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Mar

5 Reasons My Console Is Better Than Yours

Categories: Article, Humor Post and Rant
Tags: consoles, fanboys, Rant

Contributed by Edward Price

As a gamer, I like to buy and play videogames, and then tell other people my views on the games I play. However, videogames are a serious business, and I feel a need to attach myself to and champion a particular videogame console that not only does not reciprocate the love which I give it, but is made by a company who not only do not care what I think, but would probably look at me with distain if they did!

You don’t think I’m right? Then sit back and watch as I prove to you why my choice of Videogame Console is clearly superior to yours.

Soon you'll realise I am like a King, and that you all shall bow!

1. My Console Has Features That Yours Doesn’t

You see this thing that my console does? Yeah, your console is incapable of doing that. That automatically makes my console better than yours. Oh, so your console is bringing out their own version of that feature? Well, yours is a bad knock-off, and it’ll never be as good as the original! Oh, what’s that? My console’s bringing out its own version of your feature, well, because the feature is newer, it can improve on your one and make it better! My logic is infallible, and you can’t win!

Anyone who doesn’t understand this joke needs to go to http://www.scene-stealers.com/blogs/james-camerons-avatar-disneys-pocahontas/

2. Exclusives & Forthcoming Games

My console has better exclusives than yours! Allow me to list all the games that are coming to my console and not yours! I won’t even buy half of these games I mention, but I’ll use them as examples to prove that my console choice, and by extension, myself, are better than you. Even if some of those games aren’t very good, I’ll claim that the reviewers are all biased against the console (even if their review is positive), that their writing is bad, and that they should be fired and their review replaced by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about… Me! And then I still won’t play them.

"This game... Is totally proof... that I'm better than you... Okay, where's my money?"

3. The Game Is Superior On My Console

So that upcoming game that looks really good is multiplatform, but that fact is irrelevant! You know why? Because that game is going to be better on my console, not yours! My console will have the better graphics/sound/gameplay/controls/online mode/a feature my console has that yours doesn’t/mine does better, while your console’s version will be ruined by inferior graphics/online/loading times/multiple discs/mandatory installs/the fact your console doesn’t have a feature mine does/does as well! That’s why when a game comes out that’s the same on every console; I still win for having the better version!

See? The graphics on my version are way superior...

4. Inaccurate (Possibly Made Up)/Irrelevant Statement About Your Console:

And another thing! My console is so much better than yours because not only does it have features yours doesn’t, the better exclusives, and any multiplatform games will be better on mine, but (and yes, there is more!) you also need to contend with something else. That is the following thing I’m about to point out about your console, that will either be incredibly irrelevant to the argument thus far, will be completely untrue, or will have been said so many times before that you can probably see it coming from a mile away. This last one will be like a Reality or Talent TV show, in that it’s inevitable, and yet you’re more likely to score with a supermodel than stop it.

These red lights are in no way relevant to what I am saying right now... Or Are They?

Primarily, I’ll end up using this as a “…and furthermore!” argument, in that despite it having no actual relevance to the rest of the debate, I’ll still use this ad verbatim because I believe this actually matters.

5. Grossly Inaccurate Personal Insult

If you’ve seriously not been bought round to my way of thinking, and you somehow haven’t realised that my logic is that of a God, and made a shrine in my honour, yet, then you know what? I don’t care what you think, and to show how much your comments haven’t affected me, I’m going to post some grossly inaccurate assumptions about the way you live your life! You disagree with me? Ironically, I’ll end up using insults and descriptions of gamers that I’ve criticised the media for using, such as your possible living arrangements (with your parents), your weight, social standing, appearance, your ability to spell or use the English language, and whether or not you have a life.

(Because apparently having a life doesn't simply mean being alive or dead, anymore)

You know why I’m going to do that? Because I’m right, no matter what, and since my previous arguments somehow haven’t swayed you, then my only course of action that remains is to baselessly insult you, because nothing makes you realise you’re wrong like a complete stranger on the internet trying to persuade you insulting you!

Now it should be incredibly clear to see that I am completely correct, and that my choice of console is clearly better than yours. You’re allowed to praise me, and worship me as your new God. You know why? Because by devoting myself to just one console, and insulting anyone who dares question me, I not only like to prove how I’m right and you’re not, I then uphold the same image of gamers that most people are trying to shake from our industry; the obsessive, annoying fan boy.

…

Okay, screw it; I’ll buy the other consoles too.

Mar

Will The Halo Reach Multiplayer Take The Series To The Next Level?

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Article and Game News
Tags: first person, halo, Halo Reach, Halo Reach Beta, Multi Player, xbox

On Wednesday, I was gawping at the new multiplayer trailer for Halo Reach. After playing rounds and rounds of Halo 3’s multiplayer, I personally thought that this game couldn’t get any better multiplayer wise. After watching this new trailer, I realised just how wrong I was.

You ever get those moment where, after you have seen an epic game trailer/video, you realise that you were starting at the screen with you mouth physically open and a vacant stare spread across your face while you were watching said video. This is exactly what happened to me when I watched the multiplayer trailer. I personally didn’t think Halo could get any better multiplayer wise. There are new game modes, new weapons and assassination moves just to name a few. Today I am gonna pick out the new things I saw from the trailer and give you my opinion what the new additions to the game are going to be like.

JETPACKS

Ever since I saw the elites bobbing round in these things in Halo 2, I could not help but think ‘I Want That!’ well a couple of games later, my mental message has eventually reached Bungie and now we have Jet Packs in multiplayer and I could not be happier.

Then I thought some more, how will these jetpacks work? Are we looking at a fuel gauge for them? Are they just going to feel like the anti-gravity mod in Unreal Tournament? Or are these actually going to be the single best thing to ever come out of Halo Reach and everyone will be having mid-air gun fights? I have learnt in the past that ideas such as these don’t pan out the way you think they are going too. I personally expect some limit to these jetpacks, so I am preparing myself for a fuel gauge of some sort, unless it will be classed as a new vehicle, in which case it will be unlimited and awesome.

ASSASINATIONS

I touched briefly on the addition of assassinations in my Halo Reach News Round Up a couple of weeks back. In this new multiplayer trailer you get to see them in full action.

