GTA FTW

“I’m telling you, 50 copies for the 360, and only 36 for the PS3”

“360 for the win!”

“It’s five too, can’t we just have it now?”

“Maybe we should go to Game…”

“Pre-orders only ….”

And so there I was. It was 11:50 at night, and I was standing with my friends in a queue with two of my friends waiting for Grand Theft Auto IV.

I’d never stayed up late to go to a launch ‘opening’ before. It was just as geeky as I thought it would be, but it was worth going.

We arrived about half an hour early, yet there were already people there waiting. And they had snacks.

And they were some characters there I can tell you. Mainly under-aged chavs, but a few hardcore gamers were there too. And then of course there was the mother with her 10 or 11 year old son…

I know most of society is in uproar over this game and how horribly violent it is, but parents like her bring it upon themselves. Still, I wish my mom was like that. One time when I was like 11 or 12, I rented Doom out on the N64, which was a 15 or 18 I think. I had for like a couple hours before my mom found out I had. Had to send it right back.

Anyway, got home with my new purchase, and started playing it. And it was 2 in the morning when my girlfriend woke up and asked me what I had been doing all night…

The main character’s ugly. Didn’t expect that. So far I’ve been impressed. I’ll probably write my own review at some point, once I’ve played it a bit more.

Love and War

“Baby! Don’t attack me yet!”

And just like that, the army came to a halt.

On a Sunday afternoon, you’d be right in thinking that a young couple in their twenties would be doing something together. Going shopping, going for a walk, watching TV, even doing work together…

Me and my girlfriend were playing Empire Earth. It was fun.

I wouldn’t say that my girlfriend is a typical girly-girl, but neither is she a hardcore games-nut like me. Despite having a strong yet restrained passion for Age of Empires, she still has a 'non-gamer' attitude towards games, and thinks I’m going to dump her for my Xbox.

Yet here we were, pitting our two great empires against each other in a clash of titans. It’s fascinating how the entire nature of the game changes when you play someone close to you – there’s generally no rushing at the beginning (she wanted time to set up). No fear of cheats, or abusive language. Even boredom fails to rear its ugly head.

It wasn’t easy though, far from it. There’s something very immediate about having the person you’re playing in the same room as you, and even more so if that person is your significant other. As such, you tend to play by the rules.

So when she said that I couldn’t attack yet, I had to stop. The great war host of Byzantine Rome, legions of death and destruction that were poised to descend on it’s not-so unsuspecting prey…was brought to a stand-still by a woman.

Well they say Helen of Troy launched a thousand ships, but my girlfriend would have sent them home again.

Still, that’s not to say I was idle. Thinking of creative yet stealthy ways of raiding her territory proved to be challenging. It was like poking her with a stick; I got slapped a few times, but it was worth it.

And then she learnt, so you have to find new ways of raiding. And she learnt some more, and slowly but surely, the game’s fun-factor is cranked up until you’re having a genuinely fun match with someone you actually care for. Pounding her civilisation into the dust actually means something, since she is not just a random name on a screen.

And I will pound her into the ground. It’s inevitable. I just got to wait until she is ready…

“Baby!”

(Slap)

“I told you not to attack me yet!”

What can I say? War only has so much patience.

New v Old

You can tell I'm going through a phase or something can't you?

Ever since deciding I should try and take steps towards becoming a video game journalist (Yes, it's an actual profession), everything's been games games games...well, at least more than usual...

/me puts down the Xbox controller.

I bought a new game the other day, so rest assured a review will appear at some point, but today I'm going to talk to you about something else: New Games Journalism. (You may need to scroll down a bit.)

I came across this concept whilst doing research for my dissertation proposal, which I'm also doing on video games journalism. Put simply, it's another way of writing game reviews as thought up by Kieron Gillen - an apparently well known English games journalist. (It's good to be British.)

In his 'manifesto', Gillen talks about how there is this massive problem in games journalism, and things need changing. Using this article, he lays down the framework for a new style of games journalism.

Now, is it just me, or is it actually quite interesting?

Ignoring the fact that it tells the reader almost nothing about the actual game, it's still an interesting look at how one experiences playing online, especially when games are moving more and more towards 'online' gaming.

It's also a classic example of how racist the online community can be, but what can you do.

Still, an interesting style. It may not replace reviews, but it may be a good addition to them.