E3 - A late motion postmortem

So what did the big three bring to the table at the LA convention centre that caught my interest. OK, so this year felt like a "us too" with Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft's Xbox division both revealed motion control gaming technology. The most shocking aspect of their blatant "jumping on the bandwagon" is how they are at least both surpassing what Nintendo's own Wii offers even with its new Wii motion plus remote adaptor. First lets think about Microsoft's "Natal", a camera mounted in front of the player which promises to remove the standard controller, apparently its become a barrier for many non gamers.... and what are Microsoft leading with for Natal? well UK based developer Loinhead's "Milo", a young boy simulator essentially that comes across as creepy. I'm not sure who Microsoft are aiming Milo and Natal at, the demographics of the Xbox 360 are clearly not the Wii's target audience given the success of Halo and such titles in sales compared to previous casual attempts in the past like "Lips" and "Your In The Movies". Perhaps Natal will find its way into the next Halo game, or a collection of mini-games, I'm drawn to the latter sadly. Sony's version of motion control tech came in a more controller based attempt. From what I could gather their "wand" uses a already available Playstation 3 Eye-toy to track its motions. Their presentation of the device came across as a more accurate version of Nintendo's tech. Sony showed various applications which clearly show a product in its infancy. While Natal and Sony's wand will appeal to their audiences well its early days, to convince a non Wii audience of these devices strengths its going to take alot of traditionally "hardcore" franchises adopting the devices.

Perhaps I'm just getting old but this years E3 didn't light my fire so to speak. Clearly its a fantastic time for gamers, the choice available has never been so strong. I got excited for a New Super Mario Galaxy and a unique DS title named Scribblenauts. The latter allows players to type in a gargantuan selection of words to produce objects on screen.

8 Bit PROJECT - Tiny update

Heres some updated screens from the Super Mario Bros 3 section previously shown. Essentially at this stage I've just began to populate the section with classic boxes etc found in the game.

8 Bit PROJECT

Heres some screens of a little project I've just begun for over the summer. Welcome to my "8 Bit PROJECT", its early days but the final product will be hopefully something special. In the mean time enjoy these early screens of walking through classsic box art into Super Mario Bros 3 (Click all images to supersize!).

Handguns to the head!

Ok so I've been crap updating my little ranting spot online. Since I last updated University has finished for another year, how did I do? hmm I'll let you know in a few weeks lol.

So I'm off on holiday to Orlando in two weeks. Haven't had a holiday for like three years, I guess I've just never got round to going on one (we'll apart from a night in London two years ago). So what have I been upto? being honest not much... working at Next, I've been playing a few games on my flashy new PC like Crysis and Dawn Of War. On the console side Persona 3 is entertaining me + a return trip to Super Mario Galaxy. I'm looking forward like all good gamers to next weeks E3 announcements, seriously if Nintendo show a Galaxy sequel I'm sold!

I'll add some updates this week with links to my recent university work

Have fun!

Christopher

Gaming event at University

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Heres some images I took at the "University Experience Week" gaming event (on the 22nd of April). I'm really happy with the feedback from university students and the support I found from fellow CVG students and my course leader Umran Ali / student union president Usman Ali. We still have another day tomorrow :)

Christopher

Finally a website to call my own

So I've finally took the plunge and paid for my own website. Its early days (well day one) but I'm hoping to expand the site to include downloads for my university work in the coming weeks. In the mean time feel free to take a gander at my currently "basic to say the least" looking site.

http://www.christopher-begley.co.uk

Laters

Micro Review: Nintendo DSi

First came the DS Fat (Yes even Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing Cammie Dunnaway calls it that!) then the DS Lite. Sure the DS Fat looked like a prototype but the DS Lite really launched the system into hyper-space. Now we have the DSi, essentially a DS Lite with several newly implemented features for a 4 year old platform.

The first major additions to the DSi come in the form of two built in camera's (One located on the inside and one on the outside of the DSi). These camera's allow gamers to take photographs and use them to play in specific games such as a new Warioware DSi title. Now back to the other major improvements, SD card support and Dsiware.

