tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80272782230360187022024-03-19T03:40:36.687+00:00A Glasgow GamerJoseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-19368172383049777632013-12-15T20:02:00.000+00:002013-12-16T00:23:15.489+00:002013: Games of the YearI was in two minds about listing my games of the year this time around. Perhaps the most important factor there was that I really haven't had the chance to play too many. Plenty of titles that have made it onto everyone's lists have passed me by, be it through lack of money, lack of time, or just a lack of hardware. I've not tried the excellent sounding Assassin's Creed IV, skipped over the latest Zelda and Mario offerings, and haven't yet had the chance to play through Bioshock Infinite or Tomb Raider. From that point of view this list might seem a little incomplete, but I can never resist the chance to write-up something about all that I <i>have</i> had the chance to enjoy this year. Whether you agree or disagree with my choices, I hope you enjoy going through them.<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">10: Kerbal Space Program</span></b></u><br />
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I absolutely adored playing with Lego
when I was growing up, happily spending hours designing blocky
spaceships and vehicles with my brother. Kerbal Space Program is one
of those things I've always wished for: A virtual Lego set, that
allows me to design and play with spaceships of my very own.
Attempting to build working rockets by stacking giant fuel tanks to a
cockpit and hoping for the best made for some of the funniest moments
I've ever had playing any game. I'll never forget triumphantly taking
twenty minutes designing a rocket in front of my friends and proudly
launching it, before watching in despair as it fell to pieces a
hundred feet off the ground and had us literally crying with laughter
for the rest of the night. I've yet to master its surprisingly deep
physics engine and have lost count of the number of poor Kerbins I've
shot to their doom in deep space, but any game that can make me feel
ten years old again is a winner in my book.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">9: Pokemon X/Y</span></b></u></div>
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I fell out of love with the Pokemon
games a number of years ago. Though I did play through Ruby/Saphire
and Diamond/Pearl I was thoroughly put off by the creaky mechanics,
which hadn't changed much at all since Red and Blue back in the day,
and the lack of inspiration behind the design of the newer monsters
left me cold. X and Y have attempted to freshen things up a bit, and
are a good step back onto the right path for the series. The graphics
have been spruced up nicely, some of the shonkier design flaws have
been ironed out, and there was a very welcome focus on the older
monsters that I know and love. It isn't perfect, but at least shows
that Nintendo are willing to shake things up a little with one of
their most important IPs. I'm just hoping that we'll see that big,
online, console edition we've been waiting years for sooner rather
than later.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">8: Kami</span></b></u></div>
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You're not short of options when it
comes to puzzle games on IOS, but Kami stands as one of the best of
the lot. A papercraft tile flipping game, Kami has you attempting to
transform its patterned screens into one colour with as few moves as
possible. This is no high-octane puzzler that’ll keep you on your
toes and stress you into frustration. Rather it’s a more
considered, patient, calming affair. The lack of time limits and
freedom to experiment makes Kami a relaxing pleasure, a Zen-like test
of problem solving skills. The ability to dip in and out of levels
and mull over possible solutions makes it feel ideal for train
journeys or commutes. Kami may be a relatively lightweight
experience, but it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable on.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">7: Fez</span></b></u></div>
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While Fez first saw release on the Xbox
360 back in 2011, it finally came to PC this year through Steam, and
as such I'm qualifying it here. It's one of indie gamings biggest
success stories, having just recently broken the million copies sold
mark and propelled its developer Phil Fish to perhaps unwelcome
stardom. The success is completely deserved too; Fez is without a
doubt one of the most inventive and charming games of the generation.
Its dimension-spinning mechanic makes for some properly fiendish
puzzles, as well as more than a few moments that had me actually
laughing in delight. Combine that with the gorgeous retro visuals, a
wonderful soundtrack, and so many secrets that I know I'll never see
them all, and you have a truly wonderful game that deserves all the love
it gets.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">6: Papers, Please</span></b></u></div>
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Video games are about escapism. Playing
the hero, saving the world, beating the baddies, and all that jazz.
Papers, Please makes a point of turning that rule on its head,
putting you in a mundane job in a drab setting and forcing you to do
bureaucratic paperwork for hours on end. The glorious Republic of
Arstotzka may not be somewhere you would want to escape to, but for
the lines of immigrants waiting outside your border control booth
every day it certainly is. Their stories, and that of your hapless
paper pusher, are part of an incredibly inventive and intense puzzle
experience. It's one of the most gripping and surprisingly moving
games I've played in years, and further cements my notion that the
most interesting work in the industry at the moment is being done in
the indie development scene. Glory to Arstotzka.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">5: Animal Crossing- New Leaf</span></b></u></div>
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You'd be hard pressed to find a company
with a greater handle on charm than Nintendo. In fact, you'd probably
be hard pressed to find a more charming series of games than Animal
Crossing. Since the first game on the Gamecube (Or the N64, if you
were lucky enough to live in Japan) countless people have happily
made a simple second life for themselves in their own little village.
The series hasn't changed very much in the last ten years, and New
Leaf doesn't add anything particularly revolutionary, but the 3DS has
proven itself to be the ideal home for the series. It's perfect for
dipping into every day, seeing what happens to be new, meeting a few
friends, or just tending to your plants. It's been a couple of months
now since I last visited my town of Lordran, but I know that when I
do I'll still be welcomed back with a smile by whichever residents
still happen to be there.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">4: Gone Home</span></b></u></div>
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For all their unique qualities, video
games are still all too often derided for their limitations as a
medium for storytelling. This is a perception that is going to change
sooner rather than later, and we'll have the likes of Gone Home to
thank for that. Set in 1995, Gone Home puts you in the shoes of
Kaitlin, who returns home from months of travelling to find her
parents' house empty and her sister gone. You unravel the story by
exploring the house, finding hints and audio cues that slowly unravel
the story of your family. It's a brilliantly compelling piece of
interactive fiction, one that treats the player with a level of
respect. There are no real puzzles, no dangers hidden around the
house, but it boasts a wonderful atmosphere, helped by the little
details of home life and the excellent use of period trappings that
will delight anyone who grew up in the '90s. At just over two hours
it's perhaps a bit too brief, with little incentive to go back and
play again, at least immediately. But I prefer to treat it more like
an interactive novella, one you can read through on a rainy afternoon
or a quiet evening, and happily keep it on the shelf to revisit again
another day. </div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">3: Grand Theft Auto V</span></b></u></div>
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It's difficult to know where to begin
with Grand Theft Auto V. It's certainly big. A big world, with an
almost-endless list of things you can do and places to see without
even thinking about the actual missions. A big story, with three
characters whose lives you can dip in and out of at will, each with
their own stories to tell and people to meet. It's big on ambition,
as Rockstar again push the boundaries of just how much they can cram
into one game world, from the single player to the amazingly generous
multiplayer modes. It's evidently big business too, having already
sold more copies and made more money than any other game in the
series. But most importantly of course it's big, big fun. From the
perfectly executed heists to the numerous side missions, the anarchic
online mode and the joy of just making your way around its world. You're never left wanting
for something to do, with a vast county there for you to explore
right from the start, and a handy vehicle is only ever a carjacking away.
It's an important release as well, arguably one that has brought
games closer to the forefront of cultural relevance and acceptance
than ever before. That might be its greatest legacy in years to come,
by which time I imagine plenty of us will still be playing it anyway,
having failed to run out of things to do in the vast and brilliant San Andreas. </div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2: The Last of Us</span></u> </b></div>
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When I first caught sight of The Last
of US during E3 2012 I was left a little cold. In fact, that's
exactly what I wrote in my round-up of Sony's conference on this very
blog. If only I'd known then that it would end up becoming one of the
most powerful and impressive games I've ever had the pleasure of
playing through. Enough has been written about The Last of Us by now
that I can only cover old ground. I could go on about the fantastic
narrative it leads you through, horrifyingly bleak and worthy of
plenty of analysis. The protagonists Joel and Ellie are two of the
best-written, acted, and developed characters I can recall from any
game, their story utterly compelling from start to finish. The world
is startlingly beautiful as well, with an absolutely astounding level
of detail in every location you visit. It squeezes every last drop of
power from the PS3, managing to produce some sights that literally
had me stunned into silence. It even produced a riotously
entertaining and brutal online multiplayer mode, which was the source
of a fair few late nights playing with friends. But what made The
Last of Us special in my eyes was the sheer tension it evoked. I
found it difficult to play for too long at any one time, always
terrified of where the next death might be coming from or just what
might be waiting around the next corner. I can't remember the last
time I felt so emotionally involved while playing a game, and for
that reason it's an experience that will stay with me for a long
time.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">1: Salty Bet</span></b></u></div>
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I've yet to really write at length
about my love for Salty Bet. Some might think it's a bit of a cop-out
to top a list of games with what basically amounts to an interactive
stream, but if Charlie Brooker can get away with announcing Twitter
as one of the most influential games ever then I'm sure as hell
claiming Salty Bet. Effectively a round-the-clock Twitch stream of
the fighting engine M.U.G.E.N, which allows you to import character
data from other games, Salty Bet randomly matches fighters from a
database of thousands and allows you to bet imaginary money on the
outcome of the fights. Since discovering it a couple of months back
I've lost track of the number of hours I've spent with it, and am
becoming more convinced than ever that it's one of the greatest
things ever. But this certainly isn't a mutual feeling: I may love
Salty bet, but it sure as hell doesn't love me back. It delights in
sucking up every imaginary dollar I offer up, teases me with the
glimmer of success before swiftly knocking me back down to size with
a string of upsets. I could mention the excellent playlist, backing
each fight with an eclectic soundtrack that ranges from classic game
OSTs to hip hop to metal, but somehow just works perfectly. I could
mention the chat bar, where the stream viewers talk up a storm that's
equal parts offensive and tear-inducingly hilarious. </div>
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But really the
magic of Salty Bet comes from its sheer variety. Tune in any time of
day or night and you're guaranteed to be seeing something new. I've
won thousands betting on Dan Hibiki in a fight against a dog, and
lost it all by foolishly presuming that Piccolo could batter fuck out
of Sub Zero. I've watched The Flash beaten senseless by a giant
squid, seen Mario forced through a mincing machine, and bet on more
Dragon Ball Z characters than you could possibly imagine. There's
always something different right around the corner, and any fight
could be the one where you finally make your imaginary fortune. I
haven't even mentioned the weekly Shaker Classic tournaments, the
dizzying reams of stats on all the fighters available to paid-up
“illuminati” members (a privilege I just couldn't resist), or the
brilliant streak of humour that runs throughout. It shouldn't be as
maddeningly compelling as it is, but I still come back to it almost
every day. That I'm playing it while I write this, and have been
non-stop since this morning, should say it all.
</div>
Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-77032343918690487482013-01-24T01:38:00.000+00:002013-01-24T01:38:32.898+00:00Nintendo Direct: Excitement OverloadThis afternoon I spent three tedious
hours finishing off Resi 5's co-op campaign with my brother. A real
chore of a game, that. Between the daft locations, buggy action, and
a final boss battle that took away an hour of my life I'll never get
back, I managed to develop both a splitting headache and a real
grudge against Capcom. I came out of it frustrated with myself for
wasting time I could have better spent catching up with work, doing
laundry, or maybe staring into space. And hey, what better way to
bring myself out of that funk than by finding out I'd missed a
thoroughly brilliant <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/archive/01-23-2013/" target="_blank">Nintendo Direct</a>?<br />
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Now I'm a fan of these things. When I
caught one for the first time, right before Nintendo's <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/e3-2012-nintendo-conference-round-up.html" target="_blank">maligned E3 presser</a> in the summer, I had no idea what was going on, but they've
grown on me. Iwata's a charming host, always chirpy and as polite as
you could ask for, with an enviable array of hand gestures. There's
always a wee sense of mystery as to what they'll be about too. Ninty
could pull out a couple of brand new Pokemon games out of nowhere, or
they might just announce some daft Mario DLC. But they really managed
to set the bar with this one.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRv0SQVQs8twBk8L9PnNWjCRrMJWCFqNlvlV9NLBcdAdoI0dSEDF0ctsyevMk-vwzVvg5jsRrstNGNFbM_ZWyhr99YUdqAAIXzcVSB6ydsAjkHIx1Ze8Y_TMEk3pjcx2Dk-MeK2FFZDk/s1600/wind-waker-hd11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRv0SQVQs8twBk8L9PnNWjCRrMJWCFqNlvlV9NLBcdAdoI0dSEDF0ctsyevMk-vwzVvg5jsRrstNGNFbM_ZWyhr99YUdqAAIXzcVSB6ydsAjkHIx1Ze8Y_TMEk3pjcx2Dk-MeK2FFZDk/s400/wind-waker-hd11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind Waker, if done right, could set a new standard for HD remakes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Not only did we get confirmation that
we'd be seeing a new 3D Mario, cross-platform Smash Bros, and Mario
Kart at E3, but we were also teased with the prospect of a new Zelda,
an HD re-release of Wind Waker, and a ton of other tasty stuff. A
Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover? A new Yoshi game in the
style of Kirby's Epic Yarn? A lush looking RPG from the Xenoblade
team? More footage of The Wonderful 101? It was all I could do to
keep myself from giggling with joy. However cynical I find myself
feeling about games sometimes, I can always count on Nintendo to
reduce me to the level of a wide-eyed 12 year old.</div>
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This was an important little broadcast.
The last few weeks have been dominated by ongoing speculation over
Sony and Microsoft's next-gen machines. Every day seems to bring
spectacular new rumours, every little titbit poured over in
excruciating detail while both companies remain tight lipped. We're
all waiting for what we might get to see at E3. But with this,
Nintendo have stolen a march on the competition. Given us a glimpse
of what they'll be offering, telling us exactly why we should be
excited, and putting themselves back on the radar. No matter how
tantalising the prospect of new hardware may be, there's not much
that can touch a new Zelda when it comes to getting people excited,
let alone one that hints at a radical departure from the well-worn
formula.</div>
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It all points to an explosive E3 this
summer. While Sony and Microsoft are tripping over themselves to
tease us with new machines, Nintendo will be bringing out the big
guns, setting up a stellar few months for the Wii U and 3DS. With
their own hardware stuff out of the way, and a dull couple of years
behind them, Nintendo could have set themselves up for their best
conference showing in a long while. Presuming that they haven't shot
their load early and announced everything today, there'll be more
surprises to look forward to as well.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUm6IkGEatL4KWzW-j19Oju1RF0MPYk6x09yXpml8EKRN_dFK55ICZT6xWMI8txX_cjfTsIVfIfelb10SYLTNtCa4AnoiEp3u3WeKFZgSwzoUmGMwn31p6KWn0E_UN_SpOx9C4aQYLFY/s1600/yoshi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUm6IkGEatL4KWzW-j19Oju1RF0MPYk6x09yXpml8EKRN_dFK55ICZT6xWMI8txX_cjfTsIVfIfelb10SYLTNtCa4AnoiEp3u3WeKFZgSwzoUmGMwn31p6KWn0E_UN_SpOx9C4aQYLFY/s400/yoshi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new 2D Yoshi game is another simple way to win me over</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But it's more than that. This was
Nintendo re-engaging their fanbase, giving something back to everyone
that's derided them for embracing the lure of of the casual market,
or blasted their sparse release schedule for the months ahead. With
humility, here was Nintendo announcing nearly a dozen new games in 30
minutes, every one of them a uniquely tantalizing piece of software.
They've shown that they're grabbing the potential that HD brings with
both hands, giving one of their most beautiful games a loving
rebuild. They're showing off the kind of exclusives you won't find
anywhere else, from first-party gems to new titles from the likes of
Platinum and Monolith. It was Nintendo doing what they've always done
best: focussing on delivering innovative, exciting, and fun games for
us to play.
