Xbox 360 has been given it's death sentence. My thoughts and experience on Xbox 360

The original console looked best.

So Xbox 360 will be discontinued later this year. Every video game blogger, journalist and anyone who's ever picked up a Xbox 360 controller has been dumping their thoughts online... so why not join the herd for once huh?

I got my first of many Xbox 360's back in 2006 with Dead or Alive 4 and Dead Rising, months before getting the superior Wii(Ooh poking the bear early!). When I say first of many, I really mean it. I have gone through 4 OG model Xbox 360's before I got an Arcade model with the HDMI port. So I went through 4 Red Ringed Xbox 360's for a couple years, like most Xbox 360 owners.

Now the console was awesome in design(unlike the S and E models) because it still looked like a gaming console, but could also blend in with an entertainment unit(assuming you're into that kinda thing). The thing is loud(not Dreamcast loud, but loud enough) and overheats in the summer(at least the original models did) and worked better standing up over laying on it's side. I used a 20GB hard drive for many years until I started playing Final Fantasy XI Online and upgraded to the 120GB one I still have today. I do love the controllers for the Xbox 360 too. Sure they aren't the best(Gamecube is best to me), but they worked well and were perfect for the games that Xbox 360 was known for.

The Xbox 360 is where I did most of my online gaming over the years... and because of it I avoid playing online for the most part. The community I encountered online when playing on Xbox Live were the most foul mouthed, racist, ignorant and unfair group of people I've ever played with or against. Now there were plenty of people who were nice and I enjoyed playing with, but they were far and few between unfortunately. I ended up giving up my XBL Gold after Halo 4 came out because I got fed up with it. I hardly played games online anyway and preferred the single player experience overall.

As for the games, they were the weakest part of the console sadly. The exclusives for Microsoft's Xbox were more plentiful vs the Xbox 360, so it's exclusive library was sparse. I loved a few of the exclusives like Lost Odyssey, Dead or Alive 4, Blue Dragon, Halo Reach, Halo ODST, Tales of Vesperia and Alan Wake... but there were so little made that as the years went on I just played the Xbox 360 less and less in favour of the Wii and PS3. Now Xbox 360 did have one advantage most of the time... better builds of games! Throughout the life of the Xbox 360, many games performed or looked better on 360 over the PS3 and I always bought the version that worked best. This got less and less as developers worked out how to program for PS3 however.

Now as for my Xbox 360 today? I haven't turned it on since Tomb Raider was a new release and was the last game I have played on it. It's not that I don't love my Xbox 360, it's just new games keep coming out on Wii U and PS4 and I just haven't had the urge to go back and play my unfinished games. It's just sitting under a dust cover for now, but it will get another day in the sun if more and more online only games get released and I have more free time.

So that's my thoughts on the Xbox 360. It wasn't a bad console at all and I had fun with it every now and then. It was the go to online multiplayer console and had a library of games it shared mostly with PS3. I don't regret owning a Xbox 360, but it is depressing how the PS3 and Wii managed to be more appealing to me. Now will I ever get an Xbox One? Not until it has full 360 backwards compatibility with the games I own and it has a game that finally makes me want it. I hope when the Xbox 360 becomes a retro gaming console, it is remembered fondly.

Amiibo... The Destroyer of Worlds!

What are amiibo? Why do they exist? Why are people sending themselves bankrupt to buy the rarest ones from scalpers on eBay and other auction websites? These are the questions normal people are asking about the new generation of Beanie Babies and we all have fallen under the amiibo spell.


Amiibo for the uneducated, are plastic statues with a microchip installed into it's base. These microchips communicate with Nintendo Wii U and 3DS via NFC(Near Field Communication). It uses a similar technology to your Pay 'n' Wave/Pay Pass cards you use at the check out. Each amiibo has unique data written to it that reflect the character on it and work with selected games, most famously Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS.

Nintendo obviously created amiibo as a reaction to the Skylanders and Disney Infinity craze that has taken over the wallets of parents everywhere over the past few years. These toys unlike Skylanders and Disney Infinity have been released in short supply and in some countries cases... made exclusive to specific stores. This has caused a gold rush to occur where people are buying them up in bulk and selling them at extreme mark ups on internet auction websites. These scumbags have been profiteering from Nintendo's stupidity and making thousands reselling the rarest of amiibo at 500+% mark ups and even selling the common ones at double the retail price.

The main reason amiibo are huge at the moment from my perspective seems to be aging Nintendo diehards obsession with needing official Nintendo collectibles and kid's love of toys and technology. Yeah, that's why the rarest are selling so high on eBay. Scalpers on eBay are making the most of Nintendo diehards need to have all the amiibo(because we just need the whole set damn it!)  and some of us are so desperate to complete the set... we're willing to pay anything for it.

Worst of all is that most people buying amiibo... aren't buying amiibo for it's functionality, but because they are Nintendo officially licensed merchandise. Admittedly I've only opened 50% of my amiibo myself. I... I just can't find the use of most of them worth while at the moment and will open them as the use becomes worth while. See, collectors have this crazy mental condition where they usually buy things and never open them from the package to preserve the artifact to prevent it's degradation. Some will even buy 2 of each thing so the can also have a display/use set that they will open up and a set to gather dust in a storage locker or cupboard.

Amiibo are an interesting idea in theory, but what they are used for is kinda... terrible. See, amiibo don't really work like Skylanders or Disney Infinity toys... they work much differently. In Super Smash Bros they allow you to "train" a computer A.I character, Mario Party 10 uses them to unlock new boards and play as the figure used... and constantly rescan them, Splatoon uses them to unlock challenges, Mario Kart 8 uses them to unlock costumes. You get the picture yet? Amiibo are in essence... physical downloadable content! Now this isn't bad in theory, what's bad is that Nintendo just isn't manufacturing enough to fill demand, let alone enough to fill store shelves for the uninformed to blind buy. I admit that Nintendo is starting to produce more, but for a good number of us... the damage is already done!


So there you go. Amiibo are the new big thing and will probably be so for quite some time. DLC packed toys with lots of ugly practices shadowing them. They look good, they add extra content to Nintendo games and they are financing a community of scumbags retirement. Are amiibo worth the hassle? I... just don't know. I haven't gotten much use out of them but they are cool to look at. Look... if your kid wants one, buy it. Simple.

I'm back baby... if you cared.

Hey guys and girls and miscellaneous, I finally got a new PC. It's not very powerful at all but I don't game on PC so it's all good. So you now know why I haven't been updating this in such a long time. I'm also changing how I do things on my blog since the break between post.

So the big changes will revolve around many things. First off is reviews... I'm not going to try and write them as quickly as I used to because it's too hard to produce them at a fast pace and enjoy the game... plus I don't get paid for it! Retro reviews may start showing up again once the Retron 5 comes out or if I feel nostalgic.

I may also start talking about movies and TV shows I watch as well(probably a lot of Doctor Who just to warn you!) since I do watch a lot of stuff that I feel like talking about. These will only be done whenever an episode of a show inspires me to write something.

Another thing I may start talking about are the comics I read(and manga if I start buying more again). Mainly if I do it'll be relating to things that bug or interest me. I have no intention of regurgitating full plot synopsis' or go deep into the lore.

So yeah, not much is going to change in the long term is it? Did you miss me? As for the games I still have on my to do list... the list will be gone so don't worry about it, I'm not. I do hope to write more now that I have a new PC... but we'll see.

Been a while & yes I still live.

Hey guys... assuming there is more then one of you. I've been neglecting my blog a lot for a variety of reasons. Mainly been spouting my stupidity via Twitter & every time I come up with an idea for a post I spewed it on Twitter & forgot all about it. As for game reviews... been a bit lazy on that because of a variety of reasons... like money. Yeah, I've been a bit short of cash due to needing new glasses & fancy clothes for funerals... I mean weddings & engagements.

I will bring reviews again soon to the blog once I actually can finish the current ones I'm playing... once Australia actually starts to cool down. Only problem is that you'd have already read the pompous professional reviews of the same games since those over privileged twats don't need to buy the games & get payed to review them.

I will do a piece on PS4 with all my opinions & what it could mean for gaming at some point & maybe even in parts too just to draw it out if I feel like a douche. There is a lot to talk about when it comes to the PS4 admittedly & once E3 has rolled around we'll have even more to look at.

Looking back at the Wii U & even though I only own one game on it thanks to Fist Of The North Star: Ken's Rage 2 being digital only(which means I rent it until they remove it from the store & not reimburse you for it), I still love it. I highly recommend restarting old Wii games on it to experience them in HD via a HDMI cable because it can make them clearer to see & games like The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles & Pandora's Tower look great in HD. Also WIND WAKER HD! Seriously, that's just Awesome!

