So I saw this morning this post on gamespot, so, thinking I was being funny and would get a funny response I emailed the link to my girlfriend. The following is transposed from the ensuing email conversation:

ME: The DS officially has a lot to answer for…

GF: the people that use gamespot are c*cks. So what if the game industry wants to appeal to different people. Its not all about fancy graphics and gamer respect - they should be grateful people will be willing to put stuff like this out cos without diversifying the gaming industry may soon die out.

ME:  Did you copy that from somewhere?

GF: No - i just think those people need to remove their heads from their backsides. The games they want to play cost a fortune in development so why criticise the cheap to produce spin off games which will essentially be funding it.

ME: Because this will not be a good game and brings absolutely nothing to the industry. It’s a cash produced on the cheap by people who have no love even for the license, let alone making a great game. If one guy can make a game like braid, which won numerous awards as best downloadable game of 2008 etc on a small budget, cheap cash in games that go after people who don’t know any better shouldn’t be made. It is possible to make great games on the cheap with a small team, which will do the same job, they don’t have to farm stupid licenses to do it.

GF: i cant be ar*ed arguing with you

ME: I thought it was more of a discussion.

GF: i dont have the energy and lets face it nothing will change your mind

I personally thought I had a good point, but it got me thinking that without those cheap to produce cruddy cash in games, could the games industry really survive?

 Well yes, surely if the games produced are of a higher quality, and done by smaller and more dedicated teams with a passion for what they are doing, they can be both cheap to produce and great titles. I can’t agree that putting out games like the coronation street game is diversifying the industry, cause its not, if anything, its diluting and not moving it forward.

What do you guys think? who is right and who is wrong? Am I going to get a kicking when I get home?

*Disclaimer: I am not writing a full review on the reviews section as I didnt actually complete the single player mode. Here are my thoughts on the game, written as a review but I cannot review properly as I didnt finish it.

Oozing Charm and likeability from every pore is no mean feat, but it is one that LittleBigPlanet achieves with great aplomb on first glance. Scratch beneath the surface however, and the real beast comes to light and its one that spoils the title almost beyond repair.

Sackboy is a charming and likeable mascot, and one that Sony does right in putting its faith in. The instantly customisable character provides a great focal point for his first title. However, Sackboy isnt without his flaws, most notable of which is his frustrating control scheme.

This scheme sometimes doesn't even recognise a press of the jump button, and can lead to cheap and unfair deaths, adding a frustration factor to what should be an endearing and polished title.  The somtimes harsh level design can compound this and mean that I wanted to throw my controller at the wall more times that is right for a platformer.

Each level contains items that you must collect to get the 100% completion for that level, however, several of these items are located in areas that force you to have at least one other player with you. While its good that this forces players to work together and the co-op sections are well thought out, if your PS3 isnt online it can prove infuriating to try and complete these sections by yourself with a second controller or completely impossible if more people are required.

The multiplayer is LittleBigPlanets biggest failure, as there is no way I can see to invite a friend to join your game, therefore you have to rely on the game finding someone who is playing the same level and adding you to thier game, which rarely happens and can prove so laggy its not possible to play. The ability to ask friends to join your game is a fairly basic addition to a title in this day and age, and its oversight here really brings the game down.

The charming exterior belies a frustrating and unfairly harsh (at times) game, and though many will overlook this, it simply proved too frustrating for me. Sony can do so much better, and the foundations are laid for what should be a superior sequel.

Well here is the prologue and chapter 1 of a story I have been writing for a while now, but have gone off with another story. But I thought i would share, since, well, why not? enjoy.

As any regular reader of my posts (think are a couple. I think.) can attest, I have lameted on the Wii several times and how it has changed the way games are played and indeed thought about by the general public, but there is one other thing I have yet to comment on: how it has changed how I look at myself.

You see I dont consider myself a mega hardcore gamer, certainly I dont count frames in Street Fighter 4 or compete in Gears of War 2 tournaments, but I am a hardcore or 'Core' gamer. Much has been made of Nintendo forgetting the core gamer so I dont want to get into that here, what I want to talk about is how my perception of what a hardcore gamer is has changed.

Jeff, Ryan, Vinny and Brad, the all knowing overlords of the very site you are reading are what I used to consider mega hardcore gamers, great at playing games (Jeff is able to take on japanese guys at street fighter for gods sake!) with massive collections of games and systems built up over the years. I imagine thier apartments are lined around the walls with shelfs upon shelfs of games, like some loot filled cave of secrets. A truely hardcore gamer place to be.