Right off the baton I immediately thought Aliens Vs Predator. This was the first time I ever saw the assassination mechanic used in an FPS game when I played it back at Eurogamer in October. I personally love the fact that Bungie have brought it into Reach. Sure, since Halo 2 the game had the assassination medal for when you melee’d an opponent from behind, but this takes it to the next level with full on assassination animations, which I have to say look awesome and a lot better than the AvP ones. So I will be looking forward to assassinating any Halo player that gets in my way, be it Spartan or Elite!

WEAPONS

Again, another thing I briefly touched on in the previous article but this trailer brings us some interesting footage of some of the new weapons available. We all know that the needler rifle can take out three enemies at a time, and the marksman rifle is a love child of the sniper rifle and assault rifle. But in the trailer I saw what looked like a Covenant version of the Spartan laser! If that is true, we could be looking at some insane laser battles. I also saw what looked like a laser guided fuel rod cannon too.

NEW GAME MODES

Probably one of the most important things in any new multi player game, whether it is a sequel or not. Game variety is key to anyones enjoyment. It definitely looks like Bungie have added a breath of fresh air to the multi player with a good few game modes.

So here is the all-important list and what I think you have to do for each game mode. I could be wrong here but I’m gonna give it a go.

HEAD HUNTERS – It looks to me that head shots are key here. Kill someone with a head shot and they drop skulls, collect the skulls and the total of skulls is totted up at the end, the player with the most skulls wins. How did I get all that from a little clip on a trailer? I put it down to educated guess. But that is not necessarily what will happen. I believe this will be one of those games that snipers are gonna love or hate. All well and good scoring head shots but if you half way across the map when ya do it, someone else is bound to collect those skulls.

INVASION – To me this looks like Bungie’s answer to an assault type game mode. Meaning that one team defends while the other fills out objectives to inevitably invade an area or destroy something. I loved assault levels in time splitters so I hope Bungie’s attempt at this game mode (if it is what I think it is) will be perfect.

SPARTANS VS ELITES – To me this just sounds like a team death match, one team Spartans, the other Elites. What they could implement into this though is race specific abilities, like Spartans can sprint while Elites have active camo, or something along those lines. It will be interesting to see how Bungie develop this game idea.

THE ARENA – To me it just sounds like they renamed slayer. I could be totally wrong, it may be something like a one on one shoot out? I am pretty confused about this one and can’t comment much on it. best wait and find out.

OTHER THINGS I PICKED UP ON

DODGE ROLL – It looks like Bungie have implemented a dodge rolling system of some sort. Looks pretty cool but how it will work form a first person perspective is beyond me. Will it zoom out like an assassination?

ACTIVE ROSTER – This looks cool. Looks like you can jump in and out of active games. Means you don’t have to scoff down your dinner in time to play a game with your mates.

Halo reach multi player looks like its taking a step in the right direction. And I cannot wait to jump into some Beta test action on May 3rd. Who’s with me?

Till then I will leave you with the Multiplayer Trailer:

Garv

Feb

Garvaos’ Top 5 Downloadable Games You Must Own.

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Article
Tags: doom, Geometry Wars, peggle, PlayStation Network, portal still alive, sonic 2, xbox live

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion when it comes to gaming. Everyone has their favorites. So I am here today to voice my opinion, of the top 5 downloadable games that you must own. Some will be Xbox LIVE exclusives, others will be available on Playstation Network too. So sit back, relax and make sure you console is plugged into the internet ready to download some awesome titles (if you don’t own them already) as I give you my Top 5.

5. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 – Asteroids On Acid

Anyone who is gamer out there is bound to have heard, witnessed or even played Asteroids. It is pretty much the great-grandfather of all games. So imagine Asteroids, mixed with some trippy colours and explosions with at least six different game variants. Sounds pretty cool right? Well let me introduce you to Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. It does what it says on the tin, and has evolved the retro stylings of Asteroids and made a really cool,. and somewhat addictive game. The beauty here is that all six of the game variants aren’t necessarily shooting based.

The Pacifism game variant for me is the shining light here. Your main objective is to survive the horde of blue squares that are following you around the screen, your only line of defence are barriers you pass through, that explode, which in turn destroy the onslaught of blue squares. The longer you survive and the amount of blue squares that get destroyed the better. Yeah I know, in writing it sounds rather strange but this game is one of the most addictive titles I have on my hard drive.

The other game variants are just as addictive and challenging, waves is great if you just want to shoot the living pixels out of a load of shapes. And the simple Evolved variant is reminiscent to the classic Asteroids, nice to see they have stayed loyal to their roots.

4. Doom – The First Person Classic

FPS junkies who do not own this classic title deserve a headshot right between the eyes. This is the reason why you are playing Halo and Modern Warfare! Doom is the pinnacle of retro First Person Shooter gaming and the Xbox LIVE port is brilliant.

Like most of you out there, I am more familiar with Doom on the PC. The controls for this game have been converted well (a damn sight better than the GBA version of Doom II) and the level of challenge in this game has not been over looked either.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this game, expect a really retro and basic FPS game. When I say basic, I mean basic in the way it plays, not in the difficulty setting. So take my advice and don’t plunge head first into Nightmare mode. You will most definitely have no more limbs attached to your computer rendered, pixellated torso.

3. Sonic 2 – Before The Blue Hedgehog Went Bad.

The platform genre is basically the forerunner of all video games. I’d say over half the games on the Sega Mega Drive and indeed the Nintendo systems were mainly platform based games of some incarnation or another. For me the Sonic series was the Platform game I first played, and of course stayed loyal to.

The downloadable version of Sonic 2 (and indeed the version on the Sega Megadrive Ultimate Collection) is the perfect nostalgic brick to the face, that will make any gamer smile and quite frankly be proud to be a gamer. There are no stupid voices, or annoying teenage angst in this game. You get the true sonic that has attitude, that will get annoyed if you put the controller down and walk away. The true sonic who’s arch-enemy is DR ROBOTNIK! (mumble mumble bloody Egg Man mumble mumble).

