It was the best of guides, it was the worst of guides. It was a time of gifts, it was a time of self-care. It wasn’t actually the worst of guides because everything on it was really pretty neat. Maybe I should have picked a better book to use as the basis for this guide introduction, but here we are: It's the 2019 PC Gamer Holiday Gift Guide!This here is a guide to the finest things one could buy their nerdy, PC gaming friend, family member and/or self for the holidays. But PC Gamer, you ask, why would I buy myself a gift for the holidays? I don’t know, it’s your money, maybe get yourself something nice with it. Speaking of something nice, here are some nice things that won't break the bank, followed by gift ideas broken down by category.Know what kind of gift you're looking for? Hit a category on the nav to jump ahead.Gifts Under $20Fangamer Enamel Pins | $10-19 at FangamerOkay, let me try again: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a nerd in possession of a … [Read more...] about The PC Gamer Holiday Gift Guide 2019
Sega rom
Shenmue 3: the view from Guilin
Editor's note: Shenmue's a game that can do funny things to people. First time round I was obsessed with AM2's detail-rich world, and its take on a place that seemed oh-so-real - Japan in the mid-80s, specifically life in the unremarkable town of Yokosuka. So obsessed was I that when I first made it over to Japan some years later, the first thing I did was drag my partner to the location that inspired it all - a short hour's ride from Tokyo itself - and was impressed how Shenmue had captured the place. The sequel went to Hong Kong, while the third game finds itself in rural China, out in Guilin. How faithful exactly is Shenmue 3's take on that world? British-Chinese journalist Lu-Hai Liang was born there at the very time the game takes place, so I was fascinated to get his take on how well Shenmue had captured his birthplace. I didn't expect to like Shenmue 3. I'd been warned that the game is slow and creaky, and from images I'd glimpsed, the visuals looked like the graphical … [Read more...] about Shenmue 3: the view from Guilin
A postcard from Yokosuka: Retracing the steps of the original Shenmue
Editor's note: Shenmue 3 is not only a thing after its reveal at last night's barnstorming Sony conference, it's already reached its Kickstarter goal. What better time, then, to go back to the original Shenmue in this retrospective piece, first published in 2012, about a day-trip to Yokosuka. You can't buy a ticket to the Mushroom Kingdom, and there's sadly no package holiday I know of that will whisk you away for a couple of golden weeks in the kingdom of Ivalice. You can, however, take a train to one of gaming's great locations - although it's hardly the most fantastical of places. 45 minutes up from Tokyo's Shinagawa station on the Keikyu line is Yokosuka, one of the Kanagawa prefecture's more unremarkable cities. It's just beyond the point where the clutter of Tokyo thins, and just before the pastoral countryside comes into focus; an industrial hub, its shores are consumed by a US naval base, its outskirts hemmed in by factories while its centre is a world of humdrum shopping. … [Read more...] about A postcard from Yokosuka: Retracing the steps of the original Shenmue