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<a href="http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/wii-u-strikes-back">Over on IGN</a>, Richard George made the point that this was what made today's Nintendo Direct so exciting. Nintendo will always be able to hold their own precisely because you won't be able to play the likes of Zelda and Mario on your Playstation, your Xbox, your iPhone. “At the end of the day, gamers care about games. That’s what they want, and nothing else matters.” It's true enough, and marks why today left me as excited about Nintendo as I have been since the early days of the Gamecube. Back when Nintendo were teasing us with the prospect of new Zelda, Metroid, and Mario titles. Back when they were tying up Capcom to <a href="http://uk.ign.com/articles/2002/11/13/capcoms-fantastic-five">exclusive five-game deals</a>, demoing the likes of Eternal Darkness and Phantasy Star Online, and the GameBoy Advance was going strong. There was a similar vibe today, an irreverent embrace of the sort of stuff that got us all excited by Nintendo in the first place. It may all come crashing down soon enough, but for now at least, the Big N have made a statement of intent for the coming year. And I, for one, couldn't be more intrigued.Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-45372304069909456402013-01-15T22:31:00.001+00:002013-01-15T22:33:52.966+00:00Goodbye to Nintendo Gamer... Er, again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Back in September I ended my post <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/goodbye-to-nintendo-gamer-worth-7.html" target="_blank">about the closure of Nintendo Gamer</a> magazine with the small comfort that they would be able to continue their particular brand of irreverent nonsense through the website. But just over three months down the line it's been announced that even that's now shutting its doors as of next week. As a consequence CVG will apparently be upping their Nintendo coverage, while Nintendo Gamer frontman Chris Scullion will be moving over there as Reviews Editor, but it I can't help but feel a little gutted at the news. Combined with the recent loss of PSM3 and Xbox World magazines, it's a depressing indictment of Future's strategy of bringing all its titles under one roof, with a strong digital focus.<br />
<br />
As a magazine Nintendo Gamer, in all its guises, was an excellent source of witty and often hilarious coverage of all things Ninty. While the website was a one-man show, it was still a brilliant source of interesting and funny features, and it'll be a shame to lose that. What's more sad is that the Nintendo Gamer brand really is gone this time, bookending twenty years with a bit of a whimper rather than the bang it deserves. Well, we'll always have the <a href="http://www.nintendo-gamer.net/2012/08/31/nintendo-gamer-1992-2012-book-of-condolences/" target="_blank">flood of tributes</a> from when the magazine shut down. The sentiment is still touching.<br />
<br />
But one of the more jarring aspects of this closure is that it'll also mean the <a href="http://forums.computerandvideogames.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=145658" target="_blank">death</a> of the magazine's forums, which have been going for a good seven years or so. Future pulled the same stunt when Edge redesigned its website last year. The old old Edge community famously became <a href="http://www.rllmukforum.com/" target="_blank">rllmuk</a> in 2003, after Edge closed the forum down, and this time around the community went to form the <a href="http://www.thebearandbadger.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bear and Badger</a> once we realised that the re-designed place was a broken mess. It's never nice when to see the online community suffer along with the website, and I hope the Nintendo Gamer forumites are able to land on their feet somewhere nice.<br />
<br />
But I guess that's it. Farewell Nintendo Gamer, and thanks for all the laughs.Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-6261314207333058532013-01-10T16:52:00.000+00:002013-01-10T16:52:39.763+00:00Games of the Year 2012I will be the first to admit that I didn't exactly consider 2012 to be a vintage year for games. Perhaps it felt worse coming off the back of 2011, which was about as good a period as gaming's ever seen. My top ten last year was able to boast titles like Rayman Origins, Dark Souls, and Skyward Sword, amongst others. This time around I'm not even in a postion to push out a list of ten. Doing a list of more than five would have felt a little too generous this time around. I'd have been making space for games that didn't really deserve to be there at all, which is no good. Anyway, this top five represents, for me, the best of what the year had to offer. Let's go.<br />
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<b><u>Number Five: Super Hexagon</u></b><br />
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Everything about Super Hexagon seems simple. From the retro-flavoured geometric visuals to the glorious 8-bit soundtrack courtesy of Chipzel, it all wraps around a concept as straightforward as "avoid the walls for high scores". The controls don't get any more complex than left and right, as you tap each side of the touchscreen to guide your tiny triangle through the gaps in the onrushing obstacles. But the challenge, well that's another matter. What makes Terry Cavanagh's iOS masterpiece so brilliant is its unflinching difficulty. Levels come in Hard, Harder, and Hardest flavours, each faster and more punishing than the last. You'd imagine that hearing the words "Game Over" droned at you every few seconds might be off-putting, but something keeps dragging you back. Maybe it's the compelling high score chase, the hypnotic combination of visuals and music, or perhaps the zen-like state it drags you into that turns seconds into minutes, and minutes into hours. There aren't many better examples of "just one more go" mobile gaming to be found out there. To put it simply, Super Hexagon was perhaps the most addictive game of the year.<br />
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<b><u>Number Four: FTL Faster Than Light</u></b><br />
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Almost every sci-fi fan will have, at one point or another, daydreamed about their own interstellar adventures. Battling pirates, meeting strange new races, capably commanding their ship through brutal space battles, the lot. FTL let you live out those dreams in glorious top-down, RTS style. It sticks you in control of a ship, its crew, and throws you into a race across the galaxy from the pursuing rebel fleet. In true roguelike style, star systems are randomised and death is permanent. Real-time combat and micro-management add to the fun, but what makes FTL so brilliant is the stories you'll come out with. Every star seems to contain some new encounter, be it slaver ships, merchants, alien planets, or pirate assaults. My own Starship Nemesis started out as a crew of three, battling their way between stars. But when Barry was lost in a tragic engine room fire, then Jill forced into slavery on the threat of death, captain Chris was left to command alone, limping across the galaxy before finally losing the ship in a hostile alien encounter deep in a nebula. You'll end up so attached to your crew and ship through all the adventures that it's truly heartbreaking when they begin to fall. And that attachment, along with everything else, makes for one of the most compelling sci-fi games you're likely to play.<br />
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<b><u>Number Three: Okami HD</u></b><br />
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I've never been fully on board with the trend for re-releasing older games in HD. The whole thing always struck me as greedy, and somewhat pointless. But if anything was going to convince me otherwise it'd be Okami. Clover's take on the Zelda formula remains as fresh today as it did in 2006, offering a sprawling adventure with a brilliant cast of characters and a truly beautiful world to explore. The beauty is the real hook, actually. In its first outing on the PS2 Okami was hailed as one of the best looking games of the generation, with a glorious cell-shaded style inspired by traditional Japanese prints giving it a look that no-one else could match. And surprise surprise, it looks the absolute business in high definition. You won't often be able to say that a re-release of a six year old game is the best looking title of the year, but Okami could take that title by some distance. Combine that with a sweeping score, some fine combat, and more collectables than you can keep track of, and you've got an adventure that truly earns the tag "epic". With this HD remake we've got the definitive version of one of the best games in the last ten years, and a title that comes closer than any other to beating Zelda at its own game. Not to be missed.<br />
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<b><u>Number Two: Hotline Miami</u></b><br />
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<b><u><br /></u></b>
And now for something completely different. Sitting down to play Hotline Miami was unlike anything I'd tried before. A sharp blast of trippy 80s style, coupled with a pounding retro soundtrack and the most brutal depiction of violence you're likely to see in 2D, wrapped up in the guise of a top-down arcade shooter. Within five minutes I'd been taught how to kill by a tramp, awoken to find three masked strangers talking riddles in my living room, and assaulted a building full of thugs with nothing but a lead pipe. Five hours later I took off my headphones, switched off the computer, and tried to re-adjust to the real world. From the trippy Suda-style plot to the drug-induced haze of the music and visuals, Hotline Miami is a game that oozes cool from the word go. It's a challenge as well; a game, like Dark Souls and Super Hexagon, where death is as rewarding as it is inevitable. But it was also easily the most fun I'd had playing a game in 2012. The action was so slick, the unlockables a treat, and the style was unbeatable. I ended <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/hotline-miami-review-dial-m-for-murder.html" target="_blank">my review</a> by calling it a modern day videogame nasty, and that rings true. Cheap, brutal, and fun as hell.<br />
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<b><u>Number 1: Journey</u></b><br />
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Let me tell you a story. My brother and I grew up sharing a love of games, spending most of our childhoods playing away together. Sadly distance and adulthood means we don't get the chance to do that so often anymore. One night my brother phoned me to suggest we take the crazy step of playing something together online. But what? We're so used to sharing games that there isn't much we each have a copy of. The only title we both had was Journey, and thanks to the random pairing system and lack of communication there meeting each other was a tough prospect. But we were determined to at least try. Staying on the phone, we both managed to reach the same area, and after some fairly comic verification ("Is that you making all that noise over there?" "Aye jump up and down so I know it's you I'm talking to") we hung up and were able to get on with the adventure. In the sun we sailed side by side down cascading sand, and glided together above ancient ruins. Deep underground we cowered from ominous monsters, scrambling away when one of us was spotted. There were times I was afraid I'd lost him, but he always seemed to pop up around the next corner, chirping away. We reached a blizzard-scarred mountain, and our strength started to fail, but we never left each other's side. And at the end, when the credits rolled, I had the biggest smile on my face. I'd played through the game several times before, but never with the same person all the way through. That it was my brother somehow made it all the more special. Our journey had become a memory that will stay with me for years to come.<br />
<br />
That's why Journey is my game of the year. I could mention the spellbinding visuals, from the desert bathed in the glow of sunset to the dank and moody underground temples. I could bring up the sweeping score, that thrills and moves in equal measure as you travel further on. I could talk about the glorious design, or the story, or the atmosphere, or any number of things. But what matters is that Journey was one of the most amazing and moving experiences I've had with a game, not only last year, but for many years. Magical.Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-30617096863371929892012-12-25T05:04:00.000+00:002013-01-10T16:53:26.708+00:00That was the year that was: 2012A lot can happen in 12 months. 2012 has been a tough year for certain studios, one where we've lost the legendary <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-22-sony-closes-wipeout-developer-sony-liverpool-report" target="_blank">Sony Liverpool</a> (formerly Wipeout developers Psygnosis), troubled publishing house <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-19-thq-files-for-bankruptcy" target="_blank">THQ</a>, and even good old <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-07-james-bond-developer-eurocom-makes-remaining-staff-redundant-ceases-trading" target="_blank">Eurocom</a> (who gave us The World is Not Enough, easily the second best Bond game on the N64). The U.K games journalism scene nearly tore itself apart over <a href="http://www.onscreeninstereo.co.uk/games-writers-should-have-standards-and-expect-others-to-uphold-them-too/#comments" target="_blank">rows about integrity</a>, while Kickstarter launched its British operations with mixed results for industry veterans <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20797273" target="_blank">Molyneux</a>, <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous" target="_blank">Braben</a>, and the <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theolivertwins/dizzy-returns" target="_blank">Oliver twins</a>. Speaking of Molyneux, his studio 22 Cans faced no end of issues with their controversial debut project <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/curiosity-hypecube.html" target="_blank">Curiosity</a>, which at one point had the man<a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/22/peter-molyneuxs-tears-i-still-believe-so-much/" target="_blank"> in tears</a>. E3 proved to be an <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/e3-2012-winners-and-sinners.html" target="_blank">oddly compelling</a> car crash of conferences, with <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/e3-2012-microsoft-conference-round-up.html" target="_blank">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/e3-2012-sony-conference-round-up.html" target="_blank">Sony</a>, and <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/e3-2012-nintendo-conference-round-up.html" target="_blank">Nintendo</a> jostling to outdo each-other in the let-down stakes. Perhaps most sadly of all, 2012 saw the closure of some of the best loved games magazines on the market, a depressing indictment of the state print media finds itself in these days. Rest in peace <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/goodbye-to-nintendo-gamer-worth-7.html" target="_blank">Nintendo Gamer</a>, <a href="http://www.gamesradar.com/farewell-psm3/" target="_blank">PSM3</a>, <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/xbox-720-details-revealed-from-the-latest-issue-of-xbox-world-magazine" target="_blank">Xbox World</a>, and in the U.S the <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411853,00.asp" target="_blank">Official Playstation Magazine</a> and the legendary <a href="http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/08/21/farewell-nintendo-power" target="_blank">Nintendo Power</a>; you'll all be sadly missed. And of course we can't forget the sad passing of the Gamesmaster himself, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20657939" target="_blank">Sir Patrick Moore</a>. So long and thanks for all the cheat codes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQ600oj9s1y5FLOU8NcxrkFn0bs2Y0kvCmQjOPnVePuD1R62VvKotkwS9RDj312AOkU3fS1d1yN_xcgn8Z1KGkvHfgLWrF2lQl7iUi2ps2s4Mwn1nB6hLpTNpo0RrVC2hz3lSP1zYM0M/s1600/240209-gamesmaster-dtoid-rip.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEQ600oj9s1y5FLOU8NcxrkFn0bs2Y0kvCmQjOPnVePuD1R62VvKotkwS9RDj312AOkU3fS1d1yN_xcgn8Z1KGkvHfgLWrF2lQl7iUi2ps2s4Mwn1nB6hLpTNpo0RrVC2hz3lSP1zYM0M/s400/240209-gamesmaster-dtoid-rip.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At least as a legend he'll live forever</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
But with death comes new life. The next generation of home consoles sorta-kinda launched at the start of this month with Nintendo's <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/wii-u-hands-on.html" target="_blank">Wii U</a>. Sure it may not be as powerful as the PS3, but we were so starved for new hardware we'll take whatever comes our way. In March the government finally popped its thumb out and offered the U.K games industry some <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17464478" target="_blank">long overdue tax breaks</a>, the benefits of which will hopefully be felt as we move further into the next gen. A personal highlight of the year came in raising over £200 for Sick Kids Save Point through my <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/sksp-hour-24-eden-reached.html" target="_blank">24 hour gaming marathon</a>. Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would sponsor me to do something so daft, so I can't express how grateful I am to everyone that supported the cause. I'm already planning for next year.<br />
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And, believe it or not, I managed to play some games outside of that as well. Not as many as I'd hoped to, mind, but a couple of decent ones. long-term fans of the blog, if such weirdos exist, might remember me counting down my top ten games of the year around 12 months ago. I stand by the feeling that in 2011 we were truly spoiled for choice when it came to quality titles, which made picking a top ten a fairly easy task. I haven't been so lucky in 2012. Through a mixture of not playing enough games, not owning the right systems, and good old fashioned shite releases, tossing out ten games of the year would be impossible. I'm having to settle for five, which better reflects my feelings without having to resort to padding the list out with games that don't really deserve to be there. Nae luck, Playstation All-Stars.<br />
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<strike>So in the next few days leading up to new year's eve, look out for five upcoming posts on my games of the year. All being well I'll have the first up tomorrow, and the final one up before we ring in 2013. What a rush that'll be, eh? Christmas is coming a little bit ea... Oh wait no, that's not right at all. Er, merry Christmas! </strike>Disregard that I'm clearly not as organised as I thought I was. Oh well!Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-88080284842817481422012-12-05T22:49:00.000+00:002012-12-05T22:49:35.867+00:00Wii U- Hands onThe launch of a new Nintendo console is always a reason to get
excited. Few, if any, games companies can boast such a rich history
of quality releases, while so many of us will have cut our gaming
teeth on one Ninty machine or another. After the stunning success of
the Wii, and the intuitive motion-controlled revolution it brought,
eyebrows were raised when details about its successor began to
emerge. Back in June 2011 Nintendo unveiled the Wii U, with a strong
focus on its key selling point: the GamePad. A sort of Swiss Army
controller, the pad boasts a number of features, including a
front-facing camera, microphone, gyroscopic control, traditional face
buttons, and of course a tablet-esque touchscreen right in the
middle. But in the 18 months since announcing it Nintendo have done a
poor job of communicating why exactly the Wii U is something we
should want to buy. After the universal simplicity of the Wii's
motion controls the feature-heavy GamePad came across as confusing,
and the more Nintendo tried to explain the more baffling it seemed.<br />
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The console finally launched in the U.K on Friday, and courtesy of a
very accommodating pal I was able to get my hands on one for a few
hours that evening. Even after a short time it became obvious that
this is something people are going to have to try for themselves.
