No Signal Input

The Gamers That Help You

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:02:27 PDT

Just a quick update today as I'm extremely tired and I haven't had a chance to write the post I wanted to write (that's probably because I decided to have another go at Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, which just ended up frustrating me due to a annoying bug I discovered).

Anyway, I'd like to point you towards an interesting article I read on the bus home from work (Oh iPhone 3G, how I love you so!). The article is about an area of gaming that we hear little about, which is the world of the gamer who dedicates many an hour to creating free guides for games. You only have to take a look at a couple of the guides on GameFAQs to see the dedication that is put into each and every one by its creators. Most importantly the majority aren't getting paid for the work they put in; simply doing it out of love for the game and the satisfaction that comes from helping others.

"I really get a feeling of accomplishment when I get emails from somebody who bought the game for their child, and the child gets frustrated, and that gets the parent frustrated, and they come online and get the help they need and everybody's happy," Will said. "And I've gotten emails from people in their seventies, playing games. I got one email from a man stationed on a ship in the U.S. Navy. He had one game he'd brought with him, and he wanted me to email my guide (Dungeon Siege II) to him."

Williams has seen this kind of gratitude, too: "I've gotten some seniors who wrote in to thank me for my Metal Gear Solid 4 guide. For my Wall-E guide, I get pretty frequent thank-yous from parents. It's cool. It's like, whoa, people actually appreciate this." - Kotaku

It's a decent read, so I encourage you to take time out of your day to read the full article. It makes you want to send emails out thanking the creators, as these guys are putting in all the hard work for your benefit whilst asking for nothing in return. I would be lost without the service they provide, so I have massive respect for them.

One thing they don't provide is the answer to why Vin Diesel has such a shiny bald head, as I'm surprised you can't use it in CoR:EfBB to dazzle your enemies ('All he saw was a rapidly growing bald spot before he was shivved in the neck'). Instead I have to resort to sprinting from shadow to shadow and trying to avoid getting shot in the arse.

Back to a Working and Gaming Life

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:18:58 PDT

It’s been a busy few months and, to be honest, I totally forgot about this blog after I got fed up with all the frustration stemming from the url problems (which may actually be fixed now but I’m not certain it will last very long). I suppose I better give you the good news though, and that’s the fact that I’ve finally got a full time job. So, now I no longer have to worry about money (much) I can feed my gaming habit which obviously now gives me something to write about. I have really missed it though, and now I have a massive load off my mind I can concentrate on improving my writing abilities. Let’s get back to the real reason of this blog though, and that, obviously, is the games!

Since my last post I’ve actually done a lot more gaming than I usually do which, for someone who runs a blog dedicated to the topic, is a strange thing to say. When I had free time I spent it doing other things, which isn’t a bad thing but it left a stack of games unplayed and my rentals just lying around collecting dust (luckily I pay monthly through Boomerang). I’ve played everything from Castle Crashers to Prototype and GTA IV: The Lost and Damned to the original Fallout (which is going for an amazingly cheap price on Good Old Games). It’s just good to be able to come home and get a few hours relaxation on a game. When I could do that whenever I wanted it didn’t mean as much, but now it strangely feels more fun when I’m trying to fit a session into the few spare hours I have on weekdays (I work from 9am until 5.30pm, but I don’t get home until about 6.15pm). Of course, there’s always the weekends but I do try to fit other things into my life apart from gaming.

One game I’m not really having much fun with at the moment is The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (the Xbox 360 remake). The game is just too damn hard, and because I can’t play in high definition at the moment (my last monitor apparently ‘broke’ but I’ll be getting a new one at the end of the month, which is actually better than my old one as it goes up to 1080) it’s hard to see what’s going on in the really dark places – which there are a damn lot of! I’m contemplating sending it back to Boomerang, but that will be breaking my unwritten rule that I complete games before I send them back for another rental (plus I can be a bit of an achievement whore at times and there’s still plenty up for grabs).

Another benefit of my monthly wage is my new iPhone 3G. I got it on an 02 contract last Friday and I already want to marry it (maybe there’s an app for that?). Games wise I’ve bought Crash Kart and Bejeweled 2; both of which help to pass the time on the bus to work (although Crash Kart is a little hard to play when the bus is bumping up and down). I’ll be trying some more out over the coming weeks and I hope to write mini-reviews here for them.

