This time next week I will 28 years old. Shortly there after, I will have been married for the some total of 2 months. So I am getting older and being all growed up, and now have a wife to think about as well as myself.  

Like many people, I am searching for something though. Not happiness in love or anything as cheesy as that since I have already found it, but rather contentness in my job and career. I have never really thought of myself as particularly creative until the last few years, when I have been unable to scratch a growing creative itch, and it is getting annoying.

So, like a lot of people reading and using this very site, I have decided I want to go into the games industry and here is a short account of my attempts thus far. I have to point out at an early stage though, so far, I have not been successful, I am still working as an IT support analyst and not particularly enjoying it anymore. It's a good job don't get me wrong, but it is not what I want to do for the next forty years. 

So for the last couple of years I have been applying for jobs as a QA tester for various companies, trying to get into the industry on a low grade footing and work my way up. Unfortunately, this has gone quite according to plan. The first interview I ever had I was suited and booted and ready to go, and I walked in immediately felt over dressed, since everyone else, including other interviewee's where in jeans and a shirt or t-shirt. Also insulted a game one of the interviewers made, so that wasn't so good. Alas, that job, at Kuju in Surrey, was not to be mine.

So I continued applying for other studios, eventually having a interview with Outrun 2006 developer Sumo Digital. Having learnt from my previous attempt, I attended the interview with a shirt and trousers, which I felt was a lot better and meant I wasn't as out of place, especially when one of the guys interviewing me walked in still wearing motorcycle leathers. The interview seemed to go well, though I still wasn't to get the job. 

At this point I got more than a little bit determined, and started sending my C.V. into various Yorkshire studios on a regular basis (one to two month intervals). Eventually, this scored me a second interview with Sumo Digital, which again went well and the guys recognised me and we had a great informal interview. They told me they had a new round of tester roles coming up and I would be high on their list. I am still waiting to here from them, and that was coming close to 2 years ago now.   From that point on I have been scanning games industry job sites on a regular basis to find a suitable position, even taking the tactic of sending my c.v. in once a month for a as long as the QA position was listed on the studios site (sorry Rockstar leeds!). As you can probably tell I am getting a bit desperate here.  

The reason I chose to tell you about this so far unsuccessful venture is because on Saturday, I had a very nice chap come round to my home from a company called Train2game. For those of you who don't know about them, train2game offer TIGA endorsed game programmer and game designer courses on a work from home basis. The idea behind his visit is that they only offer the courses to a select few individuals in a given post code area, and after a 2 hour interview about my gaming habits, what I want to do in the industry, why I want to change careers and various other things, he said that he wants to offer me a position on the course and that he needs to know by 10am Monday if I want it.  

Unfortunately for me, £135 a month for three years to be able to pay for the course is too rich, so, being unable to get any decent help from the government or parents or anything, I had to decline the course, effectively ending my dream for at least another year. I am still trying to find that dream job but the current economic climate isn't making it any easier.

The morale of the story is this: decide what you want to do with your life quickly. In school I wasn't much of an academic, and the only thing I really decided on was that I wanted to work with computers when I got older. If I had decided I wanted to work in games a lot sooner than I had, I may well have put more effort in, knowing I had to get the grades to get onto a decent course at university to be able to leap into the industry. Alas, I only realised what I really want to do in the last five or so years, which is just about the right time to be way too late.  

So kids, decide what you want to do quickly. Take a week out of your life and really look at yourself, what you like to do, what interests you, what makes you happy, and decide to make that career a reality. Hell, if you genuinely want to become a real life pet detective, do it, but decide soon because even though people say you can always re-train, the reality is an expensive and time consuming process that at a point, just isn't viable anymore. Don't make my mistake, take the advice and figure out what you want do soon.

I hope my story has helped and you take away more than 'this guy is a looser' from it. And if anyone from a games studio is reading, I am looking for work right now so please contact me for a copy of my C.V!    

Ok, let me be straight up from the off: this is about my reasons for gaming, what I like and don’t, and is generally more about me than anything else. I will ask the question of you at the end, but please, if your going to comment on my thoughts, at least be polite.

Now, for most of my life I have been a geek. Its an honest assessment, and one anyone who knows me, or indeed, has read my previous posts can attest to. I am cool with it, but this is probably the biggest reason why I game.

As a geek, I have a certain affinity for some material. For some geeks it is swords and sorcery, hack and slash, with the height of your geekdom coming from knowing every line from the Conan movies. For others, and for me, it is science fiction and to a lesser extent, comic books.

