Latest Soapbox
July2015
Soapbox I Decided to Show My Family Uncharted 4's Incredible Gameplay Demo
Quality time
You've all seen the Uncharted 4: A Thief's End E3 2015 gameplay demo by now - or at least, I hope that you have. When I was sat here with editor Sammy Barker, watching Sony's press conference live at 3AM, our already tired brains had been battered by the wealth of megatons that the Japanese company had casually paraded out on stage as...
June2015
Soapbox Was E3 2015 Just a Dream?
Sammy Barker reflects on the greatest of all time
I'm half expecting to stir from my slumber any minute, clammy after a restless night filled with vivid dreams. That can't have been E3 2015, can it – a show in which the impossible became possible all within the span of an hour? I've been covering this event for a good six years now, and I know,...
Soapbox Why So Many E3 2015 Announcements Are Being Spoiled
Sammy Barker likes surprises, but reckons early reveals make sense
I never tentatively tore the corners of my Christmas presents in order to get a sneaky first look inside. I had friends who claimed to know the contents of all of the gifts nestling beneath their fake fir trees, but I always preferred to wait. In fact, as I got older I tended to...
May2015
Soapbox The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Physical Package Puts All Other Games to Shame
Above and beyond
I'm not overly thrilled at the fact that my age is beginning to increase against my will, but I am thankful that I'm old enough to appreciate physical media. It scares me somewhat that the kids growing up today may never know what it means to flick through the lyrics in a record sleeve or sniff the manual inside a brand new game...
Soapbox Why PS4's E3 2015 Press Conference Will Likely Disappoint
Sammy Barker thinks that you should temper your expectations
"Everything was third-party." I expect Dolan, the magnificent meme duck, will be on fine form in just over a month's time, when Sony's big E3 2015 press conference inevitably fails to live up to expectations. We live in constant fear of the restless Los Angeles event here at Push Square...
April2015
Soapbox You Should Stop Pre-Ordering Games
Sammy Barker's against this scary trend
We've got a problem, readers – and it pertains to pre-ordering games. I never used to be opposed to this practice: I'd regularly drop a fiver at my local GAME on titles that I was looking forward to, and would waltz home happily with a receipt and a pre-order pack – the DVD that came with Metal Gear Solid...
Soapbox Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid to Play Bloodborne on PS4
Sammy Barker says From Software's latest isn't as impenetrable as you think
I beat Bloodborne last night. I'm tempted to talk up my gaming prowess in this opening paragraph, but I'd be undermining the entire point of this editorial if I did – there's way too much e-peen measuring going on elsewhere around the web with regards to From Software's...
Soapbox Sony Really Needs to Give Us More PlayStation Plus Cloud Space
Sammy Barker's sick of running out of space
There's one thing that you really need to know about me: I worry – a lot. For as long as I can remember, I've had irrational reactions to almost everything in my life: did I just put my modest size eight shoes in my mouth? Did I just get that exam question wrong – even though I've triple checked it...
Soapbox We Need More New Game Plus
Robert Ramsey wants to start over, but not from scratch
Just a couple of days ago, I started a new playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition, in preparation for the first slice of DLC that's hitting PlayStation consoles in May. Having already completed the game once, I was looking forward to slogging through the adventure again while making use of the...
March2015
Soapbox Has It Just Been a Bad Week for Games, Or Is This Simply a Sign of the Times?
Sammy Barker reckons that the industry’s in one big scrap
You've got to take the rough with the smooth – but these past few days have been more rugged than Vin Diesel's right-angled jaw. It's not been a vintage week for the games industry, with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima seemingly being pushed out of Konami, first-party developer...
February2015
Soapbox Why We Need More Grounded Games
Sammy Barker's sick of the surreal
I did something that I don't usually do last night: I cancelled my late night session at the Push Square coal face in order to finish Life Is Strange. The debut episode in DONTNOD's episodic escapade has received a mixed reception from critics, with some lauding it as a minor masterpiece, while others try not to...
December2014
Soapbox Poor Communication Continues to Be PSN's Biggest Problem
Sammy Barker is sick of Sony's silence
The PlayStation Network has been on and off for three days now, and it's not good enough. I'm confident that Sony is working around the clock to restore the service, and I'm not one of those people that lacks patience, but I am disappointed at the Japanese giant's communication on the matter. At this point, we...
Soapbox Destiny's Progression System Is Destroying the Game from the Inside
Robert Ramsey can't take the grind any longer
Despite launching only about three months ago, it feels like we've been discussing Destiny for an eternity. Bungie's sci-fi shooter divided opinion from the word go, and, whether it's because of heightened expectations or general trust in a proven developer, we're still ranting and raving about what's...
Soapbox Why Sony Should Do Another Run of 20th Anniversary PS4 Consoles
Limited edition
There’s no doubt about it: the 20th anniversary PlayStation 4 is the ninth wonder of the world. Sony’s nostalgic grey goodie box is a thing of sheer beauty, and an object that I suspect that every single one of you reading this article desires. The problem is that you probably can’t have one, as the Japanese giant only opted to...
