When asked why we play games, most people will say it’s because of the excitement. Games are fun, and a great diversion away from everyday life. They let us escape to other worlds, take on roles we could never imagine and do things we could never think possible… so why are games based on real-world activities still so popular?
An Alternative Life
We all have dreams. I’m sure that everyone has things that they’d love to be able to do in life that they’ve never wanted to. For those with a passion for sports, many have dreamed of going to the Olympics, playing for a major sports team or slightly lower ambitions of running a marathon. Motor enthusiasts have no doubt longed to be behind the wheel of a high performance sports car, racing around some of the top tracks in the world, maybe even at the wheel of a Formula 1 car around the streets of Monaco.
For most of us it’s just a fantasy. For one reason or another, we can’t realise many of these dreams. We may not be physically capable of doing the things we dream of. In other instances we simply might not be able to afford it, or we’re simply not skilled enough. And that’s where video games come in. From the dawn of the video games industry we’ve seen those dreams become a reality in our own homes through a myriad of computers and consoles.
The Vita is no exception and here are some of our favourites…
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Still the best driving game for the PS Vita, this open world racer has everything for the couch speed fanatic. Great visuals, a superb soundtrack and a fantastic selection of fully licensed, high speed sports cars you can’t go wrong. It comes from a fantastic pedigree, developed by the team who created the Burnout series so you know you’re on to a winner before the game has even loaded up.
The Pinball Arcade
I’ve been a fan of arcades for as long as I can remember. While arcade games, especially shoot-em-ups, were the main draw I have a soft spot for pinball machines. Ever since I discovered that a friend of mine owned the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball machine by Williams, I’d wanted one of my own. With original machines costing several thousand pounds each (not to mention the space they’d need) I knew it was just a pipe dream.
Arcades have changed since those halcyon days. Arcade games have made way for toy grabbers and token based machines. Pinball machines are few and far between. Slot machines have become the mainstay of many modern arcades along with their counterparts at online casino sites. It’s felt that the traditional arcade has all but disappeared and the games have with them.
Until Farsight Studios came along, that is. They had already released two compilations of classic pinball tables for the PSP collecting tables from Gottlieb and Williams respectively but it wasn’t until the release of The Pinball Arcade that everyone sat up and really took notice. The game set out to recreate classic tables from a range of manufacturers right down to the last detail, and they managed it perfectly. These weren’t your typical arcade ports that we saw in the past – they were full home recreations of the original pinball tables and were as close as we were going to get to owning the real machines!
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