RETROGAMING SITES

Retrospec - The best darn coding group in the world (of which I'm a member - ahem) who are dedicated to reviving and reinventing old games for us all to enjoy. Completely non-profit making, you'll find many excellent games to download for free from here.

The World Of Spectrum - Arguably the finest single retrogaming site in existance this is the work of Martijn Van Der Heide with contributions from all over the world. Primarily famed as the biggest source of Spectrum games on the 'net, it also has loads of other sections dedicated to the emulators that run the games, utilities for cataloguing games and the documentation about the games from the magazines of yesteryear together with hundreds of maps and related pictures. It's quite simply your one-stop-Spectrum-shop.

The Congraturations Archive - A clever site dedicated to hosting snapshots of games saved at the point just before completion so that the people who weren't that great at Speccy games can still see the completion effects. Great idea and great site.

The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years - This site is a repository of articles from what was the best loved Spectrum magazine of all time - Your Sinclair. A fantastically produced site and just the sort of things to get the nostalgia glands going.

The Abandonware Ring - If you're unfamiliar with the term Abandonware it refers to what is basically another branch of piracy, but one which I wholeheartedly agree with and embrace. Unlike Warez sites that allow you to download games which are still sold, Abandonware sites are all about getting your hands on really old games that are otherwise unavailable. If you ever wanted to relive such classic PC titles as System Shock or Fire And Ice then here's where to begin your search. Well, either that or The Ring Of Ages, but their site is as temperamental as hell and doesn't offer anything over The Abandonware Ring...

Dave's Classics - If old PC games aren't your bag and you'd rather be playing old console and arcade games then here were you should go. Well, kinda'. See, you'll find all the news and emulators you need here but alas intervention by the IDSA forced Dave's Classics to stop hosting ROMs some time ago. So, if you need those, head over to:

The Top 25 Rom sites - Yep, from here you'll be able to get access to thousands of ROMs for machines from the Gameboy Color to the Neo Geo. If you've any interest in arcade or console emulation then you really do need to get yourself over to this site pronto.

VIDEOGAMING SITES

IGN PSX IGN DC IGN N64 IGN POCKET IGN PS2 IGN XBOX IGN PC - The IGN sites are pretty good as they're updated each weekday and aren't against calling a crap game a crap game. Plus they've got tons of affiliate sites with even more info on them. Lovely.

Sega X Segaweb - For any Dreamcast specific needs these two sites are also well worth a visit. Again they update nice and often though Segaweb does tend to be a bit generous with the marks.

Videogames.Com - This is the site that I've been visiting for the longest and it boasts an impressive back catalogue of reviews together with interesting features and designer diaries and the like. When E3 comes around their coverage is pretty much unrivalled.

Total Games - This is a UK based site which I would recommend for pretty good reviews and an excellent designer diary of Mythos Games' excellent upcoming title Freedom Ridge: The Dreamland Chronicles. If you're a fan of Julian Gollop's work (Chaos, Laser Squad, X-COM) then you need no further reason to go there.

Console Domain - Another UK based site, they seem to have a curiously large number of exclusive reviews and seem to get their hands on finished products a lot sooner than some other sites. They're pretty good overall.

Gamefan - Updated all the time this is a good source for the latest news of what's happening in the games industry.

Tronix - This is the only game import service that I use and they've never done wrong by me. Run by the friendly Joe you'll find that he gets the game to you in double-quick time and at a damn good price.

Old Man Murray - This is a fantastic site that pokes fun at PC games with a large pointy stick. Full of brilliant ideas (the Start To Crate review system is pure genius and well worth a read) they cut through the bullshit marketing to the soft pulpy goodness beneath.

UK Resistance - This site is - in theory - a SEGA support site, but thanks to SEGA being bloody idiots all the time most of their updates are quite negative about the company. They also loathe Sony as well. Nintendo seem to get off scott free... Very funny and quite offensive.

GameFAQS - If you're stuck on a game past or present then this is just about the best place to go. Chocka' with solutions, walkthroughs and FAQS this is simply the best site of its kind on the net.

ENTERTAINMENT SITES

Bubblegun & Fartoons - These two sites - run by Digitiser's Paul Rose (AKA Mr Biffo) - are brilliant. Bubblegun is a general purpose entertainment site with entertainment news, humorous top tens and interesting features. Fartoons is a spin-off of the main site and features lots of cartoons drawn by Paul Rose, most of which are very funny and tasteless. Lovely.

The Onion - Probably the most reliably funny site on the net, this is a weekly updated spoof newspaper which puts a brilliant news spin on such ordinary events as someone giving birth ("Eight-pound man removed from woman's vagina").

TV Go Home - I've only really included this on here as it used to be great, although the joke is wearing a little thin now. I suggest reading most of the earlier entries as it's gone off the boil somewhat of late.

Shockwave - Yup, although I never thought I'd advocate such wastes of bandwidth as Flash movies, there are a few bits on this site which make it essential visiting. Check out the Like, News and Thugs On Film cartoons first and then move onto the slightly more surreal entries like Radiskull & Devil Doll.

Ain't It Cool News - Well, if you like films then this has to be just about the best darn film site on the 'net. Run by Harry Knowles it's full of all the latest info and rumours about everything in the film industry (there's a pretty good TV section, too). Plus it updates practically every day.

The Internet Movie Database - A cracking site for when you're trying to decide whether to rent a movie as it boasts details for pretty much every film ever made, together with information on the actors, directors and the rest.

Mr Cranky - This is a wonderful site that rips the hell out of the latest cinema and video releases by having a marking scheme that starts at "almost tolerable" and goes downhill from there. So if you like extremely funny and well-observed reviews of all the crap that Hollywood is trying shove down our throats then a weekly visit here won't go amiss.

DVD REVIEW AND RETAIL SITES

Rewind.org - This is a brilliant source of Region 1 vs Region 2 DVD reviews. Although the situation is much better over here than it used to be, if you're looking to buy an older DVD title then a trip here could save you a lot of disappointment.

DVDweb - This site is a great source of news with regards to release schedules both in the UK and US. Plus they run lovely competitions as well.

DVD Review - You'll find a fair few reviews on this site of R1 DVDs and so it's a good source of info when you're considering an import.

Widescreen Review & DVDfile - These both have extensive databases of reviews and also stacks of release info. Quite worth a visit, I'd say.

Play 247 - When I import DVDs I tend to get them from this place as they've given me good service and have very reasonable prices for both Region 1 and 2 stuff. Plus you'll never pay import duty using these people.