Gameplay wise you are looking at a fantastically fast paced side scrolling platformer that tests your reactions as well as you ability to collect coins and pass the level. Boss battles are a nice challenge if you don’t know what you are doing and it is a must play for anyone who loves Sonic and platforming. Pfft, who needs and italian plumber when you have a lightning fast blue hedgehog.

2. Peggle – Puzzle + Pegs = AWESOME

I started playing this game when a legion of people on my friends list banded together and started having Peggle parties. To this day I still think the name of the game is a tad strange. But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. Peggle is a fantastic puzzle game which is bursting with content. Lots of levels and challenges and a nice selection of characters to unlock and play as.

So what do you do in this game? Shoot balls at a load of pegs. Once all orange pegs are eliminated you are a winner. There is a nice rainbow and everyone leaves their console happy in the knowledge that they have superior peg eliminating skills. Straight forward enough, but the challenge is in the level design, and I am a sucker for level design. Peggle is uniquely designed to make you think about your next shot as opposed to shooting aimlessly and hoping to zombie Jebus you get that last orange peg.

It is a well thought out game that you must get your hands on. Believe me, once you start playing, you will realise a solid week of your life has disappeared in an instant.

1. Portal Still Alive – First You Will Be Baked, Then There Will Be Cake

When I first got hold of the Orange Box, I was easily bored of Half Life 2 (I know, shock/horror) but Portal grabbed my attention for hours. I then became very skint and sold my Orange Box. I felt a part of me die when I physically could not look deep into the heart of my beloved companion cube.

When Portal: Still Alive came out of Xbox LIVE and I jumped for joy, before quickly downloading it to my Hard drive.

This is a first person puzzle game where you have to use and deploy portals using your trusty Portal gun. The puzzles are completely mind-bending and very, very well thought out. But where it stands out in exceeding level design, it also stands out in brilliant story telling and character design. In my opinion Portal has one of the best villains ever. If you are not familiar with GLaDOS. I suggest you download this gem right now, and get ready for some fantastic level design, mind bending puzzles and a game that will truly test your brain power.

So there you have it, my top 5 downloadable games. Now I will leave this up to you, am I right? Or do you have a different top 5?

Garv

Feb

Gaming – Technology In Play

By markBOSS Leave a Comment

Categories: Article
Tags: 3D, Gaming, natal, Nintendo, Technology

Back in the late 90’s, the gaming industry was taking a significant turn in its definition and scale of game play. With 3D gaming technology being fully employed into games such as Super Mario 64 (1997), the strong cinematic narrative seen in Metal Gear Solid (1999) and the scope of Final Fantasy 7 (1997), the gaming industry had stepped up its game. Literally.

The advertising tag for this was 'is your tv big enough', a great comment on how games were changing beyond the TV's they've always been played on.

At the time it could have been seen as a sign of things to come, however the immediate after-flow of games seemed only to work on what these games have done rather than completely redefine its genre such as Super Mario 64 did with the platform genre. To look back it is apparent that it is the leap in 3D graphics at the time meaning that it would actually take another huge technological leap to re-invent the games/genres we play today. Gaming technology has always driven the possibility and differences of new gaming genres and this is what I wish to explore on this article.

Likewise with both Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy 7, there was a huge leap on what these games could accomplish to their predecessors. It was the jump to CD ROM that allowed the scope of FF7 possible and the Hollywood combination of visuals and sound in MGS.

The same effect of new technology into great games can be seen also in the late 80’s where gaming had changed due to the first successful home consoles such as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), offering something different to that of their arcade parents. Primarily the first video games ever created were basic reflex and aiming endeavours. And as technology has evolved so have the game mechanics and genres to it, as well as the audience. Only kids could have been marketed with a game like Super Mario Bros (1987) on the NES, with its cartooned visuals, which were all that was capable at the time. But as time went by, more was possible through advancing graphics technology; therefore more was possible contextually allowing for a possible older age range in gaming. The very definition of what gaming is in its time seems to reside on the technology of its time.

A glimpse into the future for Nintendo perhaps?

There is always the matter of game play over visuals, but ultimately Video games is technology and it is with new technology that we can expect the most likely groundbreaking games and new genres.

It has always been these games at the spear point of change that are often herald as the best games of all time or given that elusive 10/10 score which so many sites/ magazines hold for the best of the best. And rightly so, these games have more than the advantage of being state of the art, their usually ground breaking in content, opening up the possibilities for the ever expanding world of video games entertainment.

And now it seems we’re once again in the front line of gaming evolution. With the success of Nintendo’s Wii motion control, the physical practice of gaming has changed from its long running gamepad peripherals. The ease of use with it has also enabled the industry to expand into different age groups. Blu-ray game discs and DVD allow games to reach new heights in visual scope and scale. Gaming Graphics are getting closer to the CGI found in films allowing performance to be an attribute, such as that found in Heavenly Sword. Online multiplayer has reached a new mainstream audience with the successful online networks on consoles such as Xbox live. These are small advances compared to the jump from arcade to console, or 2D to 3D, but important ones that mould the current gaming generation into a more ’serious’ one. After all it was not too long ago when games consoles had names such as Mega Drive or Game Boy, names aimed for the toy market in comparison with the now family/adult targeted names of (DS) Duel Screen or Wii.

So what does the rest of the future hold for us? With Project Natal and 3D gaming on the horizon, we can be sure of some exciting developments in ‘what we play’, rather than the obvious ‘how we play’. Well, so long as it’s nothing like the Virtual Boy.

I personally, like to think the greatest turning point in gaming would be the implementation of full virtual reality or a Star Trek style ‘holodeck’ room in gaming. This could put gaming into a full mainstream phenomenon, even more so then it is now. And as for the first few games that are released on it, those will most likely change the ever debatable definition of video games.

virtual unit

-MarkBOSS

Feb

The Telltale Question

By plusxp 1 Comment

Categories: Article and General Gaming
Tags: full throttle, grim fandango, leisure suit larry, monkey island, point n click, sam and max, telltale games, the dig

Telltale Games are one of my favourite developers this generation, providing Point-and-Click lovers like me with a chance to relive one of the greatest genres of gaming of the 90’s. I may have started off gaming with Nintendo, but the thing that started off my love for PC Gaming was undeniably the Monkey Island series, as my dad had both the first games on CD, as well as some of the old Sierra ‘Quest’ games on floppy disks. Regardless, Monkey Island was one of the first games I truly fell in love with, and shaped my sense of humour and taste in games for years to come, and today, the Monkey Island series stands as one of my all time favourite series of games.

