Mass Effect Books Series: I decided to do something different for this article. I thought that I would discuss with you (the fans), the Mass Effect Books Series.

Now if you are like me (An M.E Fanatic), then you would no doubt of heard about the Mass Effect: Book Series. Over the next article, I shall attempt to give YOU a brief synopsis, and my personal feelings regarding each book.

But first. Let us look at the authors: Canadian, Drew Karpyshyn, wrote the first three books in the series. He has written novels for several other video-game titles: Baldur’s Gate, and Star Wars. He also works as a scriptwriter, video-game scenario writer, and novelist.

American, William C. Dietz, was bought in to write the fourth book in the series. Though he is a popular writer; with titles including: Hitman: Enemy Within, StarCraft 2: Heaven’s Devil’s, and Halo: The Flood; to name but a few. His work for the Mass Effect series has been almost universailly loathed by fans. But more on that later.

Mass Effect Books Series – Novels

Mass Effect: Revelation:

Revelation was the first of the series to be released. It instantly hit home with the fans. The book takes place several decades before Mass Effect 1. David Anderson (those who play the games know him), is a young Alliance Lieutenant who with the aid of Kahlee Sanders (Mass Effect 3), attempt to find a missing scientist.

Turian Spectre, Saren (Villian in Mass Effect 1), is ordered to help Anderson, and Sanders with their mission. However, Saren has plans of his own. I’m a Mass Effect FANATIC, so obviously I LOVED this book. It was well planned, written and executed. Though it is primarily for the fans, a new comer could eaily read it and get involved in the story.

It was nice to finally find out exactly what happened between Anderson and Saren. Reading what Saren was capable of… even before the Reapers, made me feel less sorry for shooting him.

Mass Effect: Ascension.

Ascension, takes place shortly after, Mass Effect 1 ends. The Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2 and 3), decidedes to take action after the events of, Mass Effect 1. Betraying one of his long-serving subordinates, Paul Grayson (Mentioned in Mass Effect 3), the Illusive Man, decides to use Grayson’s daughter in a series of dangerous experiments. However…

Kahlee Sanders, with help from David Anderson, attempt to save the child, before any harm can come to her. This book was great. A lot of a veritable emotinal barrage, some good laughs, and a nice battle sequence between Quarian Commando’s and Cerberus Assault Troops, and the triumph of good and love, over evil. Well worth the read.

Mass Effect: Retribution.

Retribution starts shortly after, Mass Effect 2 ends. Shepard has disappeared again. Not that it matters, as the Illusive Man, is attempting to learn as much as he can about the Reapers. Paul Grayson is kidnapped and implanted with Reaper tech. Seems the Illusive Man will stop at noithing to get what he wants.

I loved this book. Karpyshyn is amazing, and his work gets better with each page. It was great to see Grayson’s story come to an end. Seeing the Illusive Man show his true colours was rather interesting. And I will admit it gave me another reason to fight against him in, Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect: Deception.

Now this is the most controversial of the series. The book has been condemned by all but the most open of fans. Fans cited several reasons for hating the book, including plot holes, discontuity, reworked races and characters, and a general overhaul that they found offensive.

I personally enjoyed it, despite it’s many failings. If you take it as a stand alone, with a pinch of salt, and a spoon full of sugar, read. Then you will be fine. If you hate anything that deviates from the ‘Lore’ of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Then this one is not for you.

Mass Effect Books Series Release

Mass Effect Books Series are available world-wide, from various book dealers, and retail locations; So go and buy them!

Jimmy Clark

Diablo 3 Criticism: As a gamer I have only one game that I have consistently gone back to in an almost obsessive manner. That game is Defense of the Ancients (DotA) or more recently DotA 2, thanks to my good fortune of having been able to obtain a beta key quite early on. I just got over a stint of true DotA addiction; I’m talking at the very least four hours a day spent on this wonderful MOBA, spewing curse words over Skype at my friends when they failed to reach my sometimes unrealistic expectations.

What’s interesting as well as surprising though is that the game which managed to rehabilitate me from my relapse into DotA is Diablo 3.

I purchased Diablo 3 upon its release with high hopes in my heart and a twenty-four hour long gaming session scheduled in my calendar. I took off work for this game. So after about an hour spent dealing with the then dreaded error 33 a friend and I got down to some serious gaming. Surrounded with energy drinks, quick snacks and other questionable food that would generally make anyone who has an ounce of appreciation for a healthier diet fear their digestive tract’s well-being, I began my approximately twenty-seven hour long Diablo 3 marathon.

The problem was, however, after the initial enjoyment and excitement I experienced when first trying out Diablo, which didn’t last more than forty-eight hours really, I stopped playing and never returned to it.

A few days back a friend of mine said he was playing Diablo 3 again, so I thought fuck it, I’ll give the game another shot. Let’s face it, I never gave it a fighting chance and while I know many people have differing opinions about why Diablo 3 is comparable to having your nut sack (I’m sorry, for the female audience think clitoris) cut off and how the existence of the game itself is a horrendous embarrassment to the franchise that is Diablo, I, however, have found new pleasures in its repetitive acts and gameplay.

The Paragon levels alone allow its replay value to sky rocket. Since I had originally stopped at level fifty-six, I’m also immensely enjoying Nephalem valor now. Still, I couldn’t quite place my finger on why I’m playing Diablo 3, or more to the point, why I even went back to it in the first place.

So I’m sitting here over Skype with my compadres in online gaming, Victor Milveden known better as Hasseallan in the gaming community as well as Jesper Albinsson who tends to go by the tag N0tifi3d when spending countless hours killing various virtual creatures that are human, anthropomorphic, animalistic or completely imaginative in nature, when I decide to question them on why they chose to return to Diablo 3. Especially since they are World of Warcraft enthusiasts. By enthusiasts I mean WOWTARDS.

Their responses inflicted bittersweet emotions in me and made me realize the true allure of the third installment in the series, “Because I want to be ready when the PVP comes out and I enjoy how the loot system works with the drop system and how you can get yellows and a lot of them and you just hopefully get a good one and if you do get a good one it can be worth fucking shitloads. Like the fact that you get so many of them and the chance to get a good one is so small but if you do, it makes it worth it.” Were the words of wisdom that a distracted by Diablo Hasseallan imparted when asked “Why do you play Diablo 3 and what do you enjoy in the game?”

While his response may seem rudimentary in nature he mentions some extremely thought provoking and factual points concerning Diablo 3. Firstly, he talks about the upcoming PVP, which almost all of us that ever bought the game are looking-forward to with high hopes in our hearts.  A great reason to start Diablo 3 again is to be primed with great gear, a working skill set and the tremendous amount of know-how required in order to properly dominate the players that are ballsy enough to challenge you.

He then goes on to discuss that much like Diablo 2 the loot system adds greatly to the gameplay. Obtaining a rare (yellow) item is always an intense and exciting experience. You click that identify button with high hopes in your heart and the idea that the outcome will be something absolutely amazing for your character or worth millions in the auction house is almost too much for you to handle. And let’s not forget the fact that a legendary (orange or green) item can drop, the sight of which induces an on the spot orgasm that’s intensity is unmatched in the sexual arts.

