Max Payne 3 - Review

Some guys just don't have any luck, and Max Payne's ran out quite a while ago if the events of Max Payne 3 are anything to go by.

It's 9 years since the events of Max Payne 2 and Max, still haunted by the death of his Wife and Child, has moved to Sao Paulo to work personal security for the wealthy and influential Branco family. Apparently Max's luck rubs off pretty easily though, as soon enough his Boss's wife has been kidnapped, several attempts are made on the rest of the Branco family, and Max has to work out what the hell is going on.

The story in Max Payne 3 is undoubtedly in the true traditions of Neo-Noir. Max is the typical Anti-hero in a modern setting, and while Sao Paulo doesn't fit the 1940's American archetype of traditional Film Noir, it's the tone of the story as well as the presentation that give it the unmistakable feel that was also present in previous Max Payne titles.

The first thing you'll notice about Max Payne 3 is the style of presentation. The camera effects are similar to those found in portions of Manhunt, flickering and discolouration on screen leave you with the impression that you're watching these events unfurl on CCTV, while words from the on going conversations appear on screen to punctuate what's being said. In a way Rockstar are ensuring that you pay attention to the right thing by highlighting them on screen, and it's a natural and fluid style that works well with the setting. The whole effect is very strange at first, but it makes for an extremely memorable experience and certainly sets MP3 apart from the likes of Red Dead Redemption and GTA4.



Something that makes a welcome return to the series is the voice over by Max himself, it's audio cues like this that help tie this game to its predecessors even though they are strikingly different to look at. It also helps guide you through the level if you get a little lost and again lends the feel of a neo-noir detective story to the game.

Another welcome return is that of the comic strip style plot points, although Rockstar have done something a little different from Remedy Entertainment's games. While Remedy used them during cut scenes to get plot points over to the player, Rockstar use the comic strip to show the player where they are in the story while the saved game loads up, easing you back into the experience while also giving you something to look at as you wait. Cut scenes themselves are full motion, in game animations. This is something that has, understandably, become the modern day standard and I'm happy to say that the voice acting and animation is superb throughout. Perhaps in tribute to Remedy the first in-game cut scene is presented in "24" style panels.

While we talk about audio it would be a great time to mention the soundtrack for this game. The music doesn't ever really take your attention away from what happens on screen, much like Red Dead's soundtrack. In the traditions of great film and Game making, the music helps frame the action without distracting you from it. It's a fantastic soundtrack all told, it has the flavour of Brazil, thumping club land tunes and of course variations on the original Max Payne theme, that I've had in my head all week. The Audio design is well thought out and employed throughout, a big thumbs up to everyone responsible for it.

Level design for Max Payne 3 follow the franchise tradition of fairly linear level design, but that shouldn't be looked upon as a bad thing. By keeping Max Payne focused on the task at hand and not allowing him to wander off track, the games narrative which is easily the best part of this title is much better served. Sandbox games are all well and good but when you a well scripted story, like Heavy Rain, level design can and should be used to keep the player on point.

Gameplay will feel extremely familiar to anyone who has played the previous entries in the Max Payne series, but also for those who have played Red Dead and GTA4 thanks to the inclusion of the new, much vaunted cover system. In fact this is probably the biggest change to the franchise and I have to admit that at first, I didn't quite get it. If you approach this game like you did the previous entries you'll get your arse handed to you (unless you're extremely good at shoot dodging). Bullet time is a useful tool, and can help you pop a few rounds in your opponents head, but enemies in this game are tougher and more numerous than in either of the previous games. If you are to have any hope you'll need to use all the cover you can find.

Don't stick to one spot for too long though, because Rockstar have programmed different types of cover to have different damage tolerances. So for example, an office divider will take a few rounds of handgun fire before it splinters and leaves you exposed, while a filing cabinet will take all the flying lead you can throw at it.

Destructible cover works both ways in Max Payne 3

 
Enemies are fairly intelligent in this game too, they'll take advantage of cover just as you do so it's vital not to get pinned down as more opponents file in to the room. Luckily there's not a magical spawning point for enemies though, so once you take them all down that's your lot until the next area, and you'll know when you've cleared the room thanks to a gruesome slow motion camera shot of the last enemy going down after a well placed slug to the face.

Beautiful.

The improved damage that both you and your opponents take is thanks to the "Euphoria" dynamic animation engine which featured in Red Dead and GTA4, allowing for more detailed and unique gunfire damage to character models. It really is impressive seeing bullets rip through your enemies as you pull the trigger.
 

The Euphoria engine in all its gory splendor

Another useful new feature, and certainly one that I've needed a few times is the "Last man standing" mechanic. If you have a spare painkiller in your inventory and are taken down by the enemy AI you have a short window of black and white bullet time during which if you take out the guy who shot you, you'll get some health back and live to blow another blokes face off. It's Useful and adds to gameplay without gimping the game, the perfect addition to Max Payne.

It would be very easy to say that Max Payne 3 is Red Dead re-skinned, and in part I suppose that this could be true, but it's more than just the engine that makes a game, and frankly Red Dead was such a great game that I don't care if it is. There's more than enough difference in how they play to differentiate the titles. Dead eye might be a bullet time mechanic, but it's not the same as the one we get to play with here, and that's important.

Conclusion

Max Payne 3 successfully integrates the old with the new, and re-invigorates a franchise in doing so. Non regenerative health is a rare thing these days in a shooters whether they be 1st or 3rd person but Rockstar have managed to retain it without making the game feel infuriatingly difficult or like it belongs in the last decade. New mechanics like last man standing and the inclusion of the Rockstar standard cover system allow for more enemy AI's and therefore a greater degree of challenge but ultimately the game is designed in a way that you can play it as you see fit.

Fans of the series should find this enjoyable and refreshing while those who have played it's stable mates, Red Dead and GTA4, will find the controls familiar enough to jump in and have some fun.

Journey - Review

The characters don't speak, there is no narration, the story is told almost entirely through pictures and tapestrys, there is no violence to speak of and there is no online PVP experience. With so many staples of the current crop of blockbuster games missing, you would be forgiven for asking what all the fuss is about. Surely this is just a cheap downloadable game that couldn't afford voice actors?