The system now has an SD card slot which is handy for saving photographs or playing music files via the built in music player. Hopefully it wont be too long until some hacks the DSi for homebrew applications via the SD card slot (I mean seriously Nintendo! your just asking for it this time!). The final major addition if a shopping channel. Using any available wifi connection allows for paid and free downloads of software. This software ranges from micro versions of already existing DS games (Such as Brain Training or Planet Puzzle League) to new titles such as Warioware Snapped and Azurio. These games require Nintendo points just like on the Wii's shopping channel.

Other improvements include as a new menu navigation system, slightly larger screens and a new plastic matt finish making the DSi a fantastic evolution of the brand. Currently in the UK a store that rhymes with "lame" are offering big discounts when gamers trade in a DS Lite against the DSi.

Happy Easter everyone and go easy on those eggs!

Killzone 2 - Someday I wanna be an engineer!

Finally I've had the time to put some real time into the multiplayer component on Killzone 2. Since the games release I've occasionally dipped my toes into the pool that is Killzone 2's impressive multiplayer mode. I believe I've found the must addictive online multiplayer FPS game. I know that sounds a bit crazy but I've come to this conclusion based on the multiplayer game classes.

Killzone 2 makes players work for unlocks that upgrade their online abilities. The game gives XP for kills etc like in Call Of Duty 4 that over time gives unlocks. Unlike Call Of Duty 4 the game takes a while to unlock a new class (each class has unique abilities). I have to say that playing for 3 hours at a time for a new class sounds daunting but the rewards are well worth it. Take the Engineer class, once players unlock this guy they unlock sentry bot's that can be deployed almost anywhere. Setting up a few bot's in a good location is really a thrill to watch them mow down opposing players. The class later unlocks the ability to repair bot's and other equipment adding a further reason to stick with the Engineer. Other classes include the medic, who can revive fallen players. Overall each class greatly effects how players interact in multiplayer which has only a positive effect overall.

Viva Pokemon

I've recently gone back to playing Pokemon, usually on the bus. One gameplay feature that has always concerned me is how the human characters treat Pokemon. In the game players are a "Pokemon trainer" who catches Pokemon creatures by attacking them with other previously caught Pokemon. Then they are stored in small containers named "pokeballs". To make things worse the player then fights other trainers with the now enslaved Pokemon. Ok so enslaved sounds a bit extreme but what about the poor innocent critters?

Pokemon has clearly influenced another creature catch em all type adventure. Viva Pinata released in 2006 is a garden simulator where players interact with paper, candy filled Pinata. In 2008 its successor Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise took the Pokemon aim of catching critters to a new darker level. The game introduces hunting grounds where Pinata can be trapped using bait Heres my own personal account of a Pinata "hunt".

First, I laid down a trap on the floor, then placed the correct bait on top (apparently Pinata have different tastes, weird ones at that). Then I wait...

...aha! the penguin Pinata, named Pengum (all the Pinata have candy related names) walks upto the trap. Learning that the trap activates automatically I wait for the Pengum to eat its bait. Bingo, the Pengum eats the bait, but jumps away before the trap transforms into a FedEx like box (to be posted back to my garden, via the local neighborhood postal service). So essentially I tried to catch a wild animal, then take it back to my garden away from its friends, Is this a bad example of how not to treat animals?

I was glad I didn't catch the poor thing! I felt sympathy for the innocent Pinata! I must be getting soft? That or Rare (Viva Pinata's developer has done an amazing job!).

Game days at Salford University

I've been lucky this week. The opportunity to coordinate a gaming event has came up as part of a university wide "Student Experience Week". In coordination with Usman Ali (the university's union president) we've devised a two day gaming event. The event will be the opportunity for students from my course to share their love for video games with all Salford students. We have agreed on having tournaments open to students/ staff for the following games on the xbox 360 (hopefully with £50 prize money and trophies for each winner).

• Halo 3
• Street Fighter IV
• Fifa 09
• Pro Evolution Soccer 09

The two day event is going to happen on the 22nd & 24th of April (first week back after easter break) between 1pm & 5pm each day. As well as the games event other fun events will be taking place over the entire week. We'll also have a Nintendo Wii set up on a huge projector. I'll add more info on the event as it gets closer. More info on the whole week can be found here...

http://www.salfordstudents.com

P.S this weekend I have the joys of Next, we have a sale on and its pretty crazy mad as usual! + I have a group for my final years studies at Salford - GOOD TIMES!.