I’m crossing my fingers that the url problem will stay fixed for tomorrow, but I will be posting some more impressions on what I’ve been playing lately either way. I may also be working on another project, so stay tuned for details on that.

Domain Headaches

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:56:23 PDT

The site has been down for all of last night and most of today, mostly due to too much tinkering on my part. As you may have noticed I've had my own domain for quite a while now (although I still use Blogger to host) but I've also had a very annoying problem with it.

If you go to http://www.nosignalinput.co.uk it works totally fine, as does http://nosignalinput.blogspot.com, but missing out the 'www' part will not load the site. I have been trying to fix this, following tonnes of tutorials, but it has pretty much been to no avail. I did fix it last night, but it stopped working soon after and most of today has been a complete headache trying to get things back to normal.

So, now the site works again but I still have the same problem as before. If anyone knows anything about CNAME's and all that crap then I'd appreciate some direct advice, as most of the tutorials out there say a lot without actually saying anything useful about fixing the problem. I don't need a detail explanation of CNAME's and DNS, I just need a fix!

I'm just about ready to give up on this one, but I know it works somehow!

UPDATE: ...and just like that the problem is fixed! I must have done something right, and the DNS settings have just finally updated. I won't hold my breath that the problem stays fixed forever though.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging!

UPDATE 2: Sigh, it seems the problem is not fixed. I've reverted to my old blogspot address for the meantime while my new DNS settings take some time to propagate the Internet (I'll probably still have the original problem though). There's no need to change your links as my http://www.nosignalinput.co.uk address is redirecting to my blogspot address.

Why can't things ever be simple?

UPDATE 3: Ok, everything should be back to normal now. If you're coming directly to the site you have to put the 'www' in front of the url because it's still not working without it. I'll give it a few days to see if it puts itself right, but past experience shows me that it probably won't work. I'm fed up with messing with it anyway, and the offline time I've suffered through has wiped out what little traffic I had left.

P.S Gnome, if you're reading this can you tell me what DNS settings you used to get your site to load with and without the 'www'? Thanks!

Even The Smurf's Can't Save This Horrible Game

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:40:04 PDT

I felt it fitting that I should wait for the new month to return to blogging here (after that post I wrote a few days ago anyway), but obviously I didn't find it fitting to prepare a proper post. Instead I'm going to show you a video of possibly one of the worst games I've ever seen - and I loved The Smurf's!

The video above is of Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle which was released for the Atari 2600 and the ColecoVision back in 1982. During the next 3 minutes and 12 seconds you will bear witness (if you can make it that long) to the most awful and unimaginative level designs I have ever seen. This is a world in which fence posts can kill our little blue friends instantly, along with other bits of seemingly random scenery, hampering your quest to save every Smurf's wet dream, Smurfette.

When you finally reach her (after a few screens of utterly boring - and often repeated - scenery) you're pretty much cock blocked by a skull, which seems impossible to jump over. According to Wikipedia there are other levels after this (even in 1982 a 3 minute game wouldn't be good value for money), some with BATS!, so how the hell do you beat that dastardly skull?

If anyone has been subjected to the horror of this game in the past then let me know in the comments below. I'm counting on you retro buffs that visit the site, although I suppose even you lot would want to forget any experience you had with this horrific 'game'.

N.B. No, Smurfette is not topless. It is merely a glitch, although a great one for any young lad playing the game in 1982.

Writing About Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:21:35 PDT

No, I am not dead; I was just really burned out and couldn't put a decent enough sentence together to post here. See? That last one was pretty awful.

I am a victim of the recession, unable to get a job since I graduated last July. Since then I've been applying to jobs that I shouldn't even be thinking about, but that's the way it goes when you need to start earning money. I either get the reply that I'm "overqualified" (I suppose it's a polite way of saying "I don't want you to be taking my job a couple of years down the road") or that I "don't have enough experience" (this is for the graduate jobs, but I can't get experience because I'm "overqualified". Catch-22, right?). It is incredibly frustrating, and I really don't know how people who refuse to work cope with sitting on their arses all day.

