I love Sony and their products. I have done for many years and have always stood and defended them against those who have chosen to attack the company for one reason or another down the years. However in light of what has happened in the past week with regards to the PSN outage and the subsequent revelation that PS3 users private information has been compromised, I find it impossible to defend them anymore.
Having gone to considerable lengths to make sure I secure as much personal information as I can, I am outraged and angered at Sony's sheer negligence when it has come to the data I have given them in order to take advantage of their online service. It seems that the data has handled and cared for in a slip-shod manner ill fitting a major international corporation like Sony. The very thought that I now have to spend more time being extra vigilant because Sony have dropped the ball big time is, frankly, wholly unacceptable and Sony need to be dragged over the coals for this.
Of course the hackers are the perpetrators of the crime, of that there is no doubt. However if you entrust someone to look after your car and they leave it parked with the keys in the ignition the person who has been negligent is just as much to blame as the opportunist thief who takes the vehicle. In my previous blog I defended Sony but this was before it came to light what the true nature of the intrusion was and what information had been accessed.
How can end users ever be expected to have confidence in Sony again? If the PSN was hacked in such a manner, how on Earth can we be expected to trust Sony with our personal information or credit card details. Their total disregard for implementing the correct data protection procedures sticks of a rank negligent attitude towards their responsibilities towards their customers. It seems that the excuse that the PSN is free so you cannot expect too much from it has filtered through to those responsible for actually securing it. You may, with justification, say that one has nothing to do with the other but it is hard not to imagine that the amateur way the PSN has been implemented since 2007 hasn't been reflected in the security and or lack of.
Right from the moment the PS3 was hacked many months ago now, Sony should have shown a greater degree of responsibility but instead they threw out a firmware update to address the problem that was hacked within hours rendering it useless. The warnings were there, does it look like Sony heeded them after the events of the past week?
Sony's main priority has been a belligerent attitude, throwing their weight around and suing all and sundry, stirring up a hornets nest which they had no means to defend against and the result is that end users...correction...innocent end users personal information has been compromised. Instead of wasting time trying to sue the hackers into submission they should have invested those resources into securing their laughable security.
Sony have dropped the ball in a major way and they need to pay the price. Sadly it may be too late for them now as I am sure that customer confidence in them will no hit an all time low. What a stupid thing to happen.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
END OF FREE PSN?
There is little doubt that the attack on the Playstation Network that has seen it being unavailable for some 6 days now has been a serious eye opener for Sony. If not, then it damn well should have been.
The fault lies purely with the hackers who instigated the attack on the network, let's make no bones about that. These mindless idiots who are out to do nothing more than cause havoc should be punished severely but there is no doubt that Sony need to do some soul searching.
The problem, as far as I am concerned, is that the PSN seems to be such a piecemeal system with near constant updates being applied to it and features being added and removed that it must be inevitable that there are some serious loopholes in the system. When compared to X Box Live it must almost be a hackers paradise. Now I am in no way saying that X Box Live is immune to attack, but can anyone remember the last time the service was down for such a long period of time due to an attack?
Of course the critical difference between the two services is that the PSN is free and X Box Live Gold is paid for. What I would like to know is how many people who only own a PS3 to play online with would have happily paid for the service and not had such a long period of downtime over the Easter weekend? I would imagine that by the time Sunday dawned, most would have been happy to see Sony adopt a more Microsoft approach to their online service.
It is easy to point to the fact that the PSN is free, but if it is going to prone to Denial of Service attacks like this then there is no point to it. Since the PS3 was cracked there have been many attacks on the PSN which has made it more unstable than it was before and now it is simply unusable. Sony maybe going all out to fix the problem, but how long will the fix work for? If there is one thing history teaches us is that hackers are extremely resourceful and very clever and if there is the slightest hint at an exploit then they will find it. What then? Does the PSN go down for the best part of a week whilst Sony reprogram huge chunks of the system? As I type there is no indication of when the service will resume so even a week might be an optimistic appraisal of the situation.
The only answer I can see is for Sony to adopt a more Microsoft style approach to their online service. I know there will be many out there who disagree, but I point to the evidence of reliability of the respective services which is something that cannot be argued against. If it means having to pay for the service then I would much rather do that than endure day after day of outage which renders a large portion of the consoles functionality redundant.
The fault lies purely with the hackers who instigated the attack on the network, let's make no bones about that. These mindless idiots who are out to do nothing more than cause havoc should be punished severely but there is no doubt that Sony need to do some soul searching.
The problem, as far as I am concerned, is that the PSN seems to be such a piecemeal system with near constant updates being applied to it and features being added and removed that it must be inevitable that there are some serious loopholes in the system. When compared to X Box Live it must almost be a hackers paradise. Now I am in no way saying that X Box Live is immune to attack, but can anyone remember the last time the service was down for such a long period of time due to an attack?
Of course the critical difference between the two services is that the PSN is free and X Box Live Gold is paid for. What I would like to know is how many people who only own a PS3 to play online with would have happily paid for the service and not had such a long period of downtime over the Easter weekend? I would imagine that by the time Sunday dawned, most would have been happy to see Sony adopt a more Microsoft approach to their online service.
It is easy to point to the fact that the PSN is free, but if it is going to prone to Denial of Service attacks like this then there is no point to it. Since the PS3 was cracked there have been many attacks on the PSN which has made it more unstable than it was before and now it is simply unusable. Sony maybe going all out to fix the problem, but how long will the fix work for? If there is one thing history teaches us is that hackers are extremely resourceful and very clever and if there is the slightest hint at an exploit then they will find it. What then? Does the PSN go down for the best part of a week whilst Sony reprogram huge chunks of the system? As I type there is no indication of when the service will resume so even a week might be an optimistic appraisal of the situation.
The only answer I can see is for Sony to adopt a more Microsoft style approach to their online service. I know there will be many out there who disagree, but I point to the evidence of reliability of the respective services which is something that cannot be argued against. If it means having to pay for the service then I would much rather do that than endure day after day of outage which renders a large portion of the consoles functionality redundant.
Friday, 22 April 2011
PSN OUTAGE, BAD DEMOS, PORTAL 2 & STUFF
Well, I suppose it was inevitable given the recent issues Sony have had but as all PS3 owners know, the PSN has been down for two days which has proved to be a bit of drag. Thankfully I have still be able to play some games but it does stick in the throat when a service is out for so long especially if you are one of the those playing the likes of DC Universe Online where you are effectively losing money with the downtime as it is a paid subscription game.
I don't know why the service is down though there are reports that it is due to hackers. You know these guys can really annoy me. I don't understand what their goal is. Is it to prove a point that they can take down a service? Is it to try and bring a major international corporation to it's knees? Or and this is more likely, are they just trying to prove what irritating and anti-social arseholes they really are?
You see the people who suffer are not those they are a targeting. It is the end user, the person who just wants to come in and chill out and play games with their friends online. Nothing else. Sony are obliged to work on fixing the service, but let's be honest it's the gamers that are copping for the misery more so, especially over a holiday weekend whereby most people get some precious time off.
The bottom line is that in the community, these hackers will find very little support so I fail to see what their end game is.
I got Motorstorm Apocalypse this week which I have been really enjoying. It is surprising because I hated the demo that was on the PSN. I am sure on reflection that there is little difference, but I don't think the demo really sold the game properly at all and it pretty much put me off buying it. Had I not managed to source a copy of it for a good price then I probably would have passed it over. It does go to show that if you are going to put a demo out there, then it is vital it represents the game in the best way possible. There have been a number of games that I have refused to by largely because the demo has been awful but when I have picked the game up at a later date on the cheap, they have actually been really good games. I think that publishers should be more mindful of the influence a demo has before they just throw one out there.
Lastly I have been enjoying the wonders of Portal 2 today. I don't want to go too much into it as I have only just really started playing it, but I love it. The puzzles are great, the voice acting superb and the black humour is excellent. I loved the original and so far I am loving this one. I understand it's not the longest game in the world but I actually think that on this occasion it is probably apt. A game like could get boring if it was weighing in at 10-12 hours long. I think the time of 5-6 hours is probably spot on.
Anyway that's it, probably for the weekend I'm not sure yet. Have a good Easter.
I don't know why the service is down though there are reports that it is due to hackers. You know these guys can really annoy me. I don't understand what their goal is. Is it to prove a point that they can take down a service? Is it to try and bring a major international corporation to it's knees? Or and this is more likely, are they just trying to prove what irritating and anti-social arseholes they really are?