I’m just joking, but witnessing a legendary drop is truly a satisfying situation. I guess us Diablo gamers are a bit like gambling addicts, 98% of the time the drops are extremely disappointing but we’re all striving for and believing in that 2% success rate. It’s extremely addictive, especially since you do end up getting items that are incrementally superior to the ones you have. +20 damage here, +10 poison resistance there, you get the gist.

“I started to play because I liked the lore and I wanted to play the story basically, and now when I’ve experienced the whole story or finished the game I enjoy the game style that they made it the way that like every mob is exciting or gets exciting. It doesn’t matter what you do, you can always find the best gear you can always find nice weapons and stuff.

Even if you’re doing the same thing everything about Diablo is always exciting. And of course I have friends playing so I guess that’s a… it’s social in that way.” was N0tifi3d’s response to the same questions and the lore is the primary reason I started playing Diablo 3. And let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. During my first play through I loved the lore, listened to every book, letter, etc. that I found and watched all the cut scenes with as much attention as I watch a Christopher Nolan film.

The mobs are another aspect of the game that plays a huge role in the game’s success. It’s not necessarily that the adversaries themselves are ground-breaking but the fact that you have elites and bosses raises the intensity of grinding those levels by an enormous amount. Encountering a vortex, jailer, arcane enchanted, frozen pack or any other terrifying combination causes you to break a sweat and play to your best potential.

Better yet, once you manage to defeat a particularly difficult mob you’re left with a new found appreciation for your virtual life along with a heightened ego that cocaine would have a hard time matching.  On top of all this, it’s always more fun playing with friends, which is a feature of the game that N0tifi3d appropriately shines a light upon.

The final facets that I’d like to discuss are the hack’n’slash and grinding aspects of Diablo 3. Inspired by this quote from Hasseallan, “I love hack’n’slash games and I love grinding and it doesn’t get more hack’n’slash and grind than Diablo. But I think Diablo 2 in general is a better game but since more people play Diablo 3 and I have high hopes for Diablo 3, I keep playing.” I realized that I too love the genre and grinding can be extremely enjoyable. At least if it’s handled correctly. I hate the grind in the majority of MMORPGs and that probably falls down to the fact that the rewards don’t feel as rewarding as they should and the gameplay doesn’t hold up for long enough. Of course the competitive edge in most MMORPGs is constantly apparent but it’s not enough for me to stay hooked past say a week or two.

In conclusion, Diablo 3 is a game that I proudly play. While the reasons I keep playing can be seen as shallow and the features of the game are arguably unimpressive I can say fuck it, I’m enjoying myself. Isn’t that something that should be enormously important in gaming? Sure, the newly introduced artistic values in video games are not to be found in Diablo 3, but sometimes you need to turn a blind eye towards deep philosophical questions and just have fun killing hordes and hordes of monsters. Don’t you ever go watch the latest blockbuster action film in an attempt to relieve your mind from the difficulties that life is constantly throwing at you?

I’m looking at all of you that enjoyed The Avengers or Dredd 3D. Every once in a while every single person on this planet is looking for a way to turn off their minds for a few hours and enjoy the lighter sides of life. Seeing as being an alcoholic has widely been deemed to be dangerous to your well-being, we resort to Diablo 3, The Avengers and a multitude of other mediums that revert you back to a child-like state of glee, excitement and unadulterated fun.

What are some reasons you’re still playing or have returned to Diablo 3? Or why do you think I should scrap this game and start playing something else instead? Write your answers in the comments below, I promise to read them.

Jimmy Clark

Games To Play With Girlfriend: So your boyfriend or girlfriend isn’t that much of a gamer? Fair enough. Opposites attract, after all. But you’re both bored, and you have a games console sat in the front room that has been pining for attention. So let’s play a game!

Games To Play With Girlfriend

Lego Batman 2 – Xbox 360/PlayStation 3

When gaming with your partner, it’s important it’s something that appeals to you both, otherwise you’re going to get bored. How about a Lego game? You think they’re just for kids?

How about zombies, decapitation, grand theft auto, mowing civilians down in the street, chemical-induced hallucination, relentless violence, the best DC comic characters, arson and exploding pies?

If none of the above appeals, please take a moment to check that you have a pulse.

A little different from conventional Lego titles, Batman 2 includes a hub world of Gotham, rendered brilliantly in block form. Skyscrapers tower above, gargoyles and enormous Lego men adorn the gothic landscape, citizens and baddies run riot in the sprawling map while cutesy Lego cars just wait for you to jump in and start causing havoc.

The two-player co-op is great. Instead of sharing one screen, as seen in previous Lego offerings, the view splits according to your respective location so both of you can explore different parts of the level or Gotham without having to drag the other along.

The puzzles are usually self-explanatory, but still fun, allowing minimal room for in-game arguments between you an your other half.

The voice acting is okay, and the script simple, but this game is best for two players. Play it alone, and you’ll find yourself having much more fun mowing over lamp posts in Harlequin’s Juggernaut than in the levels. There are also some very, very bad glitches, some so bad that you will find yourself having to restart a level and lose all your hard work. Still, this is a great game to play with your girlfriend or boyfriend; and if you have any, your kids too!

Mario Kart Wii – Wii

Another game from the Mario franchise, which also happens to be awesome.  

Mario Kart is a series which has been consistently addictive from the very first installment on the Super Nintendo, and this Wii version is no exception. The graphics are beautiful, with exciting backgrounds and bright colours. The levels are just fantastic, with an excellent mixture of interactivity and difficulty; and the big selection ensures you won’t get bored of them. Even some courses from previous Mario Kart games make an appearance, which is particularly satisfying for the nostalgic amongst you.For the first time, Mario characters can jump on motorbikes to go tearing around the tracks. It may only be a little change, but it brings another level to the gameplay – not to mention more choice – which continues to be fun even after the novelty wears out.

The controls can be a little hard for non-gamers, so chuck out that daft hunk of plastic the game passes for a wheel and plug in your old Gamecube controller.

Mario Galaxy 1+2 – Wii

Another Mario game. I know, but hear me out.

Mario Galaxy games are mainly one-player, but a second can get involved by grabbing the spare controller and helping out in the levels by holding back Goombas, collecting star bits and interacting with certain parts of the landscape. It’s a cute idea that can actually be quite useful, especially if you are entrusting the non-gamer of your coupling to the first player slot. Now you can help out by collecting bits and stopping enemies from pummelling Mario while giving your partner gentle direction on how to proceed in the level. Now you’re a team! And some of the later levels are devilishly hard. You’ll be amazed how helpful having a second player becomes.The Mario Galaxy games are beautiful. The graphics are mouthwatering, the control smooth and the levels adorable. The plot is daft, as usually seen in Mario games, but the characters are charming enough to keep you interested and the non-threatening enemies keep it fun and memorable.

