Game for anything old and new

Must be time for a break from the pub quiz as we came second last Thursday. Luckily we had an opportunity to earn some money instead of trying to win it but more on that later.

The weekend was a new cosy one with Kerry for a change. Our Saturday night was an unplanned meal out but quickly learnt that not booking ahead meant many restaurants were fully booked at 8pm. After the third place we tried we headed into Seven Dials (Brighton) with the intention of visiting The Tin Drum. We checked the other restaurants within the area but settled for our original choice. Although the décor was a little scruffy with a relaxed cafe/pub style, the food was really tasty. The organic, locally sourced range of food was delicious. We had some small problems with the service but after some polite nagging we were given the desserts for free as well as a round of drinks. The bill was well under what we expected so won't have any problem going back or recommending it.

Retro tech TV
I'm liking BBC4's technology themed season. Electric Dreams is a 3 part documentary about a family transforming their house back to the 1970's with each day a different year and an advance in technology with a new gadget. Their central heating was switched off until 1976 I think, in February as that's when the majority of households had it! It also brought back memories of power cuts, my first gaming experience of the Binatone, weekly shopping for frozen food and how useful it was that my dad could fix TVs as they were so unreliable back then. Next week will be the 80's as well as Micro Men, a drama based on Sir Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry who created the ZX Spectrum and Acorn computers. There'll be some great ginger beard action thanks to Alexander Armstrong, a future me perhaps?

Retro gaming
Julian invited us round to his house for some more retro action. As an avid collector of past consoles, he set up his basement with four TVs and plugged in a range of old games machines. First up was a the Nintendo 64 and its Mario Kart version, one I'd never played but quickly got to grips with. Fast forward to the X-box for Halo which I'd never played. Some Playstation 1 gaming with Viewtiful Joe, back again to the N64 for the legendary Goldeneye. A look at Assassin's Creed on the X-Box 360. Julian's teenage kids showed us how to play Guitar Hero III but we really didn't get one with it making us doubt whether DJ Hero will be chucked at the wall with frustration. Finally, an old beat'em up starring Marvel characters.  

Games testing
Last night, Kerry and I took part in some games testing. Through an e-mailing list, a local research company on the University of Sussex campus was testing a puzzle game for a local publisher. We're not allowed to say who or what game was but there's clues out there. I'd only just made the target audience to qualify as Vertical Slice wanted couples between 20-40 and would pay £20 per person. After some form filling, we were sat in a mock living room and hooked up to microphones with a couple of cameras pointed at us. It was a PS3 game being tested and the graphics initially looked really good and the theme was quite intriguing but after awhile the novelty wore off. There were a few game parts that didn't work at all but the main problem was it that the game was aimed at kids and their parents. I don't think our feedback will drastically change any of the format but maybe some of our ideas might get heard for future releases. Watch this space to find out more.