When I was younger, I also used to watch a lot of cartoons with strange humour (most likely bought on by Monkey Island and the ‘Quest’ games), but there was one cartoon I loved in my youth, but never saw again for years, the Sam and Max: Freelance Police cartoons. Now, a couple years ago, I had a Point and Click revival, wherein I became massively addicted to point and click games again, replayed all the Monkey Islands, sought out Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max Hit The Road, and have also, in recent times, played through Full Throttle (fun, but short), Grim Fandango (fun, but incredibly difficult to play on a post-windows’98 computer), Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and The Dig (which I very recently bought and completed). Now, this is probably all sounding quite irrelevant right now, but this is where Telltale games come in.

Telltale Games: Holy light and halo sadly not included... yet...

A few years ago, they bought the license to Sam and Max, and to date, have released 2 seasons of episodic games for the rabbit and dog duo, reviving the point and click genre almost single-handedly. Since then, they’ve also given the episodic gaming treatment to Wallace and Gromit and the cult internet icon Strong Bad.

Then, in one of my all time favourite things about 2009; Telltale games made Tales of Monkey Island, an episodic adventure bringing back one of my all time favourite series of games. I was ecstatic, and I wasn’t disappointed, either. For this, Telltale stand as one of my all time favourite developers.

As well as this, Telltale care a lot about their fans, offering free episodes to customers, often putting their series on sale, talking to their fans in the forums, and actually taking on board and reacting to fan feedback. Now, this is where everything I’ve talked about starts to, in some way, come together. Telltale, in their most recent newsletter to their fans, offered a coupon for 15% off a series of their games, if I answered a questionnaire, which would give them feedback to their games so far, but would ask several questions about their upcoming series of Sam and Max, which promises to be their most ambitious series yet, with another storyline spanning all episodes, monsters and foes across time and space, psychic powers (which alone instantly attracts me to your game, so you know), and more of the humour we’ve come to love. After questions gauging my interest on what they plan to bring to the new series, a couple of questions afterwards piqued my interest, so much so, that they shall now appear below:

“21. If Telltale were to develop new games based on an existing series, which below would be of greatest interest to you? (Select top 3)

Sierra Quest series (Kings Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest)
Gabriel Knight
Other LucasArts adventure series (beyond Monkey Island, Sam & Max)
Leisure Suit Larry
Myst
Infocom series (e.g. Zork, Planetfall)
Broken Sword series

22. If Telltale were to develop new games based on another previous LucasArts game (beyond Monkey Island, Sam & Max), which below would be of greatest interest to you?

Maniac Mansion
Day of the Tentacle
Full Throttle
Grim Fandango
The Dig
Zak McKracken
Loom”

If these questions are anything to go by, then in future, Telltale games may try and make some more games based on previous, unused franchises by Sierra and Lucasarts.

However, if they did, which ones would be best for the company to revive (and not in the “HD Remake” way, sorry)?

Because I unfortunately do not know anything about Myst, Maniac Mansion, the Infocom series, Zak McKracken, or Gabriel Knight, and I’ve barely played LOOM, so I can’t completely endorse their revival, sorry about that.

Full Throttle and the Dig had pretty concrete endings, that wouldn’t do so well to open up to a sequel. As good games as they were, I feel the impact of the stories would be lost a bit if they were continued. However, a prequel for either could be great ideas; learn more, or even experience the downfall of the alien society before you visit it for real in The Dig? Learn more about the rise of the main character of Full Throttle into the leader of the gang, before the real story starts? The worlds are open to explored more, but the stories of their characters reached a good ending, so unless the games were another part of the world, or before the games they’d be reviving, I don’t see much point in them being revived.

“What is it?” “Some Kid on the internet thinks we shouldn’t get a sequel” “...What’s the internet?”

The Quest series would be a more interesting one to take on, seeing as there were many different ‘Quests’, so anything between King’s, Space and Police could be invoked, and they could do practically anything with the stories, as far as I’m aware. It’d be interesting, but I always thought those series were famed for their extreme difficulty, as well as their humour, and they would most likely be too difficult for some modern gamers (myself included), and changing the difficulty drastically would probably annoy the original fans too much.

Leisure Suit Larry would be a weird one for them to tackle, as well. Leisure Suit Larry, while it was a very funny game, is one that is quite adult (the objective of the games are to get laid, basically), and in recent years has suffered a massive downfall (Box Office Bust? More like its title than it thought). While Telltale could no doubt bring it back to its former glory, the series is probably just a bit too adult, and would be difficult to encourage more people to play, especially considering its adult nature and recent failures, and of course, any fans of the series will get very annoyed if it’s made a lot less explicit.

Larry, you’re guilty of making it harder than it should be to find a picture from any of your games that don’t include scantily clad women.

Day of the Tentacle is going to be a hard one to justify, seeing as the ending to that one is also a sign that everything’s going to be okay. But, there’s nothing to say that it won’t be okay, and remember, in a game which employed time travel, there were only two different time periods unlocked, and not nearly any of the cliché time travel locations we’d normally see. Sam and Max, while exploring Time Travel in “Chariots of the Dogs” may impact this one a little, but as with the Day of the Tentacle characters, there’s so many different ways and places that the characters could fit into that’d work out brilliantly. All they have to do is find a way to justify travelling through several locations in time, and with the same characters as Day of the Tentacle, how hard can that be?

This now leaves us with Grim Fandango and the Broken Sword series. And you know what? If Telltale can get them, they’d be fantastically silly not to take advantage of them. Both games would be absolutely perfect for Telltale. Grim Fandango has one of the best worlds in a Lucasarts game (Monkey Island takes the crown), with some of the best characters, and despite its concrete ending, it’s still a game that would work with a sequel, and is the most deserving of a sequel and a revival than any Lucasarts game listed in that question. Broken Sword 1 and 2 were fantastic games, with amazing characters and great puzzles (the less said about 3, the better, and I’ve yet to find a copy of Angel of Death anywhere). They’d also be very easy for Telltale to write new adventures and stories for, and if anything, the episodic structure would be almost perfect for the series (as it would Grim Fandango, which was split into distinctive parts anyway).

