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...

That was the year it was: 2019

And we come to the end of another year. This post will mark the final post for Game Tumour in 2019.

This year has been a quiet one. For me, a lot of my time has been committed to both Elder Scrolls Online and my newly-acquired Retropie. But having said that, there’s more to that than meets the eye: I’ve invested a lot of time in ESO and, much like fellow MMORPGers World of Warcraft and Star Trek Online, the time has come to move on.  Similarity, I think I have spent more time addressing issues running the Retropie than actually playing it.

But getting to ESO for a moment: It has dominated my playtime recently – indeed it is telling that I cast only one game from my ever-present Hall of Shame this year. However, the end of my time spent with ESO is within sight: I have (more or less) set out what I wanted to do and I feel there is nothing left for me to see therein (or at least without traversing over previously trodden ground). I knew I quite WoW when I realised I didn’t want to do it anymore and the same could now be said for ESO – the only difference was WoW’s ending was abrupt whilst ESO’s ending has been a long and slow detox.

Read into that what you will

I also think it’s fair to say that this blog has suffered as a result what with posts that were either about ESO or somewhat inconsequential. True, this blog has been going for nearly a decade which is an abnormally long time in Internet terms. And yes blogs seem very much redundant compared to Vlogs and Twitch. But I have no intention to give up on this blog – not whilst I have many more games to check out anyway.
So a new decade is a good excuse as any to walk away from ESO and towards a fresh start.

That being said, this concludes Game Tumour for both 2019 and the 2010s. Thank you for following me for all this time and I hope to speak to you all again sometime in 2020.

That was the year it was: 2018

And so another year comes to an end. And with the end of the year, Game Tumor goes into hibernation and I am liberated from the pressures of coming up with more posts for this corner of cyberspace (at least until next year....).

So what has 2018 has to show for itself? Well I had the pleasure of casting more games from my Hall of Shame: Homeworld and God of Thunder were both beaten at long last, Trails in the Sky SC was finally concluded and Oxenfree turned out a massive delight; I finally entered the current console generation with the purchase of an Xbox One; mini retro consoles are proving to be a huge success; and Blizzard has made a major mistep that has thrown the internet into all sorts of chaos.

But whatever.
You may have noticed that this post marks the 900th post to this blog. Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself. So after nine years and 900 posts this blog is still going.
It just refuses to die!
One would think that I would eventually run out of things to say (especially considering that I'm shooting out fewer posts annually than previously) but apparently not. One would think that, seeing as this blog has lasted longer than the usual internet time span, that it's time has well and truly gone but no. I suppose as the wonderful world of gaming keeps trucking on, i will have things to say. And as long as I keep having games left unplayed, this blog will keep on going.

So here's the future and I hope to speak you all again when the curtain rises on 2019.

That was the year it was: 2017

And so, the curtain comes down on another year.
So....2017....How about that eh?

2017 was, for me, mostly me rediscovering Elder Scrolls Online. A game that i originally approached with reluctance is a game that I have played near exclusively in 2017. The funny thing is that the thing that turned me around was a skill re-spec for my first/main character. Since then I've made a few more characters. All of which, I have approached with a particular plan in mind. Funny thing that: I approach with a plan, and subsequently a better grasp of what I'm doing and suddenly the game becomes a lot more enjoyable. Still, it's no different from me of nearly two decades ago building a plan to work in Civ 2 and Heroes 2.

Other highlights was seeing the Conquest series appear on GoG; beating Nights into Dreams, Conquests of the Longbow and KOTOR 2 - all of which have been a long time coming; Going to PAX and Trying out Alien Swarm.

But you know what? If we go be feel alone, 2017 seems like something of a slump. Nothing came out this year that really grabbed my attention. Maybe it's me living in a backwards flowing bubble, maybe it's me having played games for so many years that it becomes harder for something to stand out of the pack, but somehow one gets the impression that gaming has reached it's zenith: There are no more frontiers to conquer, no one beyond the Steam indie crowd is prepared to make any risks and everything seems to be recycled. Funny thing how a industry that has moved at a lightning fast pace has now hit a point that resembles stagnation.
I've heard whispers that we may be due in for a second Gaming Crash but maybe we could do with one, just to shake things up a bit....

Still we can only hope that 2018 is better....

Anywho, thank you for reading this blog and i hope to speak to you again next year.

That was the year it was: 2016

And so we reach the end of another year of Game Tumour. The festive season has come around again and it's time to step away from this blog.