You see the people who suffer are not those they are a targeting. It is the end user, the person who just wants to come in and chill out and play games with their friends online. Nothing else. Sony are obliged to work on fixing the service, but let's be honest it's the gamers that are copping for the misery more so, especially over a holiday weekend whereby most people get some precious time off.
The bottom line is that in the community, these hackers will find very little support so I fail to see what their end game is.
I got Motorstorm Apocalypse this week which I have been really enjoying. It is surprising because I hated the demo that was on the PSN. I am sure on reflection that there is little difference, but I don't think the demo really sold the game properly at all and it pretty much put me off buying it. Had I not managed to source a copy of it for a good price then I probably would have passed it over. It does go to show that if you are going to put a demo out there, then it is vital it represents the game in the best way possible. There have been a number of games that I have refused to by largely because the demo has been awful but when I have picked the game up at a later date on the cheap, they have actually been really good games. I think that publishers should be more mindful of the influence a demo has before they just throw one out there.
Lastly I have been enjoying the wonders of Portal 2 today. I don't want to go too much into it as I have only just really started playing it, but I love it. The puzzles are great, the voice acting superb and the black humour is excellent. I loved the original and so far I am loving this one. I understand it's not the longest game in the world but I actually think that on this occasion it is probably apt. A game like could get boring if it was weighing in at 10-12 hours long. I think the time of 5-6 hours is probably spot on.
Anyway that's it, probably for the weekend I'm not sure yet. Have a good Easter.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
WHAT I AM PLAYING
It is probably fair to say that in the past week or so, most of my time has been taken up playing two games. Dragon Age 2 and 3D Dot Game Heroes.
Dragon Age 2 is a very good game, there is no doubt in my mind about that. I am some 40 hours into it now so I suspect that there is not much left to go but what I have been disappointed about has been the story. Despite the fact that there is much to do, it feels a lot more smaller in scale than the original Dragon Age game which is a tad disappointing. I don't mean this just in terms of the size of the world map, but more in the scope of the story.
The first game tasked the player with effectively saving the world from the Blight. The second game seems more focused on trying to resolve a local issue based in the city that you spend most of the game in. Now, unless there is some sort of grand change or the game is something like 100 hours long and I have not even got half way it seems a real come down from the original which is sad considering that the game play mechanics and graphics are much improved.
That said, I have enjoyed playing it and that is the idea at the end of the day.
The next game is the one that had taken many hours of my life. 3D Dot Game Heroes on the PS3 is an awesome game. I owe being made aware of this little number by my girlfriend Chelle who has been playing this constantly as well.
Essentially this is Legend of Zelda on the PS3, so much so that I am amazed that Nintendo have not taken some sort of legal action against the developers and publishers! It is an incredible game though and has kept me addicted since it arrived last week. There is so much to do in the game and it is a fascinating world to explore. It is one of those games that deserves so much more attention than what it has received and I am sure that given some proper marketing and promotion it would do very well sales wise.
If you have a PS3 and like the Zelda series then getting this is a no brainer.
I have just started playing Motorstorm Apocalypse this morning which is a stunning game. Racing through a city that is literally falling apart around you is breath taking and has become my favorite Motorstorm game even after such a short playing time. You know it is also one of those games that the demo really didn't do it justice and I can imagine many people being put off by it which is a shame because it is really good.
So that's it for me for now. With Fear 3 and Portal 2 on the horizon I am sorted for games for the time being.
Right I am off for more 3D Dot Game Heroes!
Dragon Age 2 is a very good game, there is no doubt in my mind about that. I am some 40 hours into it now so I suspect that there is not much left to go but what I have been disappointed about has been the story. Despite the fact that there is much to do, it feels a lot more smaller in scale than the original Dragon Age game which is a tad disappointing. I don't mean this just in terms of the size of the world map, but more in the scope of the story.
The first game tasked the player with effectively saving the world from the Blight. The second game seems more focused on trying to resolve a local issue based in the city that you spend most of the game in. Now, unless there is some sort of grand change or the game is something like 100 hours long and I have not even got half way it seems a real come down from the original which is sad considering that the game play mechanics and graphics are much improved.
That said, I have enjoyed playing it and that is the idea at the end of the day.
The next game is the one that had taken many hours of my life. 3D Dot Game Heroes on the PS3 is an awesome game. I owe being made aware of this little number by my girlfriend Chelle who has been playing this constantly as well.
Essentially this is Legend of Zelda on the PS3, so much so that I am amazed that Nintendo have not taken some sort of legal action against the developers and publishers! It is an incredible game though and has kept me addicted since it arrived last week. There is so much to do in the game and it is a fascinating world to explore. It is one of those games that deserves so much more attention than what it has received and I am sure that given some proper marketing and promotion it would do very well sales wise.
If you have a PS3 and like the Zelda series then getting this is a no brainer.
I have just started playing Motorstorm Apocalypse this morning which is a stunning game. Racing through a city that is literally falling apart around you is breath taking and has become my favorite Motorstorm game even after such a short playing time. You know it is also one of those games that the demo really didn't do it justice and I can imagine many people being put off by it which is a shame because it is really good.
So that's it for me for now. With Fear 3 and Portal 2 on the horizon I am sorted for games for the time being.
Right I am off for more 3D Dot Game Heroes!
Monday, 18 April 2011
IS KINECT WORKING?
If Microsoft are to be believed, I was one of many that picked up Kinect in it's launch window. I don't doubt that the initial sales of the hardware were high, but something struck me today whilst browsing Game Online and that is Kinect is now retailing some £50 less than it's launch price. Now this is part of Game's Easter Sale promotion, but that is still one hell of a discount. If my maths is right, that is a 40% discount there or thereabouts. It is worth noting that Amazon has also dropped it's price to £79.99 as well. Perhaps this too is part of an Easter promotion.
It does seem strange that such a successful peripheral is being so heavily discounted early on in it's life cycle, Easter promo or not. It set me thinking that, perhaps after the initial rush, Kinect is not exactly setting the world on fire in the way that Microsoft hoped it would.
As far as I am concerned the lack of top games is an issue. So far I only own two games for it, Kinect Adventures which it came with and Kinect Joy Ride. Aside from the newly released Michael Jackson Experience there has not been a whole lot of titles that have interested me at all. This is not because I am some sort of hardcore gaming guy, but rather nothing has grabbed my attention and actually made me want to play it.
I have to admit that my Kinect spends most of it's time in it's box. The major issue of the space required for usage is a problem for me and when I do decide to break it out, the limiting factor of how much clear space is needed means some furniture modifications. It is not practical for me to leave the Kinect plugged in all the time, and I certainly don't like the idea of it being balance precariously waiting for the day when I accidentally topple it over to it's doom.
It is not as though I am against Kinect. I am not. I can see that this has great potential but so far there seems to be so little out there that is proving to be compelling. I am aware that software is being developed for it all the time but there is no guarantee that it will live up to expectations. Then what? Does Kinect slowly disappear into the mists of gaming failures to rest comfortably alongside the likes of the 32X, Virtual Boy and so on?
Microsoft have clearly invested a huge amount of money into the Kinect project and certainly if their recent expo presentations have been anything to go by, they are content to sit behind Kinect and push it as hard as they can. The problem is; if no one wants to use it then they can push all they like.
What I find frustrating is that I knew this would happen. I knew that Kinect would start like this with little in the way of the wow factor. OK, you can wave at the 360 and speak to it and give it a limited number of commands but it is not enough. Microsoft heralded Kinect as a game changer and clearly, as of yet, that is not the case.
Again, I stress that I am not against Kinect, I want it to succeed, but in order for that to happen Microsoft need to make Kinect titles that interest the games player more than what they have so far. If they fumble Kinect as badly as I fear they might it could prove to be a watershed moment for Microsoft in the console market. To bury this product that has so much potential would be a crying shame for those who have invested in it and for the industry as well.
It does seem strange that such a successful peripheral is being so heavily discounted early on in it's life cycle, Easter promo or not. It set me thinking that, perhaps after the initial rush, Kinect is not exactly setting the world on fire in the way that Microsoft hoped it would.