As a kid I grew up watching Transformers and G.I. Joe (action force as it was known in the ) along with M.A.S.K and Centurions. These cartoons really grabbed me, they were surprisingly adult in how they told their stories, despite being ‘kiddified’ and were brilliantly inspired pieces of sci fi. This followed on into the movies I watched, with the obvious one’s being Star Wars, because, lets face it, very few sci fi geeks don’t love them.

Gaming original started out as a way to a) shut me up and b) do something else but use my imagination to re-enact great Autobot vs Decepticon battles with my Transformers toys. However, as the technology of gaming became better and better, and more cinematic and intricate story’s could be told, I found my self drawn to it more and more.

I started playing space invaders when I was very young on a really, really old battery powered device with a black and white screen built in. Later I graduated to the ZX spectrum and games like Chucky Egg (I think that was it) and Ghostbusters. Then came the PC into our house and asteroids took over for a while.

Shortly there after, stories were added to games. Oh wow, now here was something that filled my head with information, and let what I do best run amuck. Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, the very first Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, all games with stories that I got behind, along with the Seminal Doom.

My imagination was on over load, and it pretty much still is. Gaming, along with movies and to a lesser extend TV, has become my medium of choice to tell intriguing stories with great characters and fantastic backgrounds. I first geeked out over the story in Wing Commander, then moved on to both flavours of Command and Conquer (the installs for those early games were like p*rn for me!!!) before getting to PS2 games like Devil May Cry.

It was this era that really made me game a lot more. The story’s and cinematic flair available through the power of the PS2 and its successors (Xbox included) meant that developers came up with stories and universes that appealed to me on a fundamental level.

The biggest game to do that is, and despite the attention I know this will get, Halo. Bungie created one of the greatest science fiction universes ever, its intricate back story, powerful characters and awesome visual scope made it probably my favourite game series of all time. I just can’t help myself, it is brilliant.

And now, that is why I game. For the story, the characters and universes developers create. The power of modern computing technology allows for those cinematic cut scenes and powerful story’s, and titles like Braid have certainly shown that a story doesn’t just have to be about blowing stuff up. Gaming has become more than just a pass time of the bored (though it is still that), it is now a full fledging medium in its own right, with its own rules and boundaries.

These rules and boundaries can be bent or broken, but even if developers remain within them, they can create stories are compelling as the greatest works of literature or cinema and tell them in a completely different way. Do we need a movie based on Halo or Gears of War? Honestly, probably not, though I would go see them.

Games can tell stories just as well as any other medium, they captured by heart and mind years ago continue to do so. I may be a geek, and gaming geek at that, but I have been rewarded for my status with stories I will probably never told better in another medium, and experiences that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Gaming is great, though it may not be your reason to game, the stories and universes that I play through are mine.

So tell me, what are yours?

So inevitably, a slew of lists of games that blew people away at E3 have started to come out. So I thought I would join the band wagon, since I am not above such things.

I watched all three press conferences and I have to say that each one felt more like the companies were actually trying, and had some genuinely new stuff to bring to the table. Nintendo’s was a bit lacklustre, but lets face, they did listen to complaints about forgetting core gamers, and you have to give them credit for that.

So here is my list of games and things that got me really excited out of the three conferences, what grabbed you?

Microsoft

Shadow Complex

I have only just got in to a few Live Arcade games, but dam this looks pretty sweet and I especially loved the robot boss at the end. The graphics looked great and it looked fairly open ended, and dude that foam gun was pretty rad.

Facebook integration

I get sick of having to go upstairs to check my Facebook account on the PC, so this is actually gonna be quite useful. Plus I will look like I have some mates on my xbox now, which is always good.

Live Sky TV

Finally a service to rival Netflix in the , but more than that it has the ability to let you watch sky broadcasts live. The problem with that, is that I already have sky+, so this is a little pointless, unless it lets me get channels I don’t normally get. The On Demand stuff is way more compelling to me, will have to see what the pricing structure is, if I don’t have to upgrade anything or pay on a per view basis it should be good.

Halo: ODST and Halo: REACH

Ok so I admit it, I am a massive Halo fan, I just love the universe, it is brilliant. So this brace of games really peaked my interest. I love the fact that ODST had such talkative characters; it really felt like they were real hard nosed grunts behind enemy lines. As for REACH, no knows much about it, but if it centres around the fall of reach, or even the book of that name, this will be ace!

So everyone’s favourite cyborg ninja returns for his very own game. This could go one of two ways, either it is like MGS 4 or it is more like Ninja Gaiden, only time will tell. If Kojima himself is writing and directing though, it will be a brilliant story and one of the most cinematic games every made, much like its predecessor.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Whatever they did to change this game around, it worked and it looks awesome. It looks exactly what it needed to be to update the series and a true next gen Splinter Cell game. I also loved the flashbacks of Sam’s daughter painted on the walls and the fact he doesn’t have any of his gadgets and third echelon is hunting him.