Project Management 4 Presentation

Today I presented a business proposal with two fellow students Steven Matthews & Louie Mitchell. The business proposal detailed a small company attempting to gain funding for Nintendo Wii development. If anyone wants to take a look I've uploaded the presentation onto gigashare, just follow the link below (requires powerpoint 2007 for PC or 2008 for Mac), I'm also meeting the president of Salford's student union to talk about the proposed games week today.

www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=2cdgx0x1fnc

(P.S search for a font on google named "babelfish" & install before opening)

Bargain bin video games & me

Above: Beyond Good and Evil a bargain? obviously!

So I've been kinda busy at university over the past weeks. Finally nailed down a group for my 3rd year project which is awesome to get sorted. Anyway, I'm not sure what most gamers are like by do you find yourself buying too many games? Here in the UK the second hand market makes buying several games at once quite appealing because they are cheap as chips. I've found that I used to falling into the "buy a game for cheap play it for a few hours and I'm done". The most recent example came when I found Ubisoft's 2003 classic Beyond Good & Evil for £2.50, yes a bargain! I played for several hours and felt like I completely got my moneys worth. Another game was Dragon Quest on the PS2. Finding the game for £1.99 brand new (I must just be lucky) I put almost 20 hours in. I guess the moral on this blog post before I head of to my high flying sunday job (joke) is, don't buy so many £40 games! Price as always is so so important because most cheaper games are better experiences than the "new releases" on your local stores shelves. Another game I got cheap (£5) that lasted me forever was Level 5's JRPG Rogue Galaxy, If anyones not played it and your a fan of JRPG's its a must!

Have a great Sunday, I have work till six, then I'm gonna watch the Battlestar Galactica grand finale on TV :)

Google Maps are really fun! Part One!

Above: Ha the place where I live, good old Daisy Bank Road! Now lets go to Japan!

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Above: One of the many Club Sega's in Tokyo! Ha are the waiting to play Street Fighter IV?

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Above: An empty main road in Kyoto, ha its Nintendo HQ! I wonder if they serve caviar at lunch now?

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Got a spare five minutes? Google Maps has an amazing new feature that allows user to see street views of most major cities around the globe! Had loads of fun with this new feature!

History & Analysis 4 - Symposium Paper

Last thursday at 10-am I presented a paper to my class for History & Analysis on teens and gaming. The title for this symposium paper was "The Halo Generation: Teenagers & Video Games". Overall the paper covers the following key topics.

• The teenager game, a history
• Halo: More than boys and their toys?
• What about the girls?

Heres a link to download a .pdf version of the paper if anyones interested in taking a look. I used the whole twenty minutes but 15 minutes in my lecturer gave me a five minute warning, ha i though I was on 5 minutes, guess that means I thought it was going well!

The Halo Generation: Teenagers & Video Games - Link

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=sjnwmdmb2xd

Enjoy

Game Tournaments didn't work out, then it went a bit serendipity :)

So the Street Fighter IV & Halo 3 stuff at university didn't take off but a new cause has came to my attention. Speaking with the University student union president Usman Ali, a few CVG students are going to help on a university wide gaming event. The idea so far is having three afternoon's in a row the week back after the easter break. The event will have Street Fighter IV & Halo 3 so its gonna be great. I have to talk more with Usman. I'll keep my blog updated with more info as it happens :).

Game Tournaments At My University

Heres two posters for some game tournaments I'm arranging for CVG students over the coming weeks. One will be for Capcom's newest brawler Street Fighter IV (xbox 360 version as they have one at university) and xbox 360 fanboys favorite Halo 3.

I Kissed a Wii and I liked it!

Ok, so I bought into the Wii when it launched, I stood outside Gamestation alone in Manchester at Midnight at launch talking about how awesome the controls looked with complete strangers (I was more excited for Twilight Princess than Wii Sports like half the queue to be honest). My experience of Wii has been mixed, coming from being loyal to Nintendo during their "troubles" i.e. Gamecube and Nintendo 64 being trashed by the competition (I still believe Pokemon saved Nintendo from going the way of Sega) the Wii continues to surprise me. Its easy to complain about what it doesn't do, or that most games look worse than Gamecube titles but my being able to smell a bad game at 100 ft has saved me from the tons of bad/ broken Wii titles. So back to the point of this post. 