As far as I am concerned the lack of top games is an issue. So far I only own two games for it, Kinect Adventures which it came with and Kinect Joy Ride. Aside from the newly released Michael Jackson Experience there has not been a whole lot of titles that have interested me at all. This is not because I am some sort of hardcore gaming guy, but rather nothing has grabbed my attention and actually made me want to play it.
I have to admit that my Kinect spends most of it's time in it's box. The major issue of the space required for usage is a problem for me and when I do decide to break it out, the limiting factor of how much clear space is needed means some furniture modifications. It is not practical for me to leave the Kinect plugged in all the time, and I certainly don't like the idea of it being balance precariously waiting for the day when I accidentally topple it over to it's doom.
It is not as though I am against Kinect. I am not. I can see that this has great potential but so far there seems to be so little out there that is proving to be compelling. I am aware that software is being developed for it all the time but there is no guarantee that it will live up to expectations. Then what? Does Kinect slowly disappear into the mists of gaming failures to rest comfortably alongside the likes of the 32X, Virtual Boy and so on?
Microsoft have clearly invested a huge amount of money into the Kinect project and certainly if their recent expo presentations have been anything to go by, they are content to sit behind Kinect and push it as hard as they can. The problem is; if no one wants to use it then they can push all they like.
What I find frustrating is that I knew this would happen. I knew that Kinect would start like this with little in the way of the wow factor. OK, you can wave at the 360 and speak to it and give it a limited number of commands but it is not enough. Microsoft heralded Kinect as a game changer and clearly, as of yet, that is not the case.
Again, I stress that I am not against Kinect, I want it to succeed, but in order for that to happen Microsoft need to make Kinect titles that interest the games player more than what they have so far. If they fumble Kinect as badly as I fear they might it could prove to be a watershed moment for Microsoft in the console market. To bury this product that has so much potential would be a crying shame for those who have invested in it and for the industry as well.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
NEXT GEN WISH LIST
I have sat here this morning wondering what I would really like the next generation of consoles to deliver. I seriously doubt that my wish list will be fufilled at all but hey, I can always dream:
- Reliability
One of the things this generation got wrong was the reliability of the consoles. Although Nintendo's Wii has probably proved to be well within the normal accepted failure rate, the PS3 and most definitely the X Box 360 have proved to be more troublesome beasts. The 360's failure rates were simply not acceptable and it is fair to say that Microsoft were very lucky that it didn't kill the 360 stone dead. There is no doubt that another release from them that is besieged by so many issues will not bode well for them. The PS3 seemed to get away with it at first but the 'Yellow Light of Death' has put paid to many of the original design consoles and again is not really acceptable.
- Improved Graphics
This goes without saying but the next gen really does need to use the absolute cutting edge in terms of graphical capabilities. It is always difficult to do this because usually a console is always out of date by the time it is released. When you consider that developers also need to know what the specifications of the console is going to be well in advance of it's release so that they can code games for it the chances of the console being able to match a PC stride for stride is going to be very difficult. What the manufactures of these consoles could do is be less stingy in other areas such as RAM and processing power in order to allow a greater potential for the console.
- Solid State Drives
At the moment these are very costly when compared to standard hard drives but I would like to think that by the time the next generation of consoles are upon us, the price will have come down sufficiently enough to allow them to be used in consoles and still allow the console to be affordable. The enemy of any console is heat as we have seen this generation. The more moving parts a console has the more heat is generated and hard drives have moving parts and are bulky. SSD's would be an ideal solution both in terms of a reduction of moving parts but also would prove to be more reliable and faster as well.
- Developer Friendly Software Tools
I never see the point in making it difficult for a developer to unlock the power of the console. It causes so much bad blood between the console companies and the software developers and publishers and it totally unnecessary. The whole point is for games to play and look their best on the format concerned. Bearing that in mind the onus has to be on the console manufacturer to create a console that is good to develop for. You can have the most powerful console on Earth, but if no one knows how to unleash the power of it, there is no point.
- Skype Quality Comms
There is nothing worse than trying to play a game with your friends online and the coms are so bad you cannot hear what they are saying. As far as I am concerned there is no excuse for it in the next generation of consoles. Skype's coms are crystal clear and should be the benchmark for the next gen, in fact I don't see why the comms cannot be outsourced to Skype.
- Blu Ray Drives as Standard
I don't think it is a good idea for games to go down the download route only for a while yet. I can see the obvious benefits to it, but one thing that has been obvious this generation is that game publishers are showing no inclination to reduce the price of the games and in most cases it actually costs more for a digital download than it does to go out and get an actual physical copy of the game from an online retailer or the high street. That cannot be right. Until this is sorted out, there is no way that I want a game to be delivered by download only. Just where would the competition be in terms of prices?
- General Design Consideration
Would it really have killed Sony to include a USB port on the back of the PS3? There is nothing worse that having the PS3 camera plugged into the front of the console taking up a precious USB slot. Why the hell did Sony not stick another port on the back of the console? Would it really have broke the bank? I would really like the general design of the next gen consoles to show some intelligence. Nintendo also showed a degree of poor design with the ports for the Game Cube controllers being along the top/side of the console. If you have the console lying down the door to access these ports doesn't work properly because the hinge pushes the console up!
I have not gone into the stuff like the online services and so on. I wanted to focus on the actual physical aspects of the consoles themselves, aside from the dev tools, because these are things that are really difficult to fix once the console is out there. Other things can be sorted out via firmware updates.
Whether any of what I want comes to pass is in the hands of the manufacturers, but it would be nice to see at least a few taken on board.
- Reliability
One of the things this generation got wrong was the reliability of the consoles. Although Nintendo's Wii has probably proved to be well within the normal accepted failure rate, the PS3 and most definitely the X Box 360 have proved to be more troublesome beasts. The 360's failure rates were simply not acceptable and it is fair to say that Microsoft were very lucky that it didn't kill the 360 stone dead. There is no doubt that another release from them that is besieged by so many issues will not bode well for them. The PS3 seemed to get away with it at first but the 'Yellow Light of Death' has put paid to many of the original design consoles and again is not really acceptable.
- Improved Graphics
This goes without saying but the next gen really does need to use the absolute cutting edge in terms of graphical capabilities. It is always difficult to do this because usually a console is always out of date by the time it is released. When you consider that developers also need to know what the specifications of the console is going to be well in advance of it's release so that they can code games for it the chances of the console being able to match a PC stride for stride is going to be very difficult. What the manufactures of these consoles could do is be less stingy in other areas such as RAM and processing power in order to allow a greater potential for the console.
- Solid State Drives
At the moment these are very costly when compared to standard hard drives but I would like to think that by the time the next generation of consoles are upon us, the price will have come down sufficiently enough to allow them to be used in consoles and still allow the console to be affordable. The enemy of any console is heat as we have seen this generation. The more moving parts a console has the more heat is generated and hard drives have moving parts and are bulky. SSD's would be an ideal solution both in terms of a reduction of moving parts but also would prove to be more reliable and faster as well.
- Developer Friendly Software Tools
I never see the point in making it difficult for a developer to unlock the power of the console. It causes so much bad blood between the console companies and the software developers and publishers and it totally unnecessary. The whole point is for games to play and look their best on the format concerned. Bearing that in mind the onus has to be on the console manufacturer to create a console that is good to develop for. You can have the most powerful console on Earth, but if no one knows how to unleash the power of it, there is no point.
- Skype Quality Comms
There is nothing worse than trying to play a game with your friends online and the coms are so bad you cannot hear what they are saying. As far as I am concerned there is no excuse for it in the next generation of consoles. Skype's coms are crystal clear and should be the benchmark for the next gen, in fact I don't see why the comms cannot be outsourced to Skype.
- Blu Ray Drives as Standard
I don't think it is a good idea for games to go down the download route only for a while yet. I can see the obvious benefits to it, but one thing that has been obvious this generation is that game publishers are showing no inclination to reduce the price of the games and in most cases it actually costs more for a digital download than it does to go out and get an actual physical copy of the game from an online retailer or the high street. That cannot be right. Until this is sorted out, there is no way that I want a game to be delivered by download only. Just where would the competition be in terms of prices?
- General Design Consideration
Would it really have killed Sony to include a USB port on the back of the PS3? There is nothing worse that having the PS3 camera plugged into the front of the console taking up a precious USB slot. Why the hell did Sony not stick another port on the back of the console? Would it really have broke the bank? I would really like the general design of the next gen consoles to show some intelligence. Nintendo also showed a degree of poor design with the ports for the Game Cube controllers being along the top/side of the console. If you have the console lying down the door to access these ports doesn't work properly because the hinge pushes the console up!