Diddy Kong Racing – N64/DS

This racing game debuted way back in 1998 on the Nintendo 64, a few years after Mario Kart. If, like me, you’re more in the Diddy Kong Racing camp than the Mario Kart camp, you’ll already know that Diddy Kong Racing is one of the underrated N64 classics with fantastic multiplayer options. Those of you who were more into Mario’s racing game need to get involved.

Dibs on the chicken.

This may be another cutesy game, with a talking stopwatch driving a hovercraft and haystacks with eyes being commonplace, but by the time you get to the fourth world you’ve already sworn multiple times at the screen or chucked your controller at the coffee table in frustration. And frustration shared is frustration halved! Plus you can choose to play in a plane too. What more do you want?

Borderlands

So your girlfriend isn’t all ponies and rainbows. Your boyfriend isn’t all cuddles and loafing. Your partner is competitive, intelligent, and has had a really bad day at work. Time for mindless violence.

While it is complicated in its own way, Borderlands is a first-person shooter that is surprisingly easy to pick up and play. Its also nice to see female characters who are intelligent and not defined by their breasts. Lots of women would identify themselves as a bit of a Lilith.

The art style is eye-catching and engaging, the levelling up system is addictive, the gameplay is smooth and the worlds huge and exciting. With a second player, you work together at every turn, picking each other up when you’re down and swapping guns and items to defeat some real badass villains. Jump into a massive truck and start mowing down the wildlife, make it your goal to help every poorly claptrap, or download the Island of Dr Ned add-on and start mashing zombie brains. This game is awesome.

Portal 2

Games To Play With Girlfriend

For the more cerebral gamer, the Portal series is a must. The brain is truly exercised by some tough puzzles, eyes are treated to fantastic graphics and the experience is punctuated by the snippy comments of probably the most vindictive, excellently charaterised female game villain in history.

Following the success of the first Portal game, Valve brought in the 2-player aspect to their second offering to bring a whole new level of gameplay. This option does not in any way follow the titillating story of the one-player mode, but is a full game in itself. As the two robots Atlas and Peabody, the pair of you make your way through multiple testing chambers relying on each other to open doors, press buttons and progress. The interaction options within the game are a little redundant when you’re sat next to each other on the sofa, but the game does helpfully allow you to use a cursor to point out items you want the other player to interact with.

Be careful with Portal 2; while it is an excellent game to play with your friends and partner, it tests your frustration level. This article can’t be held responsible for any relationship break-ups subsequent to the playing of this game.

Bubble Bobble – NES/Wii virtual console

The writer of this article does not expect you to be in possession of any of the retro consoles this game was originally ported to – this game is easily accessible on the Wii online virtual console for only 500 points (about 3.50 GBP).

I’m not talking about the bubble popping, pointer-based game (later renamed Puzzle Bobble) that would so often be replicated in later game consoles – and, more recently, in mobile phone games – I’m talking about the original Taito masterpiece starring two 8-bit dragons and 100 baddie-filled, candy-sweet platforming levels.

He may look cute, but this guy is as hard as nails.

The version available on the Wii virtual console is a perfect clone of the fantastic NES original. One of you plays a blue dragon, one of you plays a green dragon, both of you are put through your paces with progressively more difficult levels with more and more persistent foes.Thankfully the difficulty is gradually progressed as you defeat each level, allow plenty of time to get used to the controls and the game mechanics.

Though simply enough to play by yourself, Bubble Bobble is so much more fun with another player.

There’s so many great two-player Games To Play With Girlfriend; let me know which ones you like in the comments!

Jimmy Clark

So, what about the video games manuals, or rather the famous info booklet? I have noticed that there is an alarming amount of laziness in the gaming industry of late and no I am not talking about the same Call of Duty game being thrust down our throats every year. I am of course talking about the relevance of the game information booklet. The gaming booklet has always been a reliable source of information but it is rapidly on the decline.

There used to be a time when you opened up a new game and got that distinct new game smell, a smell that has somewhat diminished since the booklet was reduced from thirty pages to just three. In all fairness not all game developers have followed suit but it really was quite a shock when I bought Halo 4 and found a grand total of (I kid you not) zero pages within its box, aside from the 48 hour free xbox live trial that they feel obliged to include. Somehow pathetic just doesn’t quite cut it.

Combined with the absurd amount that games cost nowadays it is incredibly insulting that they even have the cheek to charge you for the air in the box. At least when there was a full booklet inside you had the sense that you were getting your money’s worth.

‘Somehow pathetic just doesn’t quite cut it.’

I was always one of those gamers who would never touch the booklet when I first bought a game as I was eager to get stuck in, and would only look at it after I encountered a hurdle in the game that I needed help with. There was a lot of dignity in that because they never forced you to read it and it was only there if you really needed it. However now they have destroyed that sense of independence by enforcing in game tutorials for the gamer. The tutorials will claim to be helpful to many gamers but in the grand scale of things all it does is patronise the gamer by holding their hand every step of the way.

It also interferes with the narrative and pace of the game which is a disastrous move for games that rely heavily on pace and narrative to tell their story.

The Halo games are a great example of wasting story time by placing the look up, look down, look left and right cliches and the decision to have your controls inverted. If we wanted to change our control settings to inverted (and vice versa) we would have done so in the options menu and not have to be prompted by the game to use our common sense.

Another reason why the booklets worked was because they gave the gamers a chance to make mistakes and when they did they only had themselves to blame for not reading the booklet. Now we just shout shoddy accusations against the gameplay mechanics or the game itself removing any sense of responsibility that the gamer has for their own enjoyment.

There are acceptances to the rule however such as the transition from Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2 where the gameplay went through a complete u-turn (which it desperately needed) and the tutorial mission was incorporated into the storyline to great effect. It was helpful, fast to pick up on and it didn’t distract you from the story which was a huge plus from the tutorial.

The only downside to this is that Bioware did the same tutorial for Mass Effect 3 resulting in a huge slap in the face since to gamers since we had been down that road once before. Once again they decided to hold our hand when we crossed the road, the only problem was that there were no cars coming and the green man was showing.

In just a few minutes the tutorial mission introduces you to new weapons, enemies and fighting styles.

So what does the future hold for the information booklet? It remains uncertain but I wouldn’t be surprised if they disbanded with it altogether seeing as they are decreasing in page length year after year. This is indeed a great worry as the booklet has been a helpful source of information for as long as I can remember and it was always so much more than what it has become today. It has sadly been reduced to a mere controls page. Information is thrust in front of your face now and they expect gamers to just deal with it.

Some games like to introduce you to the story by forcing you to read words on a black screen (which always fade before Ive finished reading). Others like Assassin’s Creed think they’re being original by providing you in game information about a bridge on the Tiber River.

Don’t get me wrong its good to know, but don’t you think if I wanted to know I would’ve just picked up a book. Maybe one day they will finish making booklets for games altogether, and instead just promote the over priced game magazines and official game guides that retailers try to sell to gamers.

