SpecialEffect GameBlast Begins Today

SpecialEffect is an organisation determined to help those with physical disabilities engage with the world of video games through assistive technologies. Using eye-control and modified joypads, the Oxfordshire based charity has been running since 2007 and works to bring the virtual world to those who previously had no way of accessing it. Nowadays video games and their cultures make up for a lot of kids' experiences of growing up. From playground conversation to exercising abilities in problem solving, perseverance, and creativity, gaming contributes heavily to childhood development. It's not surprising, therefore, that a large number of SpecialEffect's clients are children who, through the organisation's work, have been able to experience the joys of technology alongside their peers; boosting integration and general self-esteem.

This weekend, SpecialEffect is hosting the GameBlast 15 live stream event - a fundraising venture that sees a 24 hour Runescape marathon Friday-Saturday and GameBlast Live (a Children in Need type livestream from the London headquarters with gaming figures, playthroughs of new game content, and giveaways) on Saturday. GAME has also got on board, running a series of fundraising events as well as hosting a 24 hour "gaming spectacular" that will take place Friday at 6 GMT.

Through something as simple and seemingly peripheral as video games, SpecialEffect is transforming the happiness of people living in the UK with physical difficulties. With dozens of testimonies highlighting the organisation's obvious determination and tenacity in their aims, it's hard to ignore this literally game-changing work.

So far they've raised £19141.53, so head over to the GameBlast site to donate.

YouTube and Gaming: A Match Made in the Internet Era

With new information about gaming YouTube superstar PewDiePie's 2014 finances coming to light, it's no wonder so many gamers are turning to the popular video sharing site to create and share gaming content. The Swedish gamer brought home a cool $4 million last year, and it's easy to see why as gaming culture has effectively taken over the site; Minecraft was the second most searched topic on YouTube last year, after music. It seems to have taken off as a platform for sharing anything from reviews and playthroughs, to revelling in each other's glitches, spoofs, and ideas. 

So why has this video sharing site become such a large part of gaming in the 21st Century? Gautam Randurai  from Google has suggested that "a generation... has grown up on gaming. For them, having a gaming console was as ordinary as having a TV... and if they grew up on gaming, they came of age in the YouTube era. Many now consider it the best platform to explore their passions". YouTube has simply come about at the right time; those who grew up with video games (from whatever generation), have also been in the right age group to either grow up with the development of the internet, or been at the right age to appreciate its gathering momentum. With 34,588,063 followers as of 15th Feb 2015, PewDiePie has obviously done something right with his mix of spoof comedy and playthroughs. 

YouTube channel, PrismGamingUK (@PrismGamingUK), takes on big name games and provides

viewers with live-streams, competitions, and tips and tricks. Speaking to them, I learnt that consumers are "us[ing] YouTube to get help/advice and tips on games or simply watch reviews to decide what they want to buy", they started their channel by offering "strategies for games like Call of Duty", essentially providing gamers the opportunity to see exactly what is required of them to progress. This may seem obvious, but not until we think back to the era before the internet, when being stuck on a level meant potentially growing too disheartened to even try.

Some may carry certain objections to being handed the answer to the problem, suggesting that it takes away from the overall aim of the gameplay. In a way, the access to the answer possibly does detract from the formidable notion of the boss battle, or the sense of achievement after finally defeating said boss after hours of practice and troubleshooting. However, just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it. If you play a game because you're hooked on the storyline and the artwork, being locked in a situation that you can't seem to get out of can really dampen your experience, and possibly end it. I enjoy working out what is expected of me, and rarely use playthroughs for the answers, but I do watch them. I watch them to check out whether I want to invest in a game, watching the first 10 minutes or so to see what it's about, or watching someone else play a game that I have already played, to see someone's else's reactions.

