Ben Sledge

Liverpool

Award-losing journalist, Features Editor at @TheGamerWebsite, formerly The Loadout. Words: Eurogamer, The Guardian, IGN, NME, Kotaku, VICE, more ✍ he/him

Articles

Indie Game Bundle Of Joy Asks: What If Wario Had A Baby?

3 weeks ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

I’m expecting a baby imminently. Well, my wife is. Today, the day I write this article, is the due date. While only five percent of babies arrive when they’re predicted to, my wife and I are bored of waiting and just want to meet the little fella at this point. How am I spending my time preparing for the birth of my second child? You’d think I might be practising my nappy changes to get them as efficient as a Lewis Hamilton pitstop.
The Elegoo Centauri Carbon Might Be The Best Beginner 3D Printer On The Market

3 weeks ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

I’m still relatively new to 3D printing, and I’ve exclusively printed in resin thus far. Mostly because I have a resin printer, but also because FDM prints come with all sorts of issues for the things I want to print. I mostly print miniatures. I’ve recently bought the official STL files for Trench Crusade’s Iron Sultanate faction. I’m going to be printing them in 32mm scale, so they’ll stand about three centimetres tall. When printed in resin, this isn’t a problem.
“I Don’t Want Other People To Know Us As Frauds”: Steam Is Banning Chinese Indie Games Without Reason

3 weeks ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

“There's an old saying in Chinese. People will not give you fire when you are cold. But when you are cosy and when you are flourishing, people tend to give you all the luxury stuff.” Ningkun Dai is recalling the “darkest moment” of Leap Studio, where he is founder and CEO. When his debut game, Realm of Ink, was delisted on Steam, he thought he’d lost everything. He’d certainly lost his only source of income, but he was adamant not to let over three years of work go to waste.
I’m TheGamer’s Biggest Mario Kart Fan, But I Won’t Be Playing World At Launch

4 weeks ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

I reckon I’m TheGamer’s biggest Mario Kart fan. I have no scientific basis for this statement, but I have hundreds of hours across my favourite Mario Kart games. I wheeled and dealed in Pokemon cards on the school playground aged nine so that I could earn enough cash to buy Mario Kart DS – a nerdy, northern Del Boy if there ever was one. Americans, I’m sorry but I have no similar reference for you. Google Only Fools and Horses.
NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Allegedly Won A Warhammer Cosplay Contest As A Teenager

4 weeks ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

I often wonder what my old Warhammer pals are up to. I’m still friends with my closest battle brothers from school, but what about the guy who turned up once a month with an impressive Eldar army but eventually grew too ‘cool’ for the hobby? What about the guy who brought a Forgeworld Trygon to the table aged 12 and absolutely trounced everyone who came up against his deep striking insectoid monstrosity? Where are they now? Do they still paint, or play? The same goes for later in life.
I Should Love Split Fiction's Blend Of Science Fiction And Fantasy Puzzle Platforming, So Why Don't I?

1 month ago | thegamer.com | Hidetaka Miyazaki |Ben Sledge

I was very excited for Split Fiction. I mean, who wasn't? I, like everyone else in the world, loved It Takes Two. I played through it with my brother, and the whole experience was reminiscent of our childhood, passing a Game Boy Advance between us to test our mettle against particularly tricky Super Mario World 2 levels. The story was cliche and the dialogue was shlocky, but it fitted the tale of family strife. This was a cheesy family game, and the dialogue reflected it.
You'll Never Catch Me Playing Disco Elysium Without Shivers

1 month ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

North, a writer sits on a second-hand sofa. His laptop warms his legs as it struggles to run the video game that reflects off his face in the evening darkness. He’s deeply engrossed in what he reads and doesn’t notice the hands on the clock spinning quicker and quicker, the night growing darker, the cold setting in. Outside, an owl calls to its mate. A delivery driver hands a pizza to a neighbour, steam dissipating into the night. All goes unnoticed as the writer clicks, reads, clicks, reads.
Pokemon YouTuber pChal May Not Be The Best Nuzlocker In The World, But He's The Most Entertaining

1 month ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

If you told me last week that I’d spend nearly four hours of my weekend watching a man tackle a Nuzlocke Pokemon game, I’d have said, “h*ck yeah!” Mostly because I live for long old video essays and hardcore Nuzlockes, but also because I knew that this one was special. I knew I was in for a treat, and YouTuber Jan ‘pChal’ Krüger provided the goods. You may know him as Pokemon Challenges. You may know him as pChal since his relatively recent rebrand.
Pokemon Gen 10 Needs To Take Inspiration From Call Of Duty

1 month ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

When was the last good Pokemon game? No, fan games and ROM hacks don’t count. I expect some of you might say Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The enlightened among you might even say New Pokemon Snap. Some misers might say Pokemon Crystal, but we’ll disregard you because you’re being facetious. My point is that the mainline games have been stagnating for years.
One Silly Pokémon Go Rule Nearly Lost Me A Shiny

1 month ago | thegamer.com | Ben Sledge

Pokemon Go does a lot of silly things. It advertises poses that aren’t available. The developers forget to turn on shinies for New Zealand Community Days on a regular basis. We get make-up rewards and posts on social media saying, ‘we’re sorry’. A couple of weeks ago, we received another apology. I’m not sure what Niantic messed up and when, but every Pokemon Go player received Timed Research tasks that rewarded a bunch of encounters with Omanyte and Kabuto.