I’m here to collect some Broken Sword characters who were killed during that last paragraph?

So my appeal to Telltale games is this: If you’re able to get the rights to Broken Sword and Grim Fandango, and make an episode series for them, please, please do it. Both series would be playing to your strengths, and they’re the two series that you’d make the most out of, and do the most justice to.
And if you don’t? More Sam and Max & Monkey Island is just fine

-Edward.

What do you think? Which series do you think Telltale (or any other company) should revive, and how?

Feb

Plus XP’s Valentines VidCast

By markBOSS Leave a Comment

Categories: Humor Post and Videos
Tags: IGN, Jessica Chobot, MarkBOSS, Plus XP

Happy Valentines day Everyone!

-markBOSS

Feb

L.A. Noire – Mass Effect Meets Grand Theft Auto

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Article and Game News
Tags: detective, L.A. Noire, open world, rockstar, Team Bondi

There are only a few games in this world that grab my attention every time, even if the slightest utterance of a name is mentioned my ears perk up. Halo and Grand Theft Auto being two prime examples. There is also one specific genre that has the same effect, whether it is in films, games or even books. That genre is Film Noire.

So when I first heard the name L.A. Noire, a title that is being created by non other than the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series, Rockstar Games. I could not help but prick my ears up, and dive deeper into the somewhat limited information there is about this game. But the information I did dig up about it is very interesting indeed.

For those of you expecting a GTA game set in 1940’s america, will you please stop reading, as this game is a somewhat different outing for the notorious Rockstar. Yes it is open world, and yes it is an action game, but it is a game that takes a somewhat different approach to the open world GTA we adore and love.

For starters we are in a city which is every bit historically correct. You are in The city of angles, Los Angeles, in 1947. You play a cop call Cole Phelps, who is looking to clean up the streets in this corrupt and hell-bent time. As corrupt and hell-bent cities go, you are defiantly going to have your work cut out, as well as police corruption, our boy Phelps has some inner demons of his own. He did some bad things back in World War II which are no doubt gonna come back and bite him in the butt as the story progresses.

interestingly though as the game progresses Phelps will progress up the police hierarchy ladder, meaning you will start off policing traffic, process to vice then to homicide, among others.

The one element of gameplay that has been revealed to the masses is the detective work. When you come across detective work in games such as Arkham Asylum, you can switch on detective mode and hey presto the clues are there staring you in the face. L.A. Noire is somewhat different, it takes a more realistic approach to detective work, meaning a crime scene will have no highlighted clues, forcing you to really look at what is in front of you for any shred of evidence. The gameplay mechanic then really shines through here, say you find a pair of glasses on the floor of the crime scene, Phelps will then not details in his note-book on things like the brand etching on the inside, and how the lenses are broken. This means that this is probably the closest you can get to real life detective work without being in the police force. There has been some

Another element of this game that has been touched on is the way the actors have been motion captured. Rockstar and Bondi boast that the way this game has been captured and made, could be the start of how all games are made in the future. They use a new facial capturing system that places the actors in a large room, they then act out the scene and everything is recorded, from large expressions to the tiniest twitches from the eyes and mouth. As this is going on the dialogue is also recorded. This in turn means all the recorded information can then be converted and rendered into the game with no use for animators. Sounds pretty slick. This technology influences another gameplay mechanic, interviews. When you interview a person you will be able to see every movement their face makes, meaning you will be able to detect if they are lying or not. You will then have a set of answers/actions to perform after they have spoken which follows the same vein as Mass Effect.

As for gun play and all out action? Nothing has been revealed yet, but to me this game is defiantly one I will be keeping my eye on. I will leave you with the trailer.

Garv

Feb

This Is What It’s Like When Gamers Collide.

By Garvaos Leave a Comment

Categories: Article and Humor Post
Tags: Arcade Gaming, Plus XP, Rockband, street fighter IV, Trocadero

Back in October last year, the majority of the Plus XP team hit London for the Eurogamer Expo 2009. That was the first time as a team we got together in person. Well Like I said, it was only the majority of us. Not all the team were present at the expo.

This weekend however, the whole core witing team finally got together for a day of arcade gaming and general Rockband-ary, and believe me when I say that Gaming journalist teams don’t get any better than this one.

So what happens when you get an FPS nutter, a RPG Lunatic, a Beanie Wearing strategist, a plastic guitar wielding Goddess and a guy who just loves to film everything gaming related under the sun, into the same space together? Yep, you have guessed it, some pretty Epic gaming carnage, topped off with a sprinkle of comedy mayhem. So what did we get up to for about twelve hours? Well gather round children, for I shall tell you of the legend that is the Plus XP first meet up.

As we were in London, we thought it would be stupidly rude for us not to hit the biggest arcade in the glorious capital, The Trocadero. Some of you frequent viewers have now probably guessed that this place is kind of my local now. But hey who the hell can refuse endless amounts of arcade gaming? Well I say endless amounts, more like how much arcade gaming can we get away with a fiver?

When we first entered the huge awesomeplex that is the biggest ammusement arcade in London, Leon and myself didn’t hesitate in finding the Street Fighter IV Arcade cabinets. Back when both Leon and myself had Xbox Live gold, we would constantly play this game. I was new to it back then and he would forever be taking me down with Ryu. I however eventually discovered M.Bison and from then on we had some Epic battles. So you could imagine what happened here.

It was a heated battle, that eventually ended up in me losing. My verdict, never trust an arcade stick, play with a console controller.

With gaming meet ups at the Trocadero there is always something you have to do as a tradition. It happened when GuitarGirl, MarkBOSS and myself met up with the guys at Ready-Up at the same location. This tradition is none other than the Rambo Arcade machine Rally.