So it's not so much about the 'answers', its about watching someone else playing a game, which can often hold just as much entertainment value as the games themselves. Blast Processing (@IHAVETHEPOWER82) on Twitter, highlighted the potential for the YouTube platform for the retro gaming market - "It really helps to get unknown or forgotten classics into the foreground". His YouTube channel, Genesis Moss, takes as its focus the retro industry. He harks the power of the internet, and told me that before the Internet "we had to rely on things like Nintendo Power and let's face it sometimes magazines had an extreme bias because their job was to sell games. But with YouTube it's different because most gamers give their honest opinions and it helps shape the gaming industry". So it seems that YouTube's popularity has also risen from its ability to provide a democratic platform for content and opinion - spurring thousands of independent viewpoints to be heard.

In a sense, YouTube brings the social side of gaming back into the forefront of the industry. Connecting people across the world through streaming sites and content creates a shared platform for individuals to discuss the industry, new games, and tips. But so do forums and Twitter, so why are video sites like YouTube and Twitch becoming so popular for this sharing of ideas? @JacquersLeo runs her YouTube site, Jacked, with her husband and described to me how they "like to challenge [their] audience to beat [their] highscores, it gives us all a sense of being connected and interactive", she feels that "a shout out or mention in a video feels more personal than just a forum or tweet".

YouTube provides a more intimate connection for users, while also allowing for a wider range of views to be heard. With gaming rapidly becoming more diverse, YouTube provides the necessary space for discussion with almost face-to-face contact across the world. The audio-visual crux of the site has also propelled it into gaming culture with its ability to easily present gameplay footage anywhere with an internet connection, which when you think about it, is a relatively new phenomenon. In essence, YouTube is where it's at for the gaming community at the moment, and hopefully we'll see its (and other streaming sites') growth in years to come.

Follow Me on Twitter: @MusingsTwit

New Releases Lineup

2015 has kicked off with an explosion of new and exciting content to take over lives and destroy productivity. From survival horror to dark comedy, stealth to strategy, battling through hell with Johnny Gat to conquering the Goo in the distant, technologically advanced future. Whatever you're looking for, at the moment, there's something for every one.

If You're On A Budget: Resident Evil Revelations 2 

It can be tough on the bank keeping up with the ever-inflating prices of new releases, but thankfully more and more games are jumping aboard the episodic format to help out the old PS Store wallet. Though, strictly speaking, Resi Revelations 2 is not a new release, the first episode is due out on the 24th February in North America, and the 25th for us in Europe, so not that long a wait. After playing Revelations on 3DS a couple of years ago, i'm desperately excited for the sequel. The abandoned ship setting is perfect for that up close claustrophobia we have all come to love to hate, and the wide range of tasks presented maintained for excellently fresh gameplay. Hopefully the sequel follows suit, but in my experience, if you love Resi it's likely you won't be disappointed, and the episodic gameplay allows small exchanges of pocket money for some high standard play. 

If You're Reminiscing: Grim Fandango, Resident Evil  

Two remastered classics have hit the line-up recently; Resident Evil, and Grim Fandango. Grim Fandango, a forgotten classic from LucasArts, is a darkly comic adventure game which has certainly stood the test of time. Play as Manny Calavera, who is working to pay off a number of debts over a four year period while working as a travel agent in the afterlife. From the depths of 1998, Double Fine Productions have dug up this treasure and brought it to the mainstream where no doubt its complex story, infuriatingly tricky challenges, and upbeat soundtrack will feel right at home. It's also got a developer commentary which I got really excited about - see my last post for the evidence.

Resident Evil is perhaps, less of a nuanced gameplay experience. The 1996 survival horror has been through the remastering machine and come out an almost-perfectly polished modern experience (save for some minute glitching) promising all the terror and nightmares that came with the original, in a beautifully renovated setting.