Picking up the pad, you're immediately struck by how light it is. For
its size you're expecting something a bit weightier, though it does
feel very robust. The size makes it bulky but not unwieldy. It's
comfortable to hold and use, though people with smaller hands might
find it tricky to juggle using the face buttons and the touchscreen.</div>
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On that, the screen itself is the real treat here. Brilliantly clear
and bright, it's almost a surprise to see it display everything with
the same sharpness as your TV. The Wii U allows you to stream your
console game onto the pad. So if, for instance, someone wants to
interrupt your gaming so they can watch something, you can switch to
playing on the pad's screen with no issue. This is the sort of
innovation you feel could become quietly revolutionary, especially
considering that it'll work at a range of up to 25ft. Quite apart
from being able to take games with you into different rooms (finally,
a home console you can play on the toilet. The future is brilliant),
built-in Lovefilm and Netflix apps will make streaming films in bed a
tempting proposition, and surfing the internet should be simple too.
For anyone that doesn't have a dedicated tablet, the Wii U could
prove to be an ideal substitute.</div>
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The touchscreen also proves to be an entirely natural way to navigate
menus, much more so than the slightly skittery Wii pointer. The
screen isn't as touch-sensitive as you'd find on an iPad, instead
making use of a stylus that slots into the back of the controller. It
feels nice and precise though, with the pad easy enough to hold in
one hand. Small functions, like being able to use the pad to change
channels on your TV, are a very nice touch as well. Overall you
realise that, as a selling point, the GamePad isn't too bad at all.
There's something that just clicks when using it, and after no time
it feels completely natural.</div>
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But how does it work for gaming? Nintendo are clearly pushing the
social side of the pad first and foremost, with their minigame
compilation Nintendoland filling the Wii Sports role of introducing
people to the new controller's potential. As a collection it's
typically charming, a virtual theme park that acts as a love letter
to Nintendo's past. The games themselves range from the chaotically
brilliant to the surprisingly dull, depending on how many people you
have playing at a time. My own experience was with two other people,
one on the pad and two with Wii remotes. The GamePad player will
typically have a different role to play. For instance in the riotous
Mario Chase the GamePad gives you an overview of a mazy stage in
which you run and hide, while the other players on the TV have a
limited view and have to hunt you down before the time runs out. It's
a neatly balanced concept that comes to life after a few drinks, with
a lot of shouting and giggling as you chase each other around the
level.</div>
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Other games in the collection provide plenty of laughs. The Pikmin
dungeon-crawler is charmingly tricky, while a Zelda-themed slash 'em
up has you using the GamePad to fire arrows at onrushing enemies.
Sadly Nintendo run the risk of over-explaining everything to players.
Each game is preceded by lengthy tutorials telling you the exact
rules for each player, what the controls are, and it all flits by so
fast that you can go in fairly confused. Things click easily enough
in practice, but it highlights the downsides of Nintendo's
explanation-driven approach when marketing the console. It's tricky
to communicate, but the best way to sell this to people will be to
simply put it in their hands.</div>
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I sampled a couple of the other launch titles as well. New Super
Mario Bros U is what you'd expect from a brand-new 2D Mario game,
offering some brilliant platforming challenge and a great
multiplayer. Given that this is Nintendo's first console to support
HD, you can imagine it looks pretty wonderful as well. Everything's
so bright and colourful you can't help but smile. Though it lacks the
striking style of Rayman Origins, you get the impression that
Nintendo and hi-def graphics are going to be a very nice match
indeed.</div>
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Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has already been out on the PS3 and 360 for a
few weeks, but Namco have upped the ante for the Wii U release. It
looks just as good, if not better, than the other versions, showing
off the console's graphical muscle, but it's the Wii U specific modes
that stand out. Mushroom mode sees the stage littered with Mario
mushrooms, that make the characters larger or shorter, all while
thumping remixes of Nintendo tunes play over the action. The
characters have alternate costumes based on Nintendo characters as
well, adding a hell of a lot of charm. There's nothing like seeing a
massive Mario-suited Kuma battering into a tiny Yoshimitsu in a Link
costume to have you in tears of laughter.
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Outside of Mario, the big launch title is clearly Zombi U. Ubisoft's
survival horror exclusive has been developed with the console's
features in mind, and it shows. The game has you stalking through a
deserted London, fending off attacks from the rabid undead hordes.
The GamePad is used to access your inventory and tools, but all in
real time. There's no pausing to manage your items or solve puzzles,
meaning you're constantly on your guard. What little I saw of the
campaign seemed suitably tense, bringing to mind games like Bioshock
and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It includes some Dark-Souls style twists, with a
brutal difficulty level making death almost inevitable, and online
components that will see your game world crossing over with those of
other players'. It also includes some interesting multiplayer modes;
Capture the Flag has one player strategically controlling zombie
placements on the GamePad, while the others survive in first person
on the TV. It's fun when it clicks, but that will take a while. It's
clear that Zombi U's real strength seems to be in its single player
campaign.</div>
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And that's lucky, because the Wii U is strangely lacking in solo
titles at the moment. It's launched with a handful of third-party
ports, including Assassins Creed 3 and Darksiders 2, but it's unusual
for Nintendo to release a console without a big first-party title
that has solo players in mind. While you can play through games like
NSMB and Nintendoland yourself, they'll be at their best with some
mates round and a few drinks down. This has been designed as a party
console first and foremost, and it seems you're best keeping pals in
mind if you're going to pick one up for gaming, at least until the
big first-party titles start dropping. Then again, I wasn't able to
touch on the online modes during my time playing. Reports suggest
that the Miiverse, Nintendo's stab at a sort of Wii U social network,
is an absolute joy, with the potential to change the online side of
console gaming.
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Even as a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, I have to admit the Wii U has
surprised me. For months I'd been telling myself this wasn't for me,
that Nintendo didn't really know what they were doing with it. But
having had one in my hands I can say that Nintendo might have
convinced me they were right all along. It's now much easier to see
why this touch screen integration might be the next big thing, one
that will doubtless be copied in some way when Sony and Microsoft
bring up their own next-gen offerings. However, as with the Wii the
real key to its success will be to get people trying it. A few hours
playing on a Wii U has done more to convince me it's worth buying
than 18 months of marketing and explanatory videos ever could have.
And as far as first impressions go, that's not too bad at all</div>
Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-54066926027413734472012-11-12T01:42:00.001+00:002012-11-12T01:57:33.403+00:00Curiosity- Enter the HypecubeI'm fairly late to the party on this one, because I've been really conflicted over whether or not I should write something about <i>Curiosity</i>. Not because I'm unsure about the project itself, or because I feel it would be unfair to judge it when the whole thing's suffering from so many <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-11-09-22cans-reckons-it-has-a-solution-to-curiosity-server-and-coins-woe" target="_blank">teething problems</a>. Nah, it's because I genuinely believe there are better things I could be doing with my time. Cleaning my room, for instance. Or perhaps eating biscuits while staring at the wall. These also happen to more entertaining and fulfilling pursuits than actually spending minutes of my day with this inane block clicker.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuck-all of interest, no doubt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For the blissfully ignorant, <i>Curiosity</i> is the latest blue-sky concept from the mind of Peter Molyneux. Billed as the first in a series of experimental titles from indie studio 22 Cans, <i>Curiosity</i> presents you with a white room and a giant cube. When the first players logged in back on Tuesday morning the shape was black all over. Tapping it zoomed you in to reveal that it was made up of millions of tiny, breakable squares that could be cleared by tapping the screen. Since, naturally, clearing away millions of squares by yourself would be a bit of a task, we're all happily battering away at the same cube in real time. Soon large patches of green peppered each side, as more players joined in with the fun and started adding their own patterns. People were getting creative, as the swathes of flaccid cocks, swear words, and warped smiley faces proved. By the time I managed to battle my way through the server issues to become the 16,825th person on the cube whole sides of it were nearly cleared.<br />
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For about five minutes it threatened to be some kind of vaguely interesting community drawing experiment. Tapping away squares has a nice tactility to it, coupled with some relaxing chillout tunes it becomes almost soothing. I zoomed in to what seemed like a blank patch and imaginatively scrawled out the word "Hello". That was immediately wiped out by some marauding tapper blowing chunks out of the area. Oh, well fair enough. Zoom out and pick another bit. Think I'll go bigger this time. Really take this graffiti wall concept to heart and tap out "Fuck" in giant letters. Yeah, that'll turn some heads. Well it certainly wasted a couple minutes, and as I zoomed out and realized you couldn't see it from any real distance anyway, dwarfed by the shapeless scrawls of other players, I had to ask why I'd bothered.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though I'll admit tapping this out made me smile.</td></tr>
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Of course by now the first layer's been peeled away, revealing a picture of a lava lamp. Tapping away at that told us the next layer was red. Fascinating. It's been widely reported that something "life changing" lies at the centre of this monolith, but only the player who taps away that final square will get to see it. So we're all co-operating in a race against each other for some unnamed prize, hidden under an unspecified number of cube layers? Quite apart from sounding like the world's shittest gameshow concept, you have to ask what Molyneux could possibly have to offer that would change my life in any meaningful way? Given that it's already been revealed as a video link, and that the man himself <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-30-molyneux-curiosity-prize-is-not-money-or-half-life-3" target="_blank">admitted it wouldn't point to wear he'd buried a suitcase full of money</a>, I'm really scratching my head. <br />
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This has been widely billed as some sort of large-scale social experiment, one whose data will provide the basis of 22 Cans' next release. I can't for the life of me work out what this experiment is attemtping to prove, unless it's perhaps working from the hypothesis "How many otherwise sensible punters can we get tapping this cube for hours on end?" Judging by the number of folk downloading it, and the subsequent server crash it's caused, the answer is clearly "Too fucking many". Is that useful data? Perhaps it's a variation on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem" target="_blank">infinite monkey theorem</a>. Will a million gamers tapping at a million screens eventually produce something other than scribbles and dicks?<br />
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The game's technical issues aside, auld-Pete's clearly relying on the pull of this overdone mystery box routine to keep people tapping away until it's done. But he should have learned from shows like Lost that when people put time into waiting for a resolution to your mystery, they tend to get pretty pissed when it ends up being nothing of interest. This'll be a bigger problem when only one person gets the resolution, especially if the cheeky beggar decides to keep it to themselves.While I don't doubt there are going to be a few hardy souls sticking it out to the end, the vast majority will give up once they've satisfied their curiosity and realised that the game offers nothing but pointless busywork for no reward. Sure there's some kind of coin system there for tapping away enough squares, which you can spend on tools to, er, tap away slightly more at a time. That's just another layer of the deceit on offer, tricking you into believing this is a game that's worth the hours you're expected to put into it. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is none of these things stop lying</td></tr>
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But it's difficult to even think of this as a game. The closest comparison I could muster is with is the National Lottery. It's equally competitive, with everyone hoping to win that jackpot, and co-operative, as there'd be no jackpot unless we all kept buying tickets like the gambling sheep we are. But at least the lottery has more than one actual life-changing prize, often revealed several times a week, and as a player you're not expected to waste large chunks of your time playing insipid minigames before they'll crank out the numbers. Just buy your fucking ticket and wait. Pretty simple, pretty effective. Perhaps 22 Cans can look into that model for their next release.<br />
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Maybe I'm being too cynical here. A whole chunk of the games press have had a great time writing about this over the last week, and I must admit to thoroughly enjoying <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/376949/blog/curiosity-uncovered-we-discover-whats-in-the-cube/#" target="_blank">CVG's ongoing blog</a> about the progress being made, packed with funny speculation and pictures. But there's the problem with this project: following the progress of it is proving to be more fun than actually participating. I'm presuming I won't be the only person to have downloaded <i>Curiosity</i>, given it five minutes before tossing it, but with the intention of keeping tabs on how it's going as time moves on. I'm willing to bet that'll be an ever-growing crowd over the coming days.<br />
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Maybe <i>Curiosity</i> is the purest form of Molyneux's special formula of "interesting in concept, disappointing in practice" we've seen so far. But when the man's output is properly overlapping with that of his<a href="https://twitter.com/PeterMolydeux" target="_blank"> twitter parody</a>, you've got to start asking questions. I'm all for experimental ideas in gaming, but this kind of thing pushes the envelope just a little. One has to wonder what exactly we'll see from his studio next. And while there may have been many better ways for me to spend my time than typing up this fairly ill-formed rant, I know some poor souls will have probably spent that same time tapping away on the cube. And if nothing else, that makes me feel a whole lot more productive than I really should.Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-42734583549247789462012-10-28T14:37:00.003+00:002012-10-28T14:37:55.847+00:00The Ship: Full Steam Ahead!Thursday saw Edinburgh based studio Blazing Griffin kick off their Kickstarter for the long-awaited sequel to PC classic The Ship: Murder Party. After picking up the IP from defunct developer Outerlight in 2010, BG were finally able to reveal their plans for the franchise. Dubbed "Full Steam Ahead", the project was given its official reveal at a press event attended by the development team, who were keen to chat about what we can expect to see from the title.<br />
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Perhaps most interesting of all was a radical change in setting. Gone are the 1920s period trimmings of the first, jettisoned in favour of a move into steampunk territory. Lead concept artist Paul Canavan explained the potential the change allows them, saying: "The steamnpunk aesthetic has been well explored in various media but it's an
environment that isn't often seen in the games space. It's dabbled
with, but generally on quite a small scale whereas what we're trying
to present here is really the sort of grand vision, of the sort of
futuristic V|ictorian setting. Rather than keeping it on the low end
and keeping it simple we're really pushing the scale of this
concept, which is exciting."</div>
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It was clear from some of the lovely concept art adorning the walls, some of which you can see here, that it certainly will be a grand venture.The striking designs hint at some interesting potential. But we can still expect to enjoy the backstabbing gameplay that made the original such a success, as Media Manager Phil Harris was quick to point out. "People are still playing The Ship because they like that gameplay. To mess with that would be a fool's errand, and we're no fools."<br />
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Of course it's all just potential at this point. They have the kickstarter fund to get through first. Launching on October 31st, the same day that Kickstarter's U.K site goes live, it will run right through to the end of December. Hitting the initial target of £128k will see the team release the game as a multiplayer title, but anything higher would give them the freedom to take other ideas on board. Phil explained "If we hit the target of 128k we get a minimum viable product. If we double that then we'll be able to look at doing lots of
other things. If we hit $1m then we can make The Ship free to
play, which would be great because we want lots of people to be able
to play it while they wait for the sequel."</div>
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If the fund raising is successful, development should begin in the new year. And we can expect a lot of community involvement along the way, with Blazing Griffin keen to take on board what fans want to see. Lead designer Stephen Hewitt told me: "It's always interesting doing a sequel,
because obviously you've got a lot of people that are already aware
of the game. You're trying to make
something different that hopefully the original audience will appreciate and
like, but without breaking what they liked about it. The whole project will be done open
development so everyone will be able to look at what we're doing and
comment. We want to involve our audience."</div>
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It paints a picture of a studio that really cares about its audience, a sentiment that Phil endorsed. "Blazing Griffin's guiding principle is
to involve the community. We don't feel there's a point in creating
any game that fans don't want to see." Given the popularity of the first game, as well as the passionate steampunk community out there, you can safely assume that a lot of people will look forward to seeing Full Steam Ahead released.</div>
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Also on display was some of the art from upcoming strategy title Distant Star. Ostensibly a re-imagining of the Blazing Griffin's first title, a self-coded iOS hit from studio co-founder Trevor Fountain, it promises a sprawling sci-fi universe for players to enjoy. The art is packed with detail and imagination, bringing to mind childhood memories of building Lego spaceships and playing out epic space battles.</div>
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With both Distant Star and The Ship the team also have high hopes of expanding the universes into other media. From films to fan fiction, there's apparently a lot of potential for new stories if the franchises prove popular. And as they're quietly confident at the success of their kickstarter fund, it seems that the future could be bright for Blazing Griffin.</div>
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Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-55022619325194473382012-10-26T22:12:00.000+01:002013-12-16T00:56:56.633+00:00Hotline Miami Review: Dial M for Murder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's 1989. You wake in a dingy
bathroom. The lights are out, flies hover lazily around the broken
furniture. A guitar wails over plodding bass strums. Staggering into
the living room, you find three masked men sitting, waiting. They
seem to know you. They speak in riddles, their animal faces betraying
no humanity. You've apparently done terrible things. Do you remember?