However, the Wii has created an interesting phenomeon, one which seems to be creating a whole new cave of secrets, except this one has wooden swords and cups and crowns made of iron. You see every single person I know who owns a Wii and isnt a true core gamer has a massive selection of games for it. Many more than I have and I have a Wii, a PS3 and a 360, and that has changed how I percieve a core gamer.

Its not just about how big your gaming collection, as I used to believe, but about how much you actually 'game'. My soon to be sister in law has three times the number of games for her Wii than I do across all of my consoles and handhelds, yet I believe between her and her boyfriend they have actually completed about 2 games. Admittedly some of this is to do with most of the games being mini-game compilations, but the still it is possible to 'complete' them, to unlock every mini game.

A core gamer, i.e., myself, has to distinguish themselves in other ways, instead of saying 'looking at my collection, I am king!' they have to be on sites like this, actually knowing about games and have an opinion based on somewhat of critique of the game in question. They must also complete games, maybe not every game they own, but certainly alot of them, and then move on. It seems this new 'Wiicore' (see what i did there?) play the same few games over and over, keeping the ones they dont like alot in reserve, rarely moving on except when they see a knew game that is cheap.

Cheap is why this became the phenomen it is, Wii games are simply cheaper than others, and therefore people can afford to buy two or three for the same price as they would a 360 or PS3 title.The Wiicore simply gobble up the cheap mini game compilations, despite the fact they are probably medicore games, and so thier collections swell, yet the people have no idea about the games they are playing.

That is where my perception of the hardcore/core game has changed, rather than being someone who plays more games than everyone else, they have to player fewer, better games for longer and actually know what they are talking about. The fact that my soon to be sister in law has 30 games and I have less than ten means nothing, because mine are titles such as Gears of War 2, GTA IV and Littlebigplant and The World Ends With You.

What do you think dear readers? are the Wiicore a good or a bad thing? how is your collection and what do you consider yourself, Wiicore or hardcore?

The last two years have been a fantastic era in gaming, producing some of the greatest games ever made. Will 2009 be as good? who knows, however it is shaping up quite nicely, despite the absense of the big names such as GTA and MGS.
So what am I waiting for in 2009? well there will probably be no surprises to anyone on the following list, but ya know, I am a slave to the big names! so we have:

Killzone 2

Didnt play the original, but I have to say that this looks amazing, and its a PS3 exclusive so it just has to be checked out, should be pretty sweet all in all, but will it stack up to the likes of Halo or Gears? only time will tell.

Street Fighter 4

I might not actually get this, as I have tendency with fighting games to get them, play them a bit then put them down, and also I suck so bad at them its untrue, but I grew up on Mortal Kombat and Street fighter and prefer thier wacky special moves rather than Tekken's more realistic style.

Halo 3: ODST

I am the first to admit that Halo 3: Recon was a far better name, but I am still looking forward to this as the Halo universe is one of my all time favourite universes across movies, books and games.

Halo Wars

As with ODST its Halo so is a must buy for me, but more over I want to know if an RTS on a console could really work, as I have always played them on PC and havent quite worked out if a pad would be good enough yet.

Mad World

My Wii has languished under my TV for too long, I am currently playing De Blob, which is pretty cool but the game I am looking forward to the most is Mad World, hopefully it will spark a revolution and Wii will have a decent selection of games that arent just mini games collections.

The Conduit

As with Mad World, The Conduit could provide a revolution on the Wii and get some kick ass games on the system. Metroid Prime 3 was a great FPS on Wii, so if they take thier cues from that, this could be pretty sweet, colour me intrigued.

Heavy Rain

Ok so much has been lauded about wether this will actually come out, I really hope it does, as Farenheit was one of the best games I played on PS2 and I really cant wait for this, as the makers have proven themselves masters of cinematic story telling.

Borderland

This could be really sweet, and is the direction FPS's seem to be going in, so I think I might give this a try since I missed Fallout, and everyone needs to play one post apocolyptic FPS right?

Resident Evil 5

Love the series, so this is a fair no brainer, as it is for most people. Will the control's stack up in a post Gears world? only time will tell, but the current word is hell yes.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The first one rocked, and the second looks to be more of the same, I just hope they dont artificially make the game longer, and that they keep to a similar or only slightly longer length as it added to the action movie feel.

Final Fantasy XIII

Another series I love, really cant wait for this. The power of the new consoles should really provide Square Enix the basis to generate one of the most beautiful worlds ever commited to disk. An epic in the making.

F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin

The original F.E.A.R was a fantastic game that really did creep me the hell out, so I cant wait for this, should be a truely awesome experience. Just wish I had picked up the expansion pack.