Perhaps they will get rid of the plastic cases completely and sell games in the same plastic envelopes that Love Film uses. The booklet used to contain everything you might possibly need to know about the game including storyline, controls, character biographies, multiplayer, hints/cheats and much more. Now it is nothing more than empty space filling up with dust and memories.

Jimmy Clark

Yes, you’re there — Black Mesa review. Could it be the greatest mod? Let’s take a quick loot at it, shall we?

“They’re waiting for you, Gordon. In the test chamber.”

Well, that was interesting. At the most, I was expecting updated graphics. A never ending flow of familiar twists and turns. Familiar faces. Familiar weapons. Familiar enemies. And some rehashed memories. Thus nothing overly new. However…

It is not at all rehashed. I found myself getting lost down new corridors. Where once only bland walls stood; NEW laboratories had been added. Inside them NEW people (male and female) work, argue and chat. Lights flash, and NEW music plays. Updated people and monsters stalk the corridors. And the action is more intense than ever.

Around you, familiar sights and sounds have changed… slightly. Where before you would have walked out of the lift, gone down a corridor and taken a sharp left, open the door, and then enter the next section of the game.

Now, the lift doors open, a small hallway meets you, lights flash overhead ,at the end is a door, then a series of turns, a number of monsters jump out at you, a desperate battle ensues, you escape down an air-vent, crawl along it for 2 minutes, come out at the other end, and then finally you get to the door, and into the next section.

And to top it off, THE GAME IS FREE! Need I say more? Okay. I will.

Black Mesa Review: The Game

Black Mesa (previously called Black Mesa: Source), is the culmination of 8 years of painstaking redesign, by a 40 strong (all volunteer), team. Talk about a labour of love.

Black Mesa is an FPS title. As with Half-Life, the game is played entirely through the eyes of, Dr. Gordon Freeman. Like Half-Life, there are a number of puzzles to solve; people to help; and enemies to kill. Thus no great change from one to the other.

All the familiar faces are back; and a number of new ones have been added. And for those who have played Half-Life 2, a number of familiar looking characters… such as Dr. Vance, and the G-Man are here in all their Half-Life 2 glory.

The only major change in Black Mesa (apart from the graphics), is the exclusion of the alien world of, Xen. Though it shall be released as a download at some stage. So essentially you get 90% of the game for free, and the other 10% will come later.

For fans who like to get merchandise. The OST produced by, Joel Nielsen, featuring new and updated tracks is available for purchase. For those who loved Half-Life. This game is a must.

Watch these videos for more information:

Black Mesa Review: Replayability

Granted it is a linear game. However it is a lot of fun, even if the twists and turns become repetitive. Hopefully a multi-player mod will come out soon; as those were always fun (nothing like blowing yourself out of a window with the aid of, Satchel Chargers).

Technical Issues

Apart from the download and the advanced system one needs to run the game. I experienced only minor graphics glitches and a single black screen. Though one should not complain about anything free.

System

This is not for the faint of heart, or the weak. Black Mesa is an incredibly hungry beast, and will often chew through system resources: Like kids at an ‘all you can eat’ sweet shop buffet. But if you have a decent CPU (anything more than a dual core), enough RAM (4-Gigs), and a good Graphics-Card (1-Gig and up), then you should have no issues.

You NEED Windows, internet, and Steam to run it. If you haven’t got these, then don’t bother.

Release of Black Mesa

It was released on 14 September, 2012. You can download it from, www.blackmesasource.com/. Though I warn you (especially those in developing nations), it can be an uphill struggle to download (7 Gigs) and install.

Jimmy Clark

So, video games mods, huh? I’m no fancy coder. In fact I’m no kind of coder at all. I can fiddle about a bit with very basic HTML, but otherwise I’m completely clueless when it comes to making things happen with computer code. I tried to learn a bit as a kid, but it turned into a dizzying swirl of things that didn’t make a whole lot of sense and the can-can music started playing in my head.

This is BASIC we’re talking about here, the same language we were forced to use in computer studies, so you can imagine the miserable, though musical, time I had of that particular class. As much as I tried, I couldn’t work out how to get the damn thing to work – and I so wanted to know how it worked. This was the first suspicion I got that I’m a bit on the dumb side.

Still, even now, as a sophisticated – but still dumb-ish – adult, there’s something fascinating to me about the whole coding side of gaming. It fills me with wonder that they can put together strings of gibberish which coalesce in the characters and worlds floating around on your screen – often trying to kill you. It’s something I’ve always found sort of arcane. I just can’t get my brain around the whole business at all; to the point where I’m almost Rain Man-style punching myself in the head. Nyaaaaaaaa!

Even more fascinating to me are those folk who crack open games and fiddle about with their innards, like mad Roswell autopsy doctors, rearranging and replacing the quivering innards of the game to come up with something different. Not always better, mind you, just different. I’m fascinated by this world, mainly because I don’t have access to it. I just hear things about it on the internet wind, whispered by those in the know or all-capsed by crazies who insist it’s all just the Illuminati or whichever organisation is flavour-of-the-week.

Modding isn’t a new phenomenon – the early days of home micros had plenty of modding. To be honest if it weren’t for modders, if what I’m led to believe is correct (I refer you to my statement about dumbness above), a lot of games on the Spectrum and the C64 wouldn’t exist. There were also those who came up with ‘pokes’, the quaint (and, let’s not kid ourselves, hilariously dirty) term for creating strings of code that by-passed the game’s functions to make them easier – you know, a cheat: infinite lives, infinite time, invulnerability or infinite ammo.

They were great, when they worked. About ninety-five percent of the time you sat through the loading of your prospective game only to discover the pokes mangled a bit too much and it crashed or, even more infuriating, the game loaded fine, just as if it was running normally, which you soon realised it was. Someone, somewhere was cackling ‘Suckers’ to themselves.

Whether the game worked or not wasn’t the point; the fact was that there were industrious folks out there breaking open the code of games, prodding around inside and making changes. Fast forward today, and you have guys prising up the hood of a game engine and tweaking it in different ways. They’re adding their own signature to the game, and going to great lengths to do so, often creating entirely new features and areas worthy of the title of ‘expansion’. It’s a shame Warner decided to hammer down on the Lord of the Rings expansion for Skyrim. It looked tantalisingly good.

There are even those who improve games. Our old, buggy friends Bethesda have benefited greatly from those industrious little modders. These guys have swooped in and covered over the cracks in games like Fallout 3 and the Elder Scrolls games after the company has left the games alone.

How great would it be to have that kind of resource on the consoles? We’ve kinda been left with still-broken forms of the above-mentioned games. Imagine if Sony allowed players to get in and faf around with the code of certain games? What wonders we could behold! A game of Fallout: New Vegas that doesn’t have a seizure when you go to too many settlements. How great would that be? Of course there would be the other side of the equation: nasty little creeps messing with the code and creating malware.