Journey is the latest in the Sony exclusive trilogy of downloadable games from "That Game Company", and while it would probably be a good idea to take some time to think over my time with Journey, i won't be. The reason for this is simple, I absolutely loved the experience.

In the same way that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus told amazing stories without words, so too does Journey. The game has a simple premise, get to the top of the mountain and enjoy the trip on the way.

With gorgeous graphics, fantastic gameplay and a superb, haunting soundtrack, you'll find it difficult not to.

Much has been made of the interaction between players in Journey, there are no loading times, little to no lag on the evidence of my play through, and the game is designed in such a way that, even with two random players inhabiting the same environment, there's no competition. This is a game that rewards co-operation and creates an environment in which it is nurtured and encouraged, which is just as well since pairings are completely random.

Your traveller can fly and he can sing, although the sound of your voice is more flute like than human in sound). These two abilities are represented on your controller by the X and O buttons respectively, and despite these being the only two actions available to you during your time in the desert, the gameplay is both deep and rewarding.

Singing while your partner is in range of your voice (a visible white sound wave that radiates from your position) will re-charge his ability to fly, which is elegantly represented by a tapestry that hangs from the back of every travellers robes. When charged the tapestry, and later the robe of your character, will glow with an ornate white light pattern.

The power to fly can likewise be restored in an array of other ways, including coming into contact with swirling pieces of cloth, Manta Rays and Jelly Fish that share the same light pattern as your robes.

One tiny problem that i had with the online co-op of Journey was that it doesn't list the user names of players you meet along the way in the "players met" section of the XMB. They do at least show you a list of all the players you interacted with at the end of the game, So if you liked the experience of playing with a sensible adult instead of a screaming 12 year old you may want to write those names down...

From a graphical point of view this is a game that needs to be experienced first hand, no amount of waxing lyrical will quite cover how stunning it really is. The desert stages of the game are some of the best looking that I've seen in a video game, you can almost feel the heat on the back of your neck as the traveller traipses up one side of a dune and then expertly slides down the other.

The animation of the Traveller is also excellent. There are fluid transitions between walking and flying, as well as several different types of walking animation depending on surface and angle of incline. It really is hard to believe that this is a £10 downloadable title. When compared to some full retail releases it comes away looking like the more polished product

One of the most influential aspects of this game is the Music. The Macedonia Radio Symphonic Orchestra were responsible for the hauntingly powerful soundtrack to Journey, and with such affecting music as this you have to ask why more games developers don't go the orchestral route when scoring their work.



I've said in many a review, that good music can improve a game ten fold, while bad music can rip you right out of the experience. The beauty of Journey's soundtrack is that it syncs perfectly with the singing mechanic of the gameplay, the notes you sing often changing to better complement the music in the background.

The overall feeling i took away from playing Journey was that this is a phenomenal game. The story is emotionally affecting thanks to brilliant use of music and a narrative that relies on actions rather than words, the gameplay is deep and varied despite the two button control scheme and the level of polish is staggering for a game that retails for so little.

This game marks the end of the contract between Sony and "That Game Company", a relationship that saw  Flow, Flower and now Journey released exclusively on the PS3 platform. If i was Kazuo Hirai i would tie them down to a nice long deal, because on the strength of this release, they're the best studio in the business right now.

The Round-up: Valve give away free shit, Karma catches up with Team Bondi.

It's a few days later than expected but non the less here's the weekly edition of the Round-up for all you gamers out there.

Don't you just love getting things for free? I know i do, which is why Valve continue to be in my good books after they released the third volume of "Music To Test By" the official soundtrack for their smash hit game Portal 2. Along with a free download of all three volumes, the official site also has promotional videos, posters and ringtones available for fans of the game. You can follow this link to the free goodness that our masters at Valve have provided for us, just click on the Download link at the top of the Portal 2 home page...



While on the subject of Valve's portal based puzzle game the new DLC pack entitled "Peer Review" featuring a new test track and everyone's favourite homicidal AI, GLaDOS, is now available on PSN, XBL and Steam for free. Once again Valve show that they know how to keep the fans happy. And if by any chance you haven't picked the game up yet i have more happy news for you, as Valve have made Portal 2 available on Steam for half price, get them while they're hot!



Any gamer who wants more graphically impressive games on Facebook or Google + may have lucked out after Epic and Adobe announced at the ADOBE MAX conference that Unreal Engine 3 will support Flash Player 11, even going as far as to demonstrate a version of Unreal Tournament 3 running on flash. impressive, but it's still not going to get me playing Mafia Wars...



Regular readers of this Blog may recall i had a go on Resident Evil: Revelations a while ago, and while i wasn't all that happy with the controls it was a graphically impressive title that showed just what 3DS is capable of. Obviously that build was some way from complete since Capcom recently announced that North America will see the game released on February 7th, that's still a way off so hopefully the controls can be tweaked between now and then.



From one Zombie game to another now, as it was announced by SEGA that Yakuza: Of the End will be seeing a release in the West under the new name Yakuza: Dead Souls. Gamers familiar with the Yakuza series will see a different side to the franchise in this instalment as they try to survive the Zombie hoard rather than beating up rival gangsters. It's an interesting spin on the standard Yakuza stories of the past so here's hoping it does well.

Ah the dead...that reminds me.


Team Bondi are officially no more after documents were filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the company entered administration. Production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell has reportedly bought the studios assets, but fear not LA Noire fans, Take-Two still hold some rights to the game that should have heralded a bright future for the now defunct Australian developer, and given the number of copies it sold will be giving a sequel the green light at some point.

Seven years huh? way to fuck it up Mr McNamara...



It is a truth, universally recognised, that code based validation of video games is a stinking turd of an idea that leaves little good will between gamers and games makers. There's no arguing that developers need to protect their investment, and that the people that spend hundreds of hours honing the games that we play deserve recompense for all the hard work and effort they put into the game, but Sony's Online Pass and EA's Project $10 as i have heard it referred to by some people are the worst way to do it.