Now all this free time has left me with the option of concentrating on my writing. It has also made me realise that I really want writing to be part of my future career, but I know that it's little more than a hobby right now. Sure, I have my small job over at ButtonSmasher and I love it, but all this worry about not having much income has dulled the creative mass of flesh in my skull. I'm finding it hard to come up with original articles, and I know that pumping out news articles doesn't really flex my abilities when it comes to writing. On that note I have decided to do something about it.

There is no point in moping around feeling sorry for myself; my brain wants to be used. I need to put all my spare effort (e.g. when I'm not looking for a job) into my writing. I know I have the ability to be an incredibly creative person, as I have been in the past, and wasting this talent is not going to get me anywhere in life. I may be unemployed, but I have been given the gift of enough free time to do something with my life. I may never get this chance again, so I need to grasp it while I still can. The more I write, the better I will get. Well, at least that's the way it's supposed to work anyway.

I guess this is the long way of saying that I'm back to updating this blog, and hopefully I'm back to writing something that anyone who stumbles across this blog can enjoy. In the end it may not support me financially, but writing is my passion and every day I don't write I feel a little more depressed. I may very well end up working in Tesco, but at least I will come home to a place where I can flex my creative muscles.

Share this with me.

(Image source)

Microsoft E309 Press Conference Report Is Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:40:49 PDT

I've written my impressions of the amazing Microsoft E309 Press Conference held earlier today over on ButtonSmasher.

Click this link to go and have a read, but please let me know what you think about the new announcements coming out of the Microsoft camp.

Tweeting Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:46:26 PDT

Just a quick heads up to say that I will be tweeting the upcoming Microsoft E3 Press Conference over on my Twitter account here.

I will also be writing up a full report on the press conference, but if you want my live analysis then my Twitter account is the place to go. My detailed analysis will appear over on ButtonSmasher later today, and I'll be doing the same with Nintendo's and Sony's press conferences tomorrow.

The press conference kicks off at 6.30pm UK time, so if you wish to watch it there's a bunch of live feed links here.

New Dead Rising 2 Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 31 May 2009 16:04:37 PDT

I've already hinted that I'm going to miss Frank West (he's covered wars you know!), but I think the alleged 7,000 zombies in the new trailer above more than makes up for any awfully named character (Chuck Greene? What were Capcom thinking).

Unfortunately that's all we'll be getting of Dead Rising 2 for the moment; because all this swine flu malarkey has caused Capcom to scale back its E3 attendence and their Japanese demonstrators won't be coming along to enjoy the show and, thus, let us enjoy any new Dead Rising 2 information.

With all the other amazing things that will be coming out of E3 I'm sure I'll be able to survive, but you can't help feeling that E3 2009 has already disappointed us before it has even begun.

E3 2009 Is Almost Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:55:54 PDT

(Image courtesy of Kotaku)

E3 doesn't technically kick off until Tuesday, but some of the press conferences start tomorrow. I'll be blogging about the newly revived conference all week, although it will mostly be done over at ButtonSmasher.

I will be posting bits and bobs here as well, largely those things that don't fit into ButtonSmasher, so keep checking both blogs if you want to read my angle on new games and announcements.

I've already kicked off the fun with a post on the new PSP Go, but I'm sure E3 will have more than its fair share of surprises for us.

Screw all the haters - I love this time of year!

Sonic The Hedgehog Comes To The iPhone - Is Your Finger Up To The Task?

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:15:41 PDT

You would have to be a bit of a poor retro gamer if you have never played the original Sonic game, but you can now try out the 150th port (obviously an exaggeration, but you'd be surprised at how many systems the game can be played on) of Sonic the Hedgehog through the iPhone.

All seven zones are packed in, along with the special stages, but you may be wondering how the game controls on a touch screen phone. The controls are handled through on-screen controls (you can see the d-pad and 'A' button on the screenshot above), which already sounds a little off-putting. Speed, of course, is crucial to any Sonic game; so if the controls aren't up to handling Sonic and his little red shoes, and the precise jumps required, then it's not going to be very fun.

