What is happening to this industry?

I hate graphics, I really do. I hate them because know days thats all anyone seems to really care about. But back when it was Nintendo vs Sega, know one cared about how good a game looked. Emphasis was solely on gameplay. I could play marble madness for hours, a game which took probably 15 minutes to beat. But that didnt matter because it was so fun. But now a game that lasts 5 hours is considered too short, even by me. But that is because over the years I have begun to expect longer games, so when I find a shorter game I can't help but compare it to another longer game of the same genre, I guess thats just another fault of being human, we always compare things too much, but I'll rant about that another time, so as I was saying... I am happy to say that I dont give a shit what the graphics are like, all I really care about is being entertained. If I wanted to sit there for hours just ogling something on my TV screen, I'd watch porn.
Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate a good looking game, but I really only see it as a bonus, not a must.


Game journos are recieving less and less respect from me these days. First of all we have the famous gamespot issue. Basically a now ex-employee was doing his job exactly as he should, but the developer's behind Kane and Lynch didn't like this one person's opinion of the game and since they had adds for it plasted all over the website they got unrightfully pissed off. Gamespot then proceeded to fire said employee. So apparently you can get fired for doing exactly what you are supposed to do.

Crysis was marked down because the reviewer didn't have a good enough machine to play on. That has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the game.

A review is meant to be someones honest opinion about a particular product, but now people are giving games bad reviews for crappy reasons, getting angry responses for good reviews and getting fired for a review that the developers don't like.

In an Australian gaming magazine called Hyper, a man named Maurice Branscombe felt a need to point out over 2 whole paragraphs that Kane and Lynch: Dead Men must 'never, under any circumstances, to be played by youngers. Ever.' He goes on to say 'If you're over the age it says you have to be on the game's box, and have a solid grasp of the differences between fantasy and reality, however, then Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a violent, sylish and action-packed gaming experience.'
The fact he felt the need to say that and not let the rest of the review and the games clearly displayed rating in the magazine and the games cover speak for itself, says to me that people are getting more worried about what the publics reaction will be if this game gets in the hands of some nutter who just happens to be devising a plan to blow up his local High School. But I can understand why. Both the media and regular public is angry and merciless. They don't care how much effort you put into something that you love, whether its a simple review stating your honest opinion that Grand Theft Auto kicks ass, or developing a game for the enjoyment of others. All they care about is launching an attack on the easiest person and often using their kids to do it. Obviously if a game has a 15+ rating the parent should strongly consider if this is the right thing for a 10 year old, for example. Chances are it isn't, but then again you see the same thing every day on TV, just watch the news. I have been playing games my whole life, I got my Nintendo 64 for Christmas, I was around 12 at the time, the first 2 games I had were Cruisin' USA and Goldeneye 007, I also bought other violent games such as Turok 2. Neither one of them made me feel like killing a real person.
So I guess I am adressing 2 issues here, violence in video games and the 'effect' on the players and the fact journalists are now becoming scared when they shouldn't be.

I would love to start up my own gaming website someday. If I do I will be absolutely sure that every staff member is honest and doesnt give a fuck what people think, as long as its not in a rude way.

Back to gamespot for a moment, CNET, gamespot's parent company released the following information "Stephen Colvin, former President and CEO of Dennis Publishing, the publisher of Maxim, Blender, Stuff, and The Week magazines, is joining the company as executive vice president. Colvin will be dedicated to overseeing the company's entertainment and lifestyle brands"
So now, instead of having a dedicated gamer to oversee a gaming website we have an expert in lifestyle. Sure one could say gaming is a lifestyle but you would have to agree that it is an entirely different lifestyle to those Colvin had previously been working with. I would much rather an actual gamer to be in that position, just like I would rather an actual doctor treat me than a vet, just because they are good at treating sick dogs, does not mean they should be treating sick human beings, even with a similar illness.


Now for hype. Some people considered Assassin's Creed to be 'Game of the Year' worthy, while others such as 1up thought was one of the years 'top ten turkeys'. Either way, it had a huge build up of hype. Personally, I was disappointed, I expected it to be a lot more freeroaming, Oblivion style I was expecting to be able to break into peoples houses, talk to people out in the street, buy weapons and armour, I also thought there would be a lot of side quests. But that was really based on my own opinions on what the game could/should have been.

