Recently I've been thinking about ways of playing retro games on my big TV in the living room, without having retro consoles all over the place. For a while I was considering getting a PC solely for running MAME and emulators, but that would mean switching around HDMI cables whenever I wanted to play (the 3 I have on the TV are already utilised), and would also be expensive.

I've been hearing about the Hyperkin Retron 5 for months now, and to me it sounded great - numerous cartridge slots allows SNES, Super Famicom, Megadrive/Genesis, Gameboy, NES, Famicom, Gameboy Colour & Gameboy Advance to be played, with HDMI output, ports for original controllers and the option to save games (this option wasn't possible in many of the original games).

The only problem was that the console is a bit clunky for my living room (at least from the point of view of my fiancee!), and games would no doubt end up strewn about the place, which also wouldn't go down well...

Then I heard about the Ouya - a tiny console made solely for online games, and... RETRO GAMES. That's right, this little box of wonders runs emulators and ROMs. I don't care how well the Ouya game store performs, or whether it gets exclusives or not - I want to fill this thing with emulators and ROMs, so I can play every classic game I love at the drop of a hat. I've heard the wireless controller isn't great, but I've also heard a PS3 controller works just fine, so no problem there.

The only question left is, how long until I get it? At £99 on Amazon UK, us Brits are getting the worse deal again, as it's on Amazon USA for $99. I'm a sucker though, so I'll probably still get it...

This is just a picture of my gecko, and my Mario tattoo. That's all.

Is it just me, or does the announcement that Nintendo are releasing a version of the 3DS that doesn't do 3D seem a little strange? I mean, I understand that they are trying to put out a budget handheld in order to widen their audience, but wasn't the main appeal of the 3DS that it was, you know, 3D?

I'm a fan of the 3DS. I was an early adopter who snapped up the console as soon as Ocarina of Time was released. The visuals on this game are glorious, something akin to seeing Avatar in 3D in an IMAX. I got lost in Hyrule for months and loved every second of it. One day I'm sure I'll re-play the game, it was that good. Personally, I think the magic of Ocarina of Time 3D will be pretty limited in 2D. Fair enough, some of the games released for the console don't benefit much from the 3D, and it just seems to be tacked on as a gimmick, but when they get it right, they make games great.

The other issue for me is the look of the console.

I just don't like the design. It's like one of those clunky Wii-U controllers that just look like they haven't been designed with human hands in mind. It's like it wants to be a tablet but isn't, and isn't sure if it wants to be a handheld console or not. I don't see what was wrong with the clamshell design. I know it would be sticking with the same formula, but why fix it if it ain't broken? What could very likely get broken are numerous 2DS screens that don't have the protective clamshell covering them when they're not being used.

So once again Nintendo have tweaked a console and re-released it. Consider me unimpressed so far...

It definitely seems trendy to bitch about Ben Affleck right now. I was as surprised as anyone when I heard he was cast as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel, but is it really worth the pitchforks-and-torches campaign that seems to have erupted on the Internet?? I mean, I know he's been in his share of bad films (as have most actors who have been in movies as long as he has), but hasn't he earned a bit of slack in recent years? I read a good article about the casting decision today, and I recommend you check it out HERE.

I for one have been a fan of his directing work on Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo, as well as his acting in the latter two movies. I enjoyed Hollywoodland, and his smaller role in State of Play. Like the article said, he's taken a step back from blockbusters and worked on smaller projects which undoubtedly make much money, but garner higher praise from critics. And who knows, he might just pull off an older, battle-wisened Batman with class. Personally I thought he did nothing wrong in Daredevil, but the supporting characters were more like caricatures, and the script was largely lacking. And by lacking, I mean shit.

But this movie is in pre-production! It doesn't open for another TWO YEARS! Fanboys just need to chill out and judge it when it's finished. I for one am just glad Ryan Gosling didn't get the part. One can only imagine a vision of Batman driving around in the Batmobile or on the Batbike, staring vacantly into the distance, being given only 3 lines of dialogue because it makes him "cooler". Just kidding, I'm not going to hate on Gosling like everyone hates on Batfleck.

But really, thank God it's not Gosling ;-)

...is shown in this photo:

Hard drives, controllers, poor cable management, a tacky Pac Man clock, and Toad. Roll on move day!

I've decided to document the development of the games room I'm creating in my house. My other half has kindly allowed me to utilise our only spare room for the indulgence of my childlike dream! I've wanted a games room forever, so now that I've finally got my own place (ahem, our own place), I couldn't resist making a mancave with a geeky twist.

The house is a new build, so the room is a completely blank slate. Obviously other rooms have taken priority when it comes to furnishings, but I'm slowly populating the games room with movie, comic and game memorabilia, which is currently spread between 3 addresses. I can't wait to consolidate my stuff.

The display cabinet was a must to display my models and figures. Only £40 from Ikea, so I think I'll pick another one up soon. The fat old TV will be utilised if there's room for it in the end. Everyone knows retro consoles display better on CRT! The posters have all been measured up for framing, but I won't give away what they are until they're on the wall! Here's a closer look at the cabinet:

I've been a bit of a Ninja Turtles fan since about 1988, so couldn't resist these new toys which are based on the original figures (which I used to own of course). The Back To The Future models have been acquired over the years, although there is also a bigger DeLorean not pictured (will have to wait until I get the second cabinet). At the bottom are some little Nintendo figurines I picked up in a sale at HMV. There are many series of these, however I'm just looking to get the main characters. Wanted: Bowser, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario! The ocarina is an official Nintendo one that I got free from a comic convention a couple of years ago. The sheet of paper behind it is a guide on how to make different notes. It all just sounds bad when I try it though!

And at the top of the cabinet, an Arkham Asylum game replica batarang from a comic convention and a model of Batman's broken cowl, which houses the Blu Ray for The Dark Knight Rises (this was all part of the special edition set).

And that's the room so far! Very early days so far, but I'm looking forward to watching it develop.

Firstly, thanks for visiting the site! It's only been online a few weeks, and I'm still getting to grips with editing it, and getting content uploaded. It's a slow process, as my job and life tends to get in the way, but I'm getting there!

I started the site as an outlet for reviews I've done for videogames (mostly retro) and game-related movies. I got tired of the process of getting them published on other peoples' sites, so I figured, why not start my own? It's been a learning curve, and I'm enjoying the challenge so far. There's just something nice about seeing your work in print... even if very few people are reading it so far! It's early days I know, and the site is still a little barebones in terms of content, but I'm getting there. Hopefully I'll figure out how to get the site to show up on Google too, currently I have no idea how I'm getting ANY page views! Please check out the Twitter and Facebook pages too, as I'll try to be proactive in updating them too.

At the end of the day, I just hope you enjoy the site. I'm not trying to sell anything, it's purely a labour of love for games and movies. I hope that shines through!