Features

The Thumb Culture Christmas 2020 Gamer Gift Guide

11Dec

By DanNo Comments

The Thumb Culture Christmas 2020 Gamer Gift Guide

With Christmas 2020 just over 2 weeks away, now is the time to get your shopping done if you have not already. Leaving it any longer and you run the risk of not getting the gift you wanted. Not only this, your gift for the special person in your life could end up coming late. Neither of these options is viable, so if you are a gamer, or buying for a gamer have a little read of our gift guide and get ordering. Below we have a range of goodies at different price points! Let the shopping commence! To start off, it is Christmas, therefore we are starting our gift guide off with a special mention. As you know Thumb Culture support charities on a yearly basis and it wouldn't feel right without trying to help support another cause at Christmas. Finchy Of The North is an online Etsy shop that he...

Call Of Duty Cold War Review – A Campaign Glance

24Nov

By StuartNo Comments

Features

Call Of Duty Cold War Review – A Campaign Glance

For this Call of Duty Cold War review we join our resident expert, on Call of Duty Campaigns to throw his opinions out into the Duty-sphere! JW do your thing! Time Heals There have been many great reunions over time... Fleetwood Mac, The Goonies The office and If you had told me 2 years ago I would be writing a piece for Thumb Culture they would’ve probably replied with a more chance of hell freezing over comment but time is a great healer and thanks to them, here I am (but more on that maybe another time). If you had also told me 2 years ago I’d be absolutely loving a Call of duty campaign again the reaction would’ve been the same. How pleasing it is to be wrong on both occasions and as I don’t want to ruin the future for you, let’s go spoiler free. Call of Duty Cold War was a massi...

Xbox Game Pass – What Is The So-Called “Best Deal In Gaming”?

18Nov

By Jay ArmstrongNo Comments

Features

Xbox Game Pass – What Is The So-Called “Best Deal In Gaming”?

Xbox Game Pass is branded by Microsoft as the "best deal in gaming". I personally believe they've earned that title. In fact, it's become almost a parody at this stage how much we, at Thumb Culture, love Xbox Game Pass. Not only does it provide a lot of content at an affordable price, but it also delivers it across multiple platforms. Originally announced, rather unceremoniously via an Xbox blog post, it was immediately apparent that it was going to be a good deal for gamers. The service has grown a lot since those days, and is talked about weekly by media and gamers at large. This is thanks to the regular updates and content provided by Xbox and their partners. What is it? Xbox Game Pass is a subscription model; just like Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime. It offers a list of games t...

20Sep

By ArNo Comments

Features

Thumb Culture @ PAX Online x EGX Digital 2020!

With this year's EGX being cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, events have taken a digital turn this autumn with PAX Online x EGX Digital 2020. In even more exciting news, Thumb Culture has been given the opportunity to present a panel as part of PAX X EGX's digital showcase! We're honoured to have had the chance to present our digital panel on all things cross-platform. As advocates of Gaming For All, we're passionate about encouraging cross-play in the gaming community. We're all about encouraging gamers from a range of backgrounds to get involved in everything games have to offer. As part of our live-streamed digital panel, the Thumb Culture team discussed cross-platform, cross-progression and everything in between. Join us and watch below as they give their opinions o...

PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X? Apples vs Oranges? What Does The Next Gen Bring…

19Aug

By Jay Armstrong2 Comments

Features

PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X? Apples vs Oranges? What Does The Next Gen Bring…

We're now pretty deep into 2020 and with that we've had some news on the next generation of console gaming, however we still don't actually know much about the launches themselves. What we do know however is that both Microsoft and Sony are adopting very different approaches to the next generation and as a multi-platform owner I find that exciting. Often during these times it's interesting following the hype and the build up of the new machines and that's something I personally follow quite closely. What I aim to do here is summarising some key facts that differentiate the 2 companies and speculate about what this could mean moving forward; but by no means is this meant to be a comprehensive list. With events expected in August from both Sony and Microsoft as part of GamesCom it's in...

The Cost Of Playing Video Games – An Arm Or A Leg?

17Jul

By MikeNo Comments

Features

The Cost Of Playing Video Games – An Arm Or A Leg?

With the approach of the new console generation, video game players eagerly await any news about the prices of the upcoming PS5 and X-box series X. Arguably of equal importance to the consoles themselves is the price of their games and following the news that NBA 2K21 will increase from $59.99 to $69.99 USD. 2K games who develop the NBA series are the first to take this step and it seems like other developers are ready to follow on the next console generation. At first hearing video games now cost just under $70 may be cause for frustration for gamers. As an entertainment medium have typically cost more than others such as film & TV but have not had the same inflation over the years. Film/TV where the technology used in production, from Blu-ray to 3D has always come with an inc...

The Games That Have Helped Us During Lockdown (So Far!)

15May

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Features

The Games That Have Helped Us During Lockdown (So Far!)

Well, what a year 2020 has been so far! I think it's fair to say no one expected things to go the way they have. More than anything, whilst we're in lockdown, we hope you all staying safe, staying healthy, and staying positive. Everyone has gone through their own difficulties over the last few weeks, and whilst we may now have a road map for getting life back to normal (whatever shape normal will be after this), we've still got to someway to go. Here at Thumb Culture, we're all trying to get through this situation as best as we can. Thanks to our passion for gaming, it's made that journey a little bit easier. So let's take a moment to praise the amazing work developers, creators, and publishers have put in. Or at least those we can pry away from Animal Crossing. Stuart S So, during ...

Top 10 Narrative Games of the Generation

13Feb

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Features

Top 10 Narrative Games of the Generation

As the curtains are closing on the 8th generation of consoles and the bigger, more powerful consoles are eagerly awaiting to take centre stage, I believe it’s time to reflect on the generation. As a film fanatic, I adore cinematic games. In my opinion, the medium can explore narratives in a fascinating way. Not only can games tell stories through characters, but they can also intertwine gameplay and the environment in order to build a world around the core narrative. So, not including re-releases (sorry Last of us) and focusing solely on games that were released on the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U (Yes, it’s an 8th Generation console), let’s look at the Top 10 Narrative Games of the Generation. God of War God of War is a cinematic masterpiece. The execution of the single-cam...

19Nov

By ArNo Comments

Features, PC Reviews

Fractured Minds – A Game That Matters

It’s not often that I’m lost for words when it comes to writing. In fact, I’m never been backwards in coming forwards when sharing my thoughts online. Having just completed Fractured Minds though, I’ve genuinely had to take ten minutes to compose myself before attempting to write this piece. Fractured Minds is a beautiful, atmospheric BAFTA award-winning game, designed and created by 17-year old Emily Mitchell and published by Wired Productions. It takes a deep dive into the world of the human brain at it’s most unsettled, inspired by Emily’s own personal journey of severe anxiety. When I say personal, I also mean personal to anyone who has ever experienced anxiety, because they will absolutely identify with this game on a deeply relatable level. “I created Fractured Minds to ...

4Nov

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Features

An Interview With… Squishy Sports Dev

We here at Thumb Culture were lucky enough to chat to Chris Jeffery, the programmer and game designer at Made By Titans, to discuss his latest game, Squishy Sports. So, tell us a little bit about your game and where did the idea come from? Oof. Straight in there! Squishy Sports is a couch competitive, physics-based 2D party/sports game where the characters are shapes and everything is squishy! Since it's physics-based, all our characters hit the ball in unique ways, thus create interesting and quite manic gameplay! So Squishy Sports came around quite sporadically really. There wasn't any "AH HA!" moments with it. My background for a lot of my game development career has been in web games and I've always toyed around with the idea of creating a couch multiplayer game but never really c...