StarCraft 2

I hope it comes out this year, the original is a fantastic RTS and this can only improve on that. I wont, however, be playing online, I'm just not good enough.

Ghostbusters

Being a child of the 80's this is a fairly obvious inclusion, and with Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis writing the script, this could be a fantastic nostalgia trip and decent game to boot.

Resistance: Retribution

If this is anything along the lines of the Killzone PSP game, it should be pretty dam sweet. Must have for the ailing portable.

Rage

Much Like Borderlands, this could be really sweet. It does have one advantage over Borderlands though: It is being made by id, and they do a dam fine job at games. So the war of Post apocolyptic FPS's begins!

Champions Online

I have only played the beta's of MMO's, partly because thats all I have time to do, and partly so I dont become hopelessly addicted. Champions Online could be the one I let slip and completely addict me. Time will tell.

Ok so thats all so far, this list will probably increase with announcments etc, especially around E3 time. Thanks for reading, what are you looking forward to?

The last two years have been a fantastic era in gaming, producing some of the greatest games ever made. Will 2009 be as good? who knows, however it is shaping up quite nicely, despite the absense of the big names such as GTA and MGS.
So what am I waiting for in 2009? well there will probably be no surprises to anyone on the following list, but ya know, I am a slave to the big names! so we have:

Killzone 2

Didnt play the original, but I have to say that this looks amazing, and its a PS3 exclusive so it just has to be checked out, should be pretty sweet all in all, but will it stack up to the likes of Halo or Gears? only time will tell.

Street Fighter 4

I might not actually get this, as I have tendency with fighting games to get them, play them a bit then put them down, and also I suck so bad at them its untrue, but I grew up on Mortal Kombat and Street fighter and prefer thier wacky special moves rather than Tekken's more realistic style.

Halo 3: ODST

I am the first to admit that Halo 3: Recon was a far better name, but I am still looking forward to this as the Halo universe is one of my all time favourite universes across movies, books and games.

Halo Wars

As with ODST its Halo so is a must buy for me, but more over I want to know if an RTS on a console could really work, as I have always played them on PC and havent quite worked out if a pad would be good enough yet.

Mad World

My Wii has languished under my TV for too long, I am currently playing De Blob, which is pretty cool but the game I am looking forward to the most is Mad World, hopefully it will spark a revolution and Wii will have a decent selection of games that arent just mini games.

The Conduit

As with Mad World, The Conduit could provide a revolution on the Wii and get some kick ass games on the system. Metroid Prime 3 was a great FPS on Wii, so if they take thier cues from that, this could be pretty sweet, colour me intrigued.

Heavy Rain

Ok so much has been lauded about wether this will actually come out, I really hope it does, as Farenheit was one of the best games I played on PS2 and I really cant wait for this, as the makers have proven themselves masters of cinematic story telling.

Borderland

This could be really sweet, and is the direction FPS's seem to be going in, so I think I might give this a try since I missed Fallout, and everyone needs to play one post apocolyptic FPS right?

Resident Evil 5

Love the series, so this is a fair no brainer, as it is for most people. Will the control's stack up in a post Gears world? only time will tell, but the current word is hell yes.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The first one rocked, and the second looks to be more of the same, I just hope they dont artificially make the game longer, and hope they keep to a similar or only slightly longer length as it added to the action movie feel.

Final Fantasy XIII

Another series I love, really cant wait for this. The power of the new consoles should really provide Square Enix the basis to generate one of the most beautiful worlds ever commited to disk. An epic in the making.

And thats it for now, I actually remember alot more while writing this list, but I think that is enough to keep anyone going, especially with the length Final Fantasy and Borderlands should be.

Unfairly cheap, and with barely updated graphics, I didnt even finish it was that bad.

So everyone is doing top 5 or top 10, so I decided to do a top 6, just to be different, plus its an even number which sits well with slightly OCD personality.

These are the games that this year, after finishing them, I have felt...satisfied. But not because of the gameplay (though that helps), it is mostly because of the story of each game. 2008 has been a fantastic year for gaming, as 2007 was before it and 2009 is shaping up to be, but more than it, games have started to come into thier own as a medium where great stories can be told, and what stories they are.

I dont play games generally that are not heavily story based, so story is quite important to me. In the last couple of years, developers have started to realise games can be/do more, and as such, the quality of the writing within them has increased exponentially. So here it is, my top 6 games of 2008!

Disclaimer: at least one was released in 2007, but i didnt play it until this year, so please bear with!