Yes I Felt Like Kicking It Rambo Style, But Something Tells Me That MarkBOSS Needed A Gun Too

Defiantly one of the most Awesomely-Epic arcade game out there. Nonstop shooting and killing, and yes there is even a Rambo rage function. Hence the face.

So after we killed our fair share of terrorists we hit other arcade machines such as Mario Kart, Bishi Bashi, a peculiar game involving jumping up and down repeatedly and what we have lovingly dubbed the W1N machine. A simple game called stack ‘em, where you have to stack blue boxes to reach the top. It’s all about timing, and if you miss you fail but still get some tokens to save up or spend at the prize shop, hence why it’s called the Win machine. Mark being awesome managed to get to the top of this mighty block tower and picked up a jackpot of 500 odd tickets, the lucky bugger. Mind you I still have 56 and I am proud of them.

Then we decided we were a bit tracaderoed out. By trocaderoed out what we really ment was we ran out of pound coins. So we headed back to GuitarGirls flat for some gaming.

Till the early hours we were playing the likes of Rock Band, Worms Armageddon, Vigilante 8, More Street Fighter IV and, well plenty More Rockband.

This is what we actually look like when we game....seriously!

You may remember me mentioning before that MarkBOSS was at this wonderful shin dig (well of course he was, he is part of the team) now, when markBOSS is around you know he is going to be armed with his Video camera. We have some classic Rockland moments lined up for all you Plus XP readers soon. Unfortunately they will not be with us this post, we are all busy people when we aren’t gaming.

So that was about it for one of the most Crazy fun filled Saturdays there has ever been since Eurogamer. I hope you enjoyed reading about it and hope to have another one soon. Maybe a community meet up, who knows.

I’ll leave you with this parting shot of the Plus XP team gaming when things get ugly. Come on guys you can’t expect all our gaming encounters to be all sunshine and lolly pops.

Garv

P.S. if you want to see the rest of the photos from the Meet, check out our Facebook Page

Feb

Taiko drum master Wii

By GuitarGirl24 Leave a Comment

Categories: Article and Review

Bang With A Smile

When we we talk about Japanese gaming, it is all to easy to focus full attention on the vast, poetic world that is final fantasy. It would also be easy to while away the hours talking about our never ending love of street fighter, or to ramble on about exciting new releases such as Bayonetta. I am however not going to talk about any of these games. No, in all of this, it becomes easy to overlook the other side to Japanese gaming. I am talking of course of those quirky, colorful and sometimes just truly insane titles which though rarely get the media hype they deserve (or not) really to me embody the true spirit of Japan. If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, think of such classics such as Cooking mama, Beautiful Katamari, and Wairoware and your half way there. With this in mind I was lucky enough to ‘Experience ‘ (Apparently you don’t just play games in Japan, you experience them) the ‘Most popular rhythm game in Japan’ this weekend and I was of course intrigued. So from the country who truly put the WTF into gaming I bring you a brief summery of Taiko Drum Master Wii….The most popular rhythm game in Japan.

So what is Taiko drum master all about? Well for those of you who never played the original Taiko drum master (PS2, 2004) its a bit like the bastard lovechild of Rockband, Donkey conga and Bust a move. It may be a bit messed up, and in places not all there, but like a doting parent we still love it very much anyway. Based on the original, highly popular Japanese arcade game, the aim of the game is simple. You are presented with a single, large plastic drum which you must hit in time to the beat of the song, a little like Rockband. However unlike Rockband this drum has pressure sensitive surfaces on both the center, and side allowing the game to read not only when you hit the drum, but where you hit it and how hard. To give an idea of the setup, the commands scroll across the screen from right to left in the form of large and small dots, but not just dots, dots with smiley faces in the center…of course. The basic commands go, Small red circles (hit the center with a single stick), Big red circle (hit the center hard with both sticks), Small blue circles (hit the side with a single stick) and Big blue circle (hit the side with both sticks). It seems very simple, and though I found it a bit of a step down from the more complex, 5 piece kit I know and love, in its harder modes the game did seem to put up quite a fight. For example though the easier modes were comprised mainly of the simple commands above, when playing harder songs Taiko drum master not only speeds up, but also complicates things with the demand for rapid multiple hits (marked with a x sign), as well as a variety of mini challenges.

It is with this that I move onto what I feel is the most important part of this game, the true Japanese ‘Random factor’. Now those of you who are thinking “Hang on a minute, Why would I bother with this? Isn’t it retro and outdated and anyway I have the much newer and more exciting Gh/Rockband to play with” listen up. To me this game is not about exceptionally beautiful graphics, nor about becoming a rock God. It is simply about hitting a small plastic drum as fast as you possibly can to burst a bubble gum balloon being blown by a strange creature which looks like a cross between a dog, a baby and a jam jar. In hindsight I’m 70% sure that the character was a drum… but to be honest I don’t know and in a way I think that sometimes in this type of situation its better not to know and just go with it. Drum master is just packed full of the colorful, seemingly incomprehensible Japanese graphics which make on the whole in-arguably charming. The game is an explosion of color and noise with enough dressed up animals, random noises and smiley faces to keep anyone guessing what will come next. In addition to the smiley nieve graphics Nintendo have once again managed to work the Mii’s into the game by having them happily dancing at the bottom of the screen. Though the Mii’s are now commonplace in Nintendo titles, I have never seen them used in a way which makes them look quite so out of place before. Though in any other game this would probably prove quite off putting, Drum master is already such a crazy mix that it doesn’t really matter. In fact in a way it does sort of add something to the experience, all be it something quite strange and a little out of place. As for the set list, I have seen no other like it. In the short period of time I ‘Experienced” the game everything from modern pop, to Anime Tunes and classical music was bashed out on that little plastic drum proving that in musical diversity this game really has no equal. It would seem that in the category of music and rhythm gaming the prize for most random release goes to Drum roll please (I know bad joke again) Japan of course. Who else.

All of this talk makes me a little sad that as of yet I have seen no plans for a Uk release. Still, if this post has made you at all curious about the wide world of Drum based gaming I have it on good authority (my own) that there are several similar machines waiting to be discovered at the back of arcades all over the UK. I know for a fact that there is a DrumMania just waiting to be hit on in the Troccadero center in London, so next time you have a weekend free go old school, I dare you.