2016 has been a quiet year for this blog - although some of the cynically minded would say that 2016 for Game Tumour ended months earlier. I guess Real Life got in the way for a bit there. Still, at least I can say I beat Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. And by playing Don Bradman's Cricket I've gained a new appreciation for the sport. Oh and Xcom. Xcom Enemy Unknown is an excellent game.
So in the end, a quiet year is not without successes.

However, maybe a quite year may pave the way for a more active year in 2017.
So, in that sense, Game Tumour is done for 2016 and I hope to speak to you all again in 2017

That was the year it was: 2015

Well here we are at the tail end of 2015. The festive season is well and truly upon us so now is the time to step away from this blog and spend some time with family and friends - which is what we all should be doing around this time.
Therefore, this will be the final post for Game Tumour in 2015.

This year has been a quiet one: Its not just because I choose to scale back the amount of time and effort in this blog due to outside commitments.
No, much of my time has been invested in playing Star Trek Online. But if playing World of Warcraft has taught me anything it is too easy to fall in the trap that is common with MMORPGs: You find it is the only thing you play, the one thing you invest the most time in that the other games tend to get neglected and because you're continually investing money in this game you convince yourself to make the effort not to make the investment going to waste (WoW with the subscription, STO with Pay-as-you-go). But being in that trap doesn't mean you can escape from it.
Why, in the past week I've found myself moving away from Star Trek Online and enjoying an old favorite, Dragon Age Origins, again.

Still it's not all been bad news: I've knocked down more games off my Hall of Shame: System Shock 2, Curse of the Azure Bonds and some of the Leisure Suit Larry games.
Other highlights of 2015 have been:

• my delight at seeing the Gold Box finally make it's way to GoG
• Convincing a friend to play Divinity Original Sin and both going into it blind - and both of us finding it quite enjoyable
• Meeting Bajo and Hex
• In another coup for GoG, the arrival of the original Star Trek Adventure games!
• Obtaining a copy of New One Lives Forever (and defying the legal confusion preventing it's re-release)

So what can I take away from 2015? Well, I think the less time I spend on MMORPGs, the better. Yes they are time-sinks - hell, that's what they're designed to be! - but the amount of hours invested in a MMORPGs can really be better invested in working on some of the many games that I have left untouched.

You know, I've been playing a lot of Western RPGs these past few years that it's been quite some time since I last played, and enjoyed, a JRPG.
Therefore, I think I will, in 2016, play Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky...

So this concludes Game Tumour for 2015. Thank you to everyone who has visited this blog over the past twelve months and I look forward to speaking to you all again in 2016 :)

That was the year it was: 2014

And so we reach the end of another year. So what can I say about 2014?

For me 2014 is defined by Elder Scrolls Online. It's the game I spent the most time on this year - although one could argue that the monthly subscription may have had something to do with it. I never thought I would return to MMORPGurs following my falling out with WoW and whilst ESO has never quite generated the same enthusiasm I had for WoW, it is still a lot fun to play and a great way to get together with some friends and have a bash.

Elsewhere, I did knock off more games off my Hall of Shame. And two of which I am particularly proud of beating: Jade Empire and Planescape Torment. Which goes to show that, in my book, RPGs still rule the roost. Also of note is that Jade Empire was a console game, thus proving that I haven't abandoned that field completely.

And speaking of consoles, the eighth generation has yet to make it's move. Nothing has reared it's head to pique my interest and pull me away from my PC. And considering that my PC is based largely around Steam and heavily modified PC games, that's a very tall order. Still, this generation has only begun and it would be interesting to see what happens next....

And with that, this is the end of Game Tumour for 2014. Okay so I may not have had much to talk about this year but I have no intention of abandoning this blog yet.
So thank you to everyone who has visited this blog over the past twelve months - and I look forward to speaking to you all again in 2015.

That was the year it was: 2013

Well it's that time of the year again: The tail end of the year where I step away from this blog, this computer and indulge in off-time presented by the Christmas holidays.

So 2013: What about it eh? Well in retrospect it is something of a transitory year: the seventh console generation has shuffled off and the eight generation has stepped up to take it's place.
Not that it matters to me: Much of this year has been spent catching myself spending more time on the PC than the console. Indeed, I have found nothing of interest (...yet....) being offered by the Wii-U, XboxOne and PS4 so I think it's fair to say that the console race may continue but it can't make me care.

