That was the year it was: 2020

And so we come to the end of another year. And so Game Tumour will go into hibernation, only to emerge in the new year (unless of course there are some last minute surprises between now and the new year). 

It should be noted that this year has seen some milestones for this blog. Not only has it seen a full decade of existence - which, let's be honest, is a millennium in internet terms - but it should be noted that this post is the one thousandth post in this blog! 
Yeah I don't know how I did that either but this is major achievement: Granted this may be a dying medium but to come so far, even when other blogs tend to have a limited lifespan (or at least the one's I have seen) and are written by people who's interest and commitment tends to die off rather quickly, is something to be proud of. 

So to everyone who has seen this blog, who has been following it and who kept coming back to it, through periods of activity, stretches of nothing happening, through posts of both insightful observations and just utter nonsense, I want to say Thank You.
From the bottom of my heart Thank You.

As for 2020, it's become something of a cliché to deride 2020 as a seemingly never-ending year of disaster, where it seemed a challenge to say how things could get progressively worse. 
But it has seen something of a boom time for gaming. Because, after all, when Lockdown has you stuck inside your house, what else are you going to do? Well, personally I completed Borderlands 2, Rakuen and Wolfenstein 3d (at last!). I have upgraded both my gaming chair and the Retropie to the Raspberry Pi 4. I have said goodbye to ESO, was traumatised by Phasmophobia, and viewed the Space Australia that was the Borderlands Pre-Sequel. 
And I swear I have spent more time waiting for games to download than actually playing them. 

So where do we go from here? 

Well the way I see it, there are still plenty of more adventures to be had in this wonderful world that is gaming. So whilst my interest in this hobby and this blog may have quietened down in recent years, I am not prepared to give either up just yet. 

And with that, Game Tumour bows out for 2020.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to speak to you all again on the other side of 2021...

When there's something strange...

 Recently I got talked into trying an early-access game that is doing the rounds on Steam: Phasmophobia.
And it seems that I am not the only one as this has been generating quite a lot of buzz on Steam, with it's use of atmosphere and horror as well as it's multiplayer aspect. Well, I'm certainly one for trying something new so here we go.....

What we have here are the players being a group of ghost spotters: They start by gathering equipment and then entering a supposed haunted location to find evidence of ghosts and other paranormal activity. It's a simple concept but whilst it's one thing to have an idea, it's another thing to make it work. 
And boy, does Phasmophobia make it work: The strength in this game is purely in the atmosphere and the building of suspense. I found myself being put at ill-ease upon entering the location. I felt a sense of relief upon leaving said location. I found myself dreading every small noise and unfamiliar sound. I found myself uncertain to enter any new location. I began to panic upon seeing signs of a threat approaching.

But if this is the reaction I get from an early access, imagine what reaction the fished product would inspire..