If you didn't already know I am still angry with Square-Enix for a variety of reasons like another Final Fantasy XIII game, no Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days game in the HD collection & only it's cutscenes, more delays in Final Fantasy Versus XIII among others BUT at least we now know that Final Fantasy X HD is actually the Final Fantasy X HD Collection on PS3 & each HD game will be sold separately on PS Vita.

I've also gotten really into comics lately too. Yeah... I'm into everything nerdy aren't I? Admittedly this is also interfering with getting games but I do need a break from video games & well... Batman & Spider-man. No I hopefully won't start reviewing comics but it's obvious why... I don't read every comic!

As for retro gaming I have been doing that a lot during the hotter months in Australia & even picked up a few gems too & need more. Feel free to recommend games & send video links of gameplay to me via Twitter to play since I have missed out on a lot of the old games as a kid. Need more for retro reviews!

Well I can guarantee a review for Review A Great Game Day but I won't spoil my controversial choice. As for future reviews... we'll see how it goes I suppose. I do hope you'll follow my idiotic rambling on Twitter & hopefully I'll add more crap to the blog. And no, I will not do video reviews because I'm camera shy & can't edit videos on the relic of a PC I use. If I knew how to do a thing like Yahtzee I'd do that but I don't have the skills or even recording equipment for my voice. Anyway that's all from me for now & hopefully I'll start doing something again real soon.

The woes of the Australian Gamer

Found this picture on gamesradar.com
on the article that inspired this,
seemed appropriate.

You've heard some stories about how bad Australia gets it when it comes to video games. A lot of Americans still bitch about prices of games and Europe whinges about localization. Well I'm here to feed the world a hunk of humble pie!


First of all, let's talk about prices. I'll start by talking about console prices. The USA flipped it's lid when they found out about the PS3 launch price was US$599.99, well here in Australia we had to pay AU$999.95! Yes this is accurate! Now I can already hear you say "WTF?!" at that but let me clarify... the average income in Australia is roughly AU$750 per week give or take. Doesn't sound bad? Well let me go deeper. The average food budget for families is $200-$250 and $450 for bills per week. If you're keeping up that's $650-700 lost before you can even buy any luxury items like video games and keep in mind over 50% of houses are dual income down here so there's more to the equation. Now if we take travel expenses, school fees for kids, fuel for the family car/s, credit debts of various types(mortgage, credit cards, bank loans, etc.)...most families would be lucky to have $150 for non essential/luxury items and this is suppose to satisfy a family of 4 with varying taste and desires? As you can see just there it's not much, but arguments do mount here a lot.

Now as for the price of the games themselves. I'm sure some of you have seen the prices before but I'll go over them again. The US pays US$50-60, The UK pays £70-80 and Australia pays AU$100-120 for the latest AAA title on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the moment... and even more for limited editions! Then there's the digital market where M$ Points cost AU$8.25 for 500 points and Resident Evil 4 HD costs AU$29.95 on the PlayStation Store. Hell Xbox live and PS+ cost AU$79.95 a year! Pretty much if the US pays US$15 for a digital game, we pay AU$20. Now you know the stakes here with the cost of living but prices are just a part of what's bring Australian gamers down.


Now on to censorship. Our rating system is not just restricting... it's broken and confusing! We have two ratings for teens technically for one! In Australia the ratings for games are G, PG, M15+ rating... and a MA15+ rating... WTF?! What's the difference? Well... even I have trouble understanding it myself, but I'll try my best. M15+ is in some ways like the ESRB T adolescent rating in the US or the PEGI 12 of Europe in terms of what it's suppose to cover, case in point Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword got a M15+ here and different overseas and in my opinion it should be our PG rating. Then there's the MA15+ rating... this is an annoying rating since it covers 90% of the adult content except the excessive amount of content, drug use and blatant sex scenes that border on pornography... I think. Pretty much the MA15+ rating is a limbo stick for adult games to be available to 15 year olds! It's ridiculous!

Now as for the R18+ rating coming soon for games(finally!)... I actually don't know much about it, but it may take some of the height away from the MA15+ limbo stick and/or just cover what the current MA15+ doesn't cover... no one knows at this stage. When a movie gets a R18+ rating it's usually for the excessive amount of stuff, drug use and sex scenes. Not many movies or TV shows get a R18+ rating in Australia, but video games in Australia as of 2013 may be a different story. I personally hope the MA15+ limbo stick gets lower enough to force games like Call Of Duty that have realistic depictions of violence or gratuitously violent games like Gears Of War are given a R18+ they should have! As for the banned games issue, only a few titles a year get banned. Most games that are refused classification after a couple of months of being refused will just get edited, resubmitted and get released. The currently banned games will get a chance after two years of being refused classification to be resubmitted once the R18+ is implemented. Banning games was never an issue, a 13 year old playing Gears of War and/or God Of War is!


Now onto my personal hate as an Australian gamer... localization and region locking!!! Let me tell you something... when you have to import a whole genre of games, it's pretty screwed up! I like Japanese RPGs and a lot of Japanese made games in general(I am a golden age gamer after all!) and in Australia we actually get less of them then Europe and we are both in the PAL region! We missed out on so much just being in the PAL region but to get less then our monarch country and Europe? That's wrong!

See even though localization is a problem even in America, here it's a whole other kettle of fish. See we have to wait for the USA to localize games, then Europe chooses what they want that the USA localized and then converts the game to PAL 50Hz and does multi-lingual dubbing and text, the our very few publishers here choose what they want to risk releasing out of what was converted to PAL format. Japanese games are published in Australia mainly by Ubisoft, Namco Bandai and Atari and on the extremely rare occasion the console companies here if it isn't a first party title. This in turn also fueled the PS One and PS2 piracy ring and piracy in general in Australia, which the PS3 has managed to avoid. Hell I got my PS One and PS2's region codes unlocked just so I can buy import games. Yes game companies, people will unlock the region in there console just to buy imports, so don't lock them! Again, the PS3 managed to avoid a lot of piracy in Australia with it being region free for games and the import download section of the PS Store. Obviously Sony aren't complete morons.


Another big issue, especially with modern gaming is the online connection here. See here in Australia, we don't have very fast internet. At the time of writing this I only average 4MB/s download and 1.5MB/s upload on an ADSL+2 connection. My average ping in 260-300 to a US website on a good day. In Australia we have ADSL, 3G, Cable and Satellite internet and only now Slowly starting to get fibre optic installed in some areas with an average of a 3 year wait in central hubs of cities. I'm not kidding! Where I live, I won't see it for about 5 or more years and I'm not even in a rural area! Once the National Broadband Network(NBN for short) rolls out we will have up to 100MB/s internet speeds but it's taking way to long to be available and it isn't going to be cheap either! Hell, we only just started getting a free internet offer of 50GB a month... with a mobile or home phone contract and only through one company... who are crap at their job!


So yeah, next time you want to bitch about your gaming situation and you live outside of Australia, you should give a thought to us down under and remember that we get screwed the most and complain the least! Sure I bitch a lot but my life revolves around gaming because of various reasons. Regardless, I hope you learned something and will spread the word amongst the greater gaming community.

Is an all digital future really inevitable? What about cartridges?

As you may know(probably don't since only a couple people read my blog... most I personally know) I am against the cloud and hate digital distribution. Thing is what I hate is the practices not the actual things in question. I like the idea of buying digital games and retro releases on XBLA and PSN but I don't like the download limits or the fact that it could be unavailable when I'm ready to purchase and I think the cloud could make reformatting a PC an easier task. Well it seems we're headed there regardless of the few intelligent people like me kicking and screaming and I'm here to say we don't need to go there despite what EA thinks.

You see back in my day during the golden age of gaming, we had this thing called a cartridge which evolved over time. It evolved into the memory card we used for save data when discs had the superior storage and what has it evolved into today? Well you see that thing sticking out of your PC that you plug in to save your resume? That USB drive is a cartridge! Yes, it is? Do you like that thing? I do! See that should be our future long before the cloud and work with digital distribution.

See MovieBob aka The Game Overthinker in one of my favourite episodes Putting The Cart Before The Cloud gives a fair few good reasons for it and I may repeat a few myself but it shows you that Bob's a smart cookie. He goes into the history of the cartridge and a few good points on how it could be tackled.

See I feel like a return to cartridges and even cartridge based consoles that aren't portable are a fantastic idea! The new console would be cheaper to make and the cartridge can store the game data, save data and DLC when available as well as lazy patching because game developers are now too lazy to finish and test there games before release. Well since you can get SD cards and flash drives in up to 32GB of storage and the average games is 8-10GB it's plausible to do so and Nintendo would love to have the control of chips once again.