As it is we already occasionally get that with the PS3, like the evening I was playing Modern Warfare 2 online and suddenly the game seemed to decide that psilocybin mushrooms would be good in an omelette. No harm was done to the system, but it did kind of break my game when I was getting millions of XP for kills. I couldn’t really look at Modern Warfare 2 in the eye again after that, like I’d seen it get into a car for money.

We’re never going to see the wonder of modded games (outside of the very limited ways some games will allow) on consoles, but a man can speculate on the world that could be. As time goes on, I yearn more and more for the chance to try out some of the mods I’m hearing about. Anybody who’s seen Skyrim screens with graphical mods will know what I mean – so will anybody who’s wanted to extend and enhance their role-playing by adding creative items and outfits. Maybe I should build a gaming PC. Maybe they call it the Master Race for a reason of video games mods.

Jimmy Clark

Let’s talk about movie games and top 5 of what we’re getting now, shall we? 2013 will see the release of big game titles such as Tomb Raider, Bioshock: Infinite, Resident Evil 6, and GTA V amongst others, but what is perhaps more notable this year is the impending release of several movie adaptations of much loved gaming franchises. Here we consider five of the video games that are set to hit the big screens in the near future, and five that live in rumour only. But we all secretly want to see.

Movie Games Top 5 we’re getting

Movie Games: #1 — Deus Ex Movie

The original film adaptation of Eidos’s 2000 futuristic conspiracy RPG/shooter has spent the last decade in on/off development hell. Initially attached to Columbia Pictures and then optioned to CBS films the barrage of terrible movie adaptations around that time essentially silenced any big screen frolic’s with shady augmented types wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night. What a shame.

Twelve years later then and in July of 2012 CBS announce a solid commitment to a film adaptation of the newest release in the series: prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Scott Derrickson of horror flick Sinister fame and C. Robert Carhill are attached to the project and will direct and write respectively.

Speaking of the adaptation Derrickson said “Deus Ex is a phenomenal cyberpunk game with soul and intelligence. By combining amazing action and tension with big, philosophical ideas, Deus Ex is smart, ballsy, and will make one hell of a movie”.

The smart, ballsiness concerns one Adam Jensen; injured in the line of duty and then undergoing life-saving surgery that reluctantly transforms our protagonist into more than just a man – but without the overblown pathos of some likewise players in the Star Wars world. There are no pantomime screams of ‘Noooooooooo’ in this dark world. He must come to terms with his guilt and his humanity, whilst dealing with sinister, global conspiracies to boot.

With high brow narratives that include ontology, transhumanism and what it really means to be a human in a world of technology the potential exists for a film that finally does a well-crafted game world justice. And although
Human Revolution is the most recent game in the series it serves as a prequel to the others and one can only hope that this is the beginning of a worthy and successful series.

#2 Assassin’s Creed Movie

The game world of period piece Assassin’s Creed was given a sumptuous overhaul last year with the latest instalment of the long-running franchise and was met with immediate critical and popular acclaim. Sticking to the trend that the marketers at Eidos devised a successful third offering has equalled a movie option.

Details are only just emerging regarding the film version of Ubisoft’s unique blend of history, science fiction, beggar shrugging and murder. That it’s further along than rumour mongers had previously thought seems concrete now, following Ubisoft sales and marketing man Geoffrey Sardin’s concession that ‘we have a movie in the next coming year [2013]’, although this has since been pushed to a more realistic 2014 slot.

Ubisoft have stated that the film will loosely follow the plot of the first game in the trilogy. A plot which allows players to re-live the memories of modern day bartender Desmond, seeing through the eyes of Altair – a crusade-era assassin who uncovers a shadowy conspiracy all the while assassinating everybody that gets in the way, or just plain pisses him off.

The project will star Michael Fassbender of X-men: First Class, and be written by lesser known Brit Michael Lesslie, whose credits include plays and short films. Ubisoft Motion Pictures – the big screen division of the franchise’s developers, will helm the project together with New Regency and it is due to start filming this Summer.

#3 Splinter Cell Movie

Not content with both a successful and long running game franchise, and an equally successful and long running book franchise, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell will be looking at expanding the series into a successful and long running movie franchise, sometime next year. The same duo who are set to release Altair into cinemas in 2014 will also be working on an adaptation of secret agent Sam Fisher and his seemingly endless fight against terrorism.

As with the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed Ubisoft were quick to secure a big name attaché to the project – this time in the form of British actor Tom Hardy, fresh from breaking Batman’s spine in Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises. Details on the scriptwriter have since emerged, with Eric Warren Singer signed on to pen the Ubisoft/New Regency partnered production. Singer’s biggest contribution to the medium is the passable The International and an episode of the Aeon Flux TV series.

Since most action games, or movies for that matter, focus on firepower and explosives to get the job done, this series stands out in that the primary emphasis is on stealth and brainpower. This sort of light-footed sneakiness doesn’t typically translate well on screen. See the ending to ‘cat-and-mouse stealth’ flick Predator: nuclear holocaust set to the soundtrack of maniacal laughter. It remains to be seen if Ubisoft can resist the big guns and give us something with a tad more subtlety with this one.

#4 Tomb Raider Movie (reboot)

When the reboot was first announced it may not have been the revival that a lot of gamers were hoping for, or even expecting – the series itself had gone somewhat stale in recent years, but with the impending release of the video game reboot the series is far overdue some rejuvenation. Yes, everybody’s favourite animal-killing, grave robbing, buxom bitch Lara Croft will return to the screens this year for presumably some more high level killing, thievery and grave robbing.

GK Films are looking to capitalise on the fuss surrounding the new game by providing their own movie tie-in, with Children of Men’s Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby having reportedly completed a draft script. The story will likely follow the same ‘origin’ style of the new video game, looking at a much darker version of Croft’s past.

Casting decisions are yet to be announced, although judging from the promotional material doing the rounds in anticipation of the game it is likely a much younger actress than series stalwart Angelina Jolie will be called up. The movie does not have a concrete release date as of yet but is reported as 2013.

#5 Mass Effect Movie

Commander Shepard’s epic space romp will see a movie release by 2015, Legendary Pictures who are helming the project, have said. The adaptation is still at the pre-production stage, with a first draft screenplay completed, and a new screenwriter on board to re-draft the writing. Morgan Davis Foehl, whose credits are for editorial only, will write the finished screenplay before casting can begin.

With a franchise so iconic and beloved by Bioware’s fan base it is the casting decisions that will no doubt be so controversial. And for anyone who has delicately balanced the Paragon and Renegade tightrope like an elephant with iron boots like most of us, you will appreciate that Shepard can appear anything from James Cagney to Graham Norton in a matter of seconds. Not an easy act for an actor to follow.

The element of choice, then, that Bioware is most famed for, will of course need a great deal of streamlining for the sake of filmic sanity. For the record the movie Shepard will be male, and given everything we know about heroic cinema it is incredibly likely that he will float somewhere closer to paragon than devilish renegade.