I really do appreciate old games being ported to platforms like the iPhone - in turn making them available to the masses, or at least those with enough money to be able to afford an iPhone or the ridiculous contract fees - but if the game is nigh on impossible to play then you quickly find yourself being unimpressed. A game like Peggle may be a perfect fit for the iPhone, but there are others that just aren't suitable for the phones control scheme.

Since there's currently no demo I'd exercise caution in buying this port, but if money is no barrier then you can pick it up for £3.49 on the App Store right now.

Game Diary - 18 May 2009: Big Badda Boom!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:58:03 PDT

Although I've been playing a lot of games recently (as you're about to find out) that isn't my excuse for neglecting this blog. Sadly my mum died back in February, and since then I just haven't found the strength to write original entries outside of my ButtonSmasher job. I'm slowly getting back into writing, and part of that is reviving this blog. That means getting out the shears and weed killer and going to work.

Where was I? Oh yes, the games! Over the last few months I’ve been a member of Boomerang; which is a video games rental website that allows me to rent one game at a time for as long as I want for only £9.99 a month. There are higher price structures that allow you to order up to three games at a time, but I have enough trouble finding enough time to play one amongst all the other games I have that lay unfinished. Anyway, this service has allowed me to experience a lot of games I wouldn’t normally have bought; either due to lack of funds or not being interested enough in the game to pay full price for. All I do is play the game, complete it, and then send it right back to get another within two days. Playing all these games should have been pure fodder for more reviews, but as I said above I really haven’t been up to it.

The game I have at the moment is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which - despite everything I read about the game being bad - I’m really enjoying. It doesn’t take itself too seriously; and if you’re after a good storyline, character building and great voice acting (sorry Peter Stormare, but you’re awful in this) then should look elsewhere because Mercs 2 offers none of these. Instead it offers plenty of explosions, and then some more. There’s nothing more satisfying than dropping a tactical nuke and leveling half a city, unless you’re doing it in reality as then you’d be a mass murderer. Red Faction Guerilla may be one upping the whole destruction thing that Mercs 2 has going on, but the difference is that Mercs 2 does it with style. Grappling onto a moving helicopter and tossing the pilot out may not be realistic, but reality is more often than not very boring.

When I play Mercs 2 I’m not looking for a stellar storyline, I play other games for that, I’m just looking for some good old fashioned fun – with a truckload of explosives thrown in on the side!

Another game I’ve been playing recently is The Darkness. I picked it up for £7.35 on Amazon and I don’t think I’ll be getting a better bargain in a long while. I’ll talk more about that in the next diary entry though, so goodbye for now!

World Officially Ends On News That Mr. T Will Fight Nazis With Will Wright

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:30:04 PDT

While you get over the shock that I'm actually posting let me talk to you about something so incredibly baffling yet, at the same time, awesome. In fact, your head may just explode when you read the next paragraph.

Will Wright - one of my favourite game designers - and Mr. T - who happens to be everyone's favourite action hero, right? - are going to star in a game together. While you process that information let me tell you what the game is about.

The first game will see Mr. T take on Nazis and their gigantic machines in the varied universe of South American rain forests, lost ancient cities, industrial complexes and contemporary military installations. Along with Mr. T and other characters from the graphic novel, the game will feature none other than Will Wright. In this universe, Will Wright is not a top-notch game designer but a top-notch American geneticist who was kidnapped and coerced to work on a diabolic plan. Mr. T and Will Wright will join forces to annihilate the Nazis and their hardware.

Yup, you read that right. Mr. T fighting Nazis while rescuing The Sims creator Will Wright. I'm struggling to think of a plot that can be more insane, yet incredibly enticing, than that.

...and just like that the video game industry came to an end. Why make more games when one just made the universe explode into awesomeness?

UPDATE: Destructoid has an interview up with ZootFly's Bostjan Troha, who gives a little more insight into the game.

Mr. T and Will Wright team up against Nazis in ZootFly game - Joystiq

The Watchmen Xbox 360 Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:59:22 PDT

FresnoBeehive are giving away this snazzy looking Watchmen skinned Xbox 360. Unfortunately the skin only has Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl II on it; so there's no love for my favourite character Rorschach or Dr. Manhattan's big blue penis (thankfully). Still, I wouldn't say no.