Why should games return to cartridges? Well for one is loading times! HDD saved games take a while and disc games take a while to find the data and rarely load in the background. Then there's durability, my nephew has demolished EVERY Wii game he owns and they only work thanks to all the dirt and saliva stuck to the disc and it breaks my heart. Then there's the fact of storage space... on the shelf or in draws, I like being able to store a lot more games on a shelf and be able to find them without sifting through 100's of disc boxes double backed and stacked on their sides. Then there's the obvious... anti piracy! Seriously it will take more effort to pirate a proprietary cartridge then to rip a disc and toy with the files.

Now as for the design for the cartridges the game companies aren't strangers since they've all made memory cards so it shouldn't be a problem to make proprietary carts and they can make then as small as they want. The console they use it on, hell they can do it with what we've already. All the current console support USB drives and/or SD card slots and hell why not allow us to download directly to the USB drives and run it from there instead of the HDD in the console? Sure they can up to a point but not in the way that would actually benefit the user.

Could you imagine what a console made just for carts in the modern era would look like? I'd guess like Wii's with different logos or maybe Gamecube's since they need room for CPUs and graphics processors and what not. I just like the idea of them being affordable... and there's the problem right there! The companies don't like you saving money.

Look, I admit I want the carts back due to usability and to not have a heart attack when I buy a game and it's scratched before money changes hands(Since GAME Australia is dead and was the only game retailer that sold new games in shrink wrap even if you didn't preorder it). I think the return to carts before the Cloud comes and swallows up all ownership and the idiot masses embrace it is the best solution.

Growing up Mario aka My digital best friend, Mario

I'm sure as most people born in the 80's you grew up on the NES and it's games, particularly Mario games. My first game I ever played was Super Mario Bros on the NES and it got me thinking, why not take a retrospective look at my life growing up with Mario as a kid and adult.

As a kid in the 90's going to school was scary! I was picked on as early as my first day in kindergarten, being picked on, beaten up and only one friend who is still my best friend to this day. My home life sucked because of my scumbag father who was a selfish, violent and adulterous man but at Christmas of 1990 my life changed for the better. Yes Christmas 1990 brought a Nintendo Entertainment System bundle with Duck Hunt/Super Mario Bros. into my home thanks to my mother.

I spent the entire Christmas/summer holidays playing that game, from dusk til dawn. Even finished it both with and without warping. Super Mario Bros gave me two things that summer holidays period... a game to talk about with the kids when I got back to school and a happy place to go to when things got bad. Upon returning to school everyone was talking Sega Megadrive and Super Nintendo... once again I was picked on, this time they added owning a NES and being poor. Kids are so damn cruel! I hate kids because of those years! Yes I was poor, but my dad wasn't.

In 1993 my house would eventually be blessed with a SNES and Super Mario All-Stars. After 3 years playing NES games and most of them were garbage (though I didn't know it then), the SNES gave me the Super Mario Bros games my dad never bought me because he said video games were a was of time and money... yet his car, drum kit and mistresses weren't! Super Mario All-Stars gave me more emotional stability and comfort throughout most of the 90's with the occasional rental of both Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island until eventually getting my own copy of Super Mario World. Mario became my digital best friend during the hard times of my life then, including the fallout and divorce of my parents.

In the late 90's we got a Nintendo 64(mainly because with my dad gone we had a little extra money to save.) in the house and one of the first games I got for it was Super Mario 64. The 90's and early 00's were the most miserable years of my life... but at least Mario was there, especially during the suicidal teen years. Yes, Mario kept me from killing myself. What was worse was the robbery that happened the year we moved houses. Almost all our N64 and PS1 games were stolen except what was in the consoles... even my beloved Super Mario 64 was gone! Dark times for sure, even when I got a new copy of Super Mario 64 it didn't feel the same to me. I know that sounds strange but that's how I felt. I eventually loved it more because my mum searched high and low for it and this was before eBay!

When the Gamecube came out in 2002, I was at the age to receive money and I bought my first game at 16 with my own money. Super Mario Sunshine was my first Mario game I ever bought myself with my own money. Still emotionally scared and turned paranoid of both leaving the house unattended and being a teen, the return of a bright, colourful Mario game(with a water soluble Yoshi LOL!) broke my funk and my teen years became less grim. Even during the dark times, Mario was always there to make my life worth living again.

Becoming an adult became miserable too. Doctors gave me a whole list of medical problems that turned my life upside down. Diabetes, Sleep Apnea, Asperges, Obesity, insomnia and lingering depression... and the list goes on. Once again the world seemed blocked off to me. All my problem prevented me from getting a job and life felt like it wasn't worth living again. Once again, my digital best friend Mario came back and this time on the DS with New Super Mario Bros. and life once again didn't feel like a waste of time.

About five years ago I became an uncle, which came with new responsibilities I wasn't ready for and one that scared me most was teaching him important things. Fear took over and I didn't know what to do! In 2008 my friend Mario came back with the perfect tool to help... New Super Mario Bros. Wii! Yes the new Mario game came out and gave me just what I needed. Through this game I could teach him what Mario helped me with.

Now that I've bored you, let me tell you what Mario taught me and what I'm teaching my nephew and soon will teach my other nephew and niece when they're older.
-Even when everyone is against you, you can always fight through them
-Every problem has a solution
-Even if you fail, you can try again and again because you can always continue
-When the world gets gloomy, there is always a colourful world to escape to
-A true friend is always there when you need them, even if he's a mustachioed plumber from Brooklyn!

Yes if it wasn't obvious, Mario was also my inspiration to start my blog and become an amateur video game reviewer. I still have a dream of becoming a professional video game journalist and play video games for a living, sure it wasn't my first choice but it's the best choice. Mario got me through the worst times in my life and I hope he or someone else will help everyone in their lives too.

Rated M for Meh!

Ok, yes I know this is going to be considered flame bait but I don't give a crap to be honest. I felt like addressing something that has been addressed by many people, some better then me. This topic is about both the quality and maturity of adult rated games. If you don't agree there's a comment section and I have a Twitter that you can bombard with hate tweets.

As a gamer since the golden age I have seen games evolve and devolve into a variety of things. One thing out of the many things that's irritated me is how "mature" games are. I've bitched a bit about it before but I'd like to "try" to be a little more mature(irony!) about it.


What is considered mature in video games? According to ratings systems it's blood and gore, nudity, violence, course language, sex, adult themes, and everything else on the labels. Gamers and especially game designers on average seem to agree but is this really mature? Is there any real mature games? Well this will take a bit of thought but I'll try to get some good examples of games from this generation and I'll also give you a few out of the plethora of examples of not so mature games and I'll explain why I consider them so... this is going to be brutal... to me.


There aren't very many games that are truly mature but here are a few that stick out in my gaming experience. As a young medium it is still growing and finding it's maturity as developers experiement both in storytelling and gameplay.

Mass Effect is a game series I would consider mature with an asterisk. See while the story telling is relatively mature, the way they handle relationships and sexuality isn't. See I paid attention to how the relationship between Shepard and in my case Liara "evolved and it's not a truly intimate relationship at all, hell they never date or talk about anything a real couple would. All that happens is a couple of questions about Liara's past and at the last moments before potential death they have sex. Liara never asks anything about Shepard's past or personal life and we never get any real information about Liara's personal life either. Also to clarify I was using a female Shepard. Yes I know it isn't really a "gay relationship" but I'm sure the male gay relationship was handled badly too. I invite gay gamers to give me their opinion on the gay relationship in Mass Effect 3 because I want a gay perspective on it... wish I could word that better.

Next game I consider mature is again tagged with an asterisk is Catherine. WTF you may ask? Well in it's own quirky way it does take a relatively mature look at relationships and adultery. Yes it is a little wacky and filled with symbolism that may not be understandable the first time around but in the end it really does handle the subject matter in a maturish way.

Bioshock is a mature game. Yeah I know that sounds like every bleating sheep I call it mature but the reason I call it mature is because the story is handled in a very mature and entertaining way and when you finish the game it stays with you and in my case, triggered tangential learning into what objectivism is and who Ayn Rand is. It also handles violence in a mature way by not resorting to amputation and evisceration and having low amounts of blood. Then theirs the moral choice which is not very deep but it does make you think twice before jumping the gun... unless you're achievement hunting.

Lost Odyssey(yes, I will never stop banging on about this! Just live with it!) Has an excellent story that invokes emotions that not many games manage. The way it handles everything throughout the course of the game proves that storytelling is an important part of games and that with the right people on the team, you can craft a meaningful experience.