Time flashes back. You receive a coded phonecall, it tells you where
to go. The drive takes no time at all. You pull on a chicken mask.
Why? There you'll slam a door into a gangster's face, knocking him
senseless before spreading his pal's brains with a stolen baseball
bat. Techno thuds away, adding a pleasing rhythm to the bloody
action. This is <i>Hotline Miami</i>, and you won't have played anything
quite like it before.</div>
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A top-down sort of shooter with a
very retro sense of style, bringing to mind a more innocent era of
videogame violence, <i>Hotline Miami</i> is a little tricky to describe. Not
the look so much: imagine the bloody 80s haze of <i>Vice City</i> built in
the original <i>GTA</i> engine and you're close. Nor the action, which mixes
the twitchiness of a bullet hell shooter with <i>Hitman</i>'s brutal
improvised violence, and <i>Canon Fodder</i>'s simple “kill everything”
objectives. The punishing difficulty brings to mind <i><a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/number-6-dark-souls.html" target="_blank">Dark Souls</a></i> as
well, another game where frequent death is as inevitable as it is
rewarding.</div>
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And <i>Hotline Miami</i> is a game built on
death. Missions have you hitting up a building full of thugs on the
strength of an answerphone message. The identity of the caller is a
narrative mystery, but the objective is always the same: Everyone in
this building must die. There are many more of them, they're better
equipped than you, but you'll still have to kill them all. Of course,
just as it would be if you attempted to take down scores of armed
gangsters by yourself, rushing in isn't always the best approach.
More often than not it'll result in a swift and messy death at the
wrong end of a crowbar. A playthrough can be over in a flash of blood
and noise. This isn't quite your standard shooter, you have to take
the time to plan things out.</div>
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Being aware of where enemies are,
and taking them on in manageable numbers, is key. Stealth, melee
kills, and patience will serve you much better than an itchy trigger
finger. You can spend a long time planning out every move before you
make it; Outside a room with two gun totting baddies. Boot in the
door to knock down the first guy, quickly throw your knife at his pal
with the shotgun, before sprinting over to grab it and blasting the
first now getting to his feet. The noisy shot will attract others, so
you'll stand behind the door and calmly blow away everyone that runs
in. Of course, while you're standing thinking this out a dog will
sprint up from behind and tear your throat out. Fuck. Hit R to retry.
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Because of this, each level is as
much a puzzle as it is an action set-piece waiting to happen. Take in
your immediate surroundings and patterns begin to form. Tread
carefully and you'll be clearing rooms as cleanly and efficiently as
a SWAT team. Well, I say cleanly. As you'll be able to tell, <i>Hotline
Miami</i> is an almost unprecedentedly violent game. Blood sprays the
walls as you split skulls to pieces, limbs vapourise with a single
shotgun blast. The violence is brief, bloody, and brutal, almost
sickening despite the retro visuals. Half dead villains will
desperately try and crawl away, some end of level characters will beg
for their lives before you gouge out their eyes. But there is no
mercy, everyone has to die. And when all the floors are finally
cleared the action halts abruptly, the music swirls into an ambient
fuzz as you stagger back to your car, past all the pools of blood and
guts and staring eyes. It's the closest you'll come to regret.
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But that's quickly forgotten when
the action is so damn satisfying. Few titles will ever make you feel
as slick as <i>Hotline Miami</i> when things go right. Whether it's as a
carefully laid plan comes together, efficiently smashing your way
through enemies faces with absolute precision, or when you
frantically improvise your way through a series of blundering kills,
you're in the zone for the duration. Neon combo messages flash up as
you speedily empty a room, the technicolour visuals pulse and warp
with the pounding music. Every death you suffer, and there will be
many, just makes it all the more satisfying when you eventually
triumph; bloodily battering that bastard with the pipe that's killed
you ten times in a row to beat the level. And as your car drives off,
and your kills are tallied up and scored, you can enjoy a satisfied smile. It may grow wider with the unlockable treats, including
various named animal masks, each of which gives you a different
quirk. This might be starting with a weapon, lethal door slams, or
longer combo chains. They add some extra strategy to the open-ended
action, and give completionists an excuse to chase some high scores.</div>
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All the atmosphere on offer owes a
great deal to the soundtrack, which in many ways is the true
masterpiece here. Oozing with retro cool, from the slightly sinister,
off-key ambience of the menu melody to the brutal electronic beats
during your assaults, you realise that <i>Hotline Miami</i> wouldn't be half
as brilliant without those tunes. The action takes on a measured
rhythm as you start to match hits with beats, lacing together with
the cocaine fuelled 80s style perfectly. A decent set of headphones
can add a whole new layer to a playthrough, and with the repetition
of the action and the sounds looping again and again and again you
mind might start to melt alongside your character's.</div>
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That's where the story comes in. A
surrealist trance of nameless characters and warping reality,
perfectly charting the steadily decaying mind of a killer. The
normality between missions clashes with the violent rampages. You'll
visit video rental stores and pizza places, happily chatting with the
bearded worker who calls you his friend. A love interest rescued
early on hangs around your apartment, saying nothing. But cracks soon
start to appear. The consequences of the violence catch up with you,
human elements in your life fade away. There's a lot to be said for a
a surrealist narrative, one that makes you want to keep playing in
the hope of having your questions answered. It's part of what made
Mikami and Suda's <i><a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/were-in-tight-spot-look-back-at-killer.html" target="_blank">Killer 7</a></i> so compelling, despite the fact that you
so rarely had any idea what was going on.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52_pMAv_kC8uUudJH8TlXqsmeObAN0kkoBd7g6OKFic1x0QJJ7ObPEKqDWAxnjQ5-WIl5SUtBtM8AruIE1yx-iJqreMg1KRuM2H9KrPumTmkduHoGXquuuws1kZXQF-sP-VSDbIAF5jM/s1600/Hotline-Miami-The-Masks-Trailer_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52_pMAv_kC8uUudJH8TlXqsmeObAN0kkoBd7g6OKFic1x0QJJ7ObPEKqDWAxnjQ5-WIl5SUtBtM8AruIE1yx-iJqreMg1KRuM2H9KrPumTmkduHoGXquuuws1kZXQF-sP-VSDbIAF5jM/s400/Hotline-Miami-The-Masks-Trailer_1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In fact, you could be forgiven if
you mistook <i>Hotline Miami</i> for a Suda title. It shares his surreal
sense of style; from the brutal, almost comic violence and
collectables of <i>No More Heroes</i>, with similar hack and slash rhythmic
combat of <i>Lollipop Chainsaw</i>, to the twisted narrative and macabre
atmosphere of <a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/were-in-tight-spot-look-back-at-killer.html" target="_blank"><i>Killer 7</i>.</a> Swedish developers Dennaton have done a great
job throwing together something so compelling from such a simple
engine.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It ain't perfect. Simple WASD
controls come across as shockingly fiddly at first, though you'll
quickly adjust to the twitchiness. Enemy AI will see your foes fail
to spot you lopping their friend's head off mere feet away, or loudly
busting in on them while they're taking a piss. Glitches abound as
well, with disappearing weapons and flickering walls often the order
of the day. These are forgiveable. Less so is the occasionally unfair
level design, with perfect playthroughs often spoiled by the same unseen
enemies again and again; or the wickedly unbalanced boss fights,
which leap out of nowhere and offer screen-breaking moments of
frustration. It's short too: I blasted through it in about four
hours. Maybe too short for some, though the replay value is there. If
not for the high scores, then at least for the fun of it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3pHnAcFmtzM40AE92JfXFpHEVaIidDaj_CAd9T90njoI2nbQOYyRiIbW_ZjfQ5rhqebCTfI-Wux63agCAZ4mNQuqjgn-1NW0wu_toYEzXstDTVVyn47jouq4TIoFtmUyEQ1gyriVoOs/s1600/2297694-hotline_miami___gamescom_1-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3pHnAcFmtzM40AE92JfXFpHEVaIidDaj_CAd9T90njoI2nbQOYyRiIbW_ZjfQ5rhqebCTfI-Wux63agCAZ4mNQuqjgn-1NW0wu_toYEzXstDTVVyn47jouq4TIoFtmUyEQ1gyriVoOs/s400/2297694-hotline_miami___gamescom_1-1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
But you won't be thinking about the
flaws. You'll be too focussed on the sickeningly addictive violence, the
satisfying savagery of the kills. You'll be taken in by the beautiful
8-bit portrayal of an 80s underworld, all seedy clubs and drug
fuelled pulses of colour. You'll be attempting to make sense of the
twisted narrative, a feverish nightmare of masked killers and
revenge. Your ears will be busy with the brilliance of the
soundtrack, as it flows over the action and builds an atmosphere of
absolute cool. In a year that's seen so few quality releases <i>Hotline
Miami</i> stands out as something special. A delightedly demented orgy of
ultraviolence and retro style. It's the modern-day videogame-nasty:
cheap, brutal, and fun as hell.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><a href="http://hotlinemiami.com/" target="_blank">Out now for PC.</a></i></div>
Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-69706627463645945412012-10-13T12:10:00.002+01:002012-10-13T12:10:45.061+01:00SKSP Hour 24: Eden Reached<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5N_ClpghWPrqnulZAdctx80LpXvUGg-c0TUdPBHVYa6R42BaNGcREJINQeUJcWDR292sLhGpbJGuegTKOLLkvQCawfcyFqs7vULd82lWn0xbNrAZL9-1tOVwHG8Wy1dLneU_h9U2r78/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn5N_ClpghWPrqnulZAdctx80LpXvUGg-c0TUdPBHVYa6R42BaNGcREJINQeUJcWDR292sLhGpbJGuegTKOLLkvQCawfcyFqs7vULd82lWn0xbNrAZL9-1tOVwHG8Wy1dLneU_h9U2r78/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
As we hit noon I'm delighted to realise that I've now completed my 24 hours of solid gaming. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation, or the remnants of the wine sloshing around my system, or it might even be the aftereffects of playing Child of Eden for the last hour, but I feel kind of floaty. In a good way! Er, I think.<br />
<br />
Big thank you to everyone who supported me during this, especially everyone who was kind enough to sponsor me to the point of more than doubling my target amount. I've seriously been blown away by the generosity of you guys. Good luck to everyone that's embarking on their own marathon as mine draws to a close. I hope you all have as much fun as I did. Thank you and goodnight!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004882-sksp-heavenly-stars/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004882-sksp-heavenly-stars">listen to ‘SKSP: Heavenly Stars’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-8597158163203449982012-10-13T10:32:00.001+01:002012-10-13T10:32:09.876+01:00SKSP Hour 22: On the Edge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLd3KY2VKbvunvD51WD4Vh45WZJZrHz59kurv0w3Wm1JBERnc3G5bO8wLacGO-MyH-MLOsH1LExfzDYaMMFjIPix0nX01R8uDPkvZrteXnJZ_Mq5SVvxduxddOyqtTZB_TC3Djy8d2FJg/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLd3KY2VKbvunvD51WD4Vh45WZJZrHz59kurv0w3Wm1JBERnc3G5bO8wLacGO-MyH-MLOsH1LExfzDYaMMFjIPix0nX01R8uDPkvZrteXnJZ_Mq5SVvxduxddOyqtTZB_TC3Djy8d2FJg/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
With a couple of hours to go I ran into yet another Playstation related mishap, as my PS3 decided it didn't really fancy playing Yakuza 3 for me, preferring instead to spend half an hour installing it before crashing. Ah well, lucky I was able to lean on Mirror's Edge as a backup. I'm glad I did as well, since it's proving to be pretty fun, even if it is a glorified suicide simulator (in my hands). Have already lost count of the number of times I've thrown energetic heroine Faith to her grisly death. maybe I'm just thinking too much about falling from a great height.<br />
<br />
Nearly done! Will round things off with Child of Eden, that divisive spiritual sequel to Rez. I need the upbeat boost before bed, to be honest.
