Many of my friendships over the years have been defined by video games.  When I was first granted ownership of a Playstation at 11 years old my brother and I engaged in a year long war through the medium of ‘Worms: Armageddon’.

At age 13 the release of ‘Super Smash Bothers Melee’ unfortunately coincided with my discovery of the swear word, many of which were aimed at the pink blob of pure evil that is Kirby. Most recently Pro-Evo has become my male bonding method of choice after a long day spent reading the political philosophy of Hobbes.

Now whilst I’m sure a large proportion of readers may share this systemic frittering away of life in the name of entertainment, I’d like to use this opportunity to draw your attention to a weekly treat of mine.

Despite evidence to the contrary displayed above I really don’t have much time for video games nowadays. The only periods when I feel I can set aside an allotment of time for mindless self-indulgence are the holidays.

However, rather than go out and buy a magazine on the subject, I’ve kept myself up to date with things with the weekly video blog that is ‘Zero Punctuation’.

The structure of this blog is simple, every Wednesday UK born reviewer Ben “Yatzhee” Croshaw reviews the latest ‘must-have’ game and rips it to shreds like a critical blood hound. When I say ‘rips it to shreds’ I make no understatement, the guy’s standards are so high that an assessment of competence usually would count for a certificate of excellence from any other games publication.

Despite the ability to be more cutting than Simon Cowell’s jawline though, Yahtzee’s reviews are always firm but fair and most importantly they’re extremely funny. His merciless ribbing of fanboys, designers and more often than not George Lucas always provide me with a spot of light relief on an otherwise dull mid-week afternoon.

Below is a link to the latest video but I’ve also taken the opportunity to dig out a couple of my personal favourites for your amusement.

N.B. If you aren’t as easily entertained as I am by toilet humour and the occassional curse word then I’d think twice before giving Zero Punctuation a view…

Mirror’s Edge

Guitar Hero 3

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

After many weeks in the making, the games section on studentbeans.com is now live!

Here you can fritter your time away on 80s favourites like Tetris, the curiously addictive Sling Jumper or shoot apples off a friend’s head (see below - incidentally this is our most popular game so far - must be the realistic spurts of blood).

On the other side of the website, the Beanzine (our online magazine by students for students) has evolved to feature blog posts from our ten Channel Editors within the articles section.

So, if you have a random urge to get the Food Editor’s opinion on risotto or find out the Entertainment Editor’s favourite bands you know where to go (plus, you can see what they look like too!)

Hello - I’m thrilled to post my first blog as Food and Drink editor.

Let’s get the formalities over with: I’m Laura Vickers, 20, studying English at Kings College London. Some key facts about me that are integral to your understanding of me: I’m part Italian, I think Doctor Who is amazing, I loathe World of Warcraft (Orcs?!) and I believe it isn’t possible to watch too much theatre. Oh, and I LOVE FOOD.

To me, food and drink is more than just sustenance. It’s passion, it’s pleasure, it can be controversial, it can forge friendships and heal the scars of the day. It’s subjective, it’s hours of conversation, and most importantly it’s something EVERYONE has an opinion on. That’s the beauty of it, but do you care?

As students, we are renowned for caring the least about food, (I don’t think anyone could accuse us of being nonchalant about drink, though, let’s be honest). Yet it is possibly a more integral part of our lives than any other social group. After all:

• Our social lives revolve around it.
• Our weekly budgets depend on finding it cheapest.
• Most students learn to cook for the first time during their University years as it’s the first time they are away from home.