Project

Ok so the big one for last. If this thing can do what they touted in that video, it will genuinely revolutionise the way we play games, but also the way we interact with our consoles. Being able to say goodnight and have your Xbox turn off, or say play movie and it starts with the film, and even recognising who you are and logging you in when you walk into a room is an awesome idea, I just hope it happens.

Nintendo

New Super Mario Bros Wii

Yay a new Mario Bros game for Wii, this time with four player co-op. I am never going to use that, but by myself it could really be fun still, and it is the type of game Nintendo needed to come out with, no bitching about forgetting the core market this year.

Wii Sports Resort

If this showcases the Wii Motion Plus as well as the first game showed off the Wii, it will be something a bit special. They know they have to make it more of a game, and so they have a cool looking sky diving intro and more gamey elements, I just hope Motion Plus doesn’t disappoint.

The first game just made me happy. Seriously, half an hour of play and I was happy as Larry, who ever he is. If the sequel can bring that feeling back, while improve some the mechanics and add a few new ones, possibly using Motion Plus, this will be a great game.

Metroid: Other M

The Prime games were all great, but they aren’t cinematic or massively action or story orientated. Enter Team Ninja, creators of Ninja Gaiden, and we have Metroid: Other M, and though it was only shown in trailer form, it does look pretty dam sweet. The combination of first and third person combat, cinematic cut scenes and viciously fast paced action will probably split fans right down the middle, but to this fan, I can’t wait.

Sony

MAG

256 players and it looks like a probably battle played out before your eyes. Ok so that maybe a bit over the top but this looks pretty cool, even though I am not a huge online player this could be the game to tip me into online heaven.

All I needed from this was a bit of game play footage showing something cool to get me to want the game. I got some footage showing three very cool things, and those were Ezio (new protagonist) using Da Vinci’s flying machine to soar over the city, him killing two sentries at once with his twin wrist blades, and his leaping off a pillar to take a guy out. I WILL be getting this.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace

MGS: Portable Ops was a great game, so a non side story, full sequel to MGS 3 should be even better. Plus you get Big Boss and his three clones in there too, so that is pretty cool, so definitely after this one.

PlayStation 3 Motion Sensor

It seems everyone is going the way of the waggle, but Sony and Microsoft have bided their time and learnt from Nintendo’s mistakes, building very unique devices in the process. Sony’s effort is more like the Wiimote, but uses the PlayStation Eye to track movement, from what I could see about as accurately as Motion Plus. Combined with PS3’s impressive graphics abilities this could be a great device.

God Of War III

It looks awesome and incredibly visceral, I mean you actually saw intestines in the demo when Kratos ripped open a centaur. The crazy battle going above and behind the action between a god and a titan was pretty sweet too.

Modnation Races

Building on LittleBigPlanet’s play create share theme, this looks like it could be a whole lot better than Sackboy’s first annoying adventure. The speed with which you can create tracks and the fluidity of the process means I am quite looking forward to this.

So there you have it, my list of what peaked my fancy at the conferences of the big three, but what got your attention?

I was talking to a friend online last night who is at University and He was writing an article on girls in the gaming industry. So I thought I would nick his idea and do one myself.

So I went to see the film Crank: High Voltage at the weekend, and it was entertaining in a ridiculous, OTT kind of way, but it also had the interesting effect of making me think about games.

The term ‘Popcorn movie’ is relatively new to the medium I believe, and is associated with movies like Crank, Transporter and Shoot em up, films that embrace the kind of stupidity that makes them one thing and one thing only: Fun.

These films do not attempt to do anything other than entertain, giving the viewer brilliant action, comedy, and over the top ridiculousness every couple of minutes, with the rest of the film showing the (probably) absurd storyline. A couple of memorable examples are the way the protagonist of Transporter 2 flips his Audi over to knock a bomb off the underside using a crane, and last bit of Shoot em up where the ‘hero’ shoots a guy three times in the arm, causing him to shoot his colleague.

The reason Crank got me thinking was because this idea of ‘Popcorn Movies’ have started to bleed into gaming, especially, it seems, over the course of the last year or so. Titles such as Ninja Blade, Wanted: Weapons of Fate and Mad World offer this same sense of OTT fun and it seems a deeply story and high production values aren’t a necessity anymore.

These types of games offer game play that requires very little thought to pull off, and are often very short, say 4-5 hours. What they lack in depth however, they more than make up for in sheer balls out over the top and, more often than not, cinematic action. Ninja Blade’s protagonist riding a motorcycle down falling debris and Mad Worlds stylish gore and two such examples of this, and while they raise no bars or set no new standards, they have found a place in many gamers hearts.