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004815-sksp-final-stretch/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004815-sksp-final-stretch">listen to ‘SKSP: final stretch’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-26898897548048145012012-10-13T08:16:00.001+01:002012-10-13T08:16:22.210+01:00SKSP Hour 20: Rezurrection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eaNcxNxuuS_d0kBE1BWNP7cpK46Tut3FkTDASG_n2XtX9ztKk648J1_FjE645lldjZyKjVp4EKZkV20z0xVAu6bn9LoOIY9rNOEkQJftRmr6LIisYjofpRwYpSNpK2oeFgRhAy0YVa8/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eaNcxNxuuS_d0kBE1BWNP7cpK46Tut3FkTDASG_n2XtX9ztKk648J1_FjE645lldjZyKjVp4EKZkV20z0xVAu6bn9LoOIY9rNOEkQJftRmr6LIisYjofpRwYpSNpK2oeFgRhAy0YVa8/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Just after my last update I suddenly realised I was in real danger of crashing. Kept lapsing into those micro-sleep moments, where your eyes shut of their own accord and you feel yourself gently drifting off... then catching it before it happens and jolting back into consciousness. Well with six hours of this marathon to go that wouldn't do, I knew I had to wake myself up. Being slightly the worse for wear, what better way to do that than by turning off all the lights, plugging in my headphones, and blasting through the first level on Rez?<br />
<br />
Of course once I finished Buggie Running Beeps I just had to do Protocol Rain. And then I couldn't miss out on Creation the State of Art. And so on, until I found myself watching the end credits roll and wondering where the last couple of hours had gone. Rez is one of those games that I always turn to when I'm at my lowest ebb. Something about the pounding visuals and intense beat of the soundtrack puts me in a zone of absolute concentration, a perfect trance-filled bubble. Ideal for that point in the night. But now I'm in the home stretch, I can practically see the finish line.<br />
<br />
It's 8AM, Yakuza 3 is in the Playstation, and I've finally finished my red wine. Four hours and counting...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004742-sksp-hour-20/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004742-sksp-hour-20">listen to ‘SKSP Hour 20’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-10644977079674298962012-10-13T05:35:00.000+01:002012-10-26T22:25:05.854+01:00SKSP Witching hour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wnN2F5M-BB2CJhQvmN1o1eDBWR9vVk7ZXY3B9UuC5u-T4P0UDf-2T3v8Tv6ddX0LPxUSEqJmwq_IsE-_kx1SbfETjq71lpdyP1XbX6C1fIErTrunRuPsAE7bVOWWm6pHWyQbMCNG6Qc/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wnN2F5M-BB2CJhQvmN1o1eDBWR9vVk7ZXY3B9UuC5u-T4P0UDf-2T3v8Tv6ddX0LPxUSEqJmwq_IsE-_kx1SbfETjq71lpdyP1XbX6C1fIErTrunRuPsAE7bVOWWm6pHWyQbMCNG6Qc/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Seven Hours on from my last update, and I've been doing two things: Playing Resident Evil 4, and drinking too much red wine. The former was a blast, a finely ground blend of survival horror and action movie cliches. The latter was more of a mellow warping of inhibitions and bad vibes. Truth be told I'm not one for scary games. At the best of times I'm about as brave as a five year old child, and as such I don't tend to make much progress in the more terrifying titles. Christ, I don't think I even reached the first enemy in <i>Silent Hill 2</i> before giving up.<br />
<br />
But that's where being an adult helps; because getting a drink in me can certainly help build up a sense of bravado, that makes it easier to face the scary moments I do my best to avoid. It's funny, this year my brother suggested I run through the first four Silent Hill games for this marathon. I turned him down on the basis that standing in a corner weeping for 24 hours wasn't exactly what my sponsors were after. Now it's time for a wee blast of Rex/Child of Eden before I hit Yakuza 3. Stay strong...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004668-sksp-hour-i-don-t-even-know/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004668-sksp-hour-i-don-t-even-know">listen to ‘SKSP hour I don't even know’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-51600600471427049132012-10-12T22:09:00.000+01:002012-10-12T22:09:32.687+01:00SKSP hour 10: Prophetic Pro-evo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yObL8tvW7rv5D9RyBTMa-2iEEeQf1v-09KS0SrEu3yvRentGdRKUQy35Y6P0OUlFQbk4YG7f0D78d3UYidhFAonPALdV8oXAGaeHEOChZN1GjeP0BTmDGa51pSdI5kLv34DC7IJpy4s/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yObL8tvW7rv5D9RyBTMa-2iEEeQf1v-09KS0SrEu3yvRentGdRKUQy35Y6P0OUlFQbk4YG7f0D78d3UYidhFAonPALdV8oXAGaeHEOChZN1GjeP0BTmDGa51pSdI5kLv34DC7IJpy4s/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Approaching 10PM, and I've just gotten done with my full length Scotland V Wales game on Pro Evo. It was a crushing, dispiriting, and truly boring experience throughout, so pretty much exactly like a Scotland game. Wales scraped a 2-1 win, but the majority of the 90 minutes involved players randomly running into each other and booting the ball as far as they could at every opportunity. So pretty much exac- *ahem*<br />
<br />
Perhaps more interesting was the fact that I wasn't following the actual game at all. So imagine my surprise at switching over after the final whistle, only to find that Scotland had somehow managed to lose 2-1 in the real world too. Well, I say "surprise"... I don't really expect much of Levein's Scotland team at all to be honest. Still, I'm evidently a wizard, so that's nice. Resi 4 is up next, and I'm cracking open the wine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004304-sksp-scotland-shenanigans/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004304-sksp-scotland-shenanigans">listen to ‘SKSP: Scotland Shenanigans’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-32518968888441858402012-10-12T19:26:00.000+01:002012-10-12T19:26:14.837+01:00SKSP Hour 7: Sonic Terror<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51kPKDI_epUTuBvp8P452pd9dlkgpPilERIaq63pdFPlyJLGlZAvrJqjzJx6zt4K5Rl_ISiR2YQpYcPYl9eUDRrFTBsaRlHBNNosyITh2XVG7W8byzeknv0YOK7awl-hWU-W9GpGwfgM/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51kPKDI_epUTuBvp8P452pd9dlkgpPilERIaq63pdFPlyJLGlZAvrJqjzJx6zt4K5Rl_ISiR2YQpYcPYl9eUDRrFTBsaRlHBNNosyITh2XVG7W8byzeknv0YOK7awl-hWU-W9GpGwfgM/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I had to give up on Half Life 2 due to severe boredom, and after 7 hours I was in severe danger of falling asleep if I had to run through another sewer pipe. Was searching for something to wake myself up a wee bit and stumbled upon the Gamecube's Sonic Mega Collection. Technically I've never really played Sonic 3, so I stuck that on for a bit to punch some sense back into me. I bit off more than I could chew though, the speed has done my screen-addled brain and eyes no favours at all. Four game overs later and I'm almost looking forward to the sedate change of pace the Pro-Evo 2011 session will bring me. Let's go Scotland!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004022-sksp-hour-7/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1004022-sksp-hour-7">listen to ‘SKSP Hour 7’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-76873340130805988482012-10-12T18:27:00.003+01:002012-10-12T18:27:56.305+01:00SKSP Hour 6: Wake up and smell the ashes...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51kPKDI_epUTuBvp8P452pd9dlkgpPilERIaq63pdFPlyJLGlZAvrJqjzJx6zt4K5Rl_ISiR2YQpYcPYl9eUDRrFTBsaRlHBNNosyITh2XVG7W8byzeknv0YOK7awl-hWU-W9GpGwfgM/s1600/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51kPKDI_epUTuBvp8P452pd9dlkgpPilERIaq63pdFPlyJLGlZAvrJqjzJx6zt4K5Rl_ISiR2YQpYcPYl9eUDRrFTBsaRlHBNNosyITh2XVG7W8byzeknv0YOK7awl-hWU-W9GpGwfgM/s400/416858_308695575858984_610105412_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Current mood: frustrated<br />
<br />
I've just hit the six hour mark in this gaming marathon, and come to the crushing realisation that I'm only a quarter of the way through. My head's already going a bit funny. Need a slap in the face to wake myself up. Might be on account of the monotony of crawling through Half Life 2's sewers for the last couple of hours. I've no idea if it's a game that uses any kind of mission structure, but if it does I guess that means I'm still stuck on THE FIRST LEVEL. I knew I should've plumped for Portal instead. Been having fun with it, great atmosphere and everything looks lovely, but the skittery handling isn't helping my headache much. I keep sprinting off pipes and missing simple jumps because it's<br />
<br />
Coming up is my football bonus though. Playing through the entre Scotland Wales fixture. But since my copy of FIFA seems to have gone missing, I'll be playing it on Pro Evo 2011. In which the Scotland squad still features international superstars Paul Hartley, Chris Iwelumo, and David Weir. Good stuff. The bottle of red wine in my cupboard is looking more tempting by the minute, and that's a bad sign...<br />
<br />
<br />Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-73070015270194612542012-10-12T16:10:00.001+01:002012-10-12T16:10:22.466+01:00SKSP: Hour 4, disaster strikes!Quick update as I enter my fourth hour of the SKSP marathon. My list of shame idea had to get booted out the window thanks to my brand new PS@ deciding it couldn't really be arsed anymore. It kicked the bucket just as I was about to start playing Ico, which has fisted my plan to death. I just knew buying it for £15 off that dodgy guy at the car boot sale was too good to be true... A quick recalculation has me now playing through PC classic Half Life 2 on my PS3, and struggling manfully with the wonky controls on offer. I'm just not an FPS guy, so this should be fun...<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1003568-sksp-update/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1003568-sksp-update">listen to ‘SKSP Update’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-80983690692244765432012-10-12T15:17:00.000+01:002012-10-12T15:17:11.275+01:00SKSP: 12-3pm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So after whiling away an hour on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and having my coalition defeated in our attempts to "liberate" a city for the third time in a row, good old Regmcfly popped over midway through his own marathon to absolutely school me at Tekken 5 for an hour. I thought I had the skills to handle someone that had never played it before, but I guess I need to train a little harder. After rinsing through every single character in the game, we turned our attentions to Blaz Blue: Calamity Trigger. A typically mental Jap fighter from the team behind Guilty Gear, it became clear after the first round that neither of us had the faintest idea what was going on. Between the flashy visuals, laughable use of Engrish ("Da Wheer Of Fate Ish Turnig. REBEL 1"), and an assortment of characters from my worst anime nightmares, we were stumped.<br />
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Then it was onto a true classic: Soul Calibur II on the Gamecube (the best version, natch). I can't tell you how much time I lost playing this as a teenager. I used to go onto the practice mode, whack the opponent difficulty up to maximum, and just practice combos for hours on end. This, Tekken 5, and Smash Bros Melee were my go-to games back then. An agreement that the first to four victories would be the true champ led to some tense bouts, culminating in a tense finale between Mitsurugi (Reg) V Talim (Me) at 3-3. I triumphed in the end, of course, proving that I'M THE BEST. And I did it with my favourite controller.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWAS5CAogVi_iln5ihOFu2OK7L3UlduPqDNEbN1DcQEkSARi5hWQpKjHxsZI2omc8fSL1LDyN0K0nn9l2B2bYEnI7hDmtpQOeDUoSkYkxgIJCAJbR-SqFwQc4qDmgSG2HfqW4TCUhiGA/s1600/A5Anv4LCIAAxsxU.jpg-large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoWAS5CAogVi_iln5ihOFu2OK7L3UlduPqDNEbN1DcQEkSARi5hWQpKjHxsZI2omc8fSL1LDyN0K0nn9l2B2bYEnI7hDmtpQOeDUoSkYkxgIJCAJbR-SqFwQc4qDmgSG2HfqW4TCUhiGA/s400/A5Anv4LCIAAxsxU.jpg-large.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A thing of beauty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Before he left, Reg insisted on trying the PS3's savanah snoozefest Afrika, at my recommendation. Imagine N64 classic Pokemon Snap, with all the charm, character, and fun stripped away and you'll get an idea of what it's like. In the end his intrepid photojournalist (a slinky young French babe called Vince) was mauled by a rabid hippo. Truly a noble death. Jambo!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqAEICgAM7ia6e-8q3T4r0m65Tcdl5JZEmy5fBa0s0uUuebEbdSMxI1hKexSsoq_WAamfVX4dyi-GYrFgssv0fmbQrbH1U2F5S4144LrJtHPfM2FzmYs30WfJVqYdHZ0e-3SVVbtGGKU/s1600/large.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqAEICgAM7ia6e-8q3T4r0m65Tcdl5JZEmy5fBa0s0uUuebEbdSMxI1hKexSsoq_WAamfVX4dyi-GYrFgssv0fmbQrbH1U2F5S4144LrJtHPfM2FzmYs30WfJVqYdHZ0e-3SVVbtGGKU/s400/large.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The true boss of Afrika</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now with Reg gone I'm going to kick on with SKSP properly, getting my teeth into Ico for the first time ever. I'll end up weeping tears thinking about how I'll probably never get to play The Last Guardian. As a bonus, I grabbed a quick interview with Reg before he boosted off. Enjoy!<br />
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<div class="ab-player" data-boourl="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1003395-regmcfly-interview/embed">
<a href="http://audioboo.fm/boos/1003395-regmcfly-interview">listen to ‘Regmcfly interview’ on Audioboo</a></div>
<script type="text/javascript">(function() { var po = document.createElement("script"); po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true; po.src = "http://d15mj6e6qmt1na.cloudfront.net/assets/embed.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();</script>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-4547478861495093142012-10-12T12:00:00.001+01:002012-10-12T12:00:33.668+01:00SKSP- Begin!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After an auspicious start to the day, where my alarm failed to go off and it turned out I didn't have any milk for my tea, I'm about to kick off my SKSP marathon. Some pounding techno courtesy of Paul Chambers is giving me the kick up the arse I need to wake up. Makes me feel like I've got the industrial plant from the end of Terminator inside my skull. Er, in the best possible way of course.<br />
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I'm kicking off with a cheeky go on Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII, while I wait for Reg to show up so I can boss him at Tekken 5 for a bit. RotTK is what I'm pinning the blame for my laughable sleeping pattern on. After picking up a cheap PS2 last weekend I've had a hard time tearing myself away from it again, and 4AM finishes have been the norm for a good few days. Just entered an alliance to take down the warlord Yuan Shao, and a series of disastrous pitched battles have followed. I'll never conquer China at this rate...<br />
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For more of this nonsense follow me on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/westendweegie" target="_blank">Twitter!</a>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-74741948125003353172012-10-11T12:11:00.000+01:002012-10-11T12:11:57.694+01:00SKSP- Getting Prepared<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this time tomorrow I'll have started my 24 hour gaming marathon for <a href="http://www.sickkidssavepoint.org/" target="_blank">Sick Kids Save Point</a>, raising money for Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children. The last time I did any kind of sponsored charity thing was back in Primary 3, at the tender age of eight. I vaguely recall it being something utterly daft like trampolining or somersaults, and that I managed a pitiful sub-20 count before bowing out in tears. I might well be in a similar state by the time this is over, but at least I feel I'm a bit more prepared for the challenge. My sleeping pattern is suitably skewed, my eyes have developed a resistance to screen-burn, and I'm fully stocked on sugary snacks and the blackest coffee money can buy. Would probably still break down if you asked me to give you 20 somersaults, mind.<br />
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After being handed this 24 hour time slot, one of the trickiest things was deciding what to do with it. Some other participants were dead creative with their ideas (I'm especially looking forward to following <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/ScottGamingMarathon" target="_blank">Scott Murdoch</a> attempt to survive for 24 hours in Day Z), which made me feel that I should do something interesting with it myself. I thought of digging out creaky PS2 RTS <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms_VIII" target="_blank">Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII</a>, and attempting to conquer all of China within the day. Trickier than you might imagine, and as a real favourite of mine it's one I'd be happy to pour the time into. But then I realised that, unlike me, normal people have next to no interest in reading about the obscure fictional exploits of long-dead Chinese generals. Let alone for 24 hours. And since I'm liveblogging this thing, having people understand and stay interested in what I'm writing is key. Gutted, eh?<br />
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So back to the drawing board. I don't have a working PC, else I'd be on some timesink MMORPG for the duration. No 360, which means no hours wasted chatting with fellow sufferers on Live. I'd thought of booting up a game of Football Manager, maybe see if how far up the career ladder I could climb. Sadly, my laptop would melt under the strain of running anything for 24 hours solid, so that was out. Dark Souls had crossed my mind, but the memory of being stuck at the Taurus Demon for six hours is still too painful. Back to the drawing board!<br />
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Long story short, I've returned to my original idea of tackling my list of shame. I've far too many games that were bought but never played, but that sadly includes modern classics like Resi 4, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Ico. So I'll be throwing at least five hours into each of those, with the aim of finally seeing what I've missed out on. First though, I get to kick the day off with some fighting action courtesy of my pal Martin, who'll be stopping by on the way home to <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/martinhollis" target="_blank">his own marathon. </a> I also noticed that I'll have to miss watching the Scotland Wales game in the evening, which is distressing. So to numb the pain, I'm going to play the fixture myself, in full, on FIFA. Should be a riot. Plus, if I get a better result than the real team, I might be in with a shout of Craig Levein's job. Bonus!<br />