I have not gone into the stuff like the online services and so on. I wanted to focus on the actual physical aspects of the consoles themselves, aside from the dev tools, because these are things that are really difficult to fix once the console is out there. Other things can be sorted out via firmware updates.
Whether any of what I want comes to pass is in the hands of the manufacturers, but it would be nice to see at least a few taken on board.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
CHARACTER & STORY
Whilst I was writing about my history with video games, I also got to thinking what games were like back then compared to titles released today. I am not talking about the graphics and sound and game play but rather the characters and story and how they are important to making a good game a great one.
Characters and story are not new features in video games. There has always been a reason for what you are doing and there have always been characters, but the increase in the power of today's consoles and PC's has meant that more in depth stories with more complex characters can be told. Whereas in the past much of the back story to a game was confined to a few words condensed into the instruction booklet, now the story can unfold in a true cinematic fashion on screen.
This advancement has been crucial to how video games are presented these days. Games now have more power to affect the player on an emotional level than ever before. One example of this is the game The Darkness. When the main characters girlfriend is murdered by the main bad guy, the player is rendered powerless to prevent it. What makes it more poignant is the fact that there was a part in the game where you spend time with your girlfriend just sitting there watching TV. It is a simple thing but something that so many of us do. It resonates with the player and so when this comfortable scene is ripped apart the anger felt by the main character is also felt by the player.
The same also applies for RPG games where the characters are well developed. If done correctly the player should care about all the characters in the party as each one should be interesting and have a story to tell. The player should feel protective towards those players and feel something should one of them be in peril or worse still die.
This is not an easy task to get right. The main problem with video games compared to books and films is that it is an interactive medium whereas as the other two are passive so much of the story is dependent on the ability and decisions of the games player. If the developers are too restrictive with the plot and character then it can appear that the players actions are inconsequential, too slack and the story can lose much of it's impact. It is little wonder that more and more game developers are hiring the help of professional writers to create the characters and story.
I have always found that games with strong characters and story remain in the mind far longer than those that rely on basic story telling elements and don't take any time or trouble to make characters that are memorable.
Increasingly, a few pages in an instruction booklet is not enough to convey the adventure that you are undertaking or the characters you will meet along the way. I for one think this is a good thing. The ability to tell a compelling story is something that has defined much of the arts and is so important to the culture of the human race. I don't see any reason why video games should not embrace this fully and start to become an important medium for telling stories.
Characters and story are not new features in video games. There has always been a reason for what you are doing and there have always been characters, but the increase in the power of today's consoles and PC's has meant that more in depth stories with more complex characters can be told. Whereas in the past much of the back story to a game was confined to a few words condensed into the instruction booklet, now the story can unfold in a true cinematic fashion on screen.
This advancement has been crucial to how video games are presented these days. Games now have more power to affect the player on an emotional level than ever before. One example of this is the game The Darkness. When the main characters girlfriend is murdered by the main bad guy, the player is rendered powerless to prevent it. What makes it more poignant is the fact that there was a part in the game where you spend time with your girlfriend just sitting there watching TV. It is a simple thing but something that so many of us do. It resonates with the player and so when this comfortable scene is ripped apart the anger felt by the main character is also felt by the player.
The same also applies for RPG games where the characters are well developed. If done correctly the player should care about all the characters in the party as each one should be interesting and have a story to tell. The player should feel protective towards those players and feel something should one of them be in peril or worse still die.
This is not an easy task to get right. The main problem with video games compared to books and films is that it is an interactive medium whereas as the other two are passive so much of the story is dependent on the ability and decisions of the games player. If the developers are too restrictive with the plot and character then it can appear that the players actions are inconsequential, too slack and the story can lose much of it's impact. It is little wonder that more and more game developers are hiring the help of professional writers to create the characters and story.
I have always found that games with strong characters and story remain in the mind far longer than those that rely on basic story telling elements and don't take any time or trouble to make characters that are memorable.
Increasingly, a few pages in an instruction booklet is not enough to convey the adventure that you are undertaking or the characters you will meet along the way. I for one think this is a good thing. The ability to tell a compelling story is something that has defined much of the arts and is so important to the culture of the human race. I don't see any reason why video games should not embrace this fully and start to become an important medium for telling stories.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
MY HISTORY OF GAMING PART 4
If there is anyone still interested in this, then I applaud and pity you at the same time. I promise I will keep this entry brief as it brings me right up to date with where I am at with gaming at the moment.
I will hold my hands up first of all and say that the Dreamcast passed me by. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who owned one so I was able to access and play some the the classic games that came out for it, but my confidence in Sega had been rocked with the whole 32X fiasco and then the subsequent struggle the Saturn had against the Playstation. I was not too interested in investing a considerable amount of money into the Dreamcast when it came out only for it to prove to be another poor investment.
Of course had I done this, one could argue that would not have been the case. The Dreamcast had a plethora of exciting games and the console itself, it could be argued, was more powerful than the Playstation 2.
As it was I opted for the PS2 and never regretted it. The Dreamcast failed to have the legs to keep in the fight and Sega took the brave decision to cease production of it and focus purely on games. It was probably the right thing to do as Nintendo were releasing the Game Cube and Microsoft were stepping into the console market with their X Box.
For the first time I found myself in a position to own all the major formats. I also got the Game Cube as well as the X Box. In fact the X Box supplanted the PS2 as my main console which I never thought would happen. It's additional horse power and the ability to install your own music to play from the built in hard drive while you played games was fantastic Although the PS2 was still used for the classic games that were still coming out for it, all the cross platform purchases went onto the X Box.
A similar pattern emerged with the purchase of the X Box 360, PS3 and Wii. The 360 has been my mainstay although it is fair to say that the PS3 is catching up rapidly. The Wii probably sees the least action of the three, but I so love playing games like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid and Zelda on there.
I feel very lucky to have been around to see the games industry grow into what it is today. The advancement in technology has been truly astounding. In 30 years in home gaming has gone from pushing various sized rectangular and square shapes around the screen in two colours to the millions of polygons that make up the games we see today as well as all the vibrant colours the eye can see.
I wonder what gaming will be like in 30 years time. I know one thing, if I am still around, I will be still playing!
I will hold my hands up first of all and say that the Dreamcast passed me by. I was fortunate enough to have a friend who owned one so I was able to access and play some the the classic games that came out for it, but my confidence in Sega had been rocked with the whole 32X fiasco and then the subsequent struggle the Saturn had against the Playstation. I was not too interested in investing a considerable amount of money into the Dreamcast when it came out only for it to prove to be another poor investment.
Of course had I done this, one could argue that would not have been the case. The Dreamcast had a plethora of exciting games and the console itself, it could be argued, was more powerful than the Playstation 2.
As it was I opted for the PS2 and never regretted it. The Dreamcast failed to have the legs to keep in the fight and Sega took the brave decision to cease production of it and focus purely on games. It was probably the right thing to do as Nintendo were releasing the Game Cube and Microsoft were stepping into the console market with their X Box.
For the first time I found myself in a position to own all the major formats. I also got the Game Cube as well as the X Box. In fact the X Box supplanted the PS2 as my main console which I never thought would happen. It's additional horse power and the ability to install your own music to play from the built in hard drive while you played games was fantastic Although the PS2 was still used for the classic games that were still coming out for it, all the cross platform purchases went onto the X Box.
A similar pattern emerged with the purchase of the X Box 360, PS3 and Wii. The 360 has been my mainstay although it is fair to say that the PS3 is catching up rapidly. The Wii probably sees the least action of the three, but I so love playing games like Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid and Zelda on there.
I feel very lucky to have been around to see the games industry grow into what it is today. The advancement in technology has been truly astounding. In 30 years in home gaming has gone from pushing various sized rectangular and square shapes around the screen in two colours to the millions of polygons that make up the games we see today as well as all the vibrant colours the eye can see.
I wonder what gaming will be like in 30 years time. I know one thing, if I am still around, I will be still playing!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
GAME REVIEW: STAR WARS - THE FORCE UNLEASED 2
Lucas Arts have become something of an enigma in recent years. Once upon a time they could do no wrong with nearly every game they released seemingly achieving classic status. Whether it was their point and click adventures or their franchise based games like Star Wars, they always delivered, but something happened to them and they seemingly lost their way. As their output and desire to exploit the new IP that the Star Wars Prequel movies offered increased, the quality took a real nose dive. It caused Lucas Arts to take a step back and re-evaluate their position.