If You're Looking For New IP: Grey Goo  

Grey Goo was finally released in January after being pushed back from autumn last year. In this real time strategy game, a group of humans and their lovable alien buddies called the Beta attempt to conquer the Goo far far in the future. Goo, nanobots that consume their enemies in order to create new factions, with a large amount of strategic tactic developing, and confusion over who is on who's side. Needless to say, things get pretty muddled in the game, but the 15 campaign missions of complex story and large range of skills to develop (though you can only really master them and then forget them due to the movement between factions that happens every 5 missions) help you through. Grey Goo has just been released on PC and is going for £30. 

If You Want A Laugh: Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell  

Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell is a short and sweet stand alone in the Saints Row series. Playing as Johnny Gat as you battle your way through hell, coming across some hilariously portrayed historical figures as well as previous characters from the series. Overall it feels and plays like a self-conscious giggle at the series itself and is certain to provide some lightly dark entertainment with all the fireworks you've come to expect from the previous games. 

Why I Want To Play Grim Fandango Remastered (and it's nothing to do with the game)

Grim Fandango has always been in my peripherals. Not because i've always known it existed, but rather because i've seen the art everywhere but never really bothered to check out where it originated from. This was changed with the Remastered version that has just been released for PS4, Vita and PC. While the dark comedy noir-ish vibes are intensely appealing, it's not the storyline, gameplay, or the chance to play a cult classic remastered for a better system that's really enticing me. It's the developer commentary.

The game allows you to take a moment and listen to the developers talk through their work, as well as crack up at parts they remember creating, sharing anecdotes and making for what I believe to be a much richer gameplay experience. Sadly not many games offer their developers this indulgence, with just a handful of releases such as Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, The Orange Box compilation, and Lara Croft Tomb Raider Anniversary edition taking the time to implement this feature.

I enjoy the backstories, the mistakes, the in-jokes, and i'm sure so would many other players. There's a lot more to a game than the amount of time a developer spent on the project (and usually that comes under fire for making the players wait), and it's rarely seen in the video game industry. Especially with big games, players often forget the sometimes deeply personal experience that is developing and creating a video game and it's often tricky to bear in mind that every boss battle, puzzle, and gunfight came from literally nothing - a blank space on a computer screen. The journey from that blank screen to a polished, interactive, immersive experience is often unjustly ignored and I for one would love to hear the developer's stories behind their decisions. It just seems strange to me that for an industry so focussed on the creative decisions of a group of people, there is so much ignorance of the work that actually goes into those creative decisions.

To be able to hear the developers talk you through their creative decisions, the efforts they placed into the smallest effects (the number of punches a peripheral npc makes in a gym scene is the subject of one piece of Grim Fandango commentary), and the stories behind their efforts can only intensify your enthusiasm for the experience as a whole, especially in-game where you can actually experience there and then for yourself.

Smash Hit, ios: Review

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the best games to grace Apple products are the simplest, and Smash Hit is no exception. With its crisp graphics, sharp sound effects, and uncomplicated gameplay, it screams addiction. The premise of the game sees you travelling through a series of glass obstacles in first person which you must destroy with a limited number of metal balls (that you can win back by destroying crystals). It is a concept that through their sheer simplicity breeds a brilliantly attractive and effortlessly engaging past-time with no waiting time, and no ads.

The basic foundations of the gameplay have allowed for the developers to easily create new challenges, keeping the game fresh with a wide variety of tasks presenting themselves as you move up levels. These obstacles may warrant a few attempts before being beaten, but most of them rely on quick thinking, timing, and aim. 

The premium version is required for picking up from where you left off last time, however this isn't so much of a downer as it first seems. Though the higher levels are more difficult and often pose a real challenge, the therapeutic simplicity of the opening stages and the game's compelling nature makes it a pleasure to retread your steps. This is improved by the changing dynamics of gameplay in the form of certain power-ups. Hit ten consecutive crystals in a row and shoot multiple balls at your targets, allowing a greater impact and wider target range, with the number of balls awarded correlating to the number of crystals you have hit. This ensures that no two plays are the same, greatly increasing replayability. 