Why am i writing about this? Well it turns out that Resistance 3 was only the first game in Sony's first party catalogue that will have an Online Pass included with it. Uncharted 3 will also include one of these wonderful little codes which SCEE/SCEA claimed to be "an important initiative as it allows us to accelerate our commitment to enhancing premium online services across our first party game portfolio."

Bull shit.

Sony's online infrastructure is, has been and will be for some time yet, a pile of Crap. Just admit to what this really is, a way of making more money from people that buy their games second hand because new ones are too expensive. I'll get back to that particular point later on... The implication here is that any first party game with online functions from now on will have a code included with it.

Gentlemen, start your keyboards.



Microsoft's Major Nelson has released a list of Xbox 360's TV partners, essentially listing which TV channels we can expect to have access to when the Fall update hits "This Holiday 2011" with regard to the release date, vague doesn't really cover it does it?

Click here to see the full list for your region.




Last but not least here's the new UK Top 10 best sellers on all platforms

1. FIFA 12
2. Gears of War 3
3. F1 2011
4. Zumba Fitness
5. Dead Island
6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
7. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
8. Driver: San Francisco
9. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
10. Call of Duty: Black Ops

People of the UK, you disgust me. How on earth are you still buying Zumba Fitness!?

On the other hand the rest of the top ten looks rather respectable, FIFA 12 is somewhat inevitably at number 1, more on that in a moment, while GoW3 and F1 2011 round out the top 3. Driver is still hanging around the top ten dropping two places from 6 to 8 and it's great to see the Team Ico Collection getting some love. The continued sales of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean are confusing while it was no surprise that with CoD and Battlefield around the corner CoD:Black Ops has seen a rise in sales.

So FIFA 12 is number 1? It didn't exactly take a crystal ball to figure that one out, but the rate at which it's sold is startling. On the list of all time début weeks It's third behind CoD: BlOps and Modern Warfare 2, beating GTA4 down into fourth. Given that last year EA claimed that FIFA 11 was their fastest seller ever it seems clear that FIFA 12 will not only dwarf that record but most likely it's on target to become the quickest selling sports game of all time. EA estimates put week 1 sales of FIFA 12 at some 3.2 million copies meaning that it's up on last years release at the same point by roughly 20-25%

As i said, Startling.

Even more surprising though is the fact that in almost every shop that sells the game it's retail price is £42.99. Now I'm no cheapskate, but it seams to be a cynical move on either EA's part or on the part of the retailers. Knowing that the game would sell out on day one, they put prices up by an extra £3 on the normal retail price for a current generation game, which for the longest time has stood at £39.99. HMV actually made a big deal of the fact that they were selling the game at £39.99, the price the game should have been to start with.

This isn't the first time that the Market has been manipulated by EA and the retailers though. Back in 2010 during the world cup in South Africa you couldn't find a copy of FIFA 10, used or new, in any store. Instead you could only buy FIFA World Cup 2010, the same game as FIFA 10 but with World Cup branding etc. I'm sick of being treated like cattle by these big companies, but unfortunately the majority just go along with it.

I've tried the Demo for FIFA 12 and I'm not buying, admittedly I'm a bit of a PES fan boy, but this year EA have taken defending and turned it into an impossible challenge, aiming more at people who can already play the previous instalments of the game rather than trying to be inclusionary to the rest of us. The rest of the game is fine, but they made learning the game too hard for me to jump ship, plus PES is easy as hell to patch with real Kits, and that's really the only thing FIFA has over Konami's game most years, in my book anyway...

Monday Round-up: Sony gets the F2P bug, COD Elite Beta launches...

Sony Online Entertainment announced today that DCU online would be joining the "Free-volution" by adopting a free to play model at the end of October.

For many gamers the monthly subscription was a sticking point that prevented them from getting on board with the SOE superhero MMO, but with the subscription model abandoned, and the announcement that the game itself will be free to download on the PSN, it's expected that many more gamers will be venturing into Gotham or Metropolis.

The new model will have three tiers of membership (Free, Premium and Legendary) depending on how much money you sink into the game through in game micro transactions, although SOE were at pains to state that micro transactions won't break the game. Items like the Superman Raid suit and extra EXP will not be available for purchase. That's heartening to hear, especially for a cheapskate like me who fully intends to play as a free member as far as i can.

Free membership is, as you can imagine, free. It allows for two character slots, access to current raids and online play in DC Universe Online, ability to join a league as well as many further benefits. Free level players can buy downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through the aforementioned micro transactions.

Any gamer who has spent $5 or more in-game through either in game items or previous subscriptions qualifies for Premium membership. Premium members will get extra character slots, a greater cash limit and more inventory slots . just like Free members, premium members can also buy extra character slots etc in-game.

Legendary Membership requires a monthly subscription of $14.99 but includes all the features and benefits that current subscribers enjoy, including free DLC and the ability to create leagues of unlimited size. Anyone who already paid for a lifetime subscription will be automatically given Legendary membership as the lifetime subscription still stands.

John Smedley, president of SOE refuted the idea that this move came after a downturn in players. "In terms of 'Is it a result in a drop in subs' – absolutely not, This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one."

You do have to question though, if this was their preferred business model, then why not implement it from day one? It would be fair to assume that SOE needed to recoup their money quickly and that the original model was the best option to do so.

DCU Online will be available as a free download in late October. On the subject of PSN, the Call of Duty: Elite Beta finally went live on Sony's console today.

An Activision press release stated that "Beta testers can take their current Call of Duty multiplayer experience to the next level by jumping into the Beta version of the Call of Duty Elite service, as beta access will start to be activated in stages, with limited invitations rolling out effective today," The Beta is currently only for CoD: Black Ops, but once Modern Warfare 3 is released on November 8th the full functions of the Beta will be made available.

To try getting in on the Beta you can head over to www.callofduty.com/elite and register your interest. I for one won't be bothering though...




Next up, Street Fighter IV will be making it's début on android phones sometime in Q4, unfortunately it will only be available on LG handsets for the first 3 months before being available on any Android compatible system thereafter.

I can't decide what's a worse idea, that you'll more than likely be playing SF IV on a phone with no buttons or that you'll have to play it on a crappy LG handset to begin with...