The last Wii game that grabbed me was Super Mario Galaxy because it was FUN! Yesterday I went back to the system and even tho its clearly far from superior to the competition (xbox 360 with its 3 core blah blah and the Playstation 3 and the cell, P.S. I own them both so I feel i can make a non fanboy analysis of Wii). Super Mario Galaxy just works and its still the one game I can't imagine using any other control interface, its almost a perfect example of how to make a Wii game that is a Gamecube game with waggle or worse. 

My friends think I hate Wii, sure I moan occasionally about what I doesn't do, forgetting what it gets right. Thinking about the system over the past week Its clear I think it has a place under my television because it offers something the other systems just can't. Sure some games like Dead Rising have no place on a Wii but some like Galaxy deserve to be in any gamers collection next to "hardcore" games like Fallout 3 and Killzone 2.

A Game Boy?

Hey so I've been stupidly busy over the past week playing Street Fighter IV (Joke, university work more like!) My design group has a name (Powerhouse Games) and a Mod title of Bug Company. Take a gander at our developer blog.

http://powerhousegames.blogspot.com/

Apart from my design group I don't have a whole lot to talk about at the minute. Heres a list of what's keeping me sane at the moment.

* Street Fighter IV (Online 1 on 1 fighting perfection)

* Steven Fry In America on DVD

* Homemade chocolate chip muffins (thanks Robert Dyer!)

* My animals Starbuck (Rabbit) and Charlie (Dog)

Anyway notice the silly Game Boy man picture? check out this page on ign.com about Nintendo's past and present handheld systems!

http://uk.ds.ign.com/articles/956/956642p1.html

See ya!

I need this game! and I don't really know why!

I just came across a trailer for the Japanese PSP game Yuushu 30. From the looks of things its a traditional JRPG but one that does away will all that dull/ slow gameplay. The game looks amazing with its intentionally oversized character sprites and uber fast Warioware-ish gameplay. (I know a bit weird as I've never played it I WANT IT). Check out the trailer below to see what I'm talking about (Thanks Gametrailers.com). Yuushu 30 is due to hit Japanese stores in May, heres hoping for a western release!

Been so busy!

Hey sorry I've not been posting on Shoryu Reppa over the past week (and if anyone even reads this, get a life! lol). I've been so busy with university work/ meetings. Right now ( 10am saturday morning) is my first free time since monday. So I'm a producer for my Design 4 class. It's funny because hotmail is fast becoming my best friend, I'm always emailing something out! It's fun so far I'm in a group of 10 students tasked with creating an Unreal Mod in 12 weeks. Aside from university life we have a new dog named Charlie! He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and is about 9 weeks old. I've never had a dog so its completely a learning experience.

As for the crazy world of video games I've not seen/ played much. I noticed the PSN downloadable title "Flower" on the Playstation store so I might give that a go. I was surprised by the review scores floating around for Capcom's Street Fighter 4 (Ign US gave it 9.5) Its starting to look like I'll pick it up at the end of this month. My only concern is that i have numerous Street Fighter games already and is this one "that" much different? I love the Alpha series, especially Street Fighter Alpha 3 so hopefully Street Fighter 4 is just as fun. Anyway I'll post again later today. As for games on the horizon its looking rather bleak, Killzone 2's demo didn't exactly reinvent the wheel and Resident Evil 5 appears to be Resident Evil 4 in HD, which while thats a good thing I didn't play anything new to make me part with £40 come March

Early E3 predictions part one - Nintendo

Last years E3 wasn't the kindest for loyal Nintendo fans around the world. The complete lack of "hardcore" titles hit home as soon as Shaun White stood on the stage. The Big problem with Nintendo at the moment isn't Nintendo's problem. let me explain Nintendo is a business and at the end of the day their bottom lines are all that matter. Sony would kill to be in Nintendo's shoes because in comparison their company is sinking. Nintendo wants peoples money they don't care if Animal Crossing Wii is essentially Gamecube Animal Crossing from 8 years ago. They knew It would sell to the casual market because they don't even know the Gamecube version existed! Its the same with Pikmin's re-release on Wii. This is an 8 year old game also yet to many Wii owners is not! This brings me nicely into E3 2009. Will Nintendo tailor a few games to their faithful fans who held their hands through the dark Nintendo 64/ Gamecube times?