Until next time,
GuitarGirl24
x

P.S. So excited about Bioshock 2. I just can’t wait any longer…I may burst with the pure anticipation….

Jan

5 Upcoming Movies of Games That Are Bound To Fail

By plusxp 6 Comments

Categories: Article, Humor Post and Rant
Tags: game movie, metal gear solid, pac-man, the sims

Contributed by Edward Price

On the record, most movie adaptations of video games end up failing embarrassingly. They’re critically slated, or are hated by fans of the game who’ve been betrayed by a company that doesn’t want to adhere too much to the source material, but like seemingly every business ever, just want to make a lot of money. Here are some upcoming movies of games, in no particular order, which are probably doomed to fail. Interestingly, between the time I originally wrote this article, and now, I also managed to get my hands on some of the scripts, and so I’ll be providing you with some choice segments of said scripts.

The Sims

The Sims doesn’t need much introduction. It’s a life simulator game by Will Wright, in which you guide around Sims and make them live the life you’re not living because you’re sitting at a computer looking after little virtual people more than yourself. Until you get bored and remove the stairs to the swimming pool.

The Sims Movie is in pre-production, and from the information I can gather, it’s a Live Action Drama Film.

What They Should Do:

Firstly, making a “Drama” film out of a game where your biggest drama is running to the toilet before pissing yourself is probably ill-thought. There are two prevailing ideas at work. One is what they could do, and one is what they should do.

What they could do, if they’re truly serious about making it a “Drama”, is take a leaf out of “The Truman Show”. And by a leaf, I mean, pretty much rip off “The Truman Show”. They could however, use it to a very interesting angle, and use it as a harrowing insight into the minds and lives of people who are at the mercy of a benevolent power they don’t know or understand. People forced to cheat, lie, and kill against their will. People whose lives fall apart because of an evil entity who’ll never care for them. Maybe it’d win a bunch of Oscars or something.

Alternatively, my friend Nathan says on this subject:

“Maybe turning the Sims into a completely different concept, like an interactive movie where each of the people in the audience is assigned a character, and they can do whatever they want with it, like those choose-your-own-adventure books, and your choices determine the outcome, and finally, determines the ending”

Give him a £1 million instead.

How It’s Probably Going To Turn Out:

I honestly don’t know. If they’re serious about making it a Drama film, I honestly don’t know how or why they’d ever make it, unless it was pretty much just the Truman show.

Script Extract:

Simone runs towards the toilet in a panic, sweat dripping off her face. As she reaches the bathroom, the suspenseful music begins to play. The music gets louder as she locks the door and makes her way towards the toilet. She begins to sit down, and the toilet suddenly disappears underneath her. The music reaches crescendo as she begins to cry in embarrassment as she wets herself all over the bathroom floor.

Cut to Simette and Simba are swimming in their new swimming pool.

Simba (In Simlish, English Subtitles Provided): Well, I feel the oddly compulsive need to eat. What do you say we have a barbeque?

Simette: Si-si-simba…

Simba: Yes?

Simette (Screaming): The stairs to the pool are gone!

They both scream in horror as the music swells.

Simba: Wait, we should only have several hours to live! That’ll be fine unless…

The Barbeque sets the house on fire.

If It Was Anything Like The Source Material:

Like Big Brother, but people die.

Pac Man

Seriously. A Pac Man movie. Again, the only information about this I could get is that it’s combining Live Action and Special Effects.

Guys, everyone knows what Pac Man is. This isn’t like most other movies of games, where those blissfully unaware of the source material won’t know better. Anyone who thinks making a Pac Man movie Live Action is a good idea is probably an evil genius who is hell bent on destroying the world of videogames with crappy movies.

I'm watching you, Uwe...

What They Should Do:

Simply, don’t make it. I can’t make that statement funny. I think it’d actually be a better use of time and money to simply buy every person in the world a copy of Pac Man who doesn’t already own a copy.

That, or simply do “King of Kong”, but replace Donkey Kong with Pac Man.

How It’s Probably Going To Turn Out:

Depressingly, it’s probably going to be made by the only people in the world who haven’t ever played Pac Man, except that one guy on the crew who played it a few times who they only keep on the team so they can say “Yeah, people on the crew have played Pac Man, so it’s gonna be close to the source material”, and the only things they know about the game is that the guy is yellow, he eats glowing pills to eat ghosts, and there’s some fruit.

Then they’ll remake Ghostbusters, but paint the protagonist yellow.

Script Extract:

Our hero is running through some dark corridors. The camera does that annoying shaky thing so you’re made to believe it’s from the protagonist’s perspective. He trips, and as he turns around, a ghost (who for accuracy, will be a man wearing an orange sheet) slowly moves up towards him.

Clyde: Well, well, well… If it isn’t Pequenos Arigato Chuck… It looks like you’ve finally met your match. You may have killed Inky, Blinky and Pinky, but now, you’re cornered, and while my comrades may eventually come back, there’s no return for you, my friend…

While Clyde is talking, the camera pans to Pequenos, who slowly picks up a round, flashing pill as big as his hand. He begins to eat it as Clyde turns around, and the camera pans back to him.

Clyde: (Cont) So, Pequenos Arigato Chuck, do you have any last words?

Clyde is eaten whole, by a glowing, flashing Pequenos.

Pequenos: Call Me P.A.C… Man…

Everyone in the cinema collectively groans and asks for their money back.

If It Was Anything Like The Source Material:

A fat guy in a yellow shirt travels around 255 identical mazes, obsessively eating everything in sight, while avoiding the ghosts of people he’s eaten, until he finds magic flashing weight loss pills that allow him to eat ghosts.

Metal Gear Solid

Bear with me on this one. The Metal Gear Solid series is probably one of the first that people will think of when they think of what could be applied to Cinema and succeed. Especially when the games themselves are so cinematic. Plus, I think Hideo Kojima’s heavily involved with it as well, so it’s not like it’s going to be poorly written or made. The guy knows what he’s doing… Doesn’t he?

After all, he’s an amazing writer, he created the damn series, he won’t give it to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, and he’ll put enough work into it to make it work.