Other prizes include a my.vu personal media viewer, the Watchmen movie soundtrack, posters and passes to see the movie.

All you have to do is write a review of the Watchmen movie in 50 words or less and post it here. Each review will be placed in a draw to win one of the above prizes, including the 360.

As a side note I'm currently reading Watchmen after going to see the movie at the cinema last week. I absolutely loved the movie and from reading the comic I do feel like the movie did a good job of catching the spirit of the comic. Obviously there is also a fair bit missing from the movie, but some things do have to be cut when it comes to adapting a graphic novel into a movie.

(Via Kotaku)

The Behemoth's Latest Game

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:07:52 PDT

The Behemoth team, who you may remember from the excellent Castle Crashers and Alien Homid, have released a trailer of their latest project. The game is currently in the early development stage, so don't expect to learn much from the trailer above. It does show off some very lovely gameplay, but you'll still be left with a sense of not knowing all that much about the game you just saw.

From what I can gather it's going to be a platformer (duh!) and will, as usual, be heavily multiplayer orientated. Finally we won't be playing it until sometime next year.

Anoop Gantayat got a look at the game at the Tokyo International Anime Fair and posted a few impressions over on his blog. Apparently everything that has been shown so far is for 'sample purposes' only to judge how the audience will react. Anoop also detailed four mini-games that were accessible in the demo.

Block painting game: As players run around the play field, they turn any blocks that they touch to their own color. The goal is to do this for more blocks than your rival. You don't have to do anything to the blocks to change their color -- just walk over them or bump into them from the side or below.
Soccer game: Players attempt to knock a soccer ball into a goal. This is done by simply bumping into the ball or punching it.
Gold collecting game: There's a giant goldfish floating about the stage. When struck, it releases gold. The goal is to collect as much of the gold as possible.
Soul collecting game: In this mini game, when an enemy is defeated, his soul floats away. Collect an opponent's soul and you get big points. If you lose your soul, you can chase after it once you've respawned, assuming it hasn't already been taken. - Andriasang.com

The demo was also being shown on the Xbox 360, but Behemoth have stressed that they will not be discussing what platforms the game will be available on just yet.

Anoop's blog has more details, and be sure to check back here as more info is available.

Tribes Coming To The Web Browser

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:22:10 PDT

Don your jetpack and pick up your suitably sci-fi weapon as the original Tribes is making its way to the web browser.

Browser-based games are all the rage these days, and releasing a game that will work on a high percentage of PC's is crucial to making it in the casual market. We've seen how immensely popular these games can be with Quake Live, so it makes sense that another classic FPS is going to be revived for the masses. InstantAction.com, a web-based games service, will be taking the helm on the revival; bringing enhanced graphics, 'powerful browser-based gaming tools' and better modding options.

The game will be playable at next week's Game Developers Conference, where visitors will also get the chance to learn how InstantAction managed to bring an updated version of the original Tribes to the web browser.

I love how far things have come, meaning that we are now able to play what were pretty impressive games for their time in nothing more than a web browser. Hopefully the queue's to play won't be as massive as Quake Live, but don't count on it.

More screenshots at the link below!

InstantAction Brings Tribes To Your Web Browser - Kotaku

Feel Like Wasting Time? Play Tetoris

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:06:51 PDT

Ever wanted to play one giant game of Tetris? No, me neither and you'll see why after you play Tetoris.

It's one giant grid, with pieces so tiny that you have to have the patience of a fox to even clear one line. I managed the first line (that screenshot isn't from my game) and then got bored, so I resorted to holding the enter key (which drops the pieces) and watching the blocks as they stack up. The result is something like the above.

If you actually got a score higher than '0' (it's 20 points per line) then feel free to post it in the comments. Anyone who has the patience gets a free cookie.

Tetoris - Soviet Russia (Via Kotaku)

Only A Matter Of Time - German Shootings Linked To Games

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:47:27 PDT

You're probably already aware but yesterday a 17 year-old German, Tim Kretschmer, entered his former school and killed 12 people, 9 of them students. He then left the school and killed three other innocent people, before killing himself with a gunshot to the head when cornered by police. A tragedy of course, but there will always be people who use such an event to further their own ends.