Top 5 Movies based on Games We Want

1. The Legend of Zelda

Nintendo are seemingly still in shock after the disastrous adaptation of Mario Bros. and perhaps rightly so. But what better redemption than a big screen slice of green, time-travelling elf Link in the lands of Hyrule? If not there is always the admirable fan-made film The Hero of Time to enjoy.

2. Half-Life

Episode Three of the enormously successful Half-Life series seems to be on permanent hiatus, having undergone a transition from the originally intended episodic release to a fully blown standalone title – what many speculate to be Half Life 3. As seems to be the norm now could the third in a trilogy of successful games also herald a movie adaptation?

3. Any of the Lego games

Because everything looks better in Lego.

4. Baldur’s Gate

First re-ignited with the excellent Lord of the Rings trilogy and recent Hobbit addendums, and not to mention HBO’s superb Game of Thrones TV series, fantasy is enjoying something of a renaissance. If we forget the atrocious game-inspired flicks Dungeons & Dragons and In the Name of the King one thus far unscathed franchise that could finally end the glut is seminal D&D classic Baldur’s Gate. I’d watch it, anyway.

5. Metro 2033

Sequel Metro: Last Light, despite losing its publisher, is scheduled for release in March, continuing the mis-adventures of Artyom in Dmitry Glukhovsky’s grim subterranean view of the future: Metro:2033. It is a bleak, original vision where nuclear war has forced the citizens of Moscow to forge a new life in the ageing underground. The novel on which it is based may be so-so but the game has unmistakable atmosphere and a movie could be a triumph.

That’s about it with top 5 movie games that we want and need.

Jimmy Clark

Most Annoying Companions in Gaming: We have all been there in that annoying situation when you are faced with a mind boggling task in a game and you need complete concentration otherwise you will never finish the game. To add to the frustration, your companion won’t shut the hell up and is always doing something annoying or distracting to put you off until eventually you find yourself shouting at the screen with insanity.

Sometimes you need the help of your companion to complete said task but for some reason he/she just does not want to cooperate. Here is a list of some familiar faces that have caused you to despair in the past who I like to call the Jar Jar Binks’ of gaming.

10) Jack (Mass Effect 2)

Don’t forget to use that gun before you die Jack.

I know some of you may be thinking ‘why is Jack on this list?’ considering she is pretty much an unstoppable killing machine with a huge grudge. However, if you look closely when she first joins your squad you begin to realise her abilities are somewhat mediocre compared with other biotic or soldier like squad mates that you already have. When she finally joins up to fight for you and not Cerberus (kind of the same thing really at that point) she starts to go from hardcore to just plain pathetic.

All she ever does is moan throughout the whole game provided you actually went down into the basement to chat to her every now and again, which I never did because she was making me very depressed. Not only that but she was pretty disappointing when it actually came down to fighting because she was normally the first to die for whatever reason. All that anger and huge ego that had built up inside of her during years of captivity was all spent up after using one of her powers before she quickly fell to the floor.

This was the same Jack that didn’t take crap from anyone or anything, the same Jack that during the cinematic trailer took out a whole room of people with a single blast and nearly destroyed the entire prison with her abilities. One word to sum up Jack. Disappointing.

9) Pikachu (Pokemon Yellow)

Smile while you can Pikachu, your days are numbered.

Everyone was excited when Nintendo released Pokemon Yellow for the Gameboy Colour. The chance to relive what actually happened in the cartoon series at your fingertips with your character arriving too late to Professor Oak’s house thus meaning you had to settle for the runt of the litter being Pikachu.

Apart from refusing to go inside his poke ball like any other good slave pokemon would he annoys you further by being next to useless in every shape or form. Pikachu only really starts to pull his weight when you go to the Cerulean City gym to get your water badge which of course is no real challenge considering water and electricity don’t mix given the huge advantage you have. This is more than can be said for Pikachu after you first collect the cute little bundle of annoyance and you discover that the Veridian City gym is locked and you can’t go in till pretty much the very end of the game.

Now this would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that the first gym you enter is the rock gym. How is that for a huge welcome to Pokemon Yellow kids? All I can say about that situation is I hope you built up your Ratatat, Weedle or whatever it is you found in the nearby shrubbery because you are about to get your Pikachu served to you on a plate resting on a bed of pebbles.

8) Kazooie (Banjo Kazooie)

Bet there are a few nasty surprises in the bottom of Banjo’s backpack.

With all due respect Kazooie is great, she likes to make wise cracks and absolutely loves being blunt and honest with everyone around her (especially Bottles) but there are times when you are just not in the mood. She’s fun for a while but when you hear the same loud mouthed negativity over and over again it becomes very tiresome. Not only that but she is all talk, quite literally in fact.

She sits in Banjo’s backpack shouting abuse at people who can’t defend themselves but when the going gets tough (and let’s be fair it normally does) she backs down and decides enough is enough and urges Banjo who has been to hell and back trying to save his little sister from a grizzly fate to call it quits. Kazooie very quickly turns from being a loud mouthed breegull to a sceptic cynical turkey so for that reason she has found her place on the list.

7) Yoshi (Super Mario World)

Perhaps the friendliest dinosaur since Barney.

Your opinion of Yoshi really does depend on how good you can handle him and whether or not you can speed through a whole level without being hit once. The main reason Yoshi made it to the list was because he can be your best friend at times and be a total @£$%^ the next. There is that self indestructibility factor when riding Yoshi, it may not have the same effect as grabbing a magic star and going nuts on everyone but you still sit proud on top of your dinosaur whilst you jump on and eat all the spiky enemies and piranha plants which would otherwise be a total pain in the arse.

Heres the annoying thing about Yoshi, it’s all fine and well when your on him laying waste to bowsers minions but what happens when you accidentally get hit? After eating a spiked cactus or a spiked koopa (which would kill most people) it’s only when he runs into a goomba does he leg it pass everything else leaving you behind to run after him dodging bowsers army as you try to catch up to Yoshi. Surprise surprise it never ended well, even if you caught him and got back on him you’d only fall off again.

Yoshi therefore was a luxury and a loyal companion who would normally get you into more trouble than if you just went ahead on foot which is not what you need when you are trying to save your girlfriend.

6) 343 Guilty Spark (Halo 1,2 and 3)

‘Greetings I am 343 Guilty Spark. Monitor of installation 04.’ Yes we know.

Technically Guilty Spark isn’t a follower or a companion but he does pop up every now and then providing you with some priceless information which could’ve saved a lot of lives and everyones time in the process. For being inconsistent and only providing answers when prompted he has found his way onto the list.

He pretends to be your friend throughout the series and expects a great big hug every time you see him even though you are never on the best of terms due to the fact he tried to kill you in the first game, but he had good intentions right? Wrong. He keeps trying to push forward the idea of the ends justify the means and by killing everyone you solve the problem. Technically that would work but then there would be no sequels, think about it spark! He keeps withholding vital bits of information from you until the right time comes which is pretty annoying because when is the right time exactly?