According to Andrisang.com Hideo Kojima, the genius behind the Metal Gear games, has announced that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will be released for 3DS in 2012, not 2011 as was originally planned.

Regular readers will remember that i had a hands on with the game at the IGN UK 100th podcast party and i was very impressed with the use of 3D and general fidelity of the graphics. I'm interested if this delay has anything to do with the leaked news of a second control stick add-on for the 3DS system, maybe Kojima-san wants to build in some compatibility with the add-on to rectify some of the control issues i had with the game.

Andriasang also reports that Kojima confirmed an early to mid 2012 release date for the Z.O.E. HD collection. Yay!



Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has announced the formation of a new company which will go by the name Qwikster. It marks the seperation of their streaming and Postal divisions and will require unique accounts to use either service. Going forward Netflix will handle the streaming side of the business while Qwikster will be the company in charge of the DVD/Games by post business.

Hard to say what advantage this move gives Netflix but it's an interesting development which makes sense of the re-pricing exercise of the previous few weeks.



Finally as always, here's the UK's top ten best selling games (all formats) for the week ending September 17:

1 - Dead Island
2 - Warhammer 40K: Space Marine
3 - Resistance 3
4 - Driver: San Franciso
5 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
6 - Zumba Fitness
7 - Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
8 - Rugby World Cup 2011
9 - Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
10-Cars 2

Really? Who hasn't got Zumba yet that could possibly want it?

Rugby World cup is still performing well thanks to its real world counterpart, while Resistance 3 débuts at number 3 just below Dead Island and Warhammer 40k, which maintain their position at the top of the tree.

Right, i'm spent.

Later days!

TGS - Sony spring a surprise or two

The HD remake business is expanding rapidly on PS3, and Vita, with todays announcements of both Final Fantsay X and the Metal Gear HD collection.

In my opinion Final Fantasy suffered a sharp downturn after the tenth instalment of their hallmark RPG series, even today it's a great looking game, so it's nice to see that a new generation of gamers will be able to experience a good looking RPG with HD graphics that actually holds up during extended play.

Metal Gear HD Collection will contain the two Metal Gear Solid games to have appeared on PS2, Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater. Again, on a personal note, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was one of the best looking games on PS2 so to see it remastered in HD will be great, i'm interested to see how well MGS2 scrubs up too, since it was much earlier in the PS2's life cycle and so obviously didn't have the same level of polish that Snake Eater benefited from.

With the twin stick set up, and sheer power of the Vita it only makes sense that the HD versions of PS2 classics find their way onto the hardware, and it gives consumers one more reason to buy the console. I'm interested to see how, or even if they use the extra control options that the Vita has to offer, especially in the case of Final Fantasy, where the touch screen could let you interact with the in game menus in a whole new way.

While we're on the subject of Playstation classics heading to the Vita, you may have heard us mention Z.O.E. on a recent episode of the Killer Keyboard podcast. The HD version will be heading to PS3 and Vita in 2012 and will be transfer enabled (or "transfarring" as Kojima likes to say), meaning that if you have both consoles you can transfer your saves and play the same game on the move or at home. Just in case there are any ZOE enthusiasts out there, here's a little nugget from TGS.




Playstation Vita will be released in Japan on December 17th although no official date for America or Europe was forthcoming at today's Sony press conference.

Sony pimping the PSP for all it's worth

In the PSP's dwindling years it was perhaps inevitable that Sony would try to squeeze the last pennies from it's soon to be pensioned off Hand held console. Sony's Playstation blog announced today that the following three dual packs will be released this week in the US for the very competitive price of $14.99.

Syphon Filter Dark Mirror/SOCOM Fire Team Bravo
Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow/Killzone Liberation
Secret Agent Clank/Daxter

Not only will these packs be in stores this week but they will be made available for digital download in the Playstation Network Store. Hopefully, if these dual packs turn out to be successful, we'll see more PSP classics find their way into the bargain bucket.

Sony didn't announce any plans to roll out the Dual Pack concept outside of the US, but of course if they announce any intention to do so you'll read about it here on Game for a laugh.

Why i went back to PSP

Maybe i have the worst timing in the world, but i bought a PSP a couple of weeks ago after seeing a pearl white PSP 3000 on sale for a very decent price at HMV. Yes i know that there is likely very little software left to be released on the console, especially with Vita due out at the end of the year, but i have some good reasons other than "It was an impulse buy, lolz".

First i should say that this isn't the first time i've owned a Playstation Portable. I bought one very soon after launch only to trade it in for a DS after i was left underwhelmed by games like World Soccer Tour and Pursuit Force (the latter was apparently a good game but it just never grabbed me). I was disappointed with the lack of software support for Sony's hand held device, while DS was getting the likes of New Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Proffessor Layton and Mario kart. So, what changed?

Well, during the time i was away the PSP developed a very strong library. Puzzle, action, arcade, racing, RPG and downloadable titles available on the PSP offered More diversity and quality than it's Nintendo rival could hope to. Of course it helps that Sony's machine is much more powerful under the hood, meaning that games like The Third Birthday and Final Fantasy's Dissidia franchise could be played on the move rather than only at home.

Oh and I also bought a PS3 at some point too...

Owning a PS3 makes the PSP experience that little bit better. Being able to browse and download things from the PSN store on my home console just feels better, I can start a download and then leave it running while i do other stuff, no concerns for battery life or losing wifi connection thank you very much. It also helps that using the PSP in conjunction with the PS3 makes you feel like a tech genius when, really, anyone could do it.

I've already downloaded Angry Birds for the PSP, an inspired game that perfectly suits my train ride to work every morning where a larger UMD based game might not. Playstation Mini's in general are of great interest to me while Plans are in motion to download Final Fantasy VII thru IX for more extended play while not at home.

Puzzle games have always been a staple of Hand held gaming, from the first time i played Tetris on the Gameboy i loved to exercise my grey matter. PSP has an embarrassment of riches in that department. Lumines, Echochrome, Mercury, Lemmings, the Go! series of puzzle games to name a few are exactly the games i like to play. They challenge you but reward you at the same time.