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There's still time to donate as well. Thanks to everyone's kind efforts I've smashed through my target of £100, but every penny helps, so if you haven't already please consider donating through <a href="https://www.justgiving.com/westendweegie" target="_blank">my JustGiving page.</a> You'll be able to follow my progress on this blog, where I'm aiming to post at least once every hour, and on my <a href="https://twitter.com/westendweegie" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, where you can enjoy my inevitable meltdown in bite sized chunks. By using the #sksp hashtag you'll be able to keep up with all the weekend action as well, as a legion of gamers across the country kick off their own marathons.<br />
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See you on the other side!Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-119331237213790492012-10-09T01:40:00.001+01:002012-10-09T01:40:11.954+01:00Tokyo Jungle- Review<br />
A few minutes into <i>Tokyo Jungle</i> you'll have used a pomeranian dog to take down and eat a few rabbits, marked your territory before catching fleas from a potential mate, and wandered the deserted metropolis before dying from starvation, toxic poisoning, or at the hands (paws?) of a bigger and fiercer predator. All in a day's work for one of the most original games to hit the Playstation Network in, well... ever.<br />
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<i>Tokyo Jungle</i> tells the story of Japan's capital post-apocalypse. For whatever reason the humans aren't kicking about anymore, which has left the streets free to be claimed by the various animals that now run free from the shackles of ownership and captivity. And as you'd imagine, it's a fairly chaotic scene. Packs of hyenas roam the sewers, battling wandering bears or hunting flocks of chickens. Wild Gazelle flock to watering spots alongside herds of rabbits, before being chased off by a particularly vicious alley cat. This isn't quite your standard arcade survival game.<br />
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You've got two game modes to choose from: Survival, which is where you'll spend most of your time, and Story, the name of which implies more than it delivers. Initially, the story isn't something you're allowed to pursue, so you're instead thrust into the Survival mode's urban jungle to fend for yourself in one of two guises; pomeranian dog, or sika deer. While the difference between predator and herbivore is theoretically the essence of the game's variety, most of the gameplay remains the same regardless of your choice.<br />
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So after being walked through the mechanics in a charming tutorial, you're plumped in the middle of Tokyo and left to fend for yourself. Three bars up top represent your health, hunger, and stamina. To keep the first from dropping down to eventual death, you'll have to keep the hunger at bay. For predators, this means hunting and devouring other creatures. Rudimentary stealth mechanics allow you to hide in patches of tall grass, sneaking up on prey before delivering a killing blow with gratifying aplomb (the "Clean Kill" banner that flashes by sure does help). Munch the body until it's nothing but a pile of bones, and hunger is staved off for, ooh about 10 seconds. The constant need to eat adds a real urgency to the challenge of survival; find yourself starving to death in an underpopulated area, and you'll be frantically searching for any tasty looking green dots on your radar, be they cat or crocodile.<br />
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For veggie animals the goal remains the same, seek out food before you painfully starve to death. Only now you're after plants to chow down on, and they're usually surrounded by an assortment of predators that want to tear chunks out of your skin. So stealth becomes the order of the day, hiding in tall grass and learning an animal's patrol pattern until you can sneak by, Metal Gear-style. But there's more to living than just eating. Since your animal has, at best, 15 game years of life in them, you'll need to find a mate. This is done by marking territory to "claim" an area. Do that, and interested females will start to show up. Impress her enough to let you breed, and you'll take control of the litter of offspring to continue your journey. Prime females produce more babies, and having a pack at your back is handy in a fight or flight situation.<br />
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The game certainly does its best to keep you on your toes. Random events will hit the city's various districts every so often. It might be a toxic cloud poisoning the food and water sources, or legendary animals making an appearance somewhere on the map. Either way you'll need to stay on the move constantly, which is also the case with the sets of challenges that roll around every in-game decade. These are usually of the "kill this many animals, reach this area" variety, but completion is often rewarded with a new bit of stat-boosting kit for your critter to wear. There's nothing quite like dressing your beagle up in kitten boots and a baseball cap to raise a smile.<br />
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Also dotted around the town are archives, files that explain the story of mankind's vanishing act bit by bit. They're also key to unlocking chapters in the Story mode, which is really a set of standalone narrative driven missions. These range from the heartwarming to the hilarious, and are a nice change of pace from the vicious battles of Survival mode.<br />
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But that's where you'll spend most of your time in <i>Tokyo Jungle. </i>As with most other roguelikes, death is inevitable but also a learning experience. You start each new game a little stronger, a little more aware of what you're doing, and as such you'll get a little further each time. Unlocking stronger animals gives you more of an incentive to try again, and the initially brutal difficulty curve starts to make sense the longer you play. It's not a forgiving game, far from it. And unlike, say, <i><a href="http://westendweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/number-6-dark-souls.html" target="_blank">Dark Souls</a>, </i>you will sometimes feel that its difficulty is unfair, with your deaths coming more often from random factors than your own mistakes. But the rewards are there if you're willing to work for them.<br />
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It helps that the decaying ruins of Tokyo are a pleasure to explore, with a ton of secret nooks and crannies there to be discovered. It's what you'll find in them that stays with you though. From herds of wild horses running across the rooftops to meandering hippos double-jumping away from packs of wolves, you'll have a hard time predicting what might show up next. These random encounters are at the heart of <i>Tokyo Jungle's</i> humour and charm. Really, where else are you going to be able to kick a rabble of dogs to death with a kangaroo?<br />
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There are some real flaws. An all-too-close fixed camera means you'll find yourself dying in the jaws of unseen enemies far too frequently. That green dot on the radar could be a tasty chicken, or it could be a hungry bear. You often won't know until it's too late. The map is fairly useless in its un-zoomable state, and while you've got over 50 animals to unlock, aside from the herbivore/carnivore split it's a repetitive experience. Killing with a pomeranian is much the same as killing with a tiger, it seems, while a giraffe munches the same plants as a chicken, and can seemingly jump just as high. You'll scream out for something different once in a while.<br />
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But that's unfair, because really <i>Tokyo Jungle</i> is about as different as they come. There's nothing else quite like it (though it shares more than a little DNA with the Gamecube's oft-forgotten mutate-em-up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubivore:_Survival_of_the_Fittest" target="_blank">Cubivore/Animal Leader</a>). It's also the kind of game you can only really imagine happening on the Playstation, thanks to the whatever they're putting in the water over at Sony's Japan Studios. Wickedly addictive, wildly entertaining, and completely bonkers in equal measure, <i>Tokyo Jungle</i> is a game that needs to be tried once. And at just under a tenner, it's well worth a shot.Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-26210140633631149272012-09-01T01:11:00.000+01:002012-09-01T01:11:38.106+01:00Goodbye to Nintendo Gamer (Worth £7!)This morning I caught up with the sad news that Future have<a href="http://www.nintendo-gamer.net/2012/08/30/nintendo-gamer-magazine-to-close/" target="_blank"> cancelled Nintendo Gamer magazine</a>, making this month's issue their last ever. Though I'd heard this was happening a couple of weeks back, the official announcement still managed to catch me by surprise. After 20 years in various guises, and some of the best games writing there's ever been, it's hard to believe that I'll no longer have that monthly fix of Nintendo coverage flopping through my postbox every few weeks. I started reading it as N64 Magazine back in '98, drawn in, as only a ten year old me could be, by the heady promise of a review and tips for Ocarina of Time. Sure I'd dabbled in other Nintendo magazines, having picked up the odd issue of Nintendo Official, and been a long-term reader of the utterly dire N64 Pro. But N64 Mag was something special. With a loud and colourful cover, and perhaps the biggest title I've ever seen (how can a 3-letter name take up so much space?), it just begged to be picked up and read. And I haven't missed an issue since. <div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwX1SN6CsGxWZoegGI2YGyCYP904L8FsGmK4m1dxpWiPnAXNErrIpTD1_ZaeoFIsWRvuhAt8cKYfR_uJL9xBwWbogTesL5ef-EMPSnlZbOESer8tfm1E_-LTzwONO2sfEVTKUqxS_pkI/s1600/Super_Play.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJwX1SN6CsGxWZoegGI2YGyCYP904L8FsGmK4m1dxpWiPnAXNErrIpTD1_ZaeoFIsWRvuhAt8cKYfR_uJL9xBwWbogTesL5ef-EMPSnlZbOESer8tfm1E_-LTzwONO2sfEVTKUqxS_pkI/s400/Super_Play.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The much-loved Super Play</td></tr>
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Super Play kicked things off in 1992. It was well before my time, but is one of those games mags that people of a certain generation refer to in almost reverential terms, like Amiga Power, Digitiser, and CVG. It ran until 1996, before being re-launched as N64 Magazine. Many of the staff were carried over, and with them the style of writing and the irreverent, often absurd humour that readers found so endearing. As soon as I started reading I loved it. When I was a lad videogames were about the most important thing to me. Playing them, reading about them, thinking about them, I just couldn't get enough. My N64 was my most treasured possession, and getting any new game was like an event. Considering they cost about £60 each (bloody cartridges), I think my mum was more than happy to pick up a mag each month that told me which ones would be worth buying. That backfired on her though, since reading about them so often turned a hobby into an obsession, and suddenly there were about ten times more games, consoles, and assorted bits of tat that I just had to have. Er, sorry mum!</div>
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But what came across through N64 Mag was the sheer passion the team had for everything Nintendo. They were fans first, and so obviously enjoyed what they were doing. Through in-jokes, characterisation, brilliant writing, and a whole lot more besides, the magazine was dripping with personality. It seemed like it must have been as much fun to put together as it was to read. Tales and photos of office hijinks, nicknames, and just general humour made it feel as though the editorial team were a truly close-knit bunch. It was as if a load of friends who just happened to love Nintendo had decided to get together and make a mag. And that was important in developing the character of the magazine, turning it into something more than just a bunch of colourful pages put together by some names in Bath. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhuRMGECkIOhGpi9Spd11Ik_5VrshxV776okv09R639-HUOr2t98qr4ZIGngYNDlSenp7FKY4ijE_dQtJHUHQZbQiou1_MH_QrCg7qUZnCZkkIP3FtioRQK0Hnc01FaAootTEawuXqk4/s1600/1630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzhuRMGECkIOhGpi9Spd11Ik_5VrshxV776okv09R639-HUOr2t98qr4ZIGngYNDlSenp7FKY4ijE_dQtJHUHQZbQiou1_MH_QrCg7qUZnCZkkIP3FtioRQK0Hnc01FaAootTEawuXqk4/s400/1630.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Were magazine covers just better ten years ago or something?</td></tr>
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Behind that though was a hardcore approach to games coverage that extended all the way back to Super Play. This was a magazine written by gamers, for gamers, and that was always clearest in their reviews. Nothing stoked my excitement for a game quite like a proper spread and a good score. Jes Bickham's definitive Ocarina of Time review has become famous, but the one I'll always remember is their wonderful 16 page deconstruction of Perfect Dark. With the wealth of preview space given over to that game in the months before I could not have been more excited for it. When I sat down and pored over the review, with all the information about the weapons, levels, and the sheer size of the game, my jaw hit the floor. It was the kind of review you could only really get in a magazine- no amount of metacritic surfing these days could generate the interest and excitement that those 16 pages did for me. The writer (and former editor) Martin Kitts <a href="http://www.martinkitts.com/portfolio/perfect-dark-review/" target="_blank">put up the scans on his website</a>, and reading through them made me feel like a wee kid again. </div>
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But in a way, I used to look forward to their bad reviews more than anything else. Those were always guaranteed to be just about the funniest part of the issue, and showed off the creativity and talent of the writing team to great effect. They were particularly barbed, with a fantastically cruel use of language that still has me in stitches. <i>Wheel of Fortune </i>was "worse than accidentally falling off a cliff. And surviving." Playing <i>Batman: Dark Tomorrow</i> was "like having the skin flayed from your fingertips." If you ever spotted a copy of <i>Carmageddon</i> <i>64</i> in a shop, you were instructed to "take it off the shelves, rip up the box and throw the cart repeatedly against the wall until it breaks.", while <i>Cruis'n USA </i>was simply described as "dump." Daft as it sounds, this was the kind of thing that made me want to get into writing. I wanted to be able to put things in such hilariously simple terms, and make people laugh with it. I've been a subscriber to Edge for the same amount of time, and their po-faced verbosity (good as it <s>is</s> was) never resonated with me in the same way as Nintendo Gamer's reviews. There was always something much more... I dunno, <i>human</i> about them. In the way that I can genuinely imagine Tim Weaver going into a blind rage before writing up his <i>Superman 64 </i>review.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhax4eevXmMuAJ5ZLXM2unheTrpfny4QKudIzK0qNA0xv8o_l8pJlP9gWHoHS9Hib4FxHcngXmzgkqSkxpOeZoWpzAvoMfEFeXYNy1yZfSIU2n-T6E1OZvf9u1iDgGejoHZ5KW9eYeFZWo/s1600/100feat-p3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhax4eevXmMuAJ5ZLXM2unheTrpfny4QKudIzK0qNA0xv8o_l8pJlP9gWHoHS9Hib4FxHcngXmzgkqSkxpOeZoWpzAvoMfEFeXYNy1yZfSIU2n-T6E1OZvf9u1iDgGejoHZ5KW9eYeFZWo/s400/100feat-p3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Features were often as creative as they were hilarious</td></tr>
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The humour is what people usually remember. Brilliantly creative features usually hit the right note, and it was packed with inexplicably hilarious in-jokes and memes; from Nintendo themed Mills and Boone rip-offs, to Paul's Sense Talks, Lex Luthor's "Solve My Maze!", and even the more recent Iwata Asks, it was funnier than any other games magazine on the market. You could tell when it was a slow news month, since they seemed to pack in more enjoyably daft features and piss-takes just to fill the space. There are few things I find as funny now as I did when I was ten, but thumbing through back issues of N64/NGC can still reduce me to tears of laughter. Part of that seemed to be lost somewhere along the road. Whether that was down to the team members from the previous era heading to pastures new, or my own tastes changing, I don't know. But the tragedy is that as Nintendo Gamer it had started to recapture some of that previous magic, and that came right at the end of the Wii's life. With a new console right round the corner, we'll never get to see what the magazine would have been like in its prime.</div>
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I'm sure that I'm in the same boat as a lot of long-term readers are. We're of a certain age that means we've grown up reading these magazines, and in a very real way they've shaped who we are and what we want to do with our lives. I know that my desire to go into journalism, games or otherwise, was really driven by reading such a fantastic product, put together by people that seemed to genuinely care about their readership. One of the funny things is that having now done some work on magazines, I can appreciate what a stunningly well put-together piece of work Nintendo Gamer was, in all its forms. To reach that level of quality month in month out, even making the most of having no games to review or news to report, must take such a mind-bending level of skill and commitment. It makes me admire the various teams over the years all the more. What's gutting is that for a magazine that will have inspired a load of people to want to work in games journalism, its closure just highlights how much more difficult than ever that dream is.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD3KlQVDte8JzGYKZZSPQL0CWlMMoKbJ1ec2trhmrdau51TXUz0rptK_1cy8C6QnVLMw4Uc3d5ovh1M_NjkFflaqat6ghZ3Y3I_hRKi3H7WeORDBVv3j4kV23g-ejC9_iDVZP6HVQDN4/s1600/ngamer80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD3KlQVDte8JzGYKZZSPQL0CWlMMoKbJ1ec2trhmrdau51TXUz0rptK_1cy8C6QnVLMw4Uc3d5ovh1M_NjkFflaqat6ghZ3Y3I_hRKi3H7WeORDBVv3j4kV23g-ejC9_iDVZP6HVQDN4/s400/ngamer80.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final issue, with a lovely Will Overton penned cover.</td></tr>