It is fair to say that the out put has dropped somewhat but has the quality increased?
The original Force Unleashed was very much a game you either loved or loathed. Personally I loved it. It had been an awful long time since a Star Wars game actually made you feel like you were actually being immersed into the Star Wars universe as opposed to some rushed cash in job. Technically it was fantastic with a great emphasis placed in the physics engine. This resulted in scenery that was destructible and could be bent and twisted through using the force powers at your disposal, but the best fun was to he had flinging Stormtroopers all over the place. More importantly it had a great story line that gelled well with the Star Wars series. Although by no means canon, it didn't deviate from the perceived Star Wars mythology and at the same time it also packed quite an emotional punch.
Fast forward to 2010 and The Force Unleashed 2 was released.
Following on from the first game you re-assume the role of Vaders apprentice Galen Marek known as Starkiller, only there is a degree of ambiguity as to whether you are the same Galen Marek from the first game or whether you are a clone. As an interesting footnote Starkiller was the original name that George Lucas was going to call Luke Skywalker - his name was changed from Annikin Starkiller.
Whereas the first game focused more on Starkiller's fight against the Dark Side of the Force and his eventual assistance in the formation of the Rebel Alliance, this game is more personal, a more darker game if you will.
Starkiller is pre-occupied with finding Juno Ecplise the female starship captain from the first game who Starkiller had formed strong emotional feelings for. He is also trying to find out the truth behind his own existence. Is he a clone or is he the real Galen Marek?
After escaping the cloning facility on Kamino, Starkiller sets about his quest traveling to varied locations around the galaxy unlocking more and more powers as he goes along. This time round the combat feels more visceral. This is not a Starkiller who is looking for justification or a mission, he is looking to find the person he loves as well as finding out who he is. There are times playing this game where the sheer anger of Starkiller almost oozes out of the console as he sets about dispatching multiple Stormtroopers in an instant or plucking TIE Fighters out of the sky and crushing them. It seems his power has increased considerably.
Once again the Havok, Digital Molecular Matter and Euphoria engines have been used to great effect. The results are a stunning looking game that works so well in drawing you into the universe. Stormtroopers have real weight to them when they are slammed through windows or against walls and floors and the ability to manipulate objects in the environment and use them as weapons is as fun as ever.
Surprisingly, though, the story line does not seem as compelling as in the first game. Given the subject matter of the story it should have been a guaranteed bet to make this more involving but the problem is that at times it feels rushed and consequently you end up feeling that there are chunks of this game missing. This is supported by how short the game is. I clocked it in little over four and half hours and I was taking my time. Given that there is no multiplayer element to it at all, that is quite shocking and is the main area that it let's itself down with.
The Force Unleashed was a perfectly paced game and was compelling to play and also interesting to re-visit to try and unlock secrets. However Force Unleashed 2 doesn't have the same hook at all. Once complete I felt little need to go back and I felt so disappointed that there were so many unanswered questions. There never felt that there was any consequence to what was ultimately selfish reasons for Starkiller's adventure.
Remember in Empire Strikes back where Yoda tells Luke that if he rushes off to save his friends he effectively risks costing the Rebel Alliance the whole ware against the Empire? Yoda was worried that Luke would either fall to the Dark Side or be killed because he wasn't ready. Well there appears to be no gravity at all to what is going on in this game. It is dark yes and it is a more personal fight between Vader and Starkiller this time round, but the lack of any larger consequence almost makes the story redundant. At no point did I ever think that Starkiller's actions where going to change the course of the future of the Galaxy.
Game play wise, it is spot on. The combat is dynamic and fluid and I never get tired of dispatching bad guys in new and novel ways via a combination of the force and the duel sabres Starkiller now wields. It's just that there is not enough of it. It is interesting to note that Haden Blackman who was the executive producer of the original game left the project late on prior to the release of this sequel. Perhaps this is why the game feels to truncated. I don't know.
This is by no means a terrible game but it should have been so much better. Another couple of hours game play should have been the minimum requirement and could easily have provided more satisfactory story. Instead what we have is a game that somehow feels rushed and too short and that is a crying shame.
It is fair to say that the out put has dropped somewhat but has the quality increased?
The original Force Unleashed was very much a game you either loved or loathed. Personally I loved it. It had been an awful long time since a Star Wars game actually made you feel like you were actually being immersed into the Star Wars universe as opposed to some rushed cash in job. Technically it was fantastic with a great emphasis placed in the physics engine. This resulted in scenery that was destructible and could be bent and twisted through using the force powers at your disposal, but the best fun was to he had flinging Stormtroopers all over the place. More importantly it had a great story line that gelled well with the Star Wars series. Although by no means canon, it didn't deviate from the perceived Star Wars mythology and at the same time it also packed quite an emotional punch.
Fast forward to 2010 and The Force Unleashed 2 was released.
Following on from the first game you re-assume the role of Vaders apprentice Galen Marek known as Starkiller, only there is a degree of ambiguity as to whether you are the same Galen Marek from the first game or whether you are a clone. As an interesting footnote Starkiller was the original name that George Lucas was going to call Luke Skywalker - his name was changed from Annikin Starkiller.
Whereas the first game focused more on Starkiller's fight against the Dark Side of the Force and his eventual assistance in the formation of the Rebel Alliance, this game is more personal, a more darker game if you will.
Starkiller is pre-occupied with finding Juno Ecplise the female starship captain from the first game who Starkiller had formed strong emotional feelings for. He is also trying to find out the truth behind his own existence. Is he a clone or is he the real Galen Marek?
After escaping the cloning facility on Kamino, Starkiller sets about his quest traveling to varied locations around the galaxy unlocking more and more powers as he goes along. This time round the combat feels more visceral. This is not a Starkiller who is looking for justification or a mission, he is looking to find the person he loves as well as finding out who he is. There are times playing this game where the sheer anger of Starkiller almost oozes out of the console as he sets about dispatching multiple Stormtroopers in an instant or plucking TIE Fighters out of the sky and crushing them. It seems his power has increased considerably.
Once again the Havok, Digital Molecular Matter and Euphoria engines have been used to great effect. The results are a stunning looking game that works so well in drawing you into the universe. Stormtroopers have real weight to them when they are slammed through windows or against walls and floors and the ability to manipulate objects in the environment and use them as weapons is as fun as ever.
Surprisingly, though, the story line does not seem as compelling as in the first game. Given the subject matter of the story it should have been a guaranteed bet to make this more involving but the problem is that at times it feels rushed and consequently you end up feeling that there are chunks of this game missing. This is supported by how short the game is. I clocked it in little over four and half hours and I was taking my time. Given that there is no multiplayer element to it at all, that is quite shocking and is the main area that it let's itself down with.
The Force Unleashed was a perfectly paced game and was compelling to play and also interesting to re-visit to try and unlock secrets. However Force Unleashed 2 doesn't have the same hook at all. Once complete I felt little need to go back and I felt so disappointed that there were so many unanswered questions. There never felt that there was any consequence to what was ultimately selfish reasons for Starkiller's adventure.
Remember in Empire Strikes back where Yoda tells Luke that if he rushes off to save his friends he effectively risks costing the Rebel Alliance the whole ware against the Empire? Yoda was worried that Luke would either fall to the Dark Side or be killed because he wasn't ready. Well there appears to be no gravity at all to what is going on in this game. It is dark yes and it is a more personal fight between Vader and Starkiller this time round, but the lack of any larger consequence almost makes the story redundant. At no point did I ever think that Starkiller's actions where going to change the course of the future of the Galaxy.
Game play wise, it is spot on. The combat is dynamic and fluid and I never get tired of dispatching bad guys in new and novel ways via a combination of the force and the duel sabres Starkiller now wields. It's just that there is not enough of it. It is interesting to note that Haden Blackman who was the executive producer of the original game left the project late on prior to the release of this sequel. Perhaps this is why the game feels to truncated. I don't know.
This is by no means a terrible game but it should have been so much better. Another couple of hours game play should have been the minimum requirement and could easily have provided more satisfactory story. Instead what we have is a game that somehow feels rushed and too short and that is a crying shame.