When did they put a comic book reader on the PSP? Never mind, because i've already downloaded some free samples and i love the concept. I might very well start downloading some titles from the store front. Skype is a nice little extra to have, but I doubt I'll use it much. Music is still a pain in the ass on PSP, but honestly, i have an iPod so why would i want music on a gaming device?

No, the reason i bought the PSP is very simple. I love games, I want to re-play some PS One classics as well as mini's like Angry Birds. I want to play the Third Parasite Eve game and Dissidia duodecishuckyduckyquackquack. I like Tetris but i prefer Lumines and Mario Golf doesn't have shit on Everybody's Golf. Peace Walker? Yes please.

PSP started off slow, it didn't get the support it needed straight away but after a few years it started to hit its stride. Now as PSP is eased into retirement we can see it has a wonderful library of games available to play. Whether they be on UMD or are downloadable titles on PSN the PSP has plenty to choose from, and i've only just begun to sink my teeth into it all. Now is the time to jump on board if you haven't already. My hands are rubbing together so fast you could start a fire with me.

I'm beginning to get hacked off with this...

It's been a dodgy few days for the games industry. If we're honest it's been a bad couple of months on the information security side of things.

Since Sony took the Playstation network offline on April 20th the gaming world has been rocked by a series of attacks from hackers, seemingly all with the aim of accessing the details of as many gamers as possible. Whether this is for more malicious reasons than simply to prove they can is unclear, but it's a worrying event that has seemingly spawned several more copycat attacks in the last few days.

The Wall St Journal reported on June 6th that Nintendo had been hacked by LulzSec, although no customer data was taken it was still worrying that someone was able to breach the security of one of Japan's biggest companies

On June 10th it was revealed that British games developer Codemasters had also been hacked by an unknown party. A spokesman for the Dirt series developers told BBC news that no payment details had been taken in the "significant" theft. An email from Codemasters to it's users recommended changing any passwords associated with their accounts. Gamers were also advised to be vigilant against unsolicited phone calls and e-mails requesting information from users who may have had their data stolen.

On the same day that Codemasters was hacked, Epic games also reported an incident in which user details were obtained by hackers. They released the following statement.

"Our Epic Games web sites and forums were recently hacked. We're working on getting them back up and running, and expect everything to be restored in a few days.

The hackers likely obtained the email addresses and encrypted passwords of forum users. Plain text passwords weren't revealed, but short or common passwords could be obtained by brute-force attack. Therefore, we're resetting all passwords. If you have an account on the Epic Games forums, you can request to receive your new password by email it to the address we have on file for you.

The Unreal Developer Network (UDN) has not been compromised. None of our web sites ask for, or store, credit card information or other sensitive customer data.

We're sorry for the inconvenience, and appreciate everyone's patience as we get our servers back under control. "

Finally, today we got the news that Bethesda had been compromised by the same group that had hacked Nintendo in what they described as an "attempted unlawful intrusion". In a post on the official Bethesda blog the company stated that "While no personal financial information or credit card data was obtained, the hackers may have gained access to some user names, email addresses, and/or passwords." Bethesda echoed Codemasters warning that users beware of any unsolicited emails or phone calls.

These are worrying times if you're a gamer, especially if you're signed up to any developers or console makers services. If i can offer any advice it would be the same as Codemasters and Bethesda have offered, please be vigilant, be aware of any emails or phone calls you may receive, and frankly speaking don't sign up for any services with your real details if you don't have to.

Stay safe.

E3 delivers

So that's very nearly it for another E3, there's been some terrible new names for consoles on the horizon, a slew of great games demo's and even an apology from a certain Japanese electronics firm. With all that went on in LA this year it's difficult to know where to start or who came out on top. here's a run-down of each of the big three's conferences, there are links in the titles to each press conference.



Microsoft Press Conference - E3 2011

Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3
Tomb Raider
EA Sports announce Kinect support
Mass Effect Kinect support Demo
Ghost Recon - Future Soldier Kinect support Demo
New Xbox Experience with integrated Kinect support
UFC partnership announced
Gears of War 3 Demo
Ryse Trailer
Halo Anniversary Trailer
Forza 4 Trailer
Fable Journey Trailer and Demo
Disneyland Adventures (plus annoying child actors)
Star Wars Kinect Trailer
Sesame Street Once Upon a Monster Demo
Kinect Tech Demo (including full body scan and creepy Avatar creation)
Kinect Fun Labs
Kinect Sports Season 2 Trailer
Minecraft coming to Xbox
Dance Central 2 Demo
Halo 4



Sony Press Conference - E3 2011

Apology for PSN debacle
Uncharted 3 Demo
Resistance 3 Demo
Resistance 3 Sharpshooter bundle priced at $150 due on Sept 6
God of War Origins 3D announced
Team ICO Remastered 3D collection announced
Playstation branded 24" 3D display bundle announced at $499
Playstation 3D glasses announced at $69.99 each
NBA 2K12 Move support Demo
Medieval Moves Demo
inFAMOUS 2 Trailer
Starhawk Demo
PS Move update announced for LBP in Sept
New Sly Cooper Trailer
Dust 514 Trailer
Bioshock Infinite Trailer
Move support announced for Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock to be bundled with Infinite
Exclusive mode available for Saints Row III
Star Trek Trailer
SSX - exclusive Mount Fuji track
NFS The Run - 7 exclusive Supercars
Battlefield 3 will include Battlefield 1943
Playstation Suite presentation
NGP officially named PlayStation Vita
Partnership with AT&T announced
Vita features discussed
Uncharted: Golden Abyss Demo
Ruin Vita to PS3 save share Demo
ModNation Racers Vita Demo
LBP Vita Trailer
SF x Tekken Vita Demo and Trailer
Cole from inFAMOUS will be in the Vita version of SF x Tekken
Vita Show reel
Vita priced at $249.99/$299.99