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Finding out today, on my 24th birthday, that Nintendo Gamer was going to die on its 20th, is the worst kind of coincidence. And with my subscriber copy arriving today, that'll make it simultaneously one of the best and worst things I'll receive this year. The best because I'll be reading through an affectionate final bow from an incredible games magazine. But the worst because I'll be entering a new console generation without Nintendo Gamer there to guide me through it. It's like a part of my childhood has died. What's worse is that I was there to see it happen. Last week I was down at Official Playstation for a work placement. Now as someone that's grown up reading these mags, the idea of going down to Future was like a dream come true. So on my final day someone across the office pops a bottle of champagne, and everyone gets up to see what the fuss was about. I didn't think much at the time, but now I know that was what remained of team Nintendo Gamer celebrating/commiserating sending the final issue off to print. </div>
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The outpouring of shock and genuine sadness at this news has shown what a loyal following Nintendo Gamer enjoys. Their <a href="http://www.nintendo-gamer.net/2012/08/31/nintendo-gamer-1992-2012-book-of-condolences/" target="_blank">book of condolences</a> is a lovely read, featuring an outpouring of grief from readers, writers, former and current staff, and a handful of stories much like my own. And we can be grateful that web editor Chris Scullion gets to keep up his stellar work through the website, though sadly flying the Nintendo Gamer flag solo from now on. It'll never really replace the magazine, but at least we'll have something. So goodbye Super Play, N64, NGC, NGamer, Nintendo Gamer. Thanks to everyone who worked over the last 20 years putting together what was easily the best games mag on the market. It may not be much, but I know that if I do end up in games journalism, I'll always be measuring my work against the job that you guys did.</div>
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Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-33981989069770547102012-06-10T14:30:00.000+01:002012-06-10T14:30:24.946+01:00E3 2012: Winners and Sinners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDY4dBTuoP4w9I_anzPSdudF7Fr1SyQO55Er798qnISvIaZUhF572B6Udu6bQPBkqGyPgkj8DmvzQTXEoqf4bjYhlQ_G1tPSyUcaK01X28pk2vpQjVpliT4PkIEAyK0f1xBJYqXIsVes/s1600/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDY4dBTuoP4w9I_anzPSdudF7Fr1SyQO55Er798qnISvIaZUhF572B6Udu6bQPBkqGyPgkj8DmvzQTXEoqf4bjYhlQ_G1tPSyUcaK01X28pk2vpQjVpliT4PkIEAyK0f1xBJYqXIsVes/s400/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As we bow out of what was possibly the worst E3 in years, it's time to look back to find out just who had the worst showing over the last few days, and whether there's much we can salvage. Now I'm just speaking as someone who watched the five press conferences. From reports throughout the gaming press it's clear that there was plenty to enjoy on the show floor, and a lot to be taken from this year. But come on, this is E3! We expect a lot from the main press conferences, be it hardware information, amazing software reveals, or... er, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRwarxMTxZg" target="_blank">miscellaneous</a>.<br />
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So this year we might as well get the negative out of the way. I covered a lot of the whining in my previous posts, but Christ the big three messed it up this time around. Between Microsoft's <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/features/e3-2011-microsoft-press-conference-report" target="_blank">contemptuous</a> nonsense, Sony's <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7068570/E3-2012-Sony-enlists-JK-Rowlings-talent/" target="_blank">magical</a> AR faff, and Nintendo missing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59sG34Nx-DY" target="_blank">a bloody open goal</a>, we were spoiled for choice. Hell, we were faced with the interesting prospect of a third-party publisher <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/jun/06/e3-2012-ubisoft-best-publisher" target="_blank">"winning"</a> the show, so to speak. Very rarely has that happened. But hey, let's take each conference on its positive and negative elements.<br />
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<b><u>Microsoft</u></b><br />
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What a way to kick off the conference. I can't say we were expecting great things; after the Kinect-fest last year, and the promise that there would be no new hardware this time around, there weren't too many directions Microsoft could take this one. Showing a demo for <i>Halo 4</i>, and a new<i> Gears of War</i> is all well and good, but I can't help but feel we're hitting saturation point for those series. We've now had seven <i>Halo</i> games in the last ten years, and <i>Gears of War</i> will soon be hitting its fourth instalment in seven. Tell you what: imagine if, instead of releasing six Star Wars films in thirty years, George Lucas had pumped them out over a decade? You'd be sick with boredom (arguably how you felt during the latter three anyway), and videogames shouldn't be any different.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">A bright new dawn on... Nothing new whatsoever.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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We got little else in the way of games, with Microsoft instead promoting the various multimedia features of their console. Their big reveal was <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/microsoft-smartglass-to-integrate-xbox-with-tablets-and-mobiles-7830569.html" target="_blank">Smartglass</a>, a way of making all your media devices bombard you with useless information <i>at the same time. </i>I'm sure we've all sat there watching a film and, unable to contain ourselves until the credits, we just had to view the cast list then and there. Also, say you're watching the <i>hilarious</i> Jack Black vehicle School of Rock. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could, at the touch of a button, summon up all the scenes featuring the rotund star, and watch them at your leisure? Man, I thought watching films in the right order was cool and all, but I really wish I could pick and choose my favourite scenes without having to fuss about skipping and fast forwarding. <div>
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Other amazing announcements included a version of Internet Explorer, everyone's favourite browser, for the 360, as well as various bits of fitness software that utilise the Kinect. The whole mess is fairly well summed up by this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7y_sXD165w" target="_blank">utterly hateful trailer</a>, Microsoft's own. "It's amazing... when TV is something you can play!" Well hey I thought watching it was great and all but sure thing, take all my money. Large amounts of noise were made about being able to stream various American sports on the console, and after a while you sort of forgot you were watching a games conference.</div>
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Was there anything positive we could take from this? Well the South Park guys showed up for a couple of minutes, roundly taking the piss out of the Smartglass before being rushed off stage. That was kind of funny. I think some games might have been shown at one point, and they looked quite nice, but it was all sort of drowned out in the monotonous mulitimedia buzz that resonated throughout. Edge already put it better than I ever could, but by the end you were left in no doubt that this was one of the most boring and off-the-mark conferences in E3's history.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Smartglass: enjoy Jack Black's menacing glare in more ways than ever before.</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<b><u>EA/Ubisoft</u></b></div>
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On to the big third party publishers then, starting with EAzzzzzzzzz..... Oh sorry, I think I dozed off during the several hours spent announcing the latest editions in their various sports franchises. You know what you're going to get with EA. New <i>FIFA</i>, new <i>NFL</i>, <i>NHL</i>, whatever. They managed to claim the UFC license from troubled THQ, which I'm sure was exciting to some people. We get to enjoy an Activision-rivaling premium service for <i>Battlefield</i>, which I'm sure many thousands of people can't wait to shell out for.</div>
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Positives were some neat looking footage from the latest Criterion-developed <i>Need for Speed</i>. It's no surprise that it resembled <i>Burnout </i>in places. <i>Dead Space 3</i> looked nice enough, though a new co-op mechanic seems to be pushing the series from horror roots to genero-marines in space. And we get not one, but two new <i>Sim City</i> games, though one is unfortunately played through Facebook. Not much to say overall, Ubisoft gave us more to talk about...</div>
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...by starting their conference with some quite excruciating banter between the two co-hosts, a theme that would sadly run throughout the hour. There was a slightly worrying sexual element to proceedings as well; with constant references to "girl wood" intercut with bad CGI boobs (courtesy of <i>Far Cry 3</i>), and Ubisoft packing the stage with scantily clad gamer babes to participate in a confusing battle of the sexes between some suspiciously hunk<i>y Counter Strike</i> "champs". I think it was something to do with a new E-sports shooter, maybe. Between that, Flo Rida's wailing, and the increasingly painful noises coming from the presenters, I was about ready to cave my head in with the laptop.</div>
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But credit to them, Ubisoft managed to save it. Some lovely footage of As<i>sasins Creed 3 </i>lifted everyone's spirits, as did the very interesting looking <i>ZombiU</i>, a zombie-themed shooter for the Wii U (the clue's in the name). R<i>ayman Legends</i> also got a showing, looking as lush as you'd expect, before Ubisoft finished the conference in exactly the right way: <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-ubisoft-announces-watch-dogs" target="_blank"><i>Watch Dogs</i></a>. It was perhaps the most interesting thing shown anywhere at E3 this year, and had everyone talking after the show was over. It also gave a tantalising glimpse at what the next-gen might look like, with the demo seeming far in advance of what the current consoles are capable of. And with that, Ubisoft stole the show.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gkVuTqZZLMvkJTF9ZQZy-Dzw19c7Zz8fR7aIoJdBjLz_DizC7zOQ7jByqAE8qXyfdQbmvvfqFopQE3rkrwcdVVwHAvZAkuhIRR4HfXlniGto3RlyB1JDEgHlu74OyxL7DyF4JceYXbQ/s1600/Watch-Dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gkVuTqZZLMvkJTF9ZQZy-Dzw19c7Zz8fR7aIoJdBjLz_DizC7zOQ7jByqAE8qXyfdQbmvvfqFopQE3rkrwcdVVwHAvZAkuhIRR4HfXlniGto3RlyB1JDEgHlu74OyxL7DyF4JceYXbQ/s400/Watch-Dogs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Getting your phone caught in a spider web is a pain.</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
<b><u>Sony</u></b></div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
Like Microsoft, Sony weren't showing off any flashy new hardware this year, leaving the current generation to lumber on for a while yet. But hey, maybe we'd get some <i>Last Guardian</i> news, right? Right?? No, as it happens. With many people seemingly buying a PS3 in anticipation of a new Ueda game, we're faced with the reality that instead of the lovely looking <i>Last Guardian</i>, we have to make do with I<i>co and Shadow of the Colossus</i> HD. Well... Ok then.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What we did get was a stupefying amount of long gameplay demos, kicking things off with David Cage's latest, <i>Beyond</i>. Staring Ellen Page and her amazing staring, Beyond showed off some neat visuals, with its facial capture particularly impressive. We moved on to<i> Sony Smash Bros</i>, a game whose actual title is so long I can't really be bothered typing it out. Showing off all the mechanics of Nintendo's series but with none of the heart, it's sure to be a hit among those put off by Sakurai's meddling in <i>Brawl</i>. I wonder if Fat Princess is top tier? Anyway, also shown off was <i>Uncharted</i> lookalike <i>The Last of Us</i>, featuring the latest in brown corridors, questionable AI, and ultraviolence. The audience's bloodlust was evidently sated when a point blank shotgun blast to an enemy's face was met with deafening cheers. Lovely.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The notable thing was that the Playstation Vita seemed to have been left to just die in a corner, with Sony announcing almost nothing for the poor handheld. The lack of Vita news was especially strange given that the console is less than six months old, and is currently being outsold by Nintendo's 3DS at a rate of thirteen-to-one. Sony actually admitted <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-sony-admits-vita-neglect" target="_blank">that they should have given it more attention</a>, but that was too little, too late. Vita owners definitely weren't winners here. All the time that could have been given to the handheld was taken up by <a href="http://www.psu.com/a015698/Wonderbook-opens-magical-world-of-Harry-Potter-to-PlayStation-3-owners" target="_blank"><i>Wonderbook</i></a>, and augmented reality storytelling thing for children. For something so wonderful, it didn't really work that well, with the demonstration cocking up on more than one occasion. And that put an end to a hugely underwhelming conference.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn1reouvPNjnwU8kZAxawYOPkK4qzrPiP6JvD7p-u2jJuvnK3VJj7bzwv-eaUYkr8qVPQMzFzryGBcD2XoD66A_F-UUxuu7y_wGWHM52S-ll4uKIGE0QNrh6xJIcOaxAHSKZMm7gJ-uo/s1600/sony-launches-wonderbook-jk-rowling-book-of-spells-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn1reouvPNjnwU8kZAxawYOPkK4qzrPiP6JvD7p-u2jJuvnK3VJj7bzwv-eaUYkr8qVPQMzFzryGBcD2XoD66A_F-UUxuu7y_wGWHM52S-ll4uKIGE0QNrh6xJIcOaxAHSKZMm7gJ-uo/s400/sony-launches-wonderbook-jk-rowling-book-of-spells-0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">If you thought books were great, wait 'til you see them on your TV not working.</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<b><u>Nintendo</u></b></div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
So it was up to Nintendo to wrap up the show, and in true Ninty fashion they managed to exceed our expectations in the worst possible way. Being the only games company with actual new hardware to show off, you'd expect they'd make a song and dance of convincing us that the console was worth our time and money. Well after about four hours worth of conferences, pre-conferences, announcements, webcasts, and the like, I'm left with the impression that Nintendo really don't know how to sell the Wii U. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It all started off so well. <i>Pikmin 3</i> launched the show, giving off a good account of what an HD Nintendo game might look like. Colourful, as it happens. Miyamoto pranced around being adorable, and spirits were high. Then Reggie came out and promised that we were about to see a ton of games for the Wii U, so many in fact that the 3DS was getting its own conference the next day. Wow, well this wouldn't disappoint then! Er, amazingly it did.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What we got was an absolute shambles, to say the least. Nintendo lurched through a series of disappointing reveals (<i>Arkham Asylum! Scribblenauts! New Super Mario Bros U</i>!) and the audience became noticeably downbeat, as cheering and applause became a rare commodity. By the time we'd made our way through the torturously long <i>Nintendoland </i>presentation, and been treated to the most anti-climactic end to a show I've ever seen, the crowd was eerily quiet. It was as if they'd been stunned into silence. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLRBOyLPdINMbGlVxFFR8UU1i7cEhHvFnmbtjdKhQGEfjbNlWyZNHI_o1i2lnamdPxph0mQiousOmRxp36WC6SmSEwfmFf4Lj3DYb58JDqBGgXnkdpK5N4F5cBXkh2Nk35k1DlUpyW3c/s1600/wii-u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLRBOyLPdINMbGlVxFFR8UU1i7cEhHvFnmbtjdKhQGEfjbNlWyZNHI_o1i2lnamdPxph0mQiousOmRxp36WC6SmSEwfmFf4Lj3DYb58JDqBGgXnkdpK5N4F5cBXkh2Nk35k1DlUpyW3c/s400/wii-u.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">The black Wii U looks lush, pity we'll be waiting years for Nintendo to release it</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It became clear that Nintendo seem to have no idea why we would want a Wii U. In years past they've been able to sell their new hardware, gimmicks and all, based on the strength of fantastic launch software. <i>Super Mario 64</i> showed off new 3D graphics and was the perfect introduction to the pad's analogue stick. The Wii came with <i>Wii Sports</i>, and once the relationship between swinging the controller and your character swinging a bat clicked, we were sold. <i>Nintendoland</i> was meant to have the same effect, but something was missing. Another minigame collection just won't cut it. On <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-06-the-eurogameological-e3-podcast-day-2" target="_blank">the Eurogamer podcast</a> the point was made that Steve Jobs needed an hour to introduce the iPhone, a device that changed mobile communication. Now it seems that Nintendo needs about four times as long to explain that their new pad has a touchscreen in the middle, a concept that shouldn't be hard to get across. And we still came away barely knowing anything about the machine: No launch date, no specs, no price.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Conclusion</u></b></div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