Friday, 8 April 2011
MY HISTORY OF GAMING PART 3
As it became clear that the C64 was at the end of it's life I faced something of a conundrum. At that time the logical choice was the Commodore Amiga, the 16-bit powerhouse that Commodore had developed to replace the C64. The problem was that was 17 and had other interests outside of gaming and the last thing I wanted was to be bogged down using a computer. Most of my friends were playing on consoles at this time and the Sega Mega Drive (Or Genesis as it was known in the USA) was the console of choice. However the Amiga had plenty of amazing games and was a proper computer as opposed to just a console.
In the end I opted for the Mega Drive first. There was a great library of games available for it and the multiplayer aspect was a real selling point for me. I didn't abandon the idea of getting an Amiga, but merely shelved it until I had enough money to buy one. It turned out to be a great idea. The Mega Drive was a great piece of kit and I got many hours of fun out of it. There were many fantastic games that I got to play but more importantly, and for the first time since I got the VIC 20, a games console became my lead gaming format. Even when I got the Amiga about 18 months later it was destined to play second fiddle to the Mega Drive.
The Amiga will always be remembered by me for one game. Sensible World of Soccer. For many years this remained my most favorite football game. There were other great games as well and for a while it led the way when it came to flight sims and point and click adventures until the PC market really started to take off.
The problem with the Amiga was that by the time I had purchased it, it's basic architecture was nearly 7 years old. There had been many re-incarnations of it since it was launched but it was essentially the same. Commodore did try and address this with the Amiga A1200 which I also owned which was a 32-bit machine but it was too late. By that time the PC was starting to become more versatile and more people were going out and buying one for use in the home. The A1200 was never really fully exploited to it's full potential by game developers who by that time had thrown their lot in with consoles and the PC leaving the Amiga market high and dry.
As the Mega Drive soldiered on, the Amiga vanished as Commodore folded and even after a brief re-appearance when Escom bought the rights to the technology, it's day in the sun was over. I enjoyed many great hours with the Amiga, playing brilliant games for it, but sadly I missed out on many years enjoyment by the time I got one.
As I said, I continued to play on the Mega Drive. When Nintendo launched the more powerful SNES, Sega decided to try and pro-long the life of the Mega Drive until their next console was ready for launch. The launched the Mega CD and the 32X addons. I got the 32X so I could play Doom though it turned out to be a waste of money. Despite the fact that it essentially was supposed to turn the Mega Drive into a 32 bit console it lack any real power to stand up with genuine 32 Bit machines. Also everyone knew that the CD ROM based Saturn was on it's way so it did seem like a waste of time.
I only ended up with a handful of games for it and spent most my time still playing the standard 16 bit ones.
My next console delivered one of my favorite of all time. The Sony Playstation.
The Playstation was perfect for me at the time. Sony took the decision to market the console at those with disposable income as opposed to kids which had always been the perceived logic. It worked. There were more games targeted at the adult audience and also titles aimed at people who liked to go out clubbing.
I remember being blown away by the 3D graphics when I first got the Playstation. Games like Wipeout, Ridge Racer and a decent version of Doom barely left the CD ROM drive. However it was games like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider as well as the influx of RPG games from Japan that went onto to define the console for me. Say what you like about Sony, but the Playstation brought the gaming industry into the modern age and set about the attitude that it was no longer just a thing for kids.
The inclusion of the CD ROM drive also meant that the console could stream some fantastic music as well. I can remember playing for hours on the Playstation. More so than any console up to that point it had games that captured my imagination.
I never regretted not opting to buy the Saturn. After getting my finger burnt with the 32X I decided I wanted to try something different. I am not saying that the Saturn was a bad console, it wasn't. However it was simply not the console for me and I never regretted it.
As is always the case, technology waits for no one. As I was comfortable with the Playstation, Nintendo released a 64 bit console called the N64. It was a fantastic console and again provided me with many hours of fun. The graphics were fantastic and I always remember the first time I started playing Mario 64. It was one of those seminal moments in gaming. To date it remains one of my favorite games of all time.
Although Nintendo didn't intentionally set out to do so, the N64 also saw some more mature titles come to it like Turok. It is a testimony to the console that one of the first things I did when I got the Wii was to start downloading classic N64 games so I could play them again.
Next up in the final part. Console threesomes!
In the end I opted for the Mega Drive first. There was a great library of games available for it and the multiplayer aspect was a real selling point for me. I didn't abandon the idea of getting an Amiga, but merely shelved it until I had enough money to buy one. It turned out to be a great idea. The Mega Drive was a great piece of kit and I got many hours of fun out of it. There were many fantastic games that I got to play but more importantly, and for the first time since I got the VIC 20, a games console became my lead gaming format. Even when I got the Amiga about 18 months later it was destined to play second fiddle to the Mega Drive.
The Amiga will always be remembered by me for one game. Sensible World of Soccer. For many years this remained my most favorite football game. There were other great games as well and for a while it led the way when it came to flight sims and point and click adventures until the PC market really started to take off.
The problem with the Amiga was that by the time I had purchased it, it's basic architecture was nearly 7 years old. There had been many re-incarnations of it since it was launched but it was essentially the same. Commodore did try and address this with the Amiga A1200 which I also owned which was a 32-bit machine but it was too late. By that time the PC was starting to become more versatile and more people were going out and buying one for use in the home. The A1200 was never really fully exploited to it's full potential by game developers who by that time had thrown their lot in with consoles and the PC leaving the Amiga market high and dry.
As the Mega Drive soldiered on, the Amiga vanished as Commodore folded and even after a brief re-appearance when Escom bought the rights to the technology, it's day in the sun was over. I enjoyed many great hours with the Amiga, playing brilliant games for it, but sadly I missed out on many years enjoyment by the time I got one.
As I said, I continued to play on the Mega Drive. When Nintendo launched the more powerful SNES, Sega decided to try and pro-long the life of the Mega Drive until their next console was ready for launch. The launched the Mega CD and the 32X addons. I got the 32X so I could play Doom though it turned out to be a waste of money. Despite the fact that it essentially was supposed to turn the Mega Drive into a 32 bit console it lack any real power to stand up with genuine 32 Bit machines. Also everyone knew that the CD ROM based Saturn was on it's way so it did seem like a waste of time.
I only ended up with a handful of games for it and spent most my time still playing the standard 16 bit ones.
My next console delivered one of my favorite of all time. The Sony Playstation.
The Playstation was perfect for me at the time. Sony took the decision to market the console at those with disposable income as opposed to kids which had always been the perceived logic. It worked. There were more games targeted at the adult audience and also titles aimed at people who liked to go out clubbing.
I remember being blown away by the 3D graphics when I first got the Playstation. Games like Wipeout, Ridge Racer and a decent version of Doom barely left the CD ROM drive. However it was games like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider as well as the influx of RPG games from Japan that went onto to define the console for me. Say what you like about Sony, but the Playstation brought the gaming industry into the modern age and set about the attitude that it was no longer just a thing for kids.
The inclusion of the CD ROM drive also meant that the console could stream some fantastic music as well. I can remember playing for hours on the Playstation. More so than any console up to that point it had games that captured my imagination.
I never regretted not opting to buy the Saturn. After getting my finger burnt with the 32X I decided I wanted to try something different. I am not saying that the Saturn was a bad console, it wasn't. However it was simply not the console for me and I never regretted it.
As is always the case, technology waits for no one. As I was comfortable with the Playstation, Nintendo released a 64 bit console called the N64. It was a fantastic console and again provided me with many hours of fun. The graphics were fantastic and I always remember the first time I started playing Mario 64. It was one of those seminal moments in gaming. To date it remains one of my favorite games of all time.
Although Nintendo didn't intentionally set out to do so, the N64 also saw some more mature titles come to it like Turok. It is a testimony to the console that one of the first things I did when I got the Wii was to start downloading classic N64 games so I could play them again.
Next up in the final part. Console threesomes!
A SONG FOR A SPECIAL PERSON
Sometimes someone can change your life in a heartbeat. They are so rare but so perfect
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
MY HISTORY OF GAMING PART 2
So after my initial encounter with video games there was a small period of time when I started to lose interest somewhat.
The main problem was that the games were so limited by the technology at the time. Hand held devices only played one game and as I already mentioned the Pong console that I had was only really for two players and without a regular gaming partner it soon found itself taking up residence at the back of the wardrobe.