Nintendo Press Conference - E3 2011

Celebration of Zelda 25th anniversary
Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening available to download now on 3DS store
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D available from 11th June
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords free to download on DSi from September
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword released this Holiday Season
Gold Wii Remote available on game release
Ocarina OST CD is a free gift with Club Nintendo registration
Mario Kart 3DS Trailer
Starfox 3DS Trailer
Super Mario 3DS Trailer
Kid Icarus 3DS Trailer
Luigi's Mansion 2 3DS Trailer
3DS Show reel
Virtual Console 3DS announced
Pokedex 3D announced as free downloadable game for 3DS
New Console is Officially named Wii U
Wii U Controller revealed
"Wii U in action" presentation video
Smash Brothers in development for Wii U and 3DS
Tech Demo of Wii U's graphical power
Lego City Stories Announced for Wii U and 3DS
Showreel of games coming to Wii U
EA pledges support to ne Wii U System



That's what the three major players in the Video Games industry had to offer this year, and it's left me surprised on two fronts. First I would never have believed that Kinect would appeal to me in any way shape or form, but honestly this voice recognition stuff they implemented in Mass Effect 3 has me interested. One game isn't enough to make me part with the best part of £100 but it's a promising start. Perhaps when Kinect Fun Lab has had some time to work it's magic I'll re-evaluate my position on that.

My second surprise was with the name of Nintendo's new home console. I was honestly convinced they would leave Wii behind them since it has such name recognition as the console that catered for the casual market. With the Wii name attatched to it I think the console may struggle to find the hardcore market it craves, unless they release some heavy hitting software at launch it'll be seen as another casual games machine. Having said that, the controller tech looks very interesting, especially when used as an extension for golf games etc as seen in the Nintendo press conference. I'll be interested to get my hands on it to see what it feels like to hold. It might just be me but it looks a little cumbersome.

Sony, while packing their conference with lots of great games have been slightly hamstrung this year by the fact that most of the software they rolled out was already known about and had been see already. The main appeal this year was the unveiling of the PSVita and seeing games running on the system in real time, it's impressive tech and very reasonably priced given the amount of kit that's been crammed into that tiny hand held machine. Overall the conference was a strong showing, but it failed to surprise or particularly excite me.

Microsoft really pushed Kinect hard this year, and if they can find more inventive ways of making it a worthwhile augmentation to the gaming experience then they may have hit the right balance between the hardcore and casual market. Minecraft is an excellent pick up for the company while Halo 4 is easy money for them. Once again being first to hold their conference has paid dividends with the premier looks at multi platform games like MW3, Tomb Raider and Mass Effect. 360 may not have many exclusive titles this year, but looking at the ones they do have makes you excited. As if Forza 4 didn't look great already I learned today that the Top Gear Test Track is going to feature in the upcoming Turn 10 racer. Gears of War 3 was impressive and as mentioned before there's the console debut of Minecraft too. I just wish they could have found some child actors that didn't make me want to punch my face in, or for that matter someone who could operate the Bing feature of Xbox dashboard without looking like she'd just performed some kind of miracle that no-one else was capable of. I hate that self satisfied look on peoples faces when they've done something that anyone could have. but i digress...

Now I'm not the type of person to claim that one company won E3, and i won't be doing so here. It's clear that from the conferences held this week that all three companies have a strong year ahead (despite the share price drop that Nintendo appear to have suffered since their presentation). I honestly couldn't say that one has the edge over the others. Nintendo and Sony both have great new Hardware to come while 360 looks like it will continue to improve it's Kinect peripheral and has built the entire new Xbox experience around the motion sensor while supporting it with several of it's top titles this year. Best of all, this Kinect support hasn't completely gimped the games in question

If E3 has showed us anything it's that 2011 is going to be a great year for games.

Check back on Saturday for my first feature on the games of E3, the Japanese Puzzle Thriller "Catherine"

E3 - Reasons to be excited

With one of the most anticipated E3's for years kicking off next week, it's only right to delve into the list of games on display to see exactly why it's going to be such a great show.

In the last couple of days Square Enix Europe released a trailer for the re-boot of the Tomb Raider franchise. It looks as though the game is based on a mysterious Island which might be related to the Bermuda triangle, old galleons and at least one plane litter the shoreline but they all look recently shipwrecked, Pirates vs Lara Croft perhaps? No game play was on display but whatever the answer to the questions raised in this trailer, i have to say it's jumped right up to the top two or three games on my most anticipated list.



On the subject of treasure hunters, Nathan Drake makes a welcome return this E3 in not one, but two new games from Naughty Dog. Playstation 3 owners will get Uncharted: Drakes Deception while anyone tempted to pick up the new NGP hand held system will have Uncharted: Golden Abyss to look forward to. Here's some game play from the new Console game to whet your appetite.



Some of you will remember that i wrote about Gran Turismo 5 a little while ago, I'm still playing it and have begrudgingly accepted the role of the B-Spec drivers in the overall game but i still think that it's a very good driving Sim wrapped in a terrible game. This isn't a problem i had with the Forza Motorsport series though, and this year Turn 10 will introduce the world to Forza 4. So long as they concentrate on evolving the menu system, something which was perfectly implemented in the last instalment, they have nothing to fear. More manufacturers, more locations, Kinect support for people who care, and graphics to die for coupled with great sound and the community based game play that made Forza 3 so great. This could be the best driving game ever.



You've all seen the Dead Island trailer by now, if you haven't you owe it to yourself to check it out. This years E3 gives us the first chance to really see if the game can live up to the hype that the beautiful (if anything with zombies in it can be called that) trailer created. Similarly Mass Effect 3 has a lot of hype to live up to. The third instalment of the franchise is meant to be where all your decisions in the first two instalments take effect, I for one am very interested to see what effect sparing the Rachni queen and cheating on my love interest from the first game will have.

Any gamers out there who have played Elder Scrolls Oblivion will no doubt be aware of the upcoming sequel available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 entitled Skyrim. Set 200 years after the events of Oblivion, the Kingdom of Skyrim in full civil war after the assassination of the king. Adding to the woes of Skyrim, the God Alduin has appeared in the form of a Dragon that is terrorising the people. Only you, the last of the Dovahkiin (Dragon born) can stop him and return the Kingdom to peace. The game looks stunning and promises to expand on the game play that made Bethesda's Elder Scrolls game so enjoyable. Check out the epic trailer below.



Earlier i said that Tomb Raider had jumped to the top of my most anticipated games list, there's only two games that i can think of that are keeping it from number 1 status. In both cases these games have made me interested in getting back into the genres they both represent.

