I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while, but events seem to have overtaken me somewhat. Anyway, as you’ll have noticed from Stoo’s recent newspost (or indeed from the site itself), the nice fellows over at Just Games Retro have decided to call it a day.

It’s always a shame when a site you enjoy and visit on a regular basis shuts down, particularly in this case as the quality and frequency of JGR’s updates not only meant a regular serving of retro goodness, but also a source of inspiration to try harder and do better with our own content.

Anyway, I won’t waffle on, except to say that JGR will certainly be missed. If by any chance you’re reading this and you haven’t had a chance to check out the site, go there now and do so before JMan pulls the plug…

Hi there. I’m trying to keep to a more regular update schedule this year, so here’s the rather great Deus Ex: Invisible War.

As mentioned in the review don’t worry about a flood of mid-2000s games – we’re just easing into 2004 with a review of a sequel to a classic. I’ll go play something from the early 90s next, honest.

Hello there.

One new review for you today, a whimsical head-scratcher by the name of Soldier of Fortune.

Stay tuned for more, soon.

Hi all. You may have already heard that fellow oldies-reviewing site Just Games Retro has ceased updating and will soon be closing its doors. We’ll be sorry to see them go, as we found their reviews to be both entertaining and informative.

Most of their content will be transferred to Mobygames, however the J Man has graciously donated us a review, so take a look at Star Trek: Captain’s Chair.

There’s been a countdown on the GOG homepage for a little while now promising a big and exciting announcement soon.

It transpires that they’ve signed a deal with Activision, which doesn’t immediately make me think of any game in particular that I’d like to see on GOG soon.

However, as part of the announcement, the first Gabriel Knight game, Sins of the Fathers, has been released. I didn’t know Activision had the rights to that series, to be honest.

Anyway, the disk version has been an abandonware staple for a while now, but we’re talking about the full talkie version here, which is something I’ve wanted to get my hands on for a while.

Disclaimer : Speculation regarding upcoming reviews on FFG is not linked to the likelihood of them appearing.

Hello there.

One new review for you today – I’ve taken a look at Uplink.

Pedants beware: I haven’t shortened the name, it’s only known as Uplink: Hacker Elite in the US. We don’t need any of your fancy subtitles over here, no sir.

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a good one.

Once again, we narrowly failed to make a final New Year’s Eve update for 2009. So let’s put a positive spin on it – at least we’re in early with our first entry for 2010.

And it’s a double update too. I’ve taken a look at The Mystery of the Druids, a relatively modern point-and-click adventure, while Stoo’s been bashing away at the PC version of hack-and-slash classic, Golden Axe.

So that was 2009. Despite our best efforts it’s been a quiet one, although we did manage to update each month, which is still better than we used to manage back in the early days (when, ironically, we had much more free time).

Anyway, our limited ambitions for the year were largely realised. Having started the year by adding a review of a Sierra adventure, Police Quest II, we went not one but two better by covering chapters three and four as well. By my reckoning that’s the PQ series covered – we’re not counting the SWAT games, goddammit.

However, having enjoyed PQ more than we were perhaps expecting, in a fit of enthusiasm I decided to review Jim Walls’ Blue Force. That was my mistake – it’s rubbish.

All police questing aside, we also met our (well, my) commitment to cover Davilex’s Knight Rider game. Which is also, er, not very good. Thankfully, we didn’t bother with Daikatana or else the year would have been a depressing slog through old rubbish (let’s not mention MegaRace, then).

Thankfully, though, that wasn’t the case. Personal highlights included finally getting around to playing cult classic Grim Fandango. Plus a selection of decent racing games, the best of which was Rockstar’s Midnight Club II.

In between all my larking around on light-hearted, commitment-free titles, Stoo was hard at work boosting the neglected areas of the site. Haegemonia was added to the strategy section, while after years of trying to get a party together to venture forth, the long-awaited review of Baldur’s Gate finally materialised. Free Dr Pepper for everyone!

In a first for the site, we finally got a fighting game – or “beat ’em up”, if you will – reviewed. Fittingly it was a PC-only effort, One Must Fall. While in the action section, Stoo continued our quest to review every FPS except Doom with reviews of the ageing Heretic and the more modern Unreal 2.

So what for 2010? With this site, as with life, I have no specific ambitions. We should have some more reviews of some old games at various stages throughout the year. Stay tuned.

I’d hoped to have something interesting to post for xmas, but if all else fails at least we can highlight a great deal out there in the world of digital distribution.

So how about Loom, The Dig, and both Indiana Jones adventures for £1.74? Get it!

[edit]Also worth a look, the entire Dark Forces/Jedi Knight set for £7.49.

Hello all. Just one review today, the shooter Wheel of Time.

Hopefully we’ll have another update before christmas!