At that time I was more interested in playing with my Star Wars toys and I had amassed quite a collection of them. The thought of playing anymore video games was quite far from my mind I am sure.
Christmas 1983 was a watershed moment as they say. Without any prompting my mum and dad had decided in their wisdom to buy me a proper computer. The saw where the world was headed and wanted me to have a head start and so invested in a computer. I am not sure whether they actually thought that playing games on it would be the prime reason for me powering it up but that's what ended up happening.
On Christmas day 1983 this nine year old boy unboxed his Commodore VIC 20. I remember that it came with some games but the two a I really remember were 3D Emit Attack and Matrix. 3D Emit Attack was programmed in basic and involved you blasting various combination of keyboard symbols across a fake 3D battle ground. Matrix was something else altogether. It was a full on technicolor audio assault coded by none other than Jeff Minter. I had never encountered anything quite like it before.
The VIC 20 was an interesting computer. It had a proper typewriter keyboard and a standalone tape recorder supplied which plugged into the back. The tape recorder was used to load games and record data. The most important thing was that this enabled you to buy different games so immediately my interest level increased as I was no longer restricted by what I could play.
Despite my initial joy with the VIC 20 it was clear even to me that it was not that powerful compared to other computers on the market and getting new games could prove to be difficult as Commodore had released another computer at the time. The legendary Commodore 64. Despite this the VIC 20 was the most important computer I owned because it really got me back into gaming and also I learned how to program in BASIC curtosy of the manual that came with it which taught you the basics of BASIC if you pardon the pun.
It was my sister getting a Commodore 64 that was another game changer. I was obsessed by it because it was so much more powerful than the VIC 20 despite it looking very similar. Not only was it capable of better games but the sound was fantastic as well thanks to the SID chip. If there was one game that really made me want a C64 it was Ghostbusters.
Whenever I was round at my sisters house I would bother her to play Ghostbusters as well as Beach Head and Raid over Moscow. I was finding it more and more difficult to play games on the VIC 20 and the fact that I never managed to locate a copy of Ghostbusters on it pretty much meant that it ended up being neglected.
That changed in Christmas 1985 when my mum and dad bought me a Commodore 64. For me it was like arriving in the promised land. Not only did I get the computer but a wealth of games including my precious Ghostbusters.
If the VIC 20 was important for getting back into games, the C64 was the computer that molded me into a gamer for life.
The incredible thing about the C64 aside from it's sheer power was that it had a huge library of games to choose from. Over the next few years I amassed a huge amount of games and spent hours playing on it. I also learned more advanced BASIC as I got older and actually coded my own text based adventure game though I never sent it off to be published.
To select stand out games on the C64 is almost an exercise in folly. There were simply too many to mention but the Last Ninja series was fantastic. Brutally hard but compelling it sported some beautiful graphics and an awe inspiring soundtrack. You also had a plethora of brilliant games from the software house Thalamus such as Armalyte, Hawkeye and Delta. I could go on and on.
Without doubt the C64 was and remains my favorite games machine I ever owned. From 1985 to 1991 I played on it regularly until I got a Sega Megadrive (Genesis for readers in the US). It is worth mentioning that in the time I had the C64 I also owned a Sega Master system which I liked a lot but I always came back to the C64.
The Master System was a great console. It's arrival was actually inspired by a visit I made to my relatives in Canada when I was 15. I stayed over at my cousins house and he owned the Nintendo NES system. It was the first time I had encountered a console since playing on a friends Atari VCS 2600 which was so brutally basic compared to the C64 it was untrue. The NES was a revelation though. There was no loading time for games (using the infamous C2N tape loader took tens of minutes to load games) and the control pad with two individual button controllers worked so much better than the more clunky joysticks which only afforded the gamer one individual button.
When I came back from Canada I really wanted a games console. In Europe and the UK the NES was under competition from the Sega Master System. The reason I chose Sega's baby was simple. It had more arcade conversions and they looked and played better on Sega's format than on the Commodore 64. The problem with the Master System was that the games were far more expensive than the C64 ones and despite crisper graphics the sound was awful. The C64 ultimately had more interesting games to play on it as well so there were times when the Master System was left gathering dust until a major title came out and I had the money to get it.
Despite my long love affair with the C64 it had to come to an end. Time moved on and the games dried up as more powerful machines gained a larger market share. As I looked at what was on the market to go for next, two possibilities came up and choosing between them was almost impossible...so I ended up getting both of them.
That is for part 3.
The main problem was that the games were so limited by the technology at the time. Hand held devices only played one game and as I already mentioned the Pong console that I had was only really for two players and without a regular gaming partner it soon found itself taking up residence at the back of the wardrobe.
At that time I was more interested in playing with my Star Wars toys and I had amassed quite a collection of them. The thought of playing anymore video games was quite far from my mind I am sure.
Christmas 1983 was a watershed moment as they say. Without any prompting my mum and dad had decided in their wisdom to buy me a proper computer. The saw where the world was headed and wanted me to have a head start and so invested in a computer. I am not sure whether they actually thought that playing games on it would be the prime reason for me powering it up but that's what ended up happening.
On Christmas day 1983 this nine year old boy unboxed his Commodore VIC 20. I remember that it came with some games but the two a I really remember were 3D Emit Attack and Matrix. 3D Emit Attack was programmed in basic and involved you blasting various combination of keyboard symbols across a fake 3D battle ground. Matrix was something else altogether. It was a full on technicolor audio assault coded by none other than Jeff Minter. I had never encountered anything quite like it before.
The VIC 20 was an interesting computer. It had a proper typewriter keyboard and a standalone tape recorder supplied which plugged into the back. The tape recorder was used to load games and record data. The most important thing was that this enabled you to buy different games so immediately my interest level increased as I was no longer restricted by what I could play.
Despite my initial joy with the VIC 20 it was clear even to me that it was not that powerful compared to other computers on the market and getting new games could prove to be difficult as Commodore had released another computer at the time. The legendary Commodore 64. Despite this the VIC 20 was the most important computer I owned because it really got me back into gaming and also I learned how to program in BASIC curtosy of the manual that came with it which taught you the basics of BASIC if you pardon the pun.
It was my sister getting a Commodore 64 that was another game changer. I was obsessed by it because it was so much more powerful than the VIC 20 despite it looking very similar. Not only was it capable of better games but the sound was fantastic as well thanks to the SID chip. If there was one game that really made me want a C64 it was Ghostbusters.
Whenever I was round at my sisters house I would bother her to play Ghostbusters as well as Beach Head and Raid over Moscow. I was finding it more and more difficult to play games on the VIC 20 and the fact that I never managed to locate a copy of Ghostbusters on it pretty much meant that it ended up being neglected.
That changed in Christmas 1985 when my mum and dad bought me a Commodore 64. For me it was like arriving in the promised land. Not only did I get the computer but a wealth of games including my precious Ghostbusters.
If the VIC 20 was important for getting back into games, the C64 was the computer that molded me into a gamer for life.
The incredible thing about the C64 aside from it's sheer power was that it had a huge library of games to choose from. Over the next few years I amassed a huge amount of games and spent hours playing on it. I also learned more advanced BASIC as I got older and actually coded my own text based adventure game though I never sent it off to be published.
To select stand out games on the C64 is almost an exercise in folly. There were simply too many to mention but the Last Ninja series was fantastic. Brutally hard but compelling it sported some beautiful graphics and an awe inspiring soundtrack. You also had a plethora of brilliant games from the software house Thalamus such as Armalyte, Hawkeye and Delta. I could go on and on.
Without doubt the C64 was and remains my favorite games machine I ever owned. From 1985 to 1991 I played on it regularly until I got a Sega Megadrive (Genesis for readers in the US). It is worth mentioning that in the time I had the C64 I also owned a Sega Master system which I liked a lot but I always came back to the C64.
The Master System was a great console. It's arrival was actually inspired by a visit I made to my relatives in Canada when I was 15. I stayed over at my cousins house and he owned the Nintendo NES system. It was the first time I had encountered a console since playing on a friends Atari VCS 2600 which was so brutally basic compared to the C64 it was untrue. The NES was a revelation though. There was no loading time for games (using the infamous C2N tape loader took tens of minutes to load games) and the control pad with two individual button controllers worked so much better than the more clunky joysticks which only afforded the gamer one individual button.
