a work with which I am particularly nostalgic as I caught it later in my youth than most of my friends. I like the original movies just fine but it never became a formative or integral part of my childhood, I never played with the
I've had a record player for a while now and in that time have built up a small but solid collection of vinyl records. I initially went to record shops I knew, like Rough Trade in Brick Lane but they were really expensive with albums typically costing from £25 upwards. I found that a far more ma
Back in the early/ mid 90's there was a big trend in collecting Marvel character cards. Similar to the sports cards these cards contained lots of great stats and facts about the various Marvel characters. To help engage my pupil I have been using the cards as records and data files and the child
Not far from the British Museum is this hidden gem, the Cartoon Museum . I have lived in East London most of my life (32 years) yet I only became aware of its existence a few weeks ago through a flyer in a comic shop.... well, that's the beauty of London isn't it? So finally I found myself at a
I have a love for the Moomins as many of you may know. I've discussed the Moomins multiple times before, when talking about the 80s stop motion animation , the recent vinyl soundtrack release and the exhibition at the Southbank Centre . What many people may not know is that my love for the
In late March 2015 my wife and I welcomed our beautiful daughter, Jasmine, into the world. In the last couple of years since her birth we've been through a massive amount of change- some of it good and some of it bad; staying up most of the night to her howls and calling NHS Direct worriedly at 3
A personal blog about Computing, IT, Video Games based learning. The site is full of lesson plans, current practice and retro geek gaming and pop culture articles.