Its unclear at this point if fan will even care come the end of next year. With publications widely condemning Nintendo for dropping fans for cash these publications forget one thing, Nintendo fans are very loyal dogs! Teasing a new Zelda or Mario title keeps the fans in line yet Zelda even compared to Mario is in dire need of a re-boot. The series needs some innovation so it would be understandable if Zelda is on show this year with a complete re-design to tailor to new and old fans. Super Mario Galaxy was a fantastic title, a true successor to Super Mario 64. The chance of a new Mario game at E3 is something that being speculated all over the internet. My own opinion is that E3 will bring a sequel to Galaxy with more crazy in-space gravity defying platforming antics. So Mario and Zelda wouldn't be surprises at E3 but what else? heres two games that should be next to Link and Mario at E3!

Pilotwings Wii - This is long overdue! the last title was Pilotwings on the Nintendo 64 over a decade ago. The series skipped gamecube and one of the early Wii demo video's showed a young boy using the wii remote to control a airplane (looking very pilotwings). Given the Wii's audience it would sell well so it makes perfect business sense to revive the series with motion controls and Wii online connectivity such as allowing two pilots to fly together.

Pikmin 3 - Its been rumored for years now. With the re-release of Pikmin 1 & 2 this year getting the Wii control treatment this game is a certainty as part of Nintendo's E3 lineup. Controlling the deployment of Pikmin with the IR is proving to fantastic with Pikmin 1 on Wii.

Killzone 2 demo Impressions.. Fanboys unite!

Ok I should first point out that It took me the best part of four hours to download. I'm guessing the servers hosting the 1.2 GB file are getting hammered by not only european Ps3 owners by US owners with a fake EU PSN account. Anyway onto the demo. What can I say that hasn't been said before, well lets see. I played the first Killzone on Ps2 and soon had it down as a poor mans Halo on a system that couldn't technically compete with the then superior original xbox. 

The game was ok, but nothing special when compared to the competition. The PSP outing of Killzone moved from 1st person to 3rd and this proved to be an enjoyable handheld experience. The world of Killzone is a fun place to be but I'm not going to get into the story on Killzone 2 he because it looks like pretty generic sci fi fodder. gameplay is the same over the top solders, big guns, tons of bad guys, nothing we haven't seen before a million times with the FPS genre. Its a real shame that the anticipation of Killzone 2 killed the demo after the first two minutes for me personally. The level of detail in the initial beach environment was impressive graphically but I like to think I'm deeper than that. Stripping away the glitter Killzone 2 appears to be your bog standard FPS in a new dress! I'm going to reserve judgement for the final retail build at the end of the month before i crucify the game for lack of any innovation. I just have one thing to say!

Default weapon zoom assigned to R3? u gotta be joking right, thank god it can be changed to L1!

First few days back at uni

So its arrived the second semester of my course. My classes this semester are 

Design 4

Project Management 4

History And Analysis 4

CVG Technology

Out of these classes I'm looking forward to History And Analysis the most. I enjoy reading between the lines when it comes to the games industry and why games are what they are lol. Its an exciting class and so far I've enjoyed myself immensely. In second year we have to drop one of our options this semester. This was a difficult choice for me because while I enjoyed the 3D creation aspects of Art And Graphics 1 & 2 I feel that my skills are better suited with History And Analysis in the end.

I'll update my blog with uni stuff later in the semester.

High School was never this much fun!

Who says the Playstation 2 is over the hill?