(Spoiler Warning!)Pandora's Tower like Lost Odyssey again manages to invoke emotions with it's story but in the case of Pandora's Tower it's up to you to engage the relationship aspect of the story by talking with and giving gifts to Elena. As you build the bond she talks more and more about her personal life and life before the events of the story, making you the player feel more for her. Then there's the pain and embarrassment she goes through when she starts to suffer the monsterism effects of the curse and you also feel worried about her, especially as she started to enjoy the beast flesh she eats.

The Last Story(Yes, shut up already I know I've bombarded my love for this game on Twitter but if you played it, you'd know why.) managed to create a story with a relationship that evolves during the game and is strengthened through the events instead of most games and couple that with the fact that it's a game everyone one can play(Yeah it got an M15+ in Australia but it was misclassified like the Legend Of Zelda games. They should have gotten a PG and will probably get a T for teen adolescents in the USA) since the combat isn't that violent and it's not just mature, it's also approachable by all audiences.


As for games that aren't mature I could just say all the rest but it isn't true. Admittedly most of these will turn the average modern gamer into a frothing rabid dog that will attack me but I don't care.

The Call Of Duty franchise is a game series that wants to be mature, but is too busy pleasing(take it anyway you want... heh heh that makes it worse... XD) every modern gamer to truly take a risk and provide a truly meaningful experience. The game series is way to focused on catharsis, war fantasies, invoking racism(yeah I said it!) and gun porn. If the guys at Infinity Ward and Treyarch truly cared about making a mature gaming experience, they'd have handled the stories and reason to fight better then revenge fantasies.

Duke Nukem definitely is anything but mature. I know it's not trying to but it's place in the modern gaming world is not needed anymore to most. As much as I loved Duke Nukem Forever, I believe that Duke's place is as a smaller discount series for fun then a AAA game release at full price and the games that follow in Duke's footsteps (Bulletstorm for example) all need to back down from the front row and stick to attracting their true audience... the immature and those who need a game to let their hair down with.

Mortal Kombat is a series of games that isn't mature at all. It's hyper violence is handled in a childish manner and it's mediocre story show that the series is just designed for teenage catharsis and giving too many ideas to the unstable. I did import the newest one and agree with the banning only because of it's immaturely handled violence. All gore, no substance. Oh and yes I do like the game for it's catharsis since I can't play online and it's just wasting shelf space for the most part.

Dead Space definitely isn't very mature either. Again it's too focused on graphic violence and it doesn't seem to have a decent enough story to keep me playing it for more then half an hour. I also believe the way it handles it's supposed fear inducing moments is all about cheap scares to make a child hide under a blanket and not the Japanese Silent Hill's kind that screws with the mind.

There are plenty more like Battlefield, Medal of Honor, God of War, Gears of War just to name a few that also fall under the rated mature and not mature games but I'd just keep repeating myself with the reasons why it isn't mature. I wish I could add a game that handles nudity and sexualization but I haven't played any games that really need extreme addressing, not even Dead or Alive.


Now for the truly controversial part. The fact that most games that have the mature rating are crap and mediocre. See most of the golden age gamers are hard to please, me especially. Modern gamers on the other hand are willing to throw way AU$120(US$60, NZ$140 and so on.) on a mediocre or crap game like Call Of Duty every time a new one comes out. See in my opinion if a game needs to be patched after release even before DLC comes out it's mediocre or crap straight out of the gate. See Nintendo has a strict policy that forces developers to make it near perfect before release so that it won't need a patch to cover the problem. That's why Wii games don't need patches!

Then there's gameplay. See a lot of games play like crap, case in point Bionic Commando with it's awful controls or uncontrollable games like Asura's Wrath because there is only quick timed events. A lot of games just play like crap and it can ruin the game experience, add the fact they sell for more then they are worth and it is aggravating like single player Lost Planet 2!

Story and motivation is the biggest problem in the AAA industry. See while a game like Call Of Duty has refined it's gameplay to near perfection, it's story is rubbish and the game relies too much on virtual paintball and not enough on it's story. Story is the reason modern games exist. Uncharted is a great example of great game storytelling outside of the JRPG genre. It got it right and Assassin's Creed also pulled it off well too. The problem is that too many games have really, really bad stories like Gears of War. The story was second to gameplay and made it less engaging to players like me and the novelty of gore only lasts so long.

Even if story is sparce you need a true motivation to keep going and most games can't pull it of. Mario games have simple stories and a strong motivation to keep you playing, then again Mario games are gaming perfection especially Super Mario Bros. 3! We need something to truly motivate you to continue playing other then finishing the game. Skyrim manages to have a vague story but gives you so much motivation to keep playing like exploring the entire world, killing every dragon in the world and that's just a couple of basics. Call of Duty doesn't have any true motivations since the story is weak and everything you fight is the same in the same grey/brown corridors... it seems the only real goal is justified genocide(yes Call of Duty is one of my favourite punching bags of modern popular gaming, live with it!).

A games length(heh heh... sorry my immaturity seems to be running high while writing this... irony!) is a crucial thing in modern gaming, especially since the golden age games were only long because of the excruciatingly high difficulty they had and the high degree of skill required the finish a game and no save function or checkpoints! A game like the NES Ninja Gaiden was a serious trial by fire game that required extreme skill to finish and if you wanted to quit, you had to start from scratch. These days since difficulty either doesn't exist or has the convenience of checkpoints and autosaving, most games need length to justify the purchase. These days a game is demonized for being shorter then 6 hours without tacked on multiplayer... and yet Asura's Wrath which isn't a game in my opinion gets high scores? In my honest opinion game length is important because of the price of games. If games were only AU$50 then I wouldn't care but at AU$100-AU$120 I and most gamers need a long game to justify the cost and the only games that do justify the cost are first party titles and the JRPGs and WRPGs.


I know, I know I pissed you off but someone needs to address this and I invited the professionals to do a better job since they have more experience at writing. I addressed this the best I could on my personal experiences and observations of gaming media. I keep having trouble justifying gaming in the modern era and with the brats of the PlayStation era dictating mediocrity as all they want it just infuriates me and it infuriates me that game developers bend to their will.

2012, the Year of Fear!

What's that? Year of Fear? Whatever could this twat mean? Well from my perspective it's a variety of things. I'd like to go into details about them regardless if you care since this is my blog and I do whatever I want... until Team America world police shuts down the internet in the name of the entertainment industry just because they can't handle their own shit and get with the fucking times! Well if you haven't already guessed it my first "Year of Fear" topic is the US bills SOPA and PIPA


Assuming anyone who may stumble upon me online is net savvy, SOPA and PIPA are bills the entertainment industry of the USA has had drafted to screw with the internet so they can turn it into nothing but online shopping websites, credit card/banks websites and your email. Why? Well since you asked because EVERYONE has participated in piracy at least once in their internet lives and they want more money! The thing is most people "pirate" for a variety of legit reasons,
1) Not available where they live eg. Australia didn't get 'The Flight of Dragons' released here on DVD.(Lucky me bought the US ONLY released DVD from eBay)
2)They don't want to buy an album for 1 song. iTunes has now made that easier to not need to pirate it but in a SHITTY QUALITY MP3! I want 325kb/second bit rate thank you!
3)Everyone can afford the internet but not everyone can't afford to buy all their favourite TV show, movies and video games.
4)The product is discontinued(personally I've had this problem A LOT!)

Now I don't promote piracy but I can understand why some people pirate and why most people unknowing pirate because they DON'T UNDERSTAND THE LAWS! Now if you want full information on SOPA and PIPA you can go read about them on Wikipedia. These bills have been shelved for now and will most likely go into a rewrite with even more legalese to confuse the masses but if we stay vigilant and actually learn to understand legalese, we won't lose the internet to greedy pricks who can't stand losing a nickel from 1 song being downloaded.


Next topic on my "Year of Fear" is about video games... mainly that more rubbish is coming out and selling well! In an age where the besting selling game is a realistic military murder simulator that has you shooting up non Americans(for those who don't understand, I'm talking about Call Of Duty) it's obvious a GEN-NES gamer like me is crying "The End Is Nigh!" and is also ready to throw money at Nintendo for the Wii U. You see I've been gaming since 1990 and I was brought up on gaming from the 8-bit era and have played every console to date and I know when shit is hitting the fan in the gaming world.