Continuing on the wavelength, 2013 will, for me, be defined as the year I discovered Steam. I tried my hand at it on an off-chance and found myself enamored off it (So much so I wrote an article on Steam for Muse Culture). Indeed, it is now difficult to imagine how I could've done without Steam. I have found a wide variety of games that I had previously been unaware of, indulged in a game distribution system that actually works and found an oasis when my interest in consoles was drying up.

Other highlights over the past twelve months was knocking down more titles from my Hall of Shame (I'll get on top of it one day!), obtaining the long-lost classic Blade Runner and playing my game of the year The Stanley Parable

So this post will conclude Game Tumour for  2013. So thank you to everyone who has visited this blog over the past twelve months - and I look forward to speaking to you all again in 2014.

That was the year it was: 2012

So this will be my last post for 2012 - Because the festive season is here and there are people who I should spend some time with. And besides, I haven't had a lot to say recently but considering the time of year, it doesn't seem that much of a surprise.

So what does 2012 represent for me in gaming terms? I think it can be easily be boiled down to two things: Online gaming and Good Old Games. It may not sound like much to some of the rest of you but since when I've been concerned with what people think about this blog? I move to my own beat and I like it like that.

But I digress.
Firstly, online gaming. I haven't had much to do with it previously, but 2012 will forever be the time I took my first step into this unfamiliar territory.  And what better way than with the untouchable king of all online games, World of Warcraft. As a newcomer to this I did find a lot to enjoy with playing a game with the same group of people, regular meetings (twice weekly) for questing and making friends. In retrospect, I think I enjoyed the social element of online gaming better than the actual game itself.
But I also found that online gaming does indeed require a large time commitment - even to the point of excluding all other games. And it does seem absurd to have sunk countless hours into World of Warcraft when I have so many other games left unbeaten.
So in the end I did find much to enjoy with online gaming and it's something I would indeed like to return to future - but to do so would require two things on my end: a) a game that is actually heaps of fun to play and b) a lot more strikings from my Hall of Shame.

And then there's Good Old Games. It's not my first foray into downloadable games but it as a source of tracking down classic games it can't be beat. Much of the games I've picked up through GoG have been the kind that slipped my grasp the first time around and it's great to finally play something my gaming comrades experienced years earlier. I like the preservation that GoG offers and one can only wonder how much effort their lawyers went to to make these games available.

Funnily enough, since discovering GoG, along with World of Warcraft, a lot of time has been devoted to my PC as a gaming platform. As such my 360, Wii and even my PS2 have been looking rather unused of late. Needless to say, it would be interesting to see, over the course of the next twelve months, which platform gets the most use.

And that's the end of Game Tumour for 2012. Thank you for reading this blog throughout the past twelve months and I hope to see you on the other side of 2013.
(unless of course the Mayans turned out be right all along....)

That was the year it was: 2011

So this will be my last post for 2011 - Because the festive season is here and there are people who I should spend some time with. And besides, this past week has been rather barren with things to say.
So to wrap this year up, some quick thoughts about the games I played this year. Sure not all of them were released this year but still:

Bioshock
Intimidating at first but this won me over with it's compelling plot, great use of ideas and it's well-realised setting and imagination behind it. The praise lauded on it may have left me reluctant to play it but, much to my surprise, it turned out great.

Dragon Age 2
Why didn't Bioware keep the pattern established with Origins and Awakening and give this game a subtitle? This game had some good ideas true but they were bogged down with dull environments, stupid combat and no proper goal. Still it would be interesting to see what Bioware will do now with Dragon Age 3....

Green Day Rock Band
Dookie was a welcome addition to My Rock Band Library - not sure about the other two albums though.....

Iron Brigade
I became aware of this game through a positive review on Good Game. I've enjoyed playing Mechwarrior 2 in the past so the idea of stomping around in a huge mech had some appeal. Can't say I'm a big fan of Tower Defense games but this was good fun.

Lego Rock Band
Something of a surprise: I originally got for the games for the songs but somehow, it won me over. Juvenile yes but with some a charm of it's own.

Oblivion
Another long time coming but I enjoyed this game purely for wandering around and checking the well-realised world out. But as this game is an action RPG, one would think I'd missed the point...

Portal
Somehow the memes based around this game made actually playing the damn thing redundant. Oh well...

Red Dead Redemption
I've heard some less than praising comments for this game. Can't imagine why....

Rock band 3
Well what can i say that hasn't been said before? Some changes were nice others weren't. Music Library good, stupid difficulty not.

And that's the end of Game Tumour for 2011. Thank you for reading and I'll see you on the other side of 2012
So what will the new year bring? That's a very good question...