Let's Playing Together

There is decent money to be made on YouTube these days, but the Let’s Play phenomenon had to start somewhere. HEIDI KEMPS investigates the birth of an Internet sensation.

Moreso than almost any other technological advancement, the internet has dramatically transformed the way we interface with games. Some of these ways are obvious: we now have easily available, speedy online play and the ability to download full games to our systems with a few button strokes. But the internet has also granted us a worldwide platform to showcase ourselves interacting with games. No longer are play sessions solo, fleeting experiences: in the case of the newer consoles, sharing our game time is a part of the system’s functionality. And part of what has defined this paradigm shift that’s turned watching people play games into its own form of amusement is the video phenomenon known as Let’s Play.

Apotheon

The gods should learn to leave it in their pants

In the before time, the long, long ago, Jordan Mechner created a game that formed the template for side scrolling platformers. Prince of Persia was a landmark game, featuring clever level design, hard melee combat and beautiful animation thanks to Mechner using his brother for rotoscoping. Apotheon takes a very different visual approach to the original Prince of Persia, but the legacy of the legendary platformer is still evident in the way it plays and feels. This is definitely a good thing.

Minitar Wireless AC Repeater

Stretching your WiFi network to the limit

As somebody who has just moved into a house that doesn’t have Gigabit Ethernet conveniently piped through the wall cavities, I’ve had to endure the delights of trying to establish a Wi-Fi network over three floors. With my main router on the middle floor, I’ve been dealing with a signal strength of about 60% up on the top floor, where my HTPC and office PC are located, and frequent drop outs have become part of my daily routine. Enter this Wi-Fi repeater, which aims to boost the existing Wi-Fi signal, allowing the wireless network to reach further, faster.

Philips BDM3470UP Display

As wide as it gets

Over the last year I’ve started to see more Ultra-Wide displays making their way into stores, and the latest of these boundary-benders is this behemoth from Philips. Measuring 34 inches across, it’s a desk-spanning beast that should offer gamers an immersive retina-filling experience. Let’s take a look to see if this display can overcome some of the limitations I found with earlier Ultra-Wide displays.