This year is that. Sequelitus(thank you Egoraptor for the word) plagued last years release schedule and this year looks worse. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good sequel(case in point anything Mario, Uncharted trilogy, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, etc.) but this year looks like it'll be a huge load of hit and miss with newish IPs second outings(Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite[Bioshock 2 doesn't count!], Darksiders II) and big franchises getting ready to stagnate in the water(any FPS sequel of this year... mainly staring at COD but also Halo 4). My point I'm trying to get to is that the majority of these mega franchises and soon to be mega franchises are the AIDS virus of the gaming industry and we need more new IPs and they need to be cheaper on release so a great new game like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West doesn't fail. See I actually am considering Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning but I think a limited editions for a new IP is STUPID and I don't want to pay full price for an unknown title that may suck and you get fuck all for trading it in(If you bought Too Human on release you understand where I'm going here). See I don't mined paying full price for a Zelda or Mario game because I know the suck to great ratios of those games(Call Of Duty fans do the same thing pretty much) but When it came to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West I waited for a price fall to AU$30(US$15) because it was a new IP, I didn't have the money at the time and I wasn't sure about it and I don't trust professional reviewers since they are mostly corrupt. Yes it's a great game but charging AU$110 for a game that has only a good developer behind it is stupid! A new IP is a risk and it should be treated as one. Developers and publishers need to understand that we are fans of the games, not the company! We don't care who made it for the most part, we care if the game is good.

Then there's the stupidity of both Nintendo and Sony releasing new consoles in the same year. This is idiocy it the highest degree. See by releasing both Wii U and the PS Vita in the same year, they are pocket gouging people and not everyone has the money for both. If you want to sell a new console you don't release it until you have a good line up of titles(this is where the 3DS failed at launch) and don't launch in the same year as a competitor(This is why the PS3 failed at launch) plus, and this is important... don't over price your console(Again this is where the PS3 failed at launch... and a few years after launch)! See I'm not buying a PlayStation Vita because there's nothing I want on it at the moment but next year they may have BUT I am buying a Wii U on launch since it will replace my Wii and most importantly will have some huge titles released during the first couple of months. Sony, if you read this I will buy a PS Vita under the following conditions,
1) You release an external UMD drive for the Vita or A UMD version of the Vita so I can play my PSP games since you don't support them in your PSP voucher thing.
2)Drop the price of it to the same as the 3DS.
3)Release a minimum of 4 JRPGs on it in Australia and/or the US
4)Release a HDMI and/or component cable for it to play on my TV
5)Get Mistwalker to make a JRPG for it since Hironobu Sakaguchi knows how to make a great JRPG. Hell even get them to release Lost Odyssey on it!

Then there's the SOPA and PIPA thing again... but the fact the ESA supports it. These guys represents the AAA games industry in government and also sponsor E3. I am not doing a E3 recap on my blog since these douche bags want these bills to pass and if they did my blog and 90% of the internet would be shutdown. I love gaming and because I love it I don't want to see independent developers screwed anymore then they have(I'm referring to megauploads being shut down and Megauploads is a CLOUD STORAGE website!) who need online sites to store and distribute their games without publishers screwing them over(I'm looking at you Atari and how you screwed Krome Studios over by not releasing Blade Kitten episode 2 and not paying them and the creator his royalties!).


To add to my "Year of Fear" just for the sake of it, the supposed Apocalypse! See people for generations have predicted and failed on what the apocalypse will be, whether it'll be biblical or metaphorical who gives a shit. See I personally have a series of predictions that I find both logical and unlikely I'd like to throw out,
Scenario 1 - SOPA and PIPA pass, the internet is dead, anarchy across the world leading to heavy police action, war breaks out.
Scenario 2 - Solar flares become strong enough to knock out wireless communication, mass panic, riots start because it will take a long time to fix, anarchy... you get the picture.
Scenario 3 - Economic collapse, the Global Financial Crisis has the big players (eg. USA and Europe) in extreme debt and start a war with their debtors, a new country becomes the new leading financial nation and they become a target of war, famine will ensue because no one can afford food or get paid to produce food.
Scenario 4 - World War 3 is started by a big nation who's paranoid of a little nation and it turns out the little nation makes up for it with big guns, unusual allies are formed and nuclear war breaks out, only a few country remain that aren't irradiated, nuclear winter ensues and a new ice age begins.

Sure the odds of these happening aren't very high but you never know and if the biblical apocalypse happens... HA HA HA HA! Yeah right! Don't get me wrong, anything is possible but anyone who thinks they'll be saved in a biblical apocalypse is an idiot! No one is sin free and sins aren't forgiven.


Well that's it for this blog post. 2012 is a new year of possibilities and by the look of it I'll have a little less games to review, but then again it may be a lot more. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky enough to be hired as a corrupt video game reviewer for a big website like Gamespot. I hope the year turn out great and I have a niece who will be born any day now and who knows, maybe she'll bring the apocalypse... HA HA HA HA!

Time for online multiplayer to become a DLC option

You're probably thinking "Are you mad?" as well as "I buy the game for it's online multiplayer!" Well here's the thing, I don't like online multiplayer for the most part but I do recognise it's significance to the larger gaming community.

I bring this up this idea for 3 main reasons,
- I'm sick of single player games being diluted by the addition of multiplayer and single player campaigns being a second thought in games like Call of Duty(let's shoot people who aren't from the USA) and Battlefield(let's be like Call of Duty but more realistic)... and yes I hate those games!
- Every game with multiplayer has online achievements and stop you from getting all the achievements/trophies in a game
- Battlefield 3 released it's multiplayer on a separate disc for the Xbox 360!

Ok, when it comes to my idea I've actually thought about this for a while now. Now to let you know I actually do enjoy online multiplayer in Halo Reach but that's the only game I enjoy it in. Why do I hate online multiplayer for the most part? Well see I'm a Generation NES guy, my first gaming console was a NES and whenever I wanted to play a game with someone I'd either play with a sibling or go over a friends place and as a 26 year old adult I still do the same thing but I have to visit siblings now. I've played online multiplayer on a variety of games and I just don't like it, the only reason I still play Halo Reach's online multiplayer is because of Invasion and Firefight modes.

Now as for my idea, I purchase a lot of videogames per year and the hobby is expensive, especially if you live in Austalia where we pay double what the USA pays for the same game. Now considering that there are gamers like me who hate online multiplayer, we pay more then we should since we don't play half the game in the case of say... Call of Duty. I propose to lower the cost of games with online multiplayer and especially multiplayer focused games I believe we have come to a point where it should be a downloadable option instead of clogging up disc space and Battlefield 3 is proof of that.

My idea is to kill the online pass by making the key selling feature of modern games as a stand alone downloadble game essentially. In other words Call of Duty(the next enemy... maybe England or Australia?) would sell the single player on shelves and sell the online multiplayer as both an expansion dlc and a game on it's own for US$10-30 depending on the greed of the developer.

You're now probably thinking "You're an idiot! That's a stupid idea!" and you're wrong. Considering a lot of people will just play the single player for achievements or when the server is down it makes perfect sense in our modern gaming world. It will also make both sides of the fence happier since single player and local multiplayer gamers have what they want at a cheaper price and online multiplayer fans get what they want at an even cheaper price and we all win with the demise of the online pass. The only people who don't win are people who like both but unfortunately no war is won without casualties.

Now there are a lot of advantages to my idea, for both gamers and developers. Gamers will benefit from the fact that games can be cheaper and the achievements can be reduced to what you're playing and developers can make more money since downloadable multiplayer can't get traded in. These are just the immediate effects of this idea, there are also long term effects too but mainly for the developers.

The long term benefits that I can see are like I said mainly for the developers but remember that if they benefit, we may benefit too. The idea of online multiplayer DLC will allow developers to split their teams to work on single player and online multiplayer as separate entities instead of tripping all over each other to make street date. It will also give them a more steady revenue to work with since they will no longer need to bitch about the second hand market as much. We may actually see games coming more frequently too but whether that's good or bad is subjective. I'm sure there's more benefits for developers but that's all that comes to mind.

As for long term benefits for game, we can see our gaming community being better catered for with games more focused towards each gaming group. Reviewers admittedly will get twice the work but at least they can review the games on it's merits better. As mentioned it will mean cheaper games but it will also show developers what hey should focus on when developing a game for a specific audience since second hand sale will show them if the single player is rubbish in their games. There may be more benefits then this but again I can't think of anymore off the top of my head. Maybe if a game journalist decides to read and expand on this you'll get more.

Will developers take up my idea? Probably not right now but maybe in the near future. I believe that online multiplayer as a dlc expansion and stand alone game in one is a great idea and has more good then bad in it. If it does happen and we get screwed further then I will admit it was a bad idea.