It specifically says on the back 'Plan your attacks, strike without mercy, and fight your way to escape.' What planning? All you do is get close to your target, watch a cutscene, walk up to or run after your target and kill him. There is no planning of any kind.
I would have thought the assassinations could be done how you wanted, for example; you charge in fighting your way through the guards until you find your target, or sneak into the building they are in and throw knives for a quick and stealthy kill before escaping unnoticed into the night... or jump down from above and land on top or behind them to slit their throat and so on... but no, pretty much the only thing the game allows is for you to blend in with the crowd, watch a cut scene then chase the guy to kill him >.>
Although there are a few different assassinations such as hoping across boats to get to the one with your target on it, so no blending there.
But they could have easily done so much more with this game.


Well, thats this 4:30am wednesday morning rant. Hope you enjoyed it!

Renting Ruined Games

On Thursday I rented one of my all time favorite games, Wizardry: Tale of The Forsaken Land, only to discover some other shit had scratched it to the point that it was unplayable, so I took it back to Blockbuster the next day and they put it in the machine that 'cleans' scratches. Tried to play it again, it was a little better but still froze. So I took it back again and they said there was nothing more they could do and they did not have another copy.

So the bottom line is that thanks to some fuck face who cant take care of other peoples property (and is probably a spoiled little brat and gets away with this sort of thing all the time), no one can enjoy the game anymore. The parents must be so proud. Oh and I also took another game back today as well for the same reason, haven't tried it yet though.

It just really pisses me off when some little shit goes and ruins it for everyone, if I went over to their house and fucked up all their games I bet they wouldn't like that.
Remember, if you want to be able to rent it out again, you had better take care of it for yourself at least.
Seriously, it isn't hard to take care of a disc. I don't care if you are still used to cartridges and used to being able to leave them laying around anywhere without any real harm coming to them, just about every gaming system uses discs now.

If you cannot look after something that does not belong to you... don't use it!

God Hand - Review

Clover Studios were obviously trying to create something that was both fun to play and laugh at. They failed in both areas. God Hand is a fighting game with sillyness, instead of an intense beat-em up, you get a slapstick beat-em up. Kicking a guy in the balls then kicking him again so hard that he goes flying a hundred meters, it sounds fun, but its surprisingly dull. Even with the context sensitive attacks, like pressing circle repeatedly while your enemy is lying on the ground to continue slamming his face into the dirt with your feet, or moving the analogue left and right quickly and repeatedly so that you can escape the enemies hold on you. Thats really the only good thing about this game, but it has nothing on God of War and by nothing I mean less than nothing.
Oh and you can also press R1 to active a roulette that basically launches a really powerful attack.
The rest of the fighting can be adjustable to your own desires by buying new technique at the end of each area. Unfortunately however, this is not enough. The combat system is no where near as deep as it could have been. Nay, should have been.

The cut scenes all try to be funny, but instead just turn out horrible. The basic story is that you have a really powerful arm, known as the God Hand. Someone else has the other arm but calls it the Devil Hand, obviously he is a bad guy and wants to kill you for your arm.

There are other things you can do besides fighting. After each area you can visit the shop to buy new techniques, items and roulettes. Go to the fighting ring and either practice your moves or compete for prizes. There is also a casino, the only games open at first are blackjack, poker and the slot machines. After a few hours into the game the dog races open up.

Something interesting about each level is that the better you play, the harder the game becomes but the more bonus points you receive, but the moment you start losing the difficulty gets lowered again. It wont make the game too much harder by going up a level or 2, but when you do go up a level or 2, you should be able to handle it.

So the games bad attempt at humour, fighting and depth, ultimately crush this game, which is a shame because it does have some potential.


Available on: PS2
Developer: Clover Studios
Publisher: Capcom
Rating: M (Moderate Violence, Course Language)
Graphics: 7.5/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 2/10
Lastability: 1/10

OVERALL: 3/10

God of War II

Just minutes ago I was in a fight to the death against the King of the Gods, Zeus. After giving him a royal butt-kicking I sat back and enjoyed one the best endings to a video game I have seen in a long time. It paves the way for one kick ass sequel.
I also get to enjoy the benefits of my victory, such as the Challenge of the Titans and Bonus Play, giving me new armour, the Blade of Olympus to use throughout the whole game and magic urns to find.
Seriously, this game is so much fun, way better than the original and I loved the original! Although it was far too short.

Im so excited about the sequel, I cant wait! I might even buy a PSP so I can get GoW Chains of Olympus. For those that may not know, it takes place between the first and second games.

You can watch the trailer here.