The game is consistently enjoyable due to its ability to challenge the player with new levels and threats while maintaining the entertainment required to play the game enough to learn how to proceed. Even then, it only takes a few tries to break through tricky levels which are just as favourable as the first ones and easily defeated with practice. While there are ample opportunities to boost the number of balls at your disposal (hit an obstacle and lose 10 in a heart-stopping moment of red screen terror), it only takes a few mistakes to seriously set you back from even the most promising of situations.

The impressive physics establish realistic reactions and forces, however it is not 100% consistent as there are some instances when the player is able to travel through a sheet of glass despite the fact that the area smashed area was nowhere near where it needed to be. This happens rarely however, and is quite frankly a relief in times of frantic ball-flinging. 

The sound reflects the crisp graphics, with coolly calming music accompanying the satisfyingly sharp shattering of the glass. Hearing the impact of the initial hit and the echo of the crashing obstacles makes for incredibly gratifying gameplay. 

Overall, Smash Hit is an intensely addictive game with a beautifully simple design and infinite replayability. Managing to maintain an enjoyable balance between entertainment and challenge, all aspects of the game collaborate to create a thrillingly original experience... which is probably why it is currently featured on App Store Best of 2014.

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series - PS3 Review

Telltale throws you into the politically hostile world of Westeros and watches as you run free, dictating your own Game of Thrones. Playing as three characters in true Game of Thrones episodic fashion, it is essentially your job to keep House Forrester and the Ironwood safe from various threatening houses. Whether it's Cersei's distrust of your previous Stark alliance, or the threat of Ramsay Bolton's imminent presence, the situations you are faced with couldn't be more thrillingly delicate.

The game is based around your decisions, with timed conversation responses manipulating the gameplay content and the story of House Forrester as well as non-timed decisions that ultimately
conduct the wider structure of the episode. The game turns into a conversational dance, side-stepping questions about your allegiances and ducking through traps. A tactical minefield, you are forced to fully consider all your options, possible outcomes and allegiances throughout all your decisions. These situations are characteristically difficult to navigate, and though you get the sense that with some conversations the outcome would always be the same in the end, most of the possible decisions presented to you seem to be completely opposite in terms of outcomes. For example, playing as a Forrester handmaiden to Margaery Tyrell, speak with Cersei and she asks about your alliances with House Stark vs. your allegiance to the King. You can either admit your alliances with the Starks and really piss her off, or you can do as Margaery has told you and mindlessly back good old King Joffers. Two options that pose two very different outcomes from your conversation, that need to be considered alongside all your other motives in about 6 seconds.

The fact that you play as three different members of the Forrester house in the first episode allows you to see more of the famous characters, locations and events from the beloved series. Playing as Gared Tuttle, players see a certain infamous wedding, and will be at the wall in the next episode, Ethan Forrester allows the player to be truly put in the drivers seat as they lead the house as Lord, and Mira Forrester, Margaery's handmaiden, takes the player to King's Landing to mix with the Lannisters. Through this, Telltale has managed to cram the entire Game of Thrones universe into the player's experience without confusing or overwhelming the narrative.

The slightly watercolour-y background sets the tone for the equivalent time period that the Game of Thrones universe it set in, and also allows you to maintain a focus on the words being said, rather than being distracted by extravagant scenery.  In terms of animation, however, there are a few issues I would like to see dealt with over the next episodes. At certain points it felt like the images were moving slower than the sound, and certain movements and cut-scenes glitched or were frozen for a short while. However, this game's main asset is its storyline, and as long as you know your Game of Thrones (or at least have someone there who can keep you informed), this will be two hours of well-spent shock, sweat, and panic that will leave you frantically Googling the release date for episode 2.

Telltale's Game of Thrones Gets Release Date... and it's soon

The release date for Telltale's new episodic Game of Thrones series has been released following two exciting trailers thrown at the web last month. PC and PS4 will see the new game on 2nd December, whereas X-Box fans will be a day behind on the 3rd. December 4th will see the game to ios and PS3 players are waiting until the 9th to get their digital hands on it.