The problem I have with this film is that simply put, the Metal Gear Solid stories are amazing… but over the course of a game. I don’t think it’d make an amazing movie, especially because the epic stories are just that. It’d water down the impact, I feel, if they condensed it into a short film.

Also, David Hayter, the voice actor for Snake in the series, has had his adaptation of the film passed over, and it’s unlikely he’ll be a part of the film.

How It’s Probably Going To Turn Out:

It’s probably going to be an interesting take on the Metal Gear Solid franchise, but it’ll be too short and too condensed to tell a truly epic tale, the effects and performances won’t seem as powerful as in the game, and while it’ll probably be quite good, or well made, just won’t have the impact of the games, and seem too watered down.

Script Extract:

I had to get a friend to translate the script from Japanese, but he assures me the following is an honest script extract, and I have no reason to disagree:

Solid Snake: Well, Otacon, what seems to be the situation here?

Otacon: I’m a scientist! I come up with inventions and giant nuclear robots for peace!

Raiden: I’m a pretty ballerina!

Hideo Kojima: I’m messing with all your minds! Everything I say is a postmodern attack against the way I view the world!

Liquid Snake: BRROOOOOTHEEERRRRRRR

Ocelot: I never really was on your side!

Then the translation trails off into dick jokes and constant laughter at my expense.

…Yup.

If It Was Anything Like The Source Material:

It’d be longer than the Extended Version of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, with a complete destruction of the 4th wall, a lot more confusion, twists and turns, with none of the resolution.

What Should Happen:

Everyone working on the film will all realise that they’ve already made a Metal Gear Solid Movie…

Yeah, I pretty much only put MGS in this list to make a bad joke about a game I haven't played yet. I'm a terrible person.

(Though, since writing this originally, I have since started playing through. The point still remains. As well as this, rumours are abound that talks for the movie have fallen through, meaning that it probably won’t be made for a while, if at all).

Need For Speed

Apparently, the Need for Speed series of racing games, which for a long while, were basically Street Racers (and I think they still are), has also got itself a motion picture coming out eventually.

If It Was Anything Like The Source Material:

They could pretty much rip a story straight out of their games, but there’s really one of two they could do. Either have it based off a spunky young street racer with everything to prove, as he attempts to become top dog in the land of street racing. Or, an undercover cop trying to uncover the leader of a street racing syndicate and…

Oh right, that.

How It’s Probably Going To Turn Out:

Literally just any of the Fast And Furious movies, with everyone trying desperately to appeal to the teenaged, chavvy demographic.

Script Extract:

The oddest thing happened when I discovered the script for the Need for Speed movie: It’s exactly like the script for the Fast and Furious movies, but with some of the names changed. See for yourself:
Din Viesel is talking to Maul Palker, they are standing by some totally pimp cars, which are totally pimp.

Din Viesel: You’re not an undercover cop, trying to catch me and several of my friends for illegally street racing, are you? Because if you happened to be an undercover cop, trying to catch me and several of my friends for illegally street racing, then me and several of my friends who illegally street race will kill you, and then continue to illegally street race, illegally.

Maul Palker: Nope. I am not an undercover cop, trying to catch you and several of your friends for illegally street racing. I am simply a man who wishes to join you and several of your friends who street race, which I should clarify, is highly illegal.

Din Viesel: I believe you. Let’s illegally street race in a way which glorifies this totally awesome yet illegal endeavour!

Maul Palker: I sure do have a NEED FOR SPEED!

They step in their totally pimp cars, and drive in an illegal street race in a way which glorifies this totally awesome, yet illegal endeavour. Chavs and idiots around the world put spoilers on their cheap cars in a bid to look cool. This fails to make their cars look any cooler or faster.

What Should Happen:

Just realise that the Fast and the Furious franchise got there before them. In fact, wasn’t the change to Street Racing style in Need for Speed games directly caused by the success of the Fast and Furious franchise? Basically, it’s going to be a film of a game that is heavily based off another film. If anyone else tried to do make a film of a game that was heavily based off another film or book, that’d be crazy, surely?

Okay, seriously? EA, we need to have words.

(This joke magically became 3 times funnier and more awesome when it was revealed that not only would EA release Dante’s Inferno: The Book based on the Game based on the Book, but would release a Movie based on the Book based on the Game based on the Book. Not only did I predict it months before it was revealed, but I’ve now heavily confused you, too. Moving on, though )

Asteroids:

In comparison, a live action Pac Man almost seems like a reasonable idea.

It’s even more mind boggling when you consider that 4 movie companies were in a bidding war to secure the rights for this film. That’s right. Companies bid millions of dollars to secure the rights to a game that wasn’t even 8 kilobytes in size. In comparison, some modern games can fill up a blu-ray disc 25 gigabytes in size. It’s simply mind boggling how far games have come in that regard, and also mind boggling how Universal Studios can make a movie out of a game where you, a triangle, shoot some verrrry slowly moving shapes that kind of resemble asteroids, in what is probably a shapeism-related mass murder.

You shapeist!

If It’s Anything Like The Source Material:

A small triangle will float in space, taking his shape-hating prejudice out on a bunch of asteroids that probably did nothing to him. Or, bullied him in shape school. Except it to be long, boring, and ending with the triangle losing as he realises he should give those damn asteroids a chance!… Right as they destroy him.

How It’s Probably Going To Turn Out:

They’ll probably just make another Deep Impact or Armageddon, but somehow try to relate it to the game. Seriously, the game has no story to it whatsoever, so trying to give it one is more pointless than trying to justify Scientology as a real religion.

Script Extract

A green triangle floats around in a large empty space, occupied only by itself and several large asteroids.

Triangle: I’ll show those darn Asteroids what for!

He fires a single shot at a nearby Asteroid. It explodes into three, smaller, faster parts.

Triangle: Oh, fu-

The Triangle is destroyed by one of the Asteroids.

Nothing else happens. The Audience puts in another coin and watches again.

What They Should Do:

Gamelife do this far better than I actually could. It’d just be best if you read that.

And that’s all for now! Hope you enjoyed reading

<3 Edward