EA's Battlefield series is probably the best chance anyone has of breaking the Call Of Duty monopoly over the modern day reality based FPS genre. While i have become increasingly bored with Modern Warfare's multi player, more often than not it devolves into an every man for himself fire-fight, Battlefield rewards co-operation between team mates. It doesn't hurt that the third game in the franchise looks stunning either. Utilising ANT technology that also features in the FIFA series, character animations look more realistic, you can drag team mates to cover, mount weapons on almost any part of the environment and transition into cover more naturally. Before I saw the trailer for BF3 i could quite happily have never played another wartime FPS again, now I'm eager to give it a go.



So now we're onto the main event, my most anticipated game of E3. If you'd told me this time last week that it would be a music game i would have laughed at you. At this point i'm almost completely burnt out on the plastic instrument front, but this game is a little different.

Rocksmith is a music game like no other, instead of playing a plastic instrument and just matching a combination of five buttons plus the strum bar you actually play a real guitar. Rocksmith doesn't use canned riff's either, it uses the sounds straight from your guitar meaning that you feel you're really playing. It's intelligent enough that the note structure alters itself to become more or less challenging depending on your skill level. This is the first game i've seen that might actually teach me a real world skill, and i'm all for it. If you don't believe me though, let Daemon Hatfield of IGN convince you. He felt the same way as i did before he had a hands on, it's his enthusiasm for Rocksmith that got me so excited.



There are plenty more games being shown this year, Not to mention that Nintendo are expected to reveal further details of the new Console they have under development. A more complete round up of the games and conferences of the show will be forthcoming post E3, with plenty more coverage during the event itself.

So stay tuned and check out IGN's coverage of the event too, those guys are the real pro's after all.

Playing the long game

Way back in the mists of time i bought a little game by the name of V Rally 3 and instantly fell in love. The game opened with a rip roaring music video that made me a fan of British rock band "A", but that is another post for another time.

The main reason I loved V Rally 3, besides the intro Music and the usual reasons of car handling and graphical/audio fidelity, was the extensive career mode that allowed you to compete year in and year out at both top level WRC events as well as the 1600 FWD series that supported it.

Personally i always preferred to play the FWD junior series, mainly because i wasn't good enough to handle the monster four wheel drive cars, but in a way that made the career mode feel even more real.

There are many drivers out there, hell, there are many sportsmen in general who fall short when they enter the top level of their field. There's no shame in it, not everyone is cut out for WRC. In my case i certainly wasn't, but the game allowed me to fail and retreat to the safety of the junior series where i dominated as the big fish in my own private small pond.

Maybe it was the fact that i tricked myself into feeling better about dominating the lesser event schedule, but to me V Rally never made you feel insignificant for not being successful at the top level. FWD junior rally was challenging, and every year your teams car performance varied adding an extra layer to what was already deep game play. Unfortunately other driving games don't seem able to give me that same warm fuzzy feeling.

When you play GT5 you never feel like you really achieved anything until you compete in the bigger events. Winning the Sunday Cup doesn't mean anything any more, especially when you know you have a 24 hour race series to attend later on in the game. Games like F1 give you little choice but to compete at the top level, and unless you're successful you will likely get little out of the experience.

Thankfully the latest WRC game features a career mode similar to the one found in V Rally 3. You build a career starting in the minor leagues and working up to the top tier 4WD beasts we all know and love. I can only hope that if you fail at the top level the game still makes you feel like you achieved something when you win a Junior championship.

Maybe i just want someone to make V Rally 4...

PSN - The Fallout

Twenty four days since hackers found their way into the PSN servers, bringing the network crashing down around them, the Japanese electronics giant has finally restored it's online services to a majority of users. The big question though, is whether Sony's image has suffered to the point that they may never recover (in the games market at least).

It's not the first time that a major console has had it's online features suspended. Microsoft had to take Xbox Live offline for 24 hours in 2008 in preparation for the "New Xbox Experience" and also suffered outages just prior to Christmas 2007. The big difference between these outages and the one recently suffered by the PSN however is, in the case of Microsoft, the problem was quickly remedied and didn't come off the back of a bunch of hackers getting hold of users personal information.

The damage to Sony and the Playstation's reputation should not be underestimated. Although the PSN is free for all to use, those who use it expect their details to be secure. If you can't put your trust in a consoles security how can you bring yourself to own it? Worse still is that people's credit card information may have been compromised and while all this news came out, Sony appeared to be dilly dallying over what to do.

The Welcome Back program that Sony announced on their blog is commendable. A free month of Playstation Plus will be an interesting experience for those of us who are yet to subscribe to it, While those who have will get two months gratis. A free film weekend is planned at some point, and although you question what they have to lose in terms of revenue when you see the 5 games available to users in the UK, the fact remains that you will get two of these for free.

Infamous
Little Big Planet
Ratchet and Clank Future:Quest for Booty (Super Stardust HD in Germany and United States)
Wipeout HD Fury
Dead Nation.

Whether or not these games appeal to the people that have been so inconvenienced by the PSN outage remains to be seen. Infamous and LBP are likely already owned by a majority of PS3 owners, so that effectively takes the selection down to two of three games. But hey, they're free!

Putting this Welcome Back program to one side for the time being though, This could hardly have come at a worse time for Sony. Nintendo recently announced the existence of a new console under development which appears to be aimed at regaining the hardcore audience they effectively lost when they released the Wii in 2006. Xbox 360 held a free online weekend just as the PSN outages bit, showing that they had a secure and reliable network and giving everyone a free taste of it just at the right time. It's my belief that Microsoft's console has had the premiere online gaming network for some time now due to the level of investment they can afford it. Sony may have sat back to begin with since the PSN was until recently free for all. They can hardly afford to do so now. At this point any perceived complacency from Sony by the gaming community could completely kill off the Playstation brand with the hardcore community.

There's one other question that this raises. Has this all caused so much trouble for Sony that they would consider burying the Playstation name altogether and start anew with their next console? I doubt it somehow. Even with all the negative mainstream news stories circulating about their machine, i think Sony realise they have a brand in the Playstation that will sell purely on name recognition alone.

