Volcano experiments are a staple of science fairs and school projects in the USA. English gentlemen Mr Biffo and Paul Gannon attempt their own volcano project, but mostly just dig a deep, deep, hole for themselves...

The Christmas blockbuster season has begun, kicking off with the release of Gears 5 - no longer a game "Of War" apparently (spoiler: it is).

Over the next couple of months, publishers will be punting out big game after big game, and this is the start of it. And I can't be bothered to play it, so sorry if you were expecting a review. Here, instead, is my justification...

More classic pranks get pimped-up by Biffo and Gannon as they test out exploding pens, disappearing ink, electric shock gum - and even more terrifying scare pranks!

You may not have heard of Phoenix Games, but they were one of the most prolific games publishers of the 90s and 00s. Before the Dutch company went bust in 2009, closing its offices - including a subsidiary in Leicester, UK - it spewed out scores of titles for the PlayStation, PS2, Wii and Nintendo DS. Any one of them could rank on the worst games of all times list.

Describing itself as a "super budget publisher", Phoenix Games' ethos was to invest next to nothing into its releases, developing them very quickly using an established template, and then punting them into newsagents and shitshops, so they weren't competing directly with bigger budget/better releases.

Often they would license the output of animation studios with a similar creative ethos - low-budget cartoons, typically thinly-disguised "homages" to Disney classics. Phoenix would bundle the short films together with a handful of mini games (always jigsaw and slide puzzles, and colouring books). 

​These included versions of Cinderella, and - memorably - Toy Story, entitled The Toys Room. It starred a bizarre stuffed doll known as Pina, and a sentient Game Boy called Charlie Chip, who waggled a questionably-placed joystick whenever he spoke.

​Its terrifying cover  must be seen to be believed:

However, perhaps the most notorious Phoenix Games relationship was its collaboration with German Animation studio Dingo Pictures.

Formed in the early 90s, Dingo released films with titles such as Aladin (a single L getting around any potential copyright issues), Legend of Herkules, Mighty Mulan, and various releases featuring Dalmatians. However, chief among all of these was Snow White and The 7 Clever Boys.

​As with many Dingo Pictures releases, it was licensed by Phoenix Games, and given a cover that doesn't remotely resemble anything in the film itself.

Let's take a look at the seven minute-long film, which boasted a crude mix of CGI backgrounds and hand-drawn animation...

How do modern kids' science kit experiments compare to vintage ones? In this experiment-heavy edition of Digitiser we completely fail to find out! It's science, kids!

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