Sonic Generations. What I liked, what I want and what I would have done

Well the new Sonic game has come out and if you have read my review go do that now! It's on my blog here so go read it and come back. Ok, Sonic Generations has a lot going for it. I'm going to talk about the stuff I liked and also go into stuff I'd like to see added to the game and maybe criticise Crisis City more.

Sonic Generations has got some really good things done in the game. While in my review I ragged on the challenges being tedious but there are some good challenges. I personally liked the doppelganger, race to the finish and goal juggling challenges and I'm sure some of you will enjoy other challenges but being forced to complete 1 just to advance IS tedious! Unlocking them they way we unlock them is fine though. Challenges shouldn't get in the way of the main game but are great for when you finish the game.

I personally liked the rival and boss battles in the game but as I said in the review there aren't many. I honestly think that every friend of Sonic should have been a rival battle or have had a different battle for both Sonics. I would have loved to have had a modern Sonic battle with Metal Sonic or a classic Sonic fight with Shadow. I'd also would have loved each stage to have a boss battle from that stage from the classic stages and just a battle from the games in the other stages. As for the main boss fights it would have been nice to either have a new boss to fight like say a Time Eater spawn or stages of the Time Eater.

The level design in the game is really well done... except Crisis City! Hated that stage the first time and even classic Sonic couldn't make it fun! Anyway I enjoyed the redesigned stages and got a little angry admittedly when I played City Escape and everything was different... especially that crappy remix of the song. I commend Sonic Team for doing such a good job on the level designs and really hope they make more stages in DLC. I actually have a list of stages I'd like remade as DLC,

Scrap Brain Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog 1991)
Mystic Cave Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog 2)
Icecap Zone (Sonic The Hedgehog 3)
Flying Battery Zone (Sonic and Knuckles)
Lost World (Sonic Adventures)
Final Chase (Sonic Adventure 2)
Rail Canyon (Sonic Heroes)
Kingdom Valley (Sonic The Hedgehog 2006)
I'd also like a level editor too for $10

Another thing that was a missed opportunity was 2 player mode both online and offline. Seriously how did this not get thought about? Play through the stages with Shadow and Sonic in the 3D stages and Sonic and Metal Sonic for 2D stages. I enjoyed the 2 player mode in Sonic Adventures 2 and am surprised a 2 player mode was ignored for this.

Sonic Generations is a great game for Sonic fans and I think almost everything I mention could be added as DLC so lets hope SEGA decides to take my advice and maybe they can make a great game better.

The FPS genre may be dying... YAY!

WTF am I saying? Well let's look at all the high selling war FPS on the market right now, The single player campaigns are getting shorter while the multiplayer is heavily focused on 1:1 tea bagging and racism both on the games and gamers parts.


Let me get this straight, I don't completely hate the FPS genre. I love games like Halo, Duke Nukem, Fallout 3, Rage(don't own but love playing my friends PC version) Portal(technically a First Person Puzzle game) Half life, Bioshock, Resistance and Metroid Prime... notice a trend? I just personally hate the games that are most popular in the genre, the gun wank war FPS games.


As for the genre dying, well if you've played them you may have noticed that the campaigns barely last 5 hours in some and rarely break 8 hours. Also the stories in them are like grease proof paper that's been dipped in grease... barely there! On top of that these games are unintentionally racist, you heard me! Plus all the money goes into multiplayer and I know people who don't have Internet connections and/or don't care about online multiplayer and they feel ripped off when they buy these games. Now to go into more details about what I mentioned here.


The single player campaigns in these games can pretty much be summarised in a paragraph since their stories are like what... 2 pages long. I've played Battlefield Bad Company 2, Modern Warfare's 1 and 2, Medal Of Honor and all of their stories never stuck with me. The only thing I remember out of those games are realistic guns and that nuke scene from MW1... that's it!

The single player has become nothing more then a training tool for online multiplayer so noinks( it's from Blade Kitten and means No idea noob Kid.) can slightly stand a chance in an online murderfest. On top of that the single player campaign can be cleared in an afternoon. Seriously I used to own MW1 and I finished it the day I bought it before dinner that night and I refuse to play games on a difficulty higher then normal unless it's worth replaying and it wasn't, took it back and swapped it for Uncharted the next day.


As for racism in these war FPS you notice this more when you live in a multicultural country like Australia or are of the ethnicity being killed in the game. In every bloody war FPS you play as a white soldier(either a Yankee or Pommy/Limey[American or British]) and you are always shooting Germans, Russians, Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Middle Eastern or in the rare extent Negros( is that acceptable to use?) and yes I'm aware MW3 has other white people to use but here's the thing... there ALWAYS white!

Now I am a white man myself(whiter then most whites since I almost never go into sunlight since I'm a red head... also a minority) and it pisses me of that I can never play these games as anyone other then a white guy. Why you ask? Well I feel like a racist playing these games because I can't play as any one of those ethnicity's and I'm never teamed with them either. It also makes me wonder if the U.S Army even has ethnics in the army and that's sad. I'm sure the U.S army has all the mentioned ethnicity's in there army and it pisses me off that they are never represented in these games. I'm sure the racism in war games is mostly unintentional, but I can't help but feel these games also promote racism by only killing non Americans/British people and never playing as those ethnicity's in the main campaign. I get it Russia never waged war on the U.S, Vietnam wasn't a "true" victory, World War 2 sucked and was the only war you won, Koreans are a "threat" to you and 9/11 sucked but get the hell over it!


Now that I've really pissed the major majority of you who may be reading this it's time for my favourite punching bag in this... online multiplayer! Yes I HATE online multiplayer... except for some exceptions like Uncharted 2, Halo and the occasional MMORPG. Why you may ask? Well in short it's because of douche bags who take all the fun away in the game by cheap sniping and tea bagging you at every turn who call you a hacker for actually killing them and throwing racial and homophobic slurs around like confetti at a parade that's why! As well as crappy connections due to a lack of dedicated regional servers for Australia. I've played a ton of games online and I can't stand the players at all! The majority are arseholes! Halo is the only FPS I've played online where I've met people who weren't complete idiots and actually wanted to have fun playing.

Ok now to get to the topic at hand. The online mutiplayer of these games just aren't fun, mainly due to 2 things, realism and the players. Halo has you using outrageous weapons and aliens to skew the realism and focus on head stickies and hammer clubbing fun, while war shooter are just about killing each other in the cheapest and realistic way possible.

Then there's the DLC... I hate DLC, even in Halo! This is an aggravating thing because by the time all the DLC is released, you've bought the game twice and for what? 4 to 8 extra online murder coliseums? What's worse is that you'll get locked out from other players just because you didn't feel like wasting all that money on maps that aren't much different to the ones packaged in the game. Now if the DLC allowed you to play as an ape with a banana bazooka, then I'd be willing to part with 500M$ points. Also DLC is way to expensive! I mean AU$15 for a 2 map DLC? Piss Off!


Pretty much the FPS genre has started sucking it's own dick and has also become stagnant... more stagnant then JRPGs ever have, but more people notice JRPGs stagnating then FPSs. Soon the genre will have no single player and every game will be like MAG(played it, hated it, boring!) only slightly better. Enjoy the shallowness of the genre majority while I play the crap out of quality games like Legend Of Zelda, Mario, Blade Kitten, Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, JRPGs and other games with more depth then a flattened teaspoon!

Not enough REAL women in video games.

Allo allo allo, what's this all about then? Why is I talking about this then? Ok serious time now. I was thinking about all the games both in my video game collection and what's coming and and came to a realisation, there are too many men in video games (Also all these men are mainly grizzled 30 something year old men) and not enough women and on top of it there aren't many women in games who are actual women. What do I mean? Well since you asked.

First let me link you to a video that helps me with my case to start with. Have you ever heard of a show call Extra Credits on The Escapist before? They did a video on the subject I'm talking about... kinda. Here's the link http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2868-True-Female-Characters

Well that video does cover the majority but I'd feel really lazy if I didn't explain why I'm bringing this up. Well let me start with the visual depiction of women, mainly clothing. Sure I could bag out the giant breast and impossible to attain figures they have but that just goes without saying. You see the current looks most women have in games are highly sexualised. Now my gripe about this is the fact that most gamers are apparently between 25 and 30, which means men and women. The current designs of women are appealing to 2 main groups, teens and the sexually deprived.

The outfits of women in video games are very strangely designed. Look at a game in a fantasy setting, the female characters are usually running around in something that could best be described as a leather bikini. How about fighting games, especially Dead Or Alive? The "women" in the game are wearing outfits that flash cleavage and upskirt shots. Basically they are designed to "look" appealing but to a person like me who's a 25 year old male they are silly. Why you may ask? Well I've grown up and even though I'm single, I just find real women more visually appealing and REAL. Thing is I don't want these styles of video game women to go, just become less frequent.