Is it when everyone’s waiting to die from a nuclear blast or ten minutes before the end of the world, take your pick. What would happen if you put Dumbledore in a small over compact intelligence machine? You would get 343 Guilty Spark and guilty he most certainly is, the little time waster.

5) Tricky (Star Fox Adventures)

‘I don’t know about this Fox.’

Good old Tricky a loyal companion until the very end, well until he became incredibly sceptical about almost everything that is. Fair play to him he was normally bang on the money every time but that’s beside the point. ‘I don’t know about this Fox’, of course you don’t you dumb dinosaur you never do.

You are far too young to be this negative and sceptical about everything you come across, if anything you should be incredibly hyperactive and relish the unexpected. Like the dog in the Fable series Tricky does offer his expertise in digging holes and finding things in the ground for you to use and he establishes this with an exclamation mark above his head. Now Tricky does this for almost anything he comes into contact with. If your’e fighting a group of dinosaurs his head lights up, now normally this would be ideal for letting you know how close you are to enemies except when I’m already fighting them it’s a little bit too late to be warning me about it now Tricky!

There are also the random occasions when his head will light up for no apparent reason so you end up wasting loads of time just walking around trying to find what it is that Tricky has supposedly found, which of course there was nothing except a Tricky glitch. Thanks a lot Tricky, thanks a lot mate.

4) The Adoring Fan (The Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion)

That’s it just a little to the left.

Well done for getting this far with Oblivion, you’ve cleared every obstacle in the arena so as a special treat for you we will give you an adoring fan who will follow you wherever you go and give you enormous amounts of praise whenever you ask for it. This of course wears a little bit thin after a while, especially when you often have to wait for him to catch up with you (the little pygmy elf that he is).

Needless to say the biggest use that the fan can give you is to test out how many different ways in which to kill him. Lure him into a camp of bandits, make him drown himself, or my all time favourite make him follow you to the highest peak in Cyrodil and ‘use your weapon’ to knock him off and send him flying into the distance. Just a bit of harmless fun at the expense of one ‘die hard’ fan.

3) Boris and Natalya (Goldeneye)

Invincible are you Boris? Let’s test that theory.

It was hard to pick one or the other so I thought it was logical to include both seeing as they both have the same problem in which they love to be a human shield. Normally it would be ok although given the situation they are supposed to be using their computer skills to hack into enemy intelligence or get us out of a jam.

If you wanted them to pick up a gun and start shooting you would have asked them but instead they just can’t resist jumping in the way of the enemies or quite often your own bullets. It’s almost as if they doubt your abilities as the worlds top secret agent so much that killing themselves is the only way out. Come on Boris and Natalya, I’m James Bond show a little bit of faith. All anyone asks of you is to do your job so we can do ours, end of story and let’s face it even when you are doing your jobs you can’t even do that right (Boris I’m looking in your direction).

2) Slippy Toad (Lylat Wars)

‘Slippy here, I’m ok.’ Yes Slippy but for how long?

Now here’s an interesting character who adds to the pain of having useless squad mates. Slippy Toad is all about being useless as he is always the first in your squad to be taken out. It doesn’t help when he very often liked to put himself in suicidal positions after breaking off from the rest of the group and trying to be a hero resulting in the constantly used phrase ‘Im monkey food if I don’t leave.’

You’ll be more than monkey food when I get my hands on you Slippy. Those that have played Lylat Wars (Star Fox 64) will remember that Slippy causes you to redirect your course in the Lylat system in order to rescue him from a desert planet which just happened to be one of the hardest missions in the game. This was all because he decided to neglect your warnings in the previous mission as he foolishly raced ahead and got himself taken out by the main boss resulting on him being stranded on another planet. One of the many incidences in the game that cause you to think ‘why Slippy, why?’

Peppy Hare was also a bit useless in the fighter department but then again he is an old man and a war veteran so at least he has an excuse for being useless which is more than can be said for Slippy.You may be a good mechanic but you’re certainly no fighter pilot Slippy so I would say stick to what you’re good at and don’t quit your day job.

1) Navi (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

‘Hey, listen.’

‘Hey, listen. Hey, listen. Hey, listen.’ No you listen you stupid little fairy, you listen good and proper. Every time I’m presented with a puzzle or quest and I do actually need help you don’t say a word but if I’m simply wandering the Hyrule Kingdom enjoying myself you simply won’t shut the hell up. You annoyed me from the second you woke me up in the Kokiri Village and you have annoyed me ever since.

The owl that randomly pops up here and there offers more help than you do so come on Navi lets keep the ‘Hey Listens’ to a minimum okay. Navi the fairy is like having a wasp in the car when your’e driving or an itch you just can’t scratch that repeatedly tells you that even if you shout ‘I don’t believe in fairies’ Navi will pop right back up to tell you that you are stuck with this annoying irritating little !@£$ until the very end of the game. All I can say is thank god that Link was locked in the Temple of Time for years because I think he needed the rest before the next ordeal.

Then again what about the gamers who unfortunately weren’t able to cheat time and had to succumb to Navi never leaving. Navi was everything that prevented Ocarina of Time from being 100% enjoyable so for that reason Navi has found a well deserved spot on this list as the most annoying companion/follower in gaming history. If there really is a hell then you can bet it would have something to do with you, Navi and a very small room. Most Annoying Companions in Gaming

Jimmy Clark

Mass Effect Trilogy Disclaimer: Now it should no surprise to any readers that good research is something that everybody here at The Gamer’s Challenge takes very seriously indeed. If we journalists didn’t have a firm experience of the games we reported on and reviewed, it would be impossible to form an objective and accurate account of the medium. However, in this as in all things, we consider ourselves innovators, and from now on, you can expect our ‘Uninitiated’ articles to contain absolutely no research whatsoever.

These are the games I will never get round to playing, and ‘Uninitiated’ is a proud celebration of the fact that I haven’t the faintest idea what I’m talking about.

Mass Effect Trilogy

So, Mass Effect. It’s made by Bioware, so it’s obviously a talky-talky affair with rpg elements, so you can upgrade conversational skills and occasionally shoot bug-eyed monsters, but only so you can chat about it afterwords.

It’s a big space opera: wide-lens shots of star-spangled nebulae, spacecraft defying science by whooshing about the vacuum, maybe a voiceover from an ex cast member of Battlestar Galactica. It’s 20XX and we’ve all packed our bags and border-hopped the Milky-Way. I think there’s some kind of galactic alliance, kind of like the U.N. but with actual power. Earthlings are mostly in charge of this, because a cursory glance at human history reveals our species as producing nothing but flawless politicians since time immemorial. But there’s some other token extraterrestrial minorities lumped in for good measure. Just as well. Don’t want any UFO complaints to Ofcom.