The Associated Press, a news agency I always thought was reputable; saw fit to mention that the killer played video games in a recent article.

A 17-year-old, who would give only his first name, Aki, said he had been studying this year with the shooter at a private business school, and described him as a quiet, reserved person.

Aki said the two played poker together, both in person and online, as well as a multiplayer video game called "Counter-Strike" that involves killing people to complete missions.

"He was good," Aki said. - Associated Press

Later the BBC also mentioned this in a report on the 1 o'clock news. Why mention this though? He was a 17 year-old male, plenty of guys his age play video games and don't go around shooting innocent people. Even if he was influenced by video games he would have to have something wrong in his head to not realise that the one world is virtual and one is reality. It's more likely that he was just an extremely paranoid person and thought the whole world was against him.

Plus, there's also this little matter;

Mr Rech revealed today that Kretschmer had received treatment last year at a psychiatric clinic in Winnenden, to which he fled after the school spree and where he shot dead a gardener before hijacking a Volkswagen Sharan car. - The Times

This is someone who had already been treated for psychiatric problems, so trying to make video games a scapegoat just because an extremely disturbed person thought that shooting people for the hell of it was ok is crazy. Millions of young people play violent video games and watch violent films, and 99.9% of them don't go and kill people. If video games were so bad then wouldn't we all be going on a rampage? I think Tim would have done this whether or not he played video games; it's just something the media like to jump on to create headlines.

I was going to go into further detail on this, but this excellent post explains everything I wanted to say. Check it out, but make sure you keep your comments civil.

Here's 67 Games For You, All Under 4k In Size

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:06:50 PDT

I am constantly astounded by the abilities of the games developer community. Faced with a challenge where many would give up these developers (many of them so-called 'bedroom' developers) shrug off such concerns and plod on with the task. This determination leads to what this post is about, 67 games that have been made using only 4k of memory.

These 67 games are entrants in the Java4k 2009 competition, and the finish products just go to show that less memory to work with doesn't exactly mean you'll get a bad game. It's the age old question; does it really matter about graphics if the gameplay is top notch?

My favourite game is Left 4k Dead (pictured above) - a pretty good minimalist representation of Left 4 Dead - but there's some more gems in there; 4bsolution, F-Zero 4k, MEG4kMAN and NiGHTS 4k.

So there you have it, I've just given you another reason to procrastinate today!

Java4k 2009 Competition - Java4k.com

So Is Resident Evil 5 Racist? Apparently Not

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:54:44 PDT

Way back in September 2007 I posted an article about a number of other articles that had accused Resident Evil 5 of being racist towards black Africans based on a simple trailer for the game. The consensus was that the game was no more racist then previous instalments in the franchise (which is not racist in any way, unless your warped mind views it in that way) and you were shooting people infected by a deadly disease that made them want to eat you, regardless of skin colour. Many of you agreed, but now we have an expert to back us up.

Videogamer.com recently played through the first three levels of Capcom's Resident Evil 5, inviting one of the UK's top experts on racism to play along. Glenn Bowman, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kent, actually saw sense and decided to try the game out for himself rather than make baseless assumptions based on a few trailers of the game.

So, what's his verdict?

"I don't think it's racist. I think people are looking too quickly to be able to jam that label onto it ... maybe they'll make the next game happen in Finland and you'll have a whole series of Inuit’s and the like being really scary and running around with Walrus heads on. I think it's silly to call it racist." - Videogamer.com

He also echoed something I previously touched upon, that "the blacks are cleary being set up as victims". They are the victims of a virus that does not care what skin colour you have, and will turn you into a mindless cannibal regardless. That's what I tried to stress originally, but those who had cried 'racism!' had failed to see the context in why black people were acting this way. It wasn't because Capcom were trying to portray blacks as savages, it was because there were infected with a disease that didn't allow them to think about their actions. White or black, the zombies in the Resident Evil franchise have always been this way.

There's a lot more to it than that, and Bowman touches upon the African setting, tribal imagery, and anti-colonial themes that are prevalent in the game. It's an interesting read, and will hopefully finally put to rest those ignorant comments about Resident Evil 5 being seen as racist. Then again, I don't expect that the people who originally made those statements will ever actually play the game anyway.