October2014
Sammy Barker talks system sellers
Exclusives are the gamer’s equivalent of bullets. Venture into the dark recesses of any popular video game forum, and you’ll find format fighters striding into battle, armed with a list of titles that’s sure to ensure victory for their given side. It’s only natural, of course, that people should want to...
September2014
Soapbox Please Protect Me from the Purgatory of the PS3
Sammy Barker is struggling to turn back time
I feel like a teenager who’s had their iPhone swapped with a spinning top right now. After several months mainly using the PlayStation 4, I’ve decided to go back to the PlayStation 3 in order to clear out some of my backlog – and boy is it torture. There’s no doubt that Sony’s previous...
August2014
Soapbox Why P.T. Has Me Petrified at the Prospect of Silent Hills
Hell hath no hallway
Hideo Kojima wants to loosen our bowels with his upcoming Silent Hill sequel for the PlayStation 4, and he’s not messing around. I’ll concede to diving headfirst into the recently released P.T. (or Playable Teaser) demo yesterday in a bullish mood, expecting the tense but
July2014
Soapbox Why Destiny Still Has a Lot to Prove to Me
Sammy Barker takes Bungie's latest to task
I hate being the jaded gamer. Ever since Push Square’s inception, it’s always been my mandate to celebrate the industry from a perspective of positivity rather than cynicism. That negativity seeps into every facet of the medium these days; whether it's obsessing over resolutions and framerates or...
June2014
Soapbox Was Dragon's Crown Just A Joke That Nobody Got?
Taking things too seriously
Given the recent furore over the lack of female playable characters in Assassin's Creed: Unity — and the fact that the previously controversial action RPG Dragon's Crown is currently part of Europe's PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection — I've been having plenty of time to think about how sexism manifests itself...
May2014
Soapbox For the Love of DualShocks, Quit with the Button Bashing QTEs
Tapped out
These days, few things in games frustrate me more than a blinking button on the screen. I’d never really noticed the frequency of these quick-time events in the past – an odd thing for a God of War stalwart to admit – but lately this lazy design mechanic has been causing me to lose it. I believe it was during a pre-release press...
March2014
Soapbox Live from PlayStation Is PS4's Secret Killer App
Stream machine
As a part of the media that trades primarily in words, I’m told that my role will be redundant soon. Reading is still a popular means of acquiring information, but gaming is a visual medium, and improving broadband speeds are making video a much more viable option. This can be evidenced all over the Internet, where broadcasters such...
February2014
Soapbox How a Niche PS Vita Exclusive Made Me Feel Wanted
Kerry Brunskill has been wooed
This sort of topic tends to get emotions running high and insults flying faster than you can shout “Burn the witch”, so I thought that it would be a good idea to lay a few points on the table first. To begin, this is not an anti-male article or even a pro-feminist one; this is just a collection of my own personal...
Soapbox Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition Lights a Path for Future PS4 Ports
Sammy Barker wants more next-gen upgrades
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition eclipsed my expectations. Having spent my Christmas break exploring the unkind shores of Yamatai on the PlayStation 3, I really wasn’t expecting Crystal Dynamics’ seemingly overpriced next generation upgrade to catch my attention a
January2014
Soapbox Sony Is Depriving Players of the Optimal PS Vita Experience
Sammy Barker stumps up for some expensive storage
After examining the ‘Add to Basket’ button in more detail than a washed-up celebrity does a reality television show contract, I took the plunge on a 64GB memory card for my PlayStation Vita recently. The extortionate storage sticks are currently only available in Asia, and considering that I...
Soapbox Assassin's Creed's Modern Day Component Is Holding the Series Back
Robert Ramsey's sick of stepping out of the Animus
After testing my sailing skills in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag at the Eurogamer Expo all the way back in September, I knew that Ubisoft had a great game in production. From the rolling waves of the sea to the swashbuckling adrenaline rush of combat, it all immediately felt like a solid step...
December2013
Soapbox Why There's No Real Rush to Upgrade to the PS4
Sammy Barker's struggling to break the chain
Somewhere around the world, someone is panicking over the fact that they can’t find a PlayStation 4 right now. Sony’s next generation system has been playing hide-and-seek with store shelves since its release on 15th November, with the platform holder’s
October2013
Soapbox Stop Sobbing Over Retail Releases and Embrace PS4's Smaller Titles
Sammy Barker reckons that you're overlooking the most exciting games
I tend to hate change. I’m the kind of curmudgeonly so-and-so that gets bent out of shape when the local supermarket stops stocking a certain type of biscuit and coerces me into buying something other than chocolate chip digestives and own brand custard creams. It’s not that I...
September2013
Soapbox Variety Is the Spice of Gaming Life
Sammy Barker shares his taste for a good gaming buffet
We’re never ones to pass up on a game of follow-the-leader here at Push Square towers, so it was only a matter of time before we politely borrowed the soapbox format that’s been running wild over on our sister site Nintendo Life for a while now. For those of you peering voyeuristically in...
