Jason, Author at Thumb Culture

23Mar

By JasonNo Comments

Roccat Kone Pure Ultra Gaming Mouse Review – Ergonomic Feather

I am quite particular when it comes to mice. Having come from the days of the heavy mouse where you had to regularly clean your ball and scrape the dirt from your rollers and then advancing to the optical versions I do sometimes struggle when I encounter a lightweight variant. Roccat was eager for me to try their new Kone Pure Ultra gaming mouse however when I read that it was only 66grams I did start to worry. Would I throw it off the desk? would it feel cheap? would it be ok under my palm for long durations? In the past when I have reviewed mice I have been hard to satisfy, particularly when it comes to ergonomics as I can suffer from cramps fairly easily and have had injections for carpal tunnel. So what did I think of the Kone Pure Ultra? Straight from the box, the first th...

19Mar

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews, Retrogaming Corner

Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle Review – DNR?

Wow, well here is a blast from the past! Thanks to devs Arc System Works, you are now able to play nearly every Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun vintage game as well as a few others taking you right back to the '80s and '90s! So basically the era when I was a carefree child regularly playing on my Atari St with my dad and my neighbourhood friends. It's time to don those garish Bermuda short and T-shirt combos, strike up a bit of jive bunny and the master mixers and go back in time with the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun Retro Brawler Bundle. Gameplay Do you love 8-bit side scrollers, kicking and punching your way through levels, defeating big bosses and also having the option to play with a mate both offline and on some titles up to 4 players online? Well, let's see what Arc System Work...

Hunt: Showdown Review – Spine Chilling Evilness

21Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Hunt: Showdown Review – Spine Chilling Evilness

Is it safe to come out now? For the last few days, I have been playing a multiplayer survival horror called Hunt: Showdown by Crytek on the PS4 and boy have I jumped out of my seat a few times in the process! Gameplay In a nutshell, Hunt: Showdown is what would happen if you blended Van Helsing, The Walking Dead and elements of The Darkzone from The Division into one and mixed them with some 1895 Louisiana inspired countryside. Your core mission is to play as a hunter and track down mysterious bounties either by yourself, in a duo, or even a trio by investigating areas in your world that emit a strange glow that can only be seen while using a mysterious energy called Dark Sight. For every bounty there are 3 locations in the world that you need to explore that contain a pile of e...

11Feb

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Worbital Review – Ready, Aim, Fire!

Worbital, developed by Team Jolly Rodger and published by Advanced Interactive Gaming is a real-time strategic artillery game set in space where you must build a whole host of weapon and defense platforms on your orbiting planet while trying to blow up the enemy ones! Out now across all consoles and PC, was I going to find Worbital out of this world or a failed launch? Gameplay Worbital, from the game title I was left to think that this game would be something to do war and orbiting, I was happy when I got it right! The basis of this game is a simple one however when it comes to strategy and timing, you will really need to keep your wits about you amongst the chaos! Reveal the core of the enemy planet and blow it up! There is a campaign mode that lets you play through a sto...

22Jan

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

Decay of Logos Review – Decay Of Dreams

Decay of Logos. From the title, I thought this was going to be another one of those logo/company guessing games however I was relieved to actually find a rather cool looking third-person RPG game. Developed by Amplify Creations and published in partnership with Rising Star Games, Decay of Logos has been on a journey since early conception by game designer and programmer Andre Constantino in 2014. Playing as a young girl named Ada you explore the fantasy world with your mystical Elk as you seek revenge on the culprits behind your village being destroyed. All is, however, not what it seems. Gameplay Yes, everything isn't at all as it seems! I will confess, I have held back on writing this review for a little while. I wanted the devs to address issues that other gamers have picked up o...

AVICII Invector Review – Rhythmic EDM Awesomeness

9Dec

By JasonNo Comments

PlayStation Reviews

AVICII Invector Review – Rhythmic EDM Awesomeness

AVICII Invector is a rhythmic action music-based game created by Swedish devs Hello There Games and published by Wired Productions. It is released for Playstation, Xbox and PC on 10th December 2019 and on Nintendo Switch in early 2020. The late artist AVICII (Tim Bergling), was a legend to me when it came to electronic dance music as he brought a very distinct uplifting melody and beat to each song that he created or remixed. His sudden death back in 2018 was gutting not only to his friends and family, but also to his fans around the world. For developer Hello There Games, they were in the middle of creating Avicii Invector with him, with development starting back in 2015. What began as a collaboration has in fact now become a legacy to AVICII. So what was this game they were creat...

3Dec

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

Qpad DX-80 Gaming Mouse

The Qpad DX-80 gaming mouse, manufactured in the Czech Republic is the latest piece of hardware to be kindly received at TC HQ. Costing €49.90 direct from the Qpad website plus another €15 p&p to the UK, how does this multi-coloured mouse do? Starting with the packaging you can straight away see from the front what the RGB LED lit DX-80 is packing. We have an optical sensor, 7 buttons, upto 8000 dpi, a gold plated USB plug, 4000 frames per second and an onboard ARM processor. On the back of the box the spec is crammed 11 times in various languages, therefore, utilising a "one box for everywhere" design. Although this can be seen as a cost-saving, let's hope that this does not also reflect on the product itself. Sliding the ambidextrous DX-80 out from the box you are greet...

27Nov

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

Roccat Horde Keyboard

When it comes to gaming keyboards you really only have one choice when it comes down to the best key actuation, and that is mechanical. Mechanical keys have always offered a faster response time than membrane when pressed, and tend to be on most gamer's desks. However, what if you cannot afford a mechanical gaming keyboard but would still like an upgrade on your quieter membrane version? Enter the Roccat Horde membranical gaming keyboard! No, I didn't just make up that word! Roccat has designed a wired gaming keyboard that allows the keys to have a fast midway actuation which in simple terms means that when you press a key, the fast response will allow the signal to be registered quicker than on a standard membrane keyboard. According to Roccat, the Horde will respond at 7.8ms ...

20Nov

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

Roccat Khan AIMO Headset Review

Back in 2018, Roccat brought out a successor to the Khan Pro headset, effectively upgrading from a stereo speaker system to an all-singing all-dancing Hi-Res 7.1 surround sound monster, also with the addition of some funky RGB lighting. Having a pretty basic soundcard on my PC, I was keen to see how the Roccat Khan AIMO would enhance my immersion when playing games as well as listening to movies. Shut your eyes, crank up that volume and let's dive in! Design & Comfort The Roccat Khan AIMO does not look massively spectacular as you remove it from the box. On first perception, there is a lot of black plastic and plush leather which did not make me want to say "wow look at these!" straightaway. The rigid mic boom can be swiveled from it's upright position (mic muted) to it's low...

15Nov

By JasonNo Comments

Hardware & Tech

Roccat Kain 120 AIMO Review

Following on from the news back in August of Roccat's latest gaming mice, we have been lucky enough at TC HQ to obtain a Kain 120 AIMO to take for a test slide. Straight from the box the wired gaming mouse has a good weight to it, 89g to be exact. It doesn't feel too heavy to slide around, nor does it feel like a plastic box of air. The rubber gliders on the underside do a great job of allowing the mouse feel frictionless as it travels across the mousepad. The height of the mouse is a pleasant 4.3cm while the width is 6.5cm and the length is 12.4cm. It feels just the right size below my large hand. The Kain 120 AIMO comes with a 1.8m braided usb cable, great if your PC is on the floor or on the other side of the desk. The Kain 120 AIMO glows beautifully alongside the keyboar...