And that is the point, they fill a nice little niche in the gaming sector. These games will probably sell quite well, and the developers can have some serious fun creating them, which inevitably will bleed into the final product and produce a better game. The developers know they aren’t tying to reset a genre or set the sales charts alight, just that they want to entertain in a way only games can really provide. Sure the movies I have mentioned allow a similar kind of entertainment, but they are passive experiences and the interactive nature of gaming lets you do a lot more and entertain in different ways.

So I here by coin the term ‘Popcorn Gaming’ to be used to describe such titles, where after beating them you are instantly in a good mood because you know you have been entertained by a title that tries to do nothing else. These games can be as great to watch as to play as well, so get some mates round, hand out the popcorn and get some OTT gaming down your neck!

For the past few weeks I have been trying to quantify something in my mind, something that is a very large and complex subject, and was inspired by giantbomb's GDC coverage.

This subject is the Philosophy of games, and I am struggling because I am unsure if such a thing even exists, or if I am over thinking things or what. The general idea is that 'You can do things with games that you cant do in other mediums' which to an extent is true, but then you can do everything you can in games, except have viewer control, in other mediums as well.

What about 'You can engage the player in ways no other medium can do' This is true, TV, Movies, books, music wont engage someone to even half the extent that videogames do, but is this a philosophy?

I am not talking about the philosophy of games design here, I taking about games as a whole. If you sit down and think about games and what they do it is actually really hard to think about one philosophy for the entire medium. Different genres have a different philosophies attached to them, making this even hard to quantify, yet I can't dispell the notion that this over arching philosophy is there, I just need to find it.

It could be something as simple as 'games are designed to entertain, thats what they are and they dont fulfill thier full potential until they do', which now that I have written it, is actually fairly accurate. Everything has a purpose, a singular use that it will always be destined for, for example, an apple or an orange have the singular purpose to be eaten. So maybe once a game has entertained someone, somewhere, its purpose is fullfilled and that is the philosophy of games, so long as they entertain someone, thats all they need to be.

But the medium is growing all the time, pushing itself in new directions and taking on new challenges, so this philosophy seems a little simplistic. The notion that games help push technology in the systems that use them is true, but also simplistic and other factors contribute to that. Maybe its that people who are skilled in certain areas that arent viable to music, movies or other area's of IT come together and decide to be creative, forming something that means something to them, that is thier vision.

I have read through this piece and decided to call it a day, simply because my head hurts thinking about this and I can go off on so many tangents with each new thought. I think maybe, the philosophy of games is different to each and every person who plays/creates them, and that they are as much about individuality and what you take away from them as they are about the amount of effort, time and volume of people that go into creating them. If you have any thoughts on this, or think you have figured it out, please let me know, but for now, I am off to find some anadin...

GTA IV was one of the greatest games of last year, indeed, of all time and gamers chomping at the bit for the continuing adventures of Niko Bellic will have to wait a little longer, as Rockstar have unleashed their first Xbox 360 exclusive download for the game, The Lost and Dammed.

The Lost and Dammed centres on Johnny Klebbitz, a member of motorcycle gang The Lost, and opens as the chapter leader is released from prison. The gang pick him up and he immediately starts to get them mixed up in things Johnny doesn’t believe they should be involved in, and, predictably, it all spirals out of control from there. The actual mechanics of the title are almost exactly the same as that of Niko's adventure (indeed, any modern GTA) except bikes are a major theme and a lot of the stuff you had to unlock by being friends with people is there from the beginning.

Johnny can use his mobile phone to call in Lost members as backup, ask one for a van full of guns, another to bring him a bike and also maybe take in a show with him. It is all almost exactly the same as the original, except the some times irritating friendship stuff has been taken out.

This title introduces two new weapons as well, though they don’t make that much difference to the game play so it is actually irrelevant as to whether you should use them or not. No this is a title to get for the story, assuming you liked the mechanics of the original game, and what a story you will get.

I personally loved the story as much as Niko’s, the biker gang frame working fantastically to draw me into the tale, as well has give a great focal point for Johnny. This is a guy who loves The Lost and its members as brothers and will do anything to keep it going, even if he doesn’t believe it is the right course of action for the chapter. As he gets double crossed and has to watch his beloved brothers turn on one another, you can really feel for him as he watches his life be really turned upside down.

This is how DLC should be done, and with Johnny’s story interweaving with Niko’s at certain points, Rockstar has shown you can make meaningful add on content for your game, one that enhances not only the original, but also the universe it inhabits as well.

The Lost and Dammed is spectacular, and every fan, no matter how fleeting, of GTA IV should download this.

A step in the right direction