Given all of the bad publicity Sony has had for the past three weeks it seems unlikely, perhaps even perverse that the number of PS3's sold during the PSN debacle should have increased rather than fallen. All publicity is good publicity it seems. Maybe the world doesn't care about online gaming, but they should still care about who can get hold of their details...

The PSN debacle continues...

Mark next Tuesday down in your diaries people, it's the day Sony hopes to restore some of the PSN's functionality according to a new statement from the Playstation Blog. As a registered PSN user myself, I'm anxious to find out what details have been stolen by the hackers. Thankfully, due to my general mistrust of games console software security i never registered a credit card with the service.

On the subject of the PSN debacle, the thought occurred to me today that when you can buy pre paid cards in any store that sells consoles why would you want to register a credit card to your account instead? Is it Convenience? Laziness perhaps? I understand if you live miles from the nearest games outlet, or if you find out about a new downloadable title that you can't wait until Monday to download, but at the same time is it really that big a deal if you can't play a new game immediately?

When i decided to download a title from the PSN recently i was faced with a question. Should I register my card and get it now, or wait until the following evening so that I could buy a £20 PSN card with all the extra security that it brings. Today I'm thankful that I was patient enough to wait, and very sympathetic to those who weren't.

Of course, it's Sony who are ultimately culpable for the data thefts here, and it will be Sony who will foot the bill for any losses incurred by members of the PSN. But it's sensible for all of us to remember that when any of us register a card for a service it's us that take the risk, at least in the short term. I think Game will be shifting a lot more of those pre paid cards from now on...

Can the last waggler please turn off the console on their way out...

When the rumours of Nintendo's new console began to circulate, it was interesting to note that the one thing missing from the list of design concepts and technical details was the mention of any form of movement control. In fact the only details released about the next gen Nintendo's controller was that it would include a touch screen that could stream game content in real time.

Bearing in mind that the actual technical details of Project Cafe are all rumours at this point, and that the company have only gone so far as to confirm the existence of a new machine, it has to be made clear that this is mostly guess work on my part, but that notwithstanding here's my take on what this all means.

Movement based control is dead in the water.

Bye bye waggle, Don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out...

Okay, it's true that Xbox and Playstation are still supporting the concept, but look at how many games out there for the Sony and Microsoft machines actually need either Kinect or PS Move in order to be played. Now compare that to the number or titles where move control is just a fancy extra thrown in because the developer could.

The move away from move based game control isn't really surprising when you think about it either. Nintendo stopped making a big thing out of the Wii Motion controller a long time ago, most of their major releases use very little of the Wii Motion controller's potential in their game play, instead relying on the old button and d-pad combo. Eurocom's version of Goldeneye, released last year, eschewed motion control altogether and actually came packaged with a Gamecube controller for better all round game play.

It's clear that Xbox and Playstation developed their take on move control as a direct response to Wii's domination of the family console market. That domination was originally because of the innovative controller that came with Nintendo's souped up Gamecube 2.0 along with some clever marketing towards families on the Japanese company's part. Now that Nintendo seem to be abandoning the move market in favour of something a little more current generation the big question must be asked - Why should Sony or Microsoft try to compete in the move market any more?

I'll be honest, i can't think of a decent reason.

Happy Birthday PSOne

If you're willing to ignore the fact that Japan saw the release of the Playstation on December 3rd 1994 then this month is very special in the life of Sony's first computer console.

September 9th and 29th 1995 marked the release of the Playstation in the US and EU respectively, which makes it 15 years old this month.

The Playstation wasn't my first gaming console by any means, that distinction belongs to the Nintendo Gameboy and Sega Master System (i wanted an NES). Along the way i owned a SNES as well, spending many a happy night playing Mario All Stars, but it was the Playstation that stole my heart and took it's place as my favourite games console.

Sony had such a wide array of different games available on the system that any gamer could find something to play and enjoy. Puzzle Fighter, Worms, ISS, Resident Evil, Ridge Racer, Destruction Derby, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII and Grand Theft Auto. All these disparate games have only two things in common, first they were all available on the Playstation and secondly i owned them all. There is just a snapshot of how diverse the games library could be, and similarly how random my taste in games became once i switched to Sony's system.

My favourite game on the Playstation, and still one of my favourite games of all time was released two years after the systems launch. Final Fantasy VII came out just a few short months after i became the proud owner of my own Playstation. The opening cinematic, accompanied by Nobuo Uemastu's stirring soundtrack blew my mind. I never thought a video game could rival movies as a form of visual entertainment, yet here i sat watching, not playing the beginning of a game that would go on to swallow months of my life. I was so obsessed by that game that i spent a whole week in bed (I assure you i really was ill) playing through the final stages of the last disc.

Sony's Playstation was the first system to truely embrace three dimensional gaming. Tekken, Battle Arena Toshinden and Driver spring to mind as examples of developers taking advantage of the systems power to deliver a more immersive gaming experience.

I'm taken back to a time when Grand Theft Auto was the game all my friends were playing, i bought the new issue of PSM as i always did and opened the page to read about a new game being released soon by the name of Driver. My mind once again exploded, this time at the thought of driving around in a 3D environment with absolute freedom. No need to follow tracks, no caption flashing up on screen informing me that i was indeed "Going the wrong way", in fact there were no real rules at all. Half the fun i had in that game was when i was trying to break it, The monster Truck cheat was great fun, jumping over bridges with suspension jacked up to three times the normal height was an obsession for me, watching replays of my stunts afterwards made it all the more addictive.

The graphics of the PSOne (as the smaller yet similarly powerful update was known) pales in comparison to the later PS2 and PS3, yet it retains it's appeal to me based on the strength of the games and the feelings attached to them. I still play destruction derby and worms from time to time, but dare not touch FFVII for fear of losing my social life to it.

Now that they have made FFVII available on PSN i might risk my social life by downloading it again, i still own my copy of the game from back in 1997 but haven't got the room to set up the old PS2. On second thoughts it would give me a chance to play ICO and Shadow of the Colossus again...

Happy Birthday PSOne, I still love you x

Robinho.