Then there's the personality. MovieBob in in his video "I Heart Bayonetta" kinda nailed the basic types of "Ice Queens" and "Girls". You hardly ever see women characterised in a way that makes them feel like an actual women. I honest have trouble thinking of women in games that actually manage to be close to a real women. Most women in games are usually either soft and mousy or well... stereotypical butch lesbians (No offense to actual lesbians is implied). I'd give examples of the types but it's easier to ask you to tell me which women in gaming don't fall in these areas that aren't silent. I'd really like to see more female characters who could actually pass as a real woman in personality.

Now then there's a story to suit a female character. The only games I've seen women in are action and fighting games to show of their physique and jiggle physics. Now this isn't so much a problem as the fact that the stories in them are usually focused on giving them a slim reason for them to be there. I'd like to see games with women that tackle real issues women go through that would actually take the call to action outside of employment and the "we need girls in this game" idea. I like the ideas the Extra Credits crew came up with to be honest.

Pretty much in short I'd like less of the usual women in gaming and more non sexualised, naturally endowed women with a realistic female personality. I'd also like to see those types of women in games that suit those women and women in general. I'd like to invite you to leave comments of examples of the REAL types of women in video games. I know of a couple but I'd like to see how many there are.

"The Cloud" scares me...

Call me crazy, call me an idiot, call me paranoid, call me whatever the heck you want. The Cloud scares the living crap out of me. No not "The Cloud" the feature, "The Cloud" the evil beast.

See I'm for "The Cloud" as a feature, you know like the PSN storage for saves. This use of "The Cloud" is great. Seriously I think the theory of an option for backup stored on the web is the best idea for PC's and online enabled consoles.

The part of "The Cloud" that scares me is the future that's coming for it. See if you've even seen that Google Chrome OS computer that is a cloud computing system you may have a vague idea why I'm scared. See what you may not know is that "The Cloud" can and will be the future of computing and here's what's going to happen. The PC will eventually be nothing but iPads and everyone's version as well as netbooks "Cloud Books" if you prefer that have no storage for anything except the glorified web browser OS but that's not the bad part, let me get to that.

You see if "The Cloud" evolves the way I predict, you know hard drives and flash drives? GONE! No physical back ups of data, which also means that if the server dies, your data dies. Not scared? Well if you have no back up and they have no back up you wasted money, lost important data and chances are there will be no compensation.

Then there's the fact that everything will be subscription run. Your OS, subscription. Your editing program, subscription. Your drawing program(eg Corel), subscription. You get the drift right? Essentially no credit or debit card or no money, no Cloud PC and since you paid for the unit itself that's unfair right? Yeah, see paying for a monthly subscription for a game is one thing but paying just to turn on a PC is just wrong but it WILL happen and considering your bill are emailed to you and will probably only be able to be paid online you can't use electricity, gas, water, food, etc. Also it will become way more expensive in under this model they will choose.

You know the videos, the music and and games you enjoy on PC? Well you know how we have region locking at the moment with DVDs, Blurays and video games? Yeah they'll be worse because VPNs will no longer be an option and people like me will be screwed. Sure piracy and hacking will die but you'll miss out one games you want to play, the music will be restricted to whatever crap is chosen to be released and you can't watch say, True Blood unless you live in the US. Speaking of games, no more mods for games.

What about privacy? Think of that? Well if "The Cloud" come privacy is no more because everything will be public. See the thing is security will actually suffer greatly due to full internet integration. Thing well get harder to block and viruses will roam more free then ever.

Then there's the internet connection. See until the internet runs like water at a steady flow for all instead of laggy like it is today, we'll never be able to make the most of "The Cloud" in the future form it will take. Think about playing say Fallout 5 via "The Cloud and the net drops before a 2 hour run could be saved or even worse... in the middle of saving and corrupts you save.

Also what about the OS of Cloud PC's? You see since it will be just a web browser with apps, you can't use say Firefox(my personal favourite browser) to browse the web and then there's the fact that certain apps won't work on Mac Cloud OS that work on Windows Cloud OS or Google Chrome and so on. Sure we have that already but we can't patch it to work.

This is just a sample of what can happen and what I fear most. I'm sure there a boat load of possibilities that are positive but I'm not seeing them. "The Cloud" should just be a feature or an option, not the only thing. There's a high chance what I predict is coming but hey, if I'm wrong then I'll except the ridicule. The big question is when will it come? I guess between 10 and 15 years personally.

My thoughts on how the next gen consoles should be done.

Man it's been a while since I did a non review post. This time I'm going to talk about what I'd like to see and would do with the next console iterations. I think I'll start with Microsoft.

Ok first off don't release a new console until 2014 the earliest, why? Because you got some serious work to do.

-First of either use a 1GB graphics card or use 2 graphics cards.

-Use a multi core processor, preferable quad or sextuple and have at least 4 GB ram but I'd say go with 8GB.

-HD is a no brainer. Here's the part that will help you in terms of fighting piracy, use proprietary HD DVDs for the games and use 16GB discs. Keep the reverse compatibility for all Xbox 360 games and even have the ability to transfer the save data and DLC from 360 to the new console.

-Give it a minimum HDD of 120GB but go with 250GB, that's a nice size, heck why not just do a HDD that's exactly the same as the 360 and be able to just plug your 360 HDD in and download an update for the new interface and what not.

-Now for the reason you should wait, allow cloud save data for XBL Gold subscribers and even allow an option for XBLA games to be played via the cloud. We all know the cloud is inevitable but it need to be experimented with and implemented in small abouts like in my examples.

-Use all the accessories from the 360 so you don't need to redesign or make peoples lives more miserable and bundle it with 2 controllers and a Kinect.

-Keep the disc draw drive design. I like having the draw and it's your advantage against both the Wii U, Wii and PS3. I bet I'm not the only one who agrees.

-I can't stress this enough and it will reduce piracy as well. MAKE IT REGION FREE! All region locking does it piss people of and gives them an excuse to pirate a game if it isn't released in there region. This is why console modding is popular in Australia and Europe.

-Make the XBL marketplace region free. This is a great idea, trust me!

-Sell actual disc games via XBL Marketplace that get mailed to the customer and give bonus MS Points to people who preorder via my idea of the XBL Retail Marketplace.

-Be able to buy stuff via PayPal! Seriously this should actually be done now!

-Put in a proper Windows Live messenger that uses Kinect! This will make a lot of people happy! Also proper Facebook and Twitter integration you can update while playing games. Again this will make a lot of people happy!


As for Sony with your inevitable PlayStation 4 again wait until 2014 to release it at the earliest and most of what I recommend for Microsoft should be taken but I'll repeat it anyway.

- Multi core processor, 4 core minimum, 6 core preference

- 1GB graphics card or 2 graphics cards

- 4GB ram minimum, 8GB recommended

- Reverse compatibility for all PlayStation 1,2 and 3 games... and I mean all not some!

- Minimum HDD 120GB, 250GB preferred

- Keep the Blurays as they are but offer developers the 50GB, especially JRPG developers like Square-Enix, Mistwalker, NIS, IF, Compile Heart, Gust, etc

- Keep the region free, I love that about you guys and it's was your ace in the hole with this console generation and make the PlayStation Store region free too. I hate how the US gets games I want and can't get like Parasite Eve for example!

- Offer cloud storage for PSN users but have unlimited cloud saves for PSN plus subscribers

- Use all the PlayStation 3's accessories and bundle the console with a controller and a full PS Move kit, you know PS wand/remote, camera and navigation controller.

- Remove the PSN Pass! I know you're scared of second hand sales but here's what you, Nintendo and Microsoft can do to battle it... DON'T SUPPLY SHOPS THAT SELL SECOND HAND GAMES RELEASED WITHIN 12 MONTHS OF IT'S RELEASE! Seriously if they don't have new games to sell, they will think twice about screwing you over with second hand games. Still allow them to sell used games but not games release within a 12 month period for example if they sell Resistance 3 used before a year has passed, stop sending them stock for 60 days the first offence 90 days for the second and never again for a third offence. It's time you fought back against there pockets!

- Allow people to buy retail games that get mailed to the customer via the PS Store.

- Allow people to pay for stuff via PayPal! This should have been done by now!

- Proper Facebook and Twitter integration that can be updated while playing games.

- CROSS GAME CHAT! THIS IS A MUST!


So yeah... will the companies take my advice... probably not but if they do the next generation of console my actually be a great one... maybe...

Crazy thought, Video Game ISP from the console companies!

