Xbox 360

The Death of the Disc

So I’m sitting here wondering why on earth people keep harassing me at work, the bosses telling me to ask customers “if they want help?” Surely, if you go into a game shop (or any shop come to think of it) you don’t want to be harassed by a member of staff. If you need help you can ask someone but why would you want someone to be hired just to bother YOU? Is this how all game shops are, or is it just the bad ones?

Other things are playing on my mind, like what is the future of gaming; I have read a brief article (more of an open letter to the public) asking whether the next generation of gaming consoles will kill the disc. A good question, but it won’t happen, and if it does it will not be cool. Take for example games which you can download already on the xbox dashboard. They charge the full retail price as though it was a box on a shelf. Now £24.99 for Alan Wake may be well priced but why is it not cheaper then the disc variant?? 

Cool Story Bro – The Importance of The Narrative In Game

So how do you like your story; well done, raw or somewhere in the middle? There’s no denying that during this current generation of gaming we have seen an increase in narrative based games. I have always been a “gameplay first, story second” person and always will be. However, that’s not to say I don’t love a good story in my game, it can definitely add a lot to the experience, it does amazing things for Metal Gear Solid and God of War for instance. However, is story becoming too important in an area where the entire point behind the medium is interaction?

When gaming was beginning to take off, with games like Pac-Man, Tetris or Space Invaders, they had virtually no story. What was on screen was just a visual representation of the programming. As technology advanced, the opportunity for telling stories in gaming greatly expanded, an early example being the Metal Gear series, you spend more time watching the story unfold than you do actually playing the game. But does that make it a bad game? Of course it doesn’t, but does it take too much interaction away from the medium; you could easily argue that it does. I imagine you’ve spent far more time playing your favourite game than you have watching your favourite film, the gameplay part of a game is different every time you play, whereas the story will remain the same.

Dreamcast Collection Coming To Xbox 360

It’s been almost a decade since the rise and fall of the Sega Dreamcast, leaving behind it a legacy of both innovation and failure. The system has spawned some classics and Sega is looking to cash in by dragging up old licenses from the dead.

The collection, which hits February 22^nd here in North America, takes some of the most beloved games of all time puts them in one compilation. The collection includes Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Sega Bass Fishing, and Space Channel 5: Part 2. The pote

The State of Women in Video Games

We’re at a crossroads in the gaming community, and it’s a crossroads we’ve been at for a while now. Gaming is at a point where the status of women is uncertain. While some developers make clear efforts to create deep, interesting female characters, others seem perfectly content to create buxom, shallow stereotypes. The problem is with the industry and the lack of women in creative positions, and while some developers claim up to 50% female staff that number can be misleading. Game developers are just like every other business, there are Public Relations people, Community Managers, as well as other non-creative positions. Most of the women who do get a job at a developer have these jobs, and are left out of the creative discussion when they could help establish an authentic female personality for a game.

Doritos Crash Course Review

Doritos Crash Course is a platformer developed by Behaviour Interactive.  This Xbox Live game is the next installment in free Doritos line of games.  Last year’s Dash of Destruction left a lot to be desired even thought it was a free game.  Does Doritos Crash Course surpass last year’s Doritos game?

Crash Course is a straight platformer.  You go through each level jumping over obstacles and dodge swinging hammers.  The Crash Course is setup like Wipeout the TV show.  You have to get to the other end of the course as fast as you can.  Depending on what time you get determines what kind of medal you receive.  Surprisingly Crash Course has finesse when it comes to jumping over obstacles.  If you lightly tap the jump button you will do a little hop, but if you hammer down on the button you will get some height to your jumps.  The game is straight forward and there is not much to it.

Hamilton Has A Great Adventure

The good old guys at Fatshark (developers of Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West) have announced their new title and it’s called “Hamilton’s Great Adventure.” It is being described as “easy to pick up for everyone, and has something for every type of gamer.” While that could mean it’s a kid’s game, I’ll give any Fatshark developed game a chance.

Achievements: Are You Really Doing Anything?

Can you remember what your first achievement was? Mine was the active reloads in the first Gears of War, now, here’s a better question; can you remember the last achievement you unlocked where you actually feel like you accomplished something?

What I’m getting at here is the achievement system in both the 360 and PS3 has become somewhat, run of the mill. The average game has anywhere between forty and fifty achievements to start with and around seventy to eighty percent of them are unlocked on the initial playthrough. There’s very few real achievements in most games, some of them have a certain “badge of honour” attached to them, which is a step in the right direction but there are just so many token achievements it makes unlocking them feel very hollow.