Welcome one and all to Buttonholehttp://www.buttonhole.com.au/ HAZE™ - 4 Player Co-op / Campaign Demo Incoming AUSTRALIA - April 16th, 2008 - Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, today announced the imminent release of a fully playable demo for Haze, the new first-person shooter set in a harsh future where war is never quite what it seems. Coming exclusively to the PLAYSTATION®Network in early May, th http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/684.html On Wednesday March 5, Sam Hillier (Buttonhole editor and beer connoisseur) and reviewing machine Deputy Editor Ninja - attended the opening of Game On at ACMI, in Melbourne's Federation Square. The night was a big success, read on for the juicy details! Game On had an excellent opening night, and I was pleased to attend both the morning media tour at 10:30am and the officia http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/681.html The designer of the legendary video game PONG - Alan Alcorn - will be giving two free talks at ACMI, Federation Square in Melbourne as part of the Game On exhibition. The first free talk will be on Thursday 6 March, 12pm: "Pong designer Al Alcorn talks about the origin of Atari and the culture from which it emerged and the videogame world's first killer app http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/680.html eGames and Entertainment expo is often referred to as the Australian equivalent of the E3 Expo in America. With a statement like that among critics and fellow nerds, I knew I had to check this out for myself. For those who don't know eGames and Entertainment expo is a three day coming together of all things video game related. It makes any gamer young or old, casual or dedicated feel right at home http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/679.html The good people at ACMI have been kind enough to give Buttonhole some free passes to Game On. As much as I'd like to just rock up and use them all myself, I think they might get a bit suspicious after a while. So, being my ticket scalping skills are about as good as George Costanza's, here's what will happen. There http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/677.html There are two art forms I truly love in this world more than any other; Comic Books and Video Games, in that order. They both can be written with or without hyphenation and nobody can seem to decide what works. They are also sometimes looked down upon by other more successful media. Yes, like comedian Rodney Dangerfield they "don't get no respect". But fortunately for u http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/673.html This is one of those games that absolutely refuses classification. I don't mean it's full of hardcore porn, just that Diner Dash doesn't easily fit into established video game genres. It's also a game that if someone asked you "what do you do in this game" the answer "wait tables" is probably going to get you one of those long thoughtful looks. The kind that usual http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/672.html Ever since Sammy had shown me Guitar Hero II on the PS2 I was hooked on this game. Possibly what was even more surprising was that my wife got hooked on it too! This is why games like Guitar Hero, Wii Sports, Wii Play are so great - peop http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/669.html As I keep feeling the need to repeat, Old Sammy has been gone for a long time (some would argue I've been "gone" for my entire life, but that's a different story) and as a result, many things Buttonhole intended to cover, didn't get done. One of the things I most regret missing was the GO3 show. If I may be so bold as to http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/667.html Welcome dear reader to Remnants & Relics, the first in an ongoing series of features looking back at various aspects of yesterday's video games. This series is one that I'd hoped to kick off many months ago, but I just haven't had the time to do it justice, until now. So consider this your opportunity to put on your best pair or rose-tinted glasses, open up a luke-warm can of clichés and prep http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/662.html Here at Buttonhole we're big fans of the Sam and Max series. If you haven't already downloaded Sam and Max Season One or bought the fancy box set that comes with a few extras, then you better hurry up, because Season Two is on it's way. You can download a free demo, individual chapters or purchase the whole Season One dirt cheap direct from http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/663.html As if we don't already have enough events happening lately, eGames is upon us once again. I just missed out last year and you can be damn sure I'll be attending this one. I'm not going to waste any more time here, just bloody well go if you know what's good for you and read the press release below! (No excuses will be accepted for missing eGames 2007). http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/661.html It may be some time before it arrives, but I just had to let people know about the upcoming kick-ass showcase coming to ACMI in February 2008. GAME ON! is the thing that's got me more excited that a caffeinated squirrel on a treadmill. Read the press release, and in case your memory is lousy like mine, I'll be posting another update closer to the actual event date to make sure none http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/659.html This could be a difficult review, as I have played a demo of Test Drive: Unlimited, on the mighty white box of power, the Xbox 360 and comparing the two is like comparing horseshoes and hand grenades, however I will push on and try to review the PS2 version on its own merits (or lack thereof). Its probably also worth mentioning that I haven't tested the game online, being one http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/658.html Sports games (I'll admit) are not my preferred choice when gaming. There are a few exceptions of course. The occasional motor sport game or perhaps some NBA Jam or on occasion a bit of wrestling perhaps. Certainly nothing too serious that involves paying attention to meaningless things like referees, points or rules. More at home in the fields of Hyrule than I am on the basketball court, firin http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/649.html Ah, Japanese organised crime. Who among us can say we haven't tried to put out a hit on someone at one time or another. Maybe someone cheated on you with your Mother's Brother's Uncle? Put out a hit. Someone baked your Level 50 pet Pokemon into a Pikachu Pie? Put out a hit. It solves all the problems in the world, except for when the cops come a calling - but you can just put out a http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/640.html Let me tell y'all bout a man named Jed, poor mountaineer bearly kept his family fed, untill one day he took over Rockstar games and yelled "I'm rich Bi-yatch!" Vice City makes its triumphant return in VC2, more commonly known as Vice City Stories. That means more running over pedestrians in a comical fashion, more laugh out loud radio comedy, m http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/633.html Lego Star Wars 2 covers the original trilogy, emulating the entire three film story via humorous but accurate cut scenes and fun, varied gameplay. This is a pretty long winded review, because I just really enjoyed this game, so skip to the end paragraphs for the short version, otherwise read on... In LSW2 you wander around large levels, shooting lots of crap that drop http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/627.html Melbourne, Australia, 14th February 2007 - A brand new channel launches today for the Wii Menu providing a quick, easy and fun way to cast your answers to a multitude of different questions. The Everybody Votes Channel allows you to compare and contrast your opinions with those of friends, family and people from across the globe. With a regularly updated supply of new questions to http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/620.html Tony Hawk, "the birdman", "the chairman of the board" - call him what you will the man does know his way around a skateboard and with this, the eighth installment in probably one of the most accessible and recognized games in the industry, one would hope he knows his way around a videogame as well. The Premise is simple(as well as virtually unchanged from the rest of the series) - T http://www.buttonhole.com.au/review/id/618.html