Despite all my negativity there was plenty to take from E3 this year. Ubisoft's strong showing gave us something to look forward to, with Rayman Legends looking superb, ZombiU threatening to sell the Wii U to me, and Watch Dogs proving that interesting new IP will get people excited. Sony showed off a decent set of software, albeit in a fairly muted way. And Microsoft's SmartGlass tech looks to have a lot more potential than its trailers and demonstrations suggested. Pikmin 3 also showed us why it's great that Nintendo are going to be making HD games at last, a tantalising prospect. HD F-Zero anyone? Yummy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You just wish that they'd showed us a bit more, something like F-Zero might have saved the show. This was a year of endless sequels, <i>Uncharted</i> clones, and frustrating conferences. The three hardware manufacturers were the worst culprits, each delivering shows that were either stupidly boring, cringeworthy, or just plain rubbish. It's a shame that Sony and Microsoft weren't even threatening to hint at new consoles. This hardware generation is clearly on its last legs, and the Wii U just doesn't cut it as next gen. <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/features/e3-2012-have-we-just-glimpsed-next-gen" target="_blank">Edge suggested</a> that, in Watch Dogs, Star Wars 1313, and Agni's Philosophy, we might have seen what the next consoles will be capable of, raising my hopes that we'll see something announced next year. Roll on E3 2013 eh?</div>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-27144918768639858602012-06-06T16:14:00.001+01:002012-06-06T16:14:58.738+01:00E3 2012: Nintendo conference round-up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXHr3sPKRuJm9e8P8op4RZouSy47XAeEFfO2FBzDm94-KSsOftsgU_9sp63HXEKUHGIz_ZhvCHp_evu27UbNpfjNA9SJYKcClYObDCoQTmerm3_5IhpfOyrNheodoZ9UhRXKpez8dq84/s1600/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXHr3sPKRuJm9e8P8op4RZouSy47XAeEFfO2FBzDm94-KSsOftsgU_9sp63HXEKUHGIz_ZhvCHp_evu27UbNpfjNA9SJYKcClYObDCoQTmerm3_5IhpfOyrNheodoZ9UhRXKpez8dq84/s400/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It all started out so promisingly. In the wake of Microsoft and Sony's poor showings the hope was there that Nintendo could rock the show. The fact that they have a new console out this year practically guaranteed it, right? What purported to be a leaked trailer for a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50d9xsLzB0&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Wii U remake of Majora's Mask</a> had everyone speculating over its authenticity, and buzzing with anticipation. Expectations couldn't have been much higher, and so to be a bit disappointed in the end could be understandable. Nintendo were never going to give us a new Zelda, 3D Mario, F-Zero, Starfox, et al, no matter how much we wanted them. But maybe we could hope for one or two big reveals.<br />
<br />
The ever-loveable Shigeru Miyamoto kicked us off with some delightful Pikmin shenanigans, revealing the third game in the series. It all looks pretty enough, and was a colourful way to show off Nintendo's first HD game. A new pikmin type was revealed, and the whole thing was played on a lush looking black Wii U gamepad. I can only hope we don't have to wait as long for that as we did the bloody black Wii. Shown off pre-release, then takes three years to arrive. Cheers Nintendo, you tease.<br />
<br />
After a start like that everyone was smiling, and when Reggie was summoned out to tell us they had 23 Wii U games to cram into the hour long show, we hoped for the best. The 3DS was even getting its own, separate show at another time, because there was so much Wii U stuff to cram in! But something started to go wrong. Reggie wasn't shutting up about the social side of Wii U, despite the promise of a focus on games, and the fact that we'd heard it all on the Nintendo Direct briefing days before. The audience's goodwill was obviously still high, as they cheered the announcement that the console would support more than one game pad. Going mental over the announcement that a console supports controllers seemed a bit strange, let alone when it's the USP of the bloody thing. Sadly, it was all downhill from here.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pMhdm7hn3IupQtNMwtGaVim_NVYjFuTMu1-U53opfb_LAAGRrR2Oh1-Mt1gAiWfmY-aD33XLV9mjqvgvDwO5tz7sEqnt07lujaOuoCDpw7QZjEW6r04x9X2VEgx79A4YSZzM-oMABDM/s1600/Pikmin_3_Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pMhdm7hn3IupQtNMwtGaVim_NVYjFuTMu1-U53opfb_LAAGRrR2Oh1-Mt1gAiWfmY-aD33XLV9mjqvgvDwO5tz7sEqnt07lujaOuoCDpw7QZjEW6r04x9X2VEgx79A4YSZzM-oMABDM/s400/Pikmin_3_Image.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new rock pikmin type, looking fetchingly <a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1jlakkmUf1rpfb9zo1_500.png" target="_blank">Ghibli-esque</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A new Mario game was announced, but it was a follow on from the Wii's <i>New Super Mario Bros</i>, rather than the 3D sequel to <i>Galaxy</i> that almost everyone was after. Its Miiverse integration looks passably interesting, but the whole thing was leaning dangerously close to the casual conference people were expecting months ago. Next a quite baffling amount of time was given over to demonstrating the Wii U port of <i>Batman: Arkham City, </i>a game that many of the assembled journos presumably completed nearly a year ago. The Wii U pad is used in various gimmicky ways, perhaps not impressing me enough to part with another £40 to play the game game. A new <i>Scribblenauts</i> was also shown, reassuring us that the Wii U won't lack for games you'll play for five minutes then never touch again. <br />
<br />
A trailer showing off more third-party ports from the last year or so was up next, ticking some boxes. <i>Mass Effect 3</i>? Yup. <i>Ninja Gaiden 3</i>? Uh-huh. I'm sure it'll be great to play <i>Tekken Tag Tournament 2</i> and <i>Trine 2</i> again as well. Quite why <i>Aliens: Colonial Marines</i> was relegated to a spot in the trailer was anyone's guess. Suppose those hopes of it being a Wii U timed exclusive were wide of the mark, eh? <i>Lego City Undercover</i> looks to be a fun GTA knock-off, but this wasn't what everyone was hoping to see. Where was the killer first-party announcement?<br />
<br />
By the time <i>Wii Fit U </i>was pushed up to centre stage it was clear that the audience was losing hope. Applause was becoming noticeably muted, and E3's customary whooping had transformed into deflated silence. Despite giving us what might be the first game you can control with your arse, <i>Wii Fit U</i> wasn't impressing many. Yet another karaoke game, <i>Sing</i>, brought out the backing dancers and loathsome pop soundtrack, and I started to have worrying flashbacks to Usher and Flo Rida's appearances the previous day. It utilises the gamepad to allow one player to control the dance moves for the other players. Reggie was asked how it felt to be a puppet master. "It's like running Nintendo of America!" he quipped. One feels that if he'd added "I can release anything and still get these clowns to part with their money!", the truth would've shown a bit more. And just like that, we were onto the 3DS games. Er, weren't we meant to be getting a dedicated conference for that?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNyTG6nS0kthIORubZIP1L0OL6O3-9WJd6tfvSiNfK2t9p31ngpg4TsFj3nmcNcn-_3ug71yzYR4kG1qiywMe-SZw9YIu3lj4p2dDDJTWrb5RQgjmDpfmlgEoWLVEFlm3ykIV4yUCzfA/s1600/wiifit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDNyTG6nS0kthIORubZIP1L0OL6O3-9WJd6tfvSiNfK2t9p31ngpg4TsFj3nmcNcn-_3ug71yzYR4kG1qiywMe-SZw9YIu3lj4p2dDDJTWrb5RQgjmDpfmlgEoWLVEFlm3ykIV4yUCzfA/s400/wiifit.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bums are definitely an underused method of control</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nintendo evidently weren't done bleeding poor Mario, whose withered husk of a corpse must look terrible by now. So instead of one middling 2D platformer, we get two! Yes, a 3DS <i>New Super Mario Bros</i> stunned precisely no-one, nor did its central gimmick of, uh, coin collecting. <i>Lots</i> of coin collecting. <i>Luigi's Mansion</i> seems to look no better than it did during last year's reveal, and we were treated to another trailer reel of games that look more interesting than the ones we'd just been talked through. Well, at least 3DS owners have a fair bit to look forward to this year.<br />
<br />
Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot was led out, and my hopes briefly rose that they would somehow save the show. The promising looking <i>ZombiU</i> was shown, and some of its central mechanics were explained. A single-life system is interesting, as is the idea that you have to track down and kill your zombified former character to reclaim your items. But the shadow of <i>Red Steel</i> looms large, and the fear that this could be another set of empty promises will linger until <i>ZombiU</i> can prove itself. After the truly awful demo of a zombie camera, which plants zombie features on your face in the style of a shitty iPhone app, an Ubisoft trailer ran. It featured <i>Assasins Creed 3</i> and <i>Rayman Legends</i>, which was heartening, but <i>Watch Dogs</i> was conspicuously absent.<br />
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Nintendo had about ten minutes to save the show, and of course we were about to get a big reveal! Maybe this is what we'd bee- Oh, it's just a minigame compilation called <i>Nintendo Land</i>. Apparently it's the Wii U's answer to <i>Wii Sports</i> though! The game that makes us "understand" the hardware we're playing on. And what better way to show that off than a confused demo of a <i>Luigi's Mansion</i> themed <i>Pac Man VS</i>, a game that came out nearly ten years ago on the Gamecube. But don't despair, also included are minigames themed around <i>Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, </i>and other Nintendo favourites! That was their big finish by the way, it just ended after that. Nobody cheered, unsurprisingly. What happened here?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf-ed9jXQ2AZ4Pu0SjGcNrwSMgNLhWPd_TR0BjAql0AYX2GfzjYX6wkG5p7L9V3clsL7NgT7SFXq12W8ZyPG1-t4U9hkjqQnJHza3ILbwjZ7HRF4WyEmYbqp1UJyGsA5QX4vJ5uzeZMk/s1600/nintendo_land.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf-ed9jXQ2AZ4Pu0SjGcNrwSMgNLhWPd_TR0BjAql0AYX2GfzjYX6wkG5p7L9V3clsL7NgT7SFXq12W8ZyPG1-t4U9hkjqQnJHza3ILbwjZ7HRF4WyEmYbqp1UJyGsA5QX4vJ5uzeZMk/s400/nintendo_land.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming to a Wii U near you soon, more minigames!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In what was a year of bad conferences, Nintendo's might just have been the worst. Perhaps not in terms of its games, some of those looked fine, but simply because it was such a colossal misfire. With expectations so high it was understandable that we might have left a little disappointed, but Nintendo's conference lacked practically everything it needed. No triple-A titles announced, a lack of new third party software, and a quite baffling lack of information about the console itself. Come to think of it, we still haven't seen the machine itself properly. When was the last time a controller took centre stage ahead of the console it's designed for? We left with no release date, no launch price, and little idea of the specs. <br />
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Nintendo have made a lot of noise about convincing us that this controller will change the way we play games, but we're left with the impression that they don't really know how or why that's the case. Nintendo may never have an easier conference at E3: The only hardware giant releasing or even featuring a new console, and coming off the back of an intriguing pre-E3 video as well as dreadful showings from their rivals. But as my good pal Gav put it: "You had an open goal and missed. You completely <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILt3vg7oCzY" target="_blank">Van Vossen'ed</a> it." And as the post-conference trailer ran, showing off games that should have been included in the show itself (a new <i>Warioware? </i>Platinum Games' latest project?), we were left with the confusing image of Iwata staring intently at a bunch of bananas. Sums it up, really.<br />
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</tbody></table>Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027278223036018702.post-16836247183152575782012-06-05T23:48:00.001+01:002012-06-05T23:48:11.513+01:00E3 2012: Sony conference round-up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNE65fyhGFofSJ07vsVEQSVLv-Nvhk-_g-PySAF1nl1RV9H_UFzdGO9lYuch6H48mu3sj2G6M1gkm5MWIAWjQj7MuHi-sPNEdndam8z57RHAyIStmxuAtKZJIOCGy8P6bbHcvzU24rEc/s1600/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNE65fyhGFofSJ07vsVEQSVLv-Nvhk-_g-PySAF1nl1RV9H_UFzdGO9lYuch6H48mu3sj2G6M1gkm5MWIAWjQj7MuHi-sPNEdndam8z57RHAyIStmxuAtKZJIOCGy8P6bbHcvzU24rEc/s400/microsoft-and-sony-set-to-unveil-next-xbox-and-ps4-at-e3-2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Watching Sony's conference involved staying up 'til 2AM waiting for the bloody thing to start, but after Ubisoft's promising show I had my hopes up. A couple of slugs of vodka gave me the kick up the arse I needed to stay awake, and I settled down to see what Sony had in store. The thought of maybe seeing something, anything, new about<i> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPpCKjFrXzE" target="_blank">The Last Guardian</a></i> was keeping me going as well. In truth I'd have been better just getting a decent night's sleep. Thanks goodness I'm not a Vita owner either, otherwise I might have gone to bed even more irritated.<br />
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The ever ambitious David Cage kicked us off with his latest movi- er,Playstation game, called <i>Beyond</i>. Surprise surprise, it's a Holywood style stab at interactive storytelling, but this time spanning a 15-year period in the life of the title character, played by Ellen Page. Despite crowing about her performance before showing a demo where she did nothing but sit around looking gormless, Cage's clear enthusiasm for the project made it seem as though it has potential. Not particularly striking though, and following it up with <i>Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale</i> didn't lift my mood much.<br />
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The <i>Smash Bros</i> inspired title looks fun enough, and we were treated to the announcement of cross-platform support with Vita, as well as two new characters in the form of Nathan Drake and <i>Bioshock's</i> Big Daddy. The problem is that Sony lacks the rich history of interesting exclusive characters that Nintendo boasts. It's proof, if anything, that the best thing about the <i>Smash Bros</i> series was its character roster. no matter how much I try I just can't get excited about playing the same game with such gaming icons as... Sweet Tooth from <i>Twisted Metal,</i> or the charismatic Fat Princess. The whole thing reminds me of the <i>Mario Kart </i>clones that every company released at one point or another.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Could be to Smash Bros what Crazy Frog Racer was to Mario Kart</td></tr>
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The loveable Jack Tretton did his best to keep up the enthusiasm levels, but with Vita getting royally shafted in the market what it really needed was some solid support here, and none was forthcoming. Offshoots from <i>Call of Duty</i> and <i>Assassins Creed III </i>were announced, as well as DLC for <i>LittleBigPlanet 2, </i>but it felt like too little. With Nintendo throwing their weight behind 3DS, dedicating a whole seperate conference to talking about it tomorrow, there's the feeling that Vita might get left behind rather quickly. <br />
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Attention quickly steered back towards the PS3, and we were treated to more footage from Ubisoft's conference in the shape of <i>Far Cry 3 </i>and <i>Assassins Creed III.</i> The latter was actually very impressive, showing a wind-swept naval battle that looked beautiful. It was actually a more impressive demo of the game than Ubisoft offered at their own conference, moving away from the tired sneak-and-stab formula to actually show us something new. Who was expecting Ubisoft to come out of this as the stars of the show?<br />
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We were then treated to <i>Wonderbook</i>, an augmented reality storytelling title that utilises the Playstation Eye camera. Despite the rather over-zealous claim that it was the "Reinvention of the story book", in truth the tech looked pretty innovative, showing off effects like a paper dragon rising from the pages, and flames burning over your hands. The fact that Sony have negotiated a tie in with J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series practically guarantees that this will be a money-spinner, ant the potential of the software could lead to some interesting titles in the future. That is, if it works better than the glitch-ridden on stage demo does.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonderbook at least looked like an interesting bit of kit</td></tr>
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Sony followed up that delightful reveal by plowing head first into ultraviolent territory, with a surprisingly boring look at the new <i>God of War</i> game, and straight back onto the bum notes. Jumping straight form childish magical spells to caving an elephant man's head in was a radical shift in tone clearly designed to get the audience back on board after the slow <i>Wonderbook</i> demo, but it came across as yet another misstep by Sony. It then veered straight into Naughty Dog's latest, <i>The Last of Us, </i>which I initially mistook for yet another <i>Uncharted </i>game. Guess I can only keep track of so many rugged, beardy protagonists.<br />
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It looked to offer a slightly different take on the stealth/action genre, with an Ellen Page-alike young sidekick, and a slightly more lethal take on bullets (if that makes sense), but the whole thing just left me cold. What was controlled and what was a set piece wasn't made entirely clear, and some of the AI looked rather shonky, but it's early days. A point-blank shotgun blast to an enemy's face was met with slightly disturbing levels of whooping and hollering from the audience, and on that bombastic note the conference abruptly ended. <br />
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So that was Sony's E3 conference this year. Was it worth staying up til nearly 4AM for, or the vodka induced hangover I enjoyed the next day? Nope. The lack of Vita support was worrying, the game demos either went on for too long or didn't show us anything, and despite Jack Tretton's boundless enthusiasm I couldn't keep my spirits up. I'll illustrate the reason for that with a graph, in the traditional Sony manner.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">God damnit Sony</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZM2mdrZlnB1jOYwyaW9b8pdTgitFVCJoc_ZJHUtJGmzSaTNkLXigOLoLQLERXAo-dMn22NtGIMUz51mVJedtcqAmgxbE3mb8A7ulkTXtwY5RW7PNgzsic2OR6TPvF7Cze1UkhHU-7jyU/s1600/graphiyx.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />Joseph Blythehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05183914223060205797noreply@blogger.com0