The system which is now marketed at the casual market is still getting one or two gems among dozens of Singstar and Buzz releases. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 released in March 2008 here in the UK from ATLUS turned out to be an excellent role-playing game delivered at the start of what some would call a consoles retirement. The game centers on a Japanese high school student who when transferring to a new school is brought into a twisted story centering on "The Dark Hour". The Dark Hour occurs at midnight each night and only a few are aware of its existence, most of the population become coffins at this time. During The Dark Hour the local high school becomes "Tartarus" a huge tower filled with fiends that prey on the minds of those who remain awake. A group called SEES researches what happens during The Dark Hour. The players character becomes a member and discovers control of  powerful creatures called Persona to help battle the many preying monsters within Tartarus. The story of persona 3 is a refreshing twist on the majority of traditional Japanese role-playing games of recent and past years.

The Gameplay mixes time at the local high school where players need to interact their classmates, pay attention in class and other activities that are actually interesting. Outside of the high school other locations such as shops and cafe's etc make the world feel like it has substance. A polar opposite comes with Tartarus which is a huge maze where players need to take part in exploration and turn based combat. The combat has an exciting twist when summoning a Persona. Characters use an "Evoker" which shows them holding a gun to their head and pulling the trigger. This is a controversial move by the developers which makes each summoning a real sight to behold.

The soundtrack needs to be heard. Its a charming collection of several genres of music. The traditional role-playing melodies of games like Final Fantasy etc are mixed fantastically with some great J-pop tidbits such as the title song "Burn my Dread" The main battle theme is also worth a listen.

Persona 3 overall was a real surprise for me it surpasses most of the role-playing games on the current generation of systems because it does one important thing to keep me interesting in a role-playing game FUN gameplay that only gets more complex and rewarding. This game is a beacon of hope for a genre that is swamped with big budget, flashy games that are bordering on dull.

Square-Enix have recently announced that they plan to publish the next chapter in the series Persona 4 this spring in the UK. If you missed Persona 3 and its expansion Persona 3:FES buy them on Amazon/ Play etc + dont miss Persona 4's release as US and Japanese reviews are more positive than Persona 3's.

Final Fantasy.. erm 13 anyone?

So first came a countdown timer on Square-Enix's Final Fantasy 13 website. Then the fruits of that countdown, a new trailers for number 13 in the INSANELY popular role-playing series. The recent announcement that the game will be released exclusively in December on Playstation 3 (well for japanese fans anyway) is of little comfort for fans of the series here in the UK and the west. The games western release is now pencilled in for the second quarter of 2011, yes 2011. I cant understand how a company with the resources of Square-Enix can't get localisation issues dealt with sooner. Then again many a Sony fanboy has cried "Its taking so long because then can't release the playstation 3 version in the west before the Xbox 360 versions ready!" long before now. Square-Enix have stated that work on the Xbox 360 version won't begin until the completion of the Playstation 3 version. In conclusion Square-Enix has no problem making many a gamer their bitch as unless they know Japanese its gonna be a long wait.

P.S. Keep dreaming fans I'm sure one day the FF7 remake is on the way!

Ninja Gaiden 2 - Dragon Swords and Blood LOTS!

So I've been playing quite a bit of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden 2 (Developed by Team Ninja or DOA fame) for the Xbox 360. So far as an overall product I'm impressed how we'll the game plays in comparison to the insanely hardcore Xbox original.

The gameplay has been balanced to allow a wider range of skilled and non skilled players access to a series known for its legendary brutal learning curve. As for story its a typical over the top Devil May Cry affair. The cut-scenes are entertaining for what they are (a mix of swordplay and big explosions again and again!) but the fun comes in the scope of each chapter. The controls feel fun and thats what matters in any game, a reason to keep coming back for more. I could go on for hours about every tidbit of Ninja Gaiden 2 but that would be dull lol. My advice if you see it cheap buy it and be a ninja for a night.

Microsoft's Imagine Cup 09

With trying my hand at XNA and C# I'm going to have my extra-curricular work cut out for me this year. A special project is forming between a group of four students, myself included. The Imagine cup is a competition covering various technological competencies. Each year groups of students from around the globe enter the varied competitions available. These nine competitions are...

Software Design

Embedded Development

Game Development

Robotics & Algorithm

IT Challenge

Mash Up

Photography

Short Film

Design

Our team "Rasengan" are entering the "Game Development" competition. This years theme is "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today?" The United Nations has identified some of the hardest challenges in the world today in its Millennium Goals. The aim of the competitions is to create innovative solutions to inspire change around the globe.