Not surprisingly Capcom seems to be a little sensitive about the whole racism thing, telling some British Resident Evil 5 reviewers that they should avoid writing about/taking images of the games island section. Apprently the enemies in this section have spears, something which won't go down well with the PC crowd. Hopefully Capcom will soon reveal why they don't want this section showing off just yet.

So maybe this won't be put to rest straight away after all.

EXCLUSIVE: Expert delivers verdict on Resi 5 racism row - videogamer.com

This Replica Bioshock Syringe Wants Your ADAM

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:42:31 PST

This Bioshock ADAM syringe replica (that the Little Sisters in the game use to extract ADAM from corpses) has been lovingly crafted by Harrison Krix, the same guy who brought us the amazing Portal gun replica.

The replica comes complete with baby bottle nipple - which the Little Sisters drank the ADAM through - something that Krix felt was missing from previous attempts at replica's.

Head on over to his blog to see how Krix put together this superb piece of gaming art.

Bioshock Little Sister ADAM Syringe - Volpin Props (Via Kotaku)

A More Realistic Take On Our Favourite Game Characters

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:27:08 PST

Take a wild guess at who those cute little guys up there are supposed to be. No? Well, that's Sonic and Knuckles according to Tom Rhodes' more 'realistic' take on some of our favourite video game characters.

What if Lara Croft had looked more like a real archeologist (because we all know how 'nerdy' those are)?

I think that's pretty much wiped out any of the fantasies you had about her as a young boy.

There's a tonne more over on his blog; including Duke Nukem, Earthworm Jim and Mario.

Old Game Characters - Plan to Fail (Via Kotaku)

Quake Live Is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:58:56 PST

In case you haven't realised (and you'd be extremely alone if you hadn't) the Quake Live open beta is now, um, live! Well, it should be live anyway, as right now the main site has a placeholder saying "Quake Live will return shortly". It seems they didn't anticipate how popular the open beta would be. Even if you do get in you get stuck in a queue behind 24,000 people (that was the last queue I was in anyway).

Thankfully I was in the closed beta so I've already had a sweet taste of the game. The technology is incredibly cool, allowing for a fully fledged version of Quake III to run smoothly in your browser (although, unfortunately, it doesn't currently support Google Chrome). The game is just as good as I remember, back in the good old days of games with friends over LAN.

Anyway, when it finally comes back online and I've had chance to have a fair number of games I'll give you some updated impressions. In the mean time you could always try it yourself (once the game is back online), even if that makes the queue's longer for me...bah!

UPDATE: The game is now back online, although I'm currently 25,700th in the queue.

If Halo Were Final Fantasy...

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:59:47 PST

...it would look something like this, or at least it would according to this video.

At over five minutes long it does get a little tedious, but it's still pretty well done.

F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin Live Event!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:47:43 PST

If you're waiting for more little girls to scare the life out of you like me (don't read too much into that!) then you're in for a treat! An exclusive event that allows you to be one of the first to play F.E.A.R 2 will be held in London on 12 February. You and seven other gamers will be invited along to pit your wits against each other in F.E.A.R 2's multiplayer mode.

If you want to register for the event then you'll have to be quick, as the closing date is next Monday. It's an all expenses paid trip, but only those who are over 18 and residents of the UK, France, Germany and Holland are permitted to register.

Head over to the What Is Fear? site now to register for your chance to win.

If you do register then remember that you can test your skills out by downloading the demo here (it's also available on PSN and Xbox Live). As usual there's a mixture of fast-paced action and horror, which suits me just fine; especially when it's compared to the slowness of Resident Evil 5's gameplay. I know that it might be wrong to compare the two, but I'm still slightly peeved at the horrible demo that Capcom put out.

Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions Are Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:12:25 PST

For those of you who are interested I've wrote up some impressions of yesterday's Resident Evil 5 demo. You can check them out over at ButtonSmasher, but the short version is this;

I'm incredibly disappointed!

Actually, that might be all you need to know, but please check it out so we can have some sort of discussion about its good (if you think there are any) and bad points.