The game will explore the story of House Forrester and is twinned with HBO, meaning more potential for series cross-overs and a higher likelihood of faithful voice acting. The allegiances between House Forrester and the Starks will allow the game to explore some of the well-known story elements of the already-instated series, including characters, settings and politics. I just hope Telltale makes the most of its decision-based dynamic seen in Walking Dead and creates a game that relies on its tactics as much as its sword, truly adhering to what we've come to love about Game of Thrones.

For more information, head to the Telltale Game of Thrones website and in the mean-time, enjoy entertaining the idea of these possibilities:

Dead Island: My PS3 Struggle, Why I Will Never Shop in Game Again, and How I Got A Free Forrest Gump DVD

STORY TIME!

In the Christmas of 2012, I was 16 years old with a ton of exams and very little money. Owning a PS3 was 100% out the question - they were still going for far more than I could hope to afford, and even if I was handed the money and went and bought the console, I couldn't afford any games for it. It would just be a really expensive decorative item. But then my younger sister managed to land one
of those elusive Saturday jobs, and splashed out on a PlayStation with her first pay packet (I was earning £30 every fortnight). It was revolutionary. I remember it like it was the biggest event of my life (and to be fair at that point it came largely secondary to ASs and Uni applications), my sister called me while I was out and gave me the news. Immediately I stormed into the nearest CeX and picked up the first game I saw - just to check out the system. I didn't know at that time that I had started what was going to be the most enjoyable gameplay experience I have yet to encounter, and as I handed over the £10 note (regrettably I had to forego the Subway I had planned for later as a result) and received my copy of Dead Island back, I felt sound in the knowledge I was jumping on the up-to-date gaming bandwagon.

Funny, gory, and just all round fun to engage in, Dead Island quickly became the only game played on the PS3. My sister had Skyrim and GTA for it but rarely got a word in edge ways in terms of the ownership of her PlayStation. Weapon modifications, the sometimes stunning visuals (you have to remember my gaming largely consisted of £1.50 PS2 games prior to my PS3 revolution), and the constant zombie-bashing opportunities meant I was totally hooked on the game. It was the game that I waited impatiently for my parents to go to bed for, so that I could turn to my sister, give her a look and we would both silently celebrate that it was finally time to play (Mum was not a fan of the bludgeoning, slicing, and electrocuting that had become a large part of my life). It was the game I played with my then-boyfriend for hours, becoming more and more frustrated with his (in my mind) poor technique, and then even angrier when he defeated the 'Thug' zombie in the garage that had managed to outwit me many times before. 

There were a few choice words from my sister when Uni came around and I asked if I could take the PS3. It was a long shot, and I ended up leaving for Exeter with no games console to call my own apart from a £20 PS2 that I bought as a commiseration (and the damn thing didn't work). 

The next chapter in my Dead Island story comes after I was (again) in CeX over the Christmas holidays. Looking at the PS3 section wistfully once more (as was tradition), I see a guy standing in the queue holding a PS3. Something could happen here, and something beautiful did happen. The guy saw me looking at the consoles and asked me if I was looking to buy. Trying to contain my desperate need for some kind of console, I said I was and he told me how he was trying to sell - nowhere would take it because the controller was pretty busted. He offered it to me for £50. This is a guy in the street, trying to sell me not only a PS3 but also a story about how he's getting rid of all his stuff to move to Paris to be with his girlfriend (I was wary). We agreed at £35, I had no idea if it worked or not and he really wanted to shift this PS3 - I didn't dwell on his dubious story, I wanted that damn PS3. It was glorious, mostly because it worked. I had pulled off every dream I ever had since those lonely days of 2012 and gained a 120gb PS3 slim for £35 that worked as if it were brand new (and got a free Forrest Gump DVD that was still inside - bonus). It says a lot about a game though, when I say that the only reason I was still searching for a PS3 at that time was to play Dead Island again at uni. And I did. I finished Dead Island in my second term after having to restart it with uni mates after we holed up in my friends room which I dubbed 'The PlayStation Station'. Playing Dead Island all day, everyday for about 3 weeks, it was a race to finish the game before term ended for summer. We managed it with literally minutes to spare before one of us had to leave for home, after a very tense boss battle and a lot of screaming.