I feel proud to be taking a leap of faith by entering this competition.

To find out more visit.

http://imaginecup.com

Downloadable Content, a bit confusing today!

Finally I got around to downloading the new Fable 2 DLC content Knothole Island. This expansion gives players a new area of the world to explore with new quests and more.  I was a bit confused at first because two versions of the 500MB+ expansion are available to download on the 360's Marketplace. The 800 points version is the premium version and the regular version is free to download.

After waiting an hour for the free version to be download I booted up Fable 2 and was shocked at how the free version gives players a few items in the games main hub area and thats about it, I understand that effort and time goes into expansions so maybe I was naive to think the free version was Knothole Island minus the 800 points premium stuff.

Oh well, on the plus side Operation Anchorage DLC is available for Bethesta Softworks Fallout 3 today so its not all bad! The again I've heard its more Halo than Fallout :(

Start of something new... very exciting!

OK, heres the deal. I'm half way through a games design course. What have i learnt? hmm its tough to say. Yeh ok Ive done some 3D work (could have done without paying for uni). Made an unreal level (could have done without paying for uni). I'm seeing a huge problem happening. In a year and a half university is done, the course will be over and will i have employable skills? If the first year and a half are anything to go by... no way.

Someone once told me that if your job/ course isnt giving you the skills you need learn them yourself. Maybe Jesus came to me or something but the wind has changed. Community games have inspired me on xbox 360 to build my own game, put a controller in my hands and play it (seriously that gets people jobs and recognition in this industry).

I have decided to learn XNA so when it comes to the end of my course I have a game playable on my xbox 360.

Wish me luck

Game reviews suck!

Reviews are kinda stupid, don't you think? They are just one persons opinion after-all, why do people seem to forget that?  It must come down to how active and passive a gamer you are. Passive gamers will gladly swallow that 15th version of FIFA and Guitar Hero for £40 a pop, then a year later do the same EA loves you guys! An active gamer fits into the demographic of someone who seeks out those titles that get placed in the shadows by the big hitters year on year. Its the same with other media such as Film and Music.

Its a real shame when developers put in 1000's of hours into a title for someone calling themselves a journalist to call it a pile of s***. Far too many reviewers seem to have an agenda from the beginning to hate a game rather than give a balanced professional opinion as a product. Weigh up the pro's and con's in a constructive process. The rise of Video Reviews must be an answer to people who are A, too lazy to read a detailed review or B, have a wife, who children and a dog named Rex. The score seems to be all that matters now, anything less than a 7/10, don't bother with appears to be the message at Gametrailers.com (a website where a faceless voice "reviews" a game, who writes these "reviews" exactly?) and other online publications. Peoples obsession with ratings are everywhere, like men in the street saying" she that girl shes a 6, but her friends a 9, shes hot!". This needs to stop already. The majority of passive gamers are always looking for validation for that £40 they spent down at their local games store. This comes in game review scores.

We are all critics! Everyday we critique parts of our daily lives without even realizing. Gamers need to form their own opinions, buy the games that you want not what an overweight middle aged man on a website tell you to.

Ok i can see people jumping me on the street saying "we'll its just their opinion". Far too much emphasis is placed on review scores from big hitters like IGN when people are torn to buy a particular game or not. The bottom line should be "try it, see if you like it then love or hate it" above all else, make your own opinions on a game. Loads of games, tv shows and movies I've loved have got panned by the critics. 

P:S Speed Racer was an Awesome film, reviewers are so dumb! :P

Bonds, storms and rasengens!

The Naruto manga has not only spawned a popular anime series but also expanded into several video games. Two of the most recent titles are Naruto: The Broken Bond on xbox 360 and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm on Playstation 3. The former is a sequel to 2007's Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja and the latter is a next generation HD version of the Ultimate Ninja series.