When I came back from Canada I really wanted a games console. In Europe and the UK the NES was under competition from the Sega Master System. The reason I chose Sega's baby was simple. It had more arcade conversions and they looked and played better on Sega's format than on the Commodore 64. The problem with the Master System was that the games were far more expensive than the C64 ones and despite crisper graphics the sound was awful. The C64 ultimately had more interesting games to play on it as well so there were times when the Master System was left gathering dust until a major title came out and I had the money to get it.
Despite my long love affair with the C64 it had to come to an end. Time moved on and the games dried up as more powerful machines gained a larger market share. As I looked at what was on the market to go for next, two possibilities came up and choosing between them was almost impossible...so I ended up getting both of them.
That is for part 3.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
MY HISTORY OF GAMING PART 1
Ah where to begin. I suppose the real beginning was when I was four or five years old. I went on a family holiday to the Isle of Man which started off bad when the guest house we were booked into turned out to be worse than Fawlty Towers. My parents quickly found another location for us to stay in which turned out to be a rather posh sea front hotel. You could not imagine a more stark contrast between those two locations.
Anyway, this hotel was also rather modern for the time. It was kitted out with a games room and and a gym. In the games room was a couple of strange looking devices which I would later discover would be Space Invaders arcade machines.
It was my sister who really started it all as she would sit with me whilst I played on this electronic wonder for what felt like hours although I suspect that it more like minutes. In any event it was sowing of the seed in my mind of my passion for video games. Without doubt that was the earliest encounter I had with an electronic game of some sort.
I have always regarded myself as being lucky to have experienced playing video games right from the very beginning. Not long after returning from the Isle of Man my mum and dad went out and bought the family a Pong console. Ours was made by Binatone and the most distinctive thing I remember about it was the two black and orange controllers and the rather primitive switched you used to select which game you wanted to play. It was advertised as having a number of sports games such as football, basketball, ice hockey and tennis to chose from, but in reality they are all just variations on the Pong theme.
Although it was a digital marvel in it's day it was rather limited and it also required to players to play on it. The initial interest shown by my parents quickly died and my sister was more interested in going out with her friends (she is a few years older than me) and so interest in the Pong console died out.
My interest in video games did not die out though. Another craze had started which was the Game and Watch series by Nintendo as well as table top electronic games by a company called Grandstand. Whilst one of my friends was more into the Game and Watch, I went for the Grandstand games and one in particular which was called Scramble. This was unlike the arcade game of the same name but it was a challenging game that required you to take out a series of alien craft in increasingly difficult waves. It took me a while to beat it but I eventually did to be confronted by a bizarre 'hhh' in the score box which flashed signalling that I had beaten the game. To this day I had no idea what the 'hhh' meant!
The limitations of these games was clear. There was no way of playing anything else on them without having to buy a whole new unit and that was not practical. However my mum and dad were about to buy me something for Christmas in 1983 that would completely change the game for me. From then on gaming would not be a thing that was restricted by having to buy new consoles each time. I was about to get something that would draw my interest in and 28 years later still hold me in it's grasp.
But that will come in part two...
Anyway, this hotel was also rather modern for the time. It was kitted out with a games room and and a gym. In the games room was a couple of strange looking devices which I would later discover would be Space Invaders arcade machines.
It was my sister who really started it all as she would sit with me whilst I played on this electronic wonder for what felt like hours although I suspect that it more like minutes. In any event it was sowing of the seed in my mind of my passion for video games. Without doubt that was the earliest encounter I had with an electronic game of some sort.
I have always regarded myself as being lucky to have experienced playing video games right from the very beginning. Not long after returning from the Isle of Man my mum and dad went out and bought the family a Pong console. Ours was made by Binatone and the most distinctive thing I remember about it was the two black and orange controllers and the rather primitive switched you used to select which game you wanted to play. It was advertised as having a number of sports games such as football, basketball, ice hockey and tennis to chose from, but in reality they are all just variations on the Pong theme.
Although it was a digital marvel in it's day it was rather limited and it also required to players to play on it. The initial interest shown by my parents quickly died and my sister was more interested in going out with her friends (she is a few years older than me) and so interest in the Pong console died out.
My interest in video games did not die out though. Another craze had started which was the Game and Watch series by Nintendo as well as table top electronic games by a company called Grandstand. Whilst one of my friends was more into the Game and Watch, I went for the Grandstand games and one in particular which was called Scramble. This was unlike the arcade game of the same name but it was a challenging game that required you to take out a series of alien craft in increasingly difficult waves. It took me a while to beat it but I eventually did to be confronted by a bizarre 'hhh' in the score box which flashed signalling that I had beaten the game. To this day I had no idea what the 'hhh' meant!
The limitations of these games was clear. There was no way of playing anything else on them without having to buy a whole new unit and that was not practical. However my mum and dad were about to buy me something for Christmas in 1983 that would completely change the game for me. From then on gaming would not be a thing that was restricted by having to buy new consoles each time. I was about to get something that would draw my interest in and 28 years later still hold me in it's grasp.
But that will come in part two...
Monday, 4 April 2011
CALL OF DUTY VIDEO REVIEW
Finally got my latest review uploaded. I have been limited by a bad cold and chest infection so today was the first day I was able to record the voice over for the review.
Friday, 1 April 2011
A WEEK WITH THE 3DS
Well after a week of playing with the 3DS I think it is safe to say that once again Nintendo have knocked the ball out of the park.
When it comes to hand held gaming devices it is fair to say that Nintendo have it down to a fine art. Sony may have suffered some unworthy negative press with the PSP, but Nintendo do deserve the plaudits that they get.
The 3DS works so well. The 3D is fantastic and it really works as well. It is not gimmicky or cheap but proper 3D. The fact that you don't need to wear glasses to experience it only adds to a great job Nintendo have done with this. The 3D is also scalable thanks to a slider next to the screen which allows you to adjust the 3D effect to suit your eyes or you can turn it off fully.
At the moment I have four games. Ghost Recon, Ridge Racer, Pilot Wings and Pro Evolution Soccer. All of them a great games and are perfect for the platform. What I mean by that is that they are not trying to ape their big brother console counterparts. They have been designed with a hand held in mind. Ghost Recon for example is a turn based shooter using an isometric view as opposed to a 3rd person shooter and it really works.
Also bundled with the 3DS are AR cards. I don't want to spoil it for you, but honestly, what they do is fantastic.
With regards to the possibility of side effects from playing the 3DS, I cannot comment because I have been lucky enough not to suffer from any. I am also not going to patronise people by saying that they should simple adjust the slider or not play it for so long as it is down to the individual as to how they are affected by it. All I can suggest is that you try it before you buy it and see how you go.
With the prospect of a couple of cracking looking Resident Evil games on the horizon as well as reboots of Zelda and Mario Kart I am really glad I invested in this. I have not nearly covered what it does in any type of depth but rather what I have been playing with so far. It's a belting console and well worth investing in if you are looking for a hand held gaming device.
When it comes to hand held gaming devices it is fair to say that Nintendo have it down to a fine art. Sony may have suffered some unworthy negative press with the PSP, but Nintendo do deserve the plaudits that they get.
The 3DS works so well. The 3D is fantastic and it really works as well. It is not gimmicky or cheap but proper 3D. The fact that you don't need to wear glasses to experience it only adds to a great job Nintendo have done with this. The 3D is also scalable thanks to a slider next to the screen which allows you to adjust the 3D effect to suit your eyes or you can turn it off fully.
At the moment I have four games. Ghost Recon, Ridge Racer, Pilot Wings and Pro Evolution Soccer. All of them a great games and are perfect for the platform. What I mean by that is that they are not trying to ape their big brother console counterparts. They have been designed with a hand held in mind. Ghost Recon for example is a turn based shooter using an isometric view as opposed to a 3rd person shooter and it really works.
Also bundled with the 3DS are AR cards. I don't want to spoil it for you, but honestly, what they do is fantastic.
With regards to the possibility of side effects from playing the 3DS, I cannot comment because I have been lucky enough not to suffer from any. I am also not going to patronise people by saying that they should simple adjust the slider or not play it for so long as it is down to the individual as to how they are affected by it. All I can suggest is that you try it before you buy it and see how you go.
With the prospect of a couple of cracking looking Resident Evil games on the horizon as well as reboots of Zelda and Mario Kart I am really glad I invested in this. I have not nearly covered what it does in any type of depth but rather what I have been playing with so far. It's a belting console and well worth investing in if you are looking for a hand held gaming device.
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