Ok before I get chewed out by people for this radically crazy idea I'd like people to remember I'm not crazy... I've been tested. This is an idea I came up with a while ago while getting chewed out for lagging an online game because I'm Australian and the ping rate between Australia and America is pathetic.

Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft. Here's my proposed idea. Create your own exclusive internet connection that is worldwide and subscription based. Make it a lag free connection that even if you are on 1 side of the world and your playing with people on the other side of the world. Keep your current services you have but make it a separate but interconnected service so people choose their preferred service and price it reasonably. My full idea will be detailed properly below using Microsoft as my main target because they seem like the ones who could benefit the most with the least costs. Sony, Nintendo you can use the model I make too but it's easier for me to explain using Microsoft.

Ok my idea is either a 4G modem that has a proprietary connection or coding that only allows Xbox consoles to connect to it(preference) or a proper telecommunication service. Configure it so there is no lag between anyone on any game if they connect with other people using the same service. The device or connection can only work with the Xbox and nothing else and is dedicated to the Xbox Live service.

When it comes to the online play my lag free idea is that the service is configured so that only those who have the service can get the lag free play regardless of game they play and have an update to all the online games that has a search option specifically for people on the lag free service. Also allow you to still play with normal internet service users. Reason for this idea is because of people who use there internet while playing game who lag out matches with extreme bandwidth strangulation.

Now here's the part that gets a little annoying for the company but hear me out. Charge a subscription fee that is a little higher then normal Xbox Live for it and using the Australian cost as the example AU$89.95 for a year(current XBL cost here is AU$79.95 per year) , don't meter people and encourage people to jump on the service with discounts on the XBL content eg. 1200MS content for 1000MS. My idea for the service name is Xbox Live Premium. Sell the modem for AU$149.95 or installation for a dedicated telecom service at whatever a phone connection costs.

So what do you think? How many people like the idea of lag free console company run ISP specifically for online video game services? I give this idea to the console companies now to consider and iron out by the time the new console come out and all I ask is a discounted version of the services in exchange for the idea at like 40% or something. I'm not a very greedy person but am compassionate about my gaming. Also sorry Sony and Nintendo for using Microsoft as my model for it, as I said it's easier to use them for it but still consider the idea.

Blade Kitten, The game you didn't play

Ok this is going to be one of THOSE kind of blog posts, you know the ones where a person bangs on about a game nobody bothered to play and the author rags on people for not buying it. Ok I hope it doesn't turn out like that but I thought I'd give a warning to be on the safe side.

Let me tell you about Blade Kitten. It original started off as a game idea from Australia based Krome Studios' Steve Stamatiadis who also created Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and worked on the PSP, Wii and PS2 Star Wars forced unleashed games. Because of those projects getting in the way he decided to make it into a online comic series. The comics can be purchased by the way so if you are interested in Blade Kitten after reading this go to the official site at http://bladekitten.com/.

The comic series has a small amount of fame and is an independent comic series. The story is also based after the game. The comics are also ongoing so it's still telling it's story. The game on the other hand isn't a full game. Why you may ask? Well it's an episodic game that's in 2 parts and Atari has only released 1 of the episodes. Atari hasn't released episode 2 because not many people bought episode 1.

The game itself is a cel shaded 2.5D action platformer inspired by classic Castlevania games. The game focuses on exploration over combat. The controls are simple enough for kids to play and the story is enjoyable but you can tell that there is suppose to be more to it when you finish it. The games short for it's price tag but it's length will depend on what you do. If you rush through the stages it can be don't in a little over an hour but if you focus on finding all the treasure chest and skiffs it can take about 4 or more hours depending on the player. Admittedly the replay value is limited to just grinding for Hex and finding what you missed so you can unlock costumes, buy all the weapons and max out Kit Ballard's health and stamina. Episode 2 has improvements but we may never see it because it's release will be determined by sales.

The game is fun in my opinion but if you've read the reviews of the big boy reviewers they all pretty much said it's meh except Eurogamer who liked it. I have a review here on my blog so you can read it if you want my full opinion and a little more info on the game. What was the biggest complaint of the top of my head was the fact that enemies were too easy to kill. Now this didn't bug me but they are easy to kill. Again I remind you that the game is inspired by classic Castlevania games where the enemies where killed with a strike or 2 from your whip. The story is also complained about but I remind you it's only half a game.

I'm not asking people to buy the game, I'm asking you download the trial and then decide if you want to buy it. Even give the comics a read, they're pretty good. I admit I'm a bit bias towards Blade Kitten and patriotic towards it too since it's Australian made but it's worth a try. Unfortunately you can't download the PS3 version for obvious reasons but it's the same quality on all of them and it's probably dropped in price too. Also don't let that T rating in America fool you, this game is appropriate for kids and they will most likely enjoy the colorful visuals and cartoon like appearance.

If you do enjoy the game tell Atari you like it and want the second episode DLC to be released via email or Twitter. If enough people ask for it we may be able to pressure them to release it. I've been hounding them since November whenever I can and I can't do it alone.

What Nintendo can do with their new console.

Ok as you know Nintendo has announced a new console to be released in 2012 and they've told us... nothing... leaving many to speculate. I would love to play the speculate game as well but instead I'm going to talk about what Nintendo can do to make their new console really good and innovative.

Well let's start with the obvious. They need to make it HD and possibly 3D. They also need to put in a 320GB HDD minimum if they have install data or 120GB for just save data. They need to keep Wii reverse compatibility for Wii games and controllers. They need to make it so you can transfer your data from Wii to whatever they name the new console. They need to make it with an ethernet port for wired internet. They need disc storage over 10GB for the games for their potential HD optical discs. They also need to make their online friend system and multiplayer better for those who actually care about playing online. I think that covers the obvious but now let's go to the less obvious.

Nintendo like to make games for all so they should consider allowing games like Angry Bird, Plants Vs Zombies and other small games like that be released on it with exclusive controls that use either the Wiimotes or their new motion controller. This is because these smaller games are very popular today and will encourage people to make the move to consoles for these games.

They should also drop the currency point system and use real world money so people don't have left over points they can't use for an extremely long period of time. I have Wii points I can't use because Nintendo hardly updates the PAL Wii Shop. Seriously we don't even have Contra!

Another thing they should do which some people may not agree with is that it should have Gamecube reverse compatibility. 3 reasons, 1) It will most likely use optical discs like the Gamecube 2) Gamecube games are about 1.2GB per discs and will take up a lot of space on a HDD 3) Some of us still have a large collection of Gamecube games we still play on the Wii. Also they need to have the home menu work while playing a Gamecube game and use whatever new controller or the Classic controller to play them.

This one is the most important in my opinion. They should allow the 3DS to be used as a controller for some of the games. Seriously this is something they should have done when they first connected the Gameboy Advance to the Gamecube. This is an important thing because being able to combine the 2 for some games will make the games more interactive and is the true innovative path the company should follow this time around, handheld and home console connectivity. Can you imaging a HD Zelda game that uses the 3DS as a controller freeing up the screen from clutter with all the stuff on the 3DS like the inventory and mini map, using the 3DS gyroscope for interscreen aiming of the bow, scanning enemies on screen by moving the 3DS over the enemy, puzzles that can be solved using the 3DS, using the 3DS to find secret holes and treasure chests and the list can keep going depending on the imagination. Also Nintendo, you're welcome for the idea for a new Zelda.

Rechargeable controllers or battery pack should also be considered by Nintendo since they are cheaper then batteries and Nintendo will get some serious appreciation for it's customers for doing this.

A new controller design for playing games without motion controls should be made and designed like the classic controller but wireless and move the left thumbstick up to the same level as the buttons.

They need to make the Mii's as your profile image and use it as the means of adding friends to your friends list through the Nintendo online service. This way your Mii plaza has your Mii and the Mii's of all your friends and if they aren't online they can sleep on screen and have a different Mii plaza for each Mii profile on the new Nintendo consoles.

I suppose they can make an achievement system but here's my twist to it. Link the achievement system to peoples Nintendo Club accounts so instead of earning achievements for bragging rights, you're doing them for Nintendo Club stars! This way you can actually gain achievements for exclusive Nintendo Club swag! This is a great idea and they aren't for nothing like the Trophies of PlayStation 3 or the achievements of the Xbox 360. Again Nintendo you're welcome.

Also make the console REGION FREE! Seriously region locking encourages piracy and if all the content is region free for both digital and disc games then no one will want to pirate except the undesirables. This will also make it easier to find pirated software too.

I think that covers everything I can think of. How much of the things Nintendo uses is questionable but I'm sure anyone reading this will agree with everything or most of what I've come up with. Regardless I'm sure Nintendo will make a great console that targets everyone instead of some. We'll see at E3.