Simulation

Considering that Out of the Park Development's signature Out of the Park Baseball series is a constant time sink in my life, there's no denying I was excited to play their foray into hockey simulation, Franchise Hockey Manager. Not because I was a hockey fan - though I'm a sports nut, I rarely watch hockey - but because I was hoping FHM would allow me to learn the ins and outs of the sport, as OOTP did with the deeper complexities (and constant heartbreak) of baseball, both as a game and a business.

For baseball nerds like myself, there's nothing better than spring. Fresh batches of rookies, big stars on new squads, the inevitable, if completely misguided, World Series dream of every player and fan... and of course, the arrival of the latest Out of the Park Baseball award-winning sports simulation series. And this year's edition - the 15th - is undeniably the best yet, despite what initially looks and feels like an incremental improvement over OOTP 14. As it always is in baseball, the devil is in the details - and those who've played OOTP know just how ...

Euro Truck Simulator 2 puts you in the shoes, or sandals, of a wannabe trucker who wants to start their own trucking business from the ground up. You will end up buying a multitude of licensed trucks and exploring most of Europe. Along the way, you'll be doing a lot of driving, storming through countries to get the delivery in on time.

I've always been fond of games that can take a seemingly dull aspect of life and make it interesting. During the Summer, Lucas Pope managed to make stamping documents thrilling in Papers, Please (one of my favorites this year), but in 2012 the hectic job of sorting luggage at an airport was turned into addicting entertainment with Aero Porter on the 3DS.

I've been a huge fan of From Software's Armored Core franchise since way back when the original was first released on the Playstation, and while I personally feel that the series quality has seen a gradual decline over the years, mostly due to a change in focus in the form of "fast paced action" as opposed to "slow and clunky" mech battles of old, it has always held a special place in my heart. So naturally when Armored Core V was first announced, I was excited to get my hands on the latest instalment of my favourite customisable mech-based action game, ...

Farming Simulator is exactly what it says it is. It's not Harvest Moon, nor is it a chance to mess around an open world with dangerous farming equipment. There aren't really any objectives, no goals - you just run a farm. Harvesting, planting, cutting grass... this is a farming simulator.

Motorbike games have always been a part of video gaming culture. Go back to the early days of SEGA and Nintendo and you'll see countless attempts at bringing those two-wheeled speed demons to the digital realm. This has kind of dropped off in recent years as developers would rather show off pretty cars with high end labels. MotoGP 13 proves that there are still games out there for people that want their motorbike fix, offering high speeds, realistic physics and challenging gameplay that will keep a hardcore fan happy for months.

The Fast and the Furious films - which I've today learnt have long been cut down to just Fast and Furious - are pretty strongly focussed on a particular sort of person. It is perhaps the best example of the car porn genre, showcasing flash vehicles, sexy women and loud rap music.

Each and every year sees the release of dozens of sports management simulators, and the vast majority of them are extremely niche. While the likes of Football Manager destroys millions of man hours each year, similar games are often completely overlooked, panned or even mocked for their apparent lack of interactivity or their place in the sports hierarchy.

Since releasing Title Bout Championship Boxing 2.5 back in 2008, the boxing simulation series has laid dormant, as Out of the Park Developments shifted their focus full-time to their baseball management sim, finally selling it to frequent collaborator studio P.I.S.D. Ltd. back in May. Hand in hand with that news came word that the long-awaited Title Bout Championship Boxing 2013 would be released - and it arrived this week on PC and Mac, a (somewhat) successful for the oft-forgotten franchise.