Anyhoo, you’re a power ranger called Shepard, who interestingly looks a lot like Jack Shepard from Lost. At least he does on the box art. In game, Shepard looks like absolutely anything because he’s completely customizable, to the point of having no canon gender, ethnicity, height, weight or personality: which is exactly the kind of protagonist I’m rooting for. Players can carefully fix him up to look like Adonis or the Elephant Man with a bad case of acne. Choice choice choice, that’s the Mass Effect watchword, and if people want their character to have been raped in the face by the ugly tree, who are Bioware to judge?

So it’s our dashing hero’s job to save the universe from the dreaded Reapers, a race of pointy-headed robots with a minor gripe against the existence of sentient life as we know it. The Reapers engineered organic life as well, so why they’ve chosen to exterminate everything now is beyond me. Maybe they heard about Nikki Menaj and decided we deserved obliteration, in which case I can’t help but agree. Regardless, it’s up to Shepard, (and only Shepard) to unite the galaxy against the threat of genocide, because when you’re theme-naming in a video game who needs subtlety?

Or you can be evil, which seems a bit pointless, since the plot depends on saving the galaxy anyway. Maybe Shepard wants to protect people so he can be a douche to them later? Who can fathom the mind of a sexless, raceless no-body with no cultural or national heritage whatsoever?

You spend your time hanging out in this big ship called the Citadel. I dunno what the Dulux space marines have been up to there for the last two installments of the franchise, and I’m not too clear as to what their actual job descriptions are. I guess they just hop in spacecrafts every now and again and go on ADVENTURES! and never do any paperwork. This is important because there’s loads of exploration in Mass Effect games. There are more square light years in-game than there is in actual space. God only knows what strange, fantastical dialogue trees might might be out there, just waiting for brave explorers to take that first tentative step.

Anyway, it’s alright though, because if you get bored with that then there’s always that infamous SEX SCENE. That’s right kids, you heard it here first: actual SEX, with KISSING and MOANING and GENITALS. Phoar, it sounds so bloody steamy I wanna masturbate myself to death and display pornography to children right here and now. I especially love the bit where it fades to black after about six seconds. I doubt any of you guys could handle it.

And last of all, the third game has a dreadful ending. Truly horrible. Every agonizing decision, every contentious moral choice amounts to nothing more than the color of an explosion. It was so bad the Occupy movement had to be postponed just so they could protest that instead. Incidentally I remember people said the same thing about Lost. Co-incidence? I think not …

Jimmy Clark

So, on a frosty Wednesday night, the eyes of the technological world were on Sony and their PS4 Announcement. Out they bounded; smiles broad, teeth sparkling and ready to make their spectators giddy with excitement. Bombs were dropped, console specs unveiled, and impressive looking games demonstrated. And the most remarkable revelation of all was how little the gaming landscape has changed as a result.

Playstation 4 is undoubtedly a technological beast. Gamers and enthusiasts of high end graphics can rejoice and bathe in its powerful magnificence. It will no doubt deliver the exciting games we all know and love. The problem lies in that we’ve been here before. It’s the exact same policy we saw from Sony with the Playstation 3.

Once again, Sony has focused their attention, almost laser like, on the young male demographic. They’ve gone so far as to stress that this is their primary target. This tactic served them well with their first two consoles. But it was when their follow up to the most successful home console of all time was released when the first cracks in this strategy began to emerge. Boasting high end visuals and a price tag to match it, Sony expected the Playstation 3 to fly off the shelves. It didn’t. Only a series of savage price cuts and a good set of exclusives turned the console into a slow burning, yet relative success.

Once again Sony is banking that the enthusiasts will flock to their rescue. There may be no announcement on price yet, but it’s unlikely to be cheap. This presents Sony with a dilemma. Do they price it high like the PS3 and pray, or do they release it cheaper and take a massive hit financially, the idea being that the shortfall is made up through software and peripheral sales, and then twiddle their thumbs anxiously until production costs go down?

Strangely enough, by sticking with their tried and tested formula, Sony have perhaps made their biggest gamble yet. Ultimately, it will come down to how fast the Call of Duty and Fifa fans make the generational transfer. Sony needs it to happen fast. The company is in a bad way financially; their game division among a select few turning a profit within the company. Developing such a powerful console is akin to placing the company’s fortune on black. Depending on which way the gaming roulette spins it could reap dividends. Or it could spell disaster.

Sony is banking on their traditional controller once again, another sign of their intent to woo the enthusiast gamer

But let’s talk about what many will consider to be the most important factor. The games. New Killzone and Infamous games were confirmed for fans of Sony’s first party efforts, and Deep Down looked truly gorgeous. What is certainly clear is that the focus will remain on satiating the ravenous appetites of the enthusiast gamer; so again, business as it was with the PS3. Additional features like the ability to stream videos of your games to your friends and discuss your progress, and its ability to connect with social media, are undoubtedly very appealing for those who spend most of their time online, and will undoubtedly add to multiplayer communities.

So with Sony revealing some of their cards, how do the other manufacturers respond? Well it’s now Microsoft’s turn at the crease. They certainly have a lot of rumours and speculation to clear up, particularly whether they are blocking used games or releasing an always online system. The only safe presumption to make is it will likely continue along the same path the X360 has strayed, turning it into an all-encompassing, multimedia entertainment device. So how powerful do they make the console? Do they match the PS4 like for like, or find a happy medium between it and the Wii U, thus making it more affordable?

Speaking of Wii U, where does this leave Nintendo’s struggling new release? Well, tell the truth, in the exact same position. The Wii U’s problems are all of Nintendo’s own making, and only they can turn it round. They will however be encouraged at how expensive the PS4 is looking. That means with a significant price cut, combined with their big hitting franchises, they could very well fight out a corner as a cheap alternative, or indeed as a second console for those who already own either of the more powerful devices.

What we are facing is the very real possibility that, for the first time since the days of the Playstation 1, all three home consoles will be drastically different from each other, all chasing different markets like schoolchildren following a rainbow to find the Leprechaun’s gold. It’s a situation we haven’t seen in the industry for nary a year. We’ve got so used to having consoles alike in terms of focus and power that it will be interesting to see where the gamers, and indeed the games, flock to.

But the elephant in the room comes in the guise of a world that has changed since the PS3 was first unveiled. Back then, if you had a few hundred quid to spend on an electronic entertainment device, you bought a games console. Now though, there is a wealth of alternatives all costing similar amounts. The Playstation may not be in direct competition with the likes of Apple and Samsung, but they are competing for the hard earned cash lining people’s wallets. Moreover, the vast influx of gamers who flocked to the Wii have now moved elsewhere, meaning the latest home consoles will be bought, in all likelihood, by the same people who bought their predecessors.

For now, all we know for certain is the battleground upon which Sony has pitched their flag, and they will now be working to make sure it reels in the dosh. Ultimate success or failure will not depend on the ravings of forum goers or on Sony’s devoted fans. It will depend entirely on what kind of appetite remains for a high end console which delivers a cinematic gaming experience. Interesting times indeed for the industry after PS4 Announcement.

Jimmy Clark