Author: Hundstrasse

Research Scientist by day, Gamer by night; I blog in a rambling kinda way about the things I think about the latter.
Gaming, Retro Gaming, VR

Quake VR: Queasy…

Valve’s: The Lab is still my go to VR demo for anyone wanting to give that ol’ headset their first go. Taking a playful sandbox approach to VR-ing it introduces new users to the concepts of VR in a polished and intuitive way; warp movement, picking things up, firing a bow and arrow – yes, all the core part of VR are there!

My favourite part of ‘The Lab’ however is still the Portal themed robot maintenance bay; a short linear demo with very few interactive elements that astounds me every time I give it a shot. It’s the virtual transportation in to the world of Portal that blows me away. Coming face to face with the beautifully intricate Atlas or that moment when GlaDOS drops in to view – the immersion and the sense of scale are awesome, and for a fan of the source material it gives me chills every time. It’s the same reason that for a long time my Steam VR home was the Team Fortress 2 theme, the chance to be beamed directly in to your favourite game universe is too much to pass up. Continue reading “Quake VR: Queasy…”

Hundstrasse3 Comments
Editorial, Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

Editorial: August – Brief Update Despite the Humidity…

…AAAAAAAAAAND AUGUST!  So here it is, the month that I turn a year older and as such get incrementally worse at online FPS games. No that I’ve played much Apex Legends recently, but age certainly is a factor… that and never being quite sure if I want to tweak my mouse accuracy up or down. Our vague midweek conglomeration has actually returned to World War … Continue reading Editorial: August – Brief Update Despite the Humidity…

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Remembering the Sega Game Gear: … because I have no idea where I put the thing…

*… because I can’t find my Game Gear Featured Image is provided by Nostalgia Nerd (Original) under CC-BY-2.0… oh you sweet Flickr valet of moody-lit consoles and stuff…  

… I mean, seriously… where have I put it? I know it’s here somewhere! 

Attic hunting aside, the Sega Game Gear was my first console and the company’s 1990 answer to Nintendo’s GameBoy. It’s a contest which my beloved bulky hunk of plastic never really stood a chance of winning; Nintendo’s fighter had a year head start and Tetris which catapulted it in to the stratosphere amassing over 100 million lifetime sales compared to a meagre 10 million accrued by the Game Gear. All that being said I loved that little system. Loved it in-spite of the monstrous appetite it had for AA batteries (that I rarely fed it, choosing to play mostly using a power adaptor) and that sometimes hard to see screen… and the way that if you knocked the power cable it would often reset the game. Continue reading “Remembering the Sega Game Gear: … because I have no idea where I put the thing…”

Hundstrasse12 Comments
Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Retro Gaming

Smashing CRTs: Unpicking Sonic’s Boxes

Anyone who dares follow me on Twitter may have picked up on my recent obsession with the CRT monitors (AKA Boxes!) that litter the various zones of the early Sonic the Hedgehog Games. I don’t exactly know why my brain has been idling on these iconic ingame items, but the more I turn it over in my mind the more bizarre it seems: Hedgehog smashes CRT monitor… gets stuff!

I’ve certainly not been one to shy away from applying ‘science’ to Plant Mobius in the past, but all I have to work with here is that Sonic smashes CRT and one of five different things happen (taking the SMD original as the blueprint): He picks up 10 gold rings; Grabs the Power Boots for Super Speed; Gains a one hit shield; Becomes invulnerable for a short time; or gains an extra life. So the big question is:

Is there a scientifically feasible explanation for the CRT item boxes in Sonic the Hedgehog?  Continue reading “Smashing CRTs: Unpicking Sonic’s Boxes”

Hundstrasse4 Comments
Gaming, Gaming News, Meaningless Ramble

Google Stadia: Game Breaking or Game Changing

Google made some controversial splashing in the gaming world recently by announcing the Google Stadia and being the ultra-switched-on-mile-a-minute person that I am…. it kinda passed me by. I think I have a certain noise filter when it comes to gaming news and promises of live-streaming have been the right amount of hyped and disappointing over the years for me to mentally file it under “Meh”. This morning’s commute however saw it crop up on my twitter feed a few more times and I decided to take a look at the details.  Continue reading “Google Stadia: Game Breaking or Game Changing”

Hundstrasse17 Comments
Editorial, Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Resident Evil

Editorial: July – Wait?! What Happened to June?

Hey! How’s it going you July people? All good out there in Someplaceville? If you’re a sunshine-type person then I hope you’re out there enjoying the good weather, or if you’re like me then I hope you’re safely locked indoors away from all that pollen and we can collectively hope to get a few good storms out of the humidity. Either way it’s July already, … Continue reading Editorial: July – Wait?! What Happened to June?

Hundstrasse14 Comments
Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

Nice Try: Can We Make Things Better Serverside?

I haven’t played Apex Legends for a while now. I seem to have drifted away from it for the moment, but still think that it is the incarnation of the whole battle-royale-thing that suits me the best and I generally been enjoying jumping in to rounds with the randoms that inhabit King’s Canyon. It’s the events of one ill-fated round that I want to focus on as they keep coming back to me even now, several months later… Continue reading “Nice Try: Can We Make Things Better Serverside?”

Hundstrasse4 Comments