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!