Naruto: The Broken Bond builds on Ubisoft Montreal's Naruto: Rise Of Ninja and continues Naruto and squad seven's quest after the Chunin examinations. The game plays like an action adventure game with role-playing elements. Players relive events seen in the 4th and 5th series on the anime. The story focuses on Sasuke Uchiha, and his jealously of his partner and friend Naruto Uzumaki. Players unfold the story and are introduced to characters such as Sasuke's brother Itatchi and Tsunade (the new leaf village Hokage). Fighting is handled in a revamped fighting system first seen in Rise Of A Ninja. Each character has special Justu attacks that they can pull off using directional combinations of the two analogue sticks. These Justu vary from character to character and include fan favorites like Naruto's Rasengen and Shadow Clone technique. 

Overall The Broken Bond is an excellent effort as it refines many of the problems with Rise Of A Ninja (an unfair combat system being the most obvious). Now that Ubisoft have covered all of the manga until the series takes a time jump hopefully they will pull out a Naruto Shippuden title for 2009.

Ultimate Ninja Storm was first unveiled as simply the "Naruto PS3 project". The project promised to finally blur the line between the Naruto anime and video games. The game was a sight to behold. Not only does the title developed by Cyber Connect 2 deliver in the visual department it also manages to create exciting dynamic gameplay. Look out for more on Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm as soon as I finish the game.

Singstar... more than meets the microphone

I received a copy of Singstar on Playstation 3 as a present at Christmas. At first I found myself afraid to sing into a microphone in my own living room. After a few attempts I, as a non-casual gamer found it an enlightening experience. The interface was clean and easy to navigate. The online functions include a store allowing gamers to download additional songs for 99p each. Overall I'm enjoying singing with my Playstation as a way of letting of steam.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to let themselves go.

Just some of my university 3D work

Just some 3D renders of a canal bridge i built in Autodesk 3D Studio Max. The bridge is a static mesh that can easily be imported to a game engine such as Unreal.

Sonic Bashing

As someone who wants a career in the games industry I'm the first to defend a developer. After spending quite a few hours with the xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed I felt that Sonic Team deserves more credit than it got upon release. The first few tastes of Sonic Unleashed given to the gaming community in videos and screens showed a return to form for Sonic. The upset for the press came when Sega showed the nighttime levels of the game complete with a transformed Were-hog Sonic. Alarm bells rang as Sega on form have in many peoples eyes forgotten the core gameplay that makes a Sonic game fun, fast paced running through exciting dynamic environments. Upon the game release last year many critics panned the title. The overall consensus established was that while the pure Sonic running and jumping levels worked the nighttime levels ended up just plain rubbish. The Were-hog levels included fighting enemies over and over again and compared to the daytime lacked any sense of speed or fun.

In the defense of Sonic Team as a designer I understand why they have to include all the nighttime stuff to make the game 10 hours rather than 3. The problem for Sonic Team is audience expectation. 3 hour games do not cut it these days. The first Sonic and Mario titles could be completed in less than an hour and no one complained paying £40+ for them. Sonic Unleashed is a fantastic step forward for the series because the Sonic speed daytime stages are exactly how a 3D Sonic game should be.

Nintendo and the pirates

The focus of this post is a look at how piracy is growing day by day on Nintendo's two current systems. Both the DS and Wii became a platform for Homebrew at first but moved into something far more illegal, running current and old copyrighted games!

First the Nintendo DS has been swarmed with piracy as various unnamed companies continue to make cards that allow rom files to run game downloaded online. While I cannot talk about which websites and cards allow this just searching  on google opens up endless possibilities for DS owners. Even in the current economic climate most first party Nintendo DS games come in between £20/ 30 in the UK. This price compared to our US and Japanese counterparts could attribute to the rise of illegal gaming on DS here. The Wii has also become the victim of Piracy which can even be achieved without the traditional void console warranty mod-chip. Nintendo has countered the homebrew community on the Wii with system updates that can even remove installed homebrew!

 The question of does this obvious minority whom use these illegal methods effect the industry as a whole?

Well for nintendo I doubt it, the DS and Wii continue to sell through the roof across the entire world. Each months NPD numbers for Wii and DS sales still manage to impress compared to Microsoft and Sony's figures. I can only assume that people familiarity with Gamecube architecture attributed to the Wii piracy issue. The DS like the Game Boy Advance before it shows no sign of stopping illegal activities. Recently the DSi (A new incarnation of the DS) was hacked to run a homebrew, the first step to game piracy.