Alternative Magazine Online

by Guest/Previous | 03/10/2009 · 1:35 pm

GAME REVIEW – ‘Splosion Man

By Duncan Voice

Gaming droughts, rain, tennis, annoying cider adverts, sweating to death on the London Underground. British summers leave a lot to be desired but thankfully Microsoft, with its much-vaunted ‘Summer of Arcade’ made this year a bit different from the norm. Five games released over the course of the summer at a price of 1200 MS points, at admittedly varying quality – I’m looking at you Turtles in Time – but with this scheme Microsoft has offered gamers an excellent selection of games during the slow summer months, championed digital distribution and once again solidified Xbox Live as the premier online console service.

One of the standout games from not only the summer, but possibly the year is the wonderfully titled ‘Splosion Man, from Twisted Pixel, creators of the well received The Maw. On paper, it is a typical platformer, with the task of making your way to the end of the level in as quick a time as possible. Sound familiar? Fear not, you will have never played anything like this before! Continue reading →

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Tagged as 'Splosion Man Review, 2d, Live Arcade, microsoft, platformer, Splosion man, Summer of Arcade, the maw, twisted pixel, Xbox 360, xbox 360 live

by Martin Mulrooney | 02/10/2009 · 12:25 pm

Site Update – A Word From Site Creator And Founder Martin Mulrooney

By Marty Mulrooney

bio pic 2

Hey everyone! If you are reading this, then congratulations. You are one of the increasingly large number of people who visits Alternative Magazine Online on a regular basis. You are the lifeblood of this whole experiment in offering something set slightly aside from the mainstream!

Today marks a very special day for the site, and for myself personally. That is because today, the site hits 6 months of age! I would have never thought all that time ago, not even graduated from university yet, that the site would grow so rapidly, or get such a wide variety of visitors and collaborators. So now, if you would please bear with me, I have several announcements to make!

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Tagged as Alexandra Boyd, Alternative Magazine Online, AltMagOnline, Announcement, Dom Armato, Duncan Jones, Duncan Jones Interview, Duncan Voice, HarperCollins, Michael Marshall Smith, Paddy Hoey

by Martin Mulrooney | 30/09/2009 · 10:54 pm

INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Duncan Jones (Director Of Moon)

By Marty Mulrooney

I had the immense satisfaction earlier this year to see a film that not only instantly became one of my favourite science fiction films of all time, but one of my favourite films ever, period. Moon, the debut film of director Duncan Jones, is a small low-budget sci-fi film with a big heart.

: Director Duncan Jones and actor Sam Rockwell on set.

Boasting a phenomenal central performance from Sam Rockwell as a lonely lunar-miner, as well as voice support from Kevin Spacey as his robotic companion, it now rivals Blade Runner (at least for me personally) as an enduring cinema classic that I will rewatch again and again for many years to come.

They don’t make sci-fi films like they used to, but Moon looks set to change that. Miniature work, a focus on smart plot development, and some very deep questions about the human condition… Moon truly is a blast from the past.

Finally, I was able to speak to director Duncan Jones over the phone for a good 20 minutes on the 21st September 2009. What follows is a recording of our full conversation, as well as a transcript to make all of the little details easier to pour over and enjoy…

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Tagged as 2001, Alien, Bill Pearson, David Bowie, District 9, Duncan Jones, Duncan Jones Interview, GERTY, Guy Ritchie, HAL, Helium-3, Kevin Spacey, Lunar Base, Moon, Moon Film, Moon Interview, Outland, Ridley Scott's Alien, Sam Bell, Sam Rockwell, science fiction, Shepperton Studios, Silent Running

by Martin Mulrooney | 14/09/2009 · 10:56 pm

GAME REVIEW – Batman: Arkham Asylum

By Marty Mulrooney

BatmanLookingOverArkhamAsylum

With Christopher Nolan successfully rebooting Batman on the silver screen in recent years, the dark knight is pretty hot property right now. I didn’t realise before writing this review, but there have actually been a lot of Batman games over the years, usually to tie in with the various film releases, with varying degrees of success.

This new Batman game from Rocksteady Studios is nothing do with the recent film releases though, being released on the PS3 and Xbox360 last month, with the PC release coming out later this week. The version I am reviewing is the PS3 version, but it should apply to the XBox360 version as well: at long last, it seems that multi-platform game design is reaching a stage where differences between the HD console versions is negligible. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Arkham Asylum, Batarang, Batman, Batman Arkham Asylum Collector's Edition, Batman: Arkham Asylum PS3 Review, Batman: Arkham Asylum Review, batmobile, batsuit, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, freeflow combat system, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, PhysX, Poison Ivy, Rocksteady Studios, The Joker, The Riddler, The Scarecrow