So when I was in Game looking for Dead Island Riptide on my 19th birthday, I was shocked when the employee asked why I wanted such a 'crap' game. I put him firmly in his place, admittedly to the embarrassment of my mother, and walked out the shop. I know Dead Island gets some stick - the trailer built up a lot more expectation for the storyline than was necessary for a game with little emphasis on story, but it's still my go-to game for an assured good time. It lends itself to casual, do a mission here, build a weapon there gameplay ideal for half hour sessions if you've got somewhere to be, but can be played for hours on end at the same time. Play for days and never be put in the same situation twice, even if you die and have to restart something. You're always moving forward in this game, the zombies stay dead even if you end up dead with them, meaning you are always progressing - something that keeps bringing me back to the island and its characters.

Dead Island 2 is PS4 only. This is a circular story because there is no way I can afford a PS4 right now. I might just have to start dropping hints at my sister or hang around CeX in a couple of years looking for a shifty guy moving to Paris. 

Funniest Gaming Videos on YouTube

The strong relationship between gaming and online video content has proved itself recently with Amazon's famous purchasing of streaming site Twitch. Watching others play video games brings a certain kind of entertainment that's hard to pin down, but stems from the inherently social roots of the pastime. A playthrough can be tense, frustrating (watching a player get to the third chapter of story mode without knowing how to change weapons can make or break a person), but the best clips are watched by millions because they are funny. Tobygames and Pewdiepie create hilarious content that is shared across the internet every time they pick up a controller, but sometimes the real humour doesn't come from these twenty minute sections of gameplay, but from those who have taken games, glitches, characters and scenarios, made it their own and uploaded it for the rest of the world to have a two minute giggle at. So, here are some of my favourite YouTube gaming videos that will never fail to make me laugh.

 

 

Laddergoat

 

 

It’s often the simplest things that really hit the hilarity hardest, in this case what starts out as a personal attack on a goat turns into one of the most absurdly funny glitches I have encountered so far. As the goat makes his escape and slowly begins to rise up the ladder, it’s not difficult to see why the player breaks down. What ensues is 4 minutes of infectious laughter, repeatedly subsiding only for the player to catch a glimpse of the goat and collapse once more into fits of eye-watering roars, exclaiming “oh you, ladder goat, you so random”. I think we can all use a little more laddergoat in our lives.

 

What Slender Man Does Behind Your Back

 

 

If you need something to get rid of the pervading fear Slender Man places on your everyday life, then here it is (or it just might make it worse). For some reason, we fear this misunderstood, bop-loving tall guy in a suit, here we see him in an off moment. Slender’s 30 second dance party was created by FloboFilms and provides some comic relief for one of the most psychologically challenging characters to grace the PC scene.

 

Real Life Mario Kart

Taking to the streets, Remi Gaillard breaks down that fourth wall of gaming and throws some bananas at vans. Dressing as Mario and revving the engine of a fairly unstable looking kart, he pulls away from traffic lights, dodges some traffic, takes a pit-stop to fill up and takes first place in front of a clapping group of tourists. Possibly the best bit of footage however, is a pulled over Mario making an escape from an Accident Response van in his tiny kart.

 

Pacman Ghosts Discuss TV

 

 

I never thought about the ins and outs of their TV-watching, I know now that that was a mistake.

Dead Trigger 2 Review

Dead Trigger 2 was released in October of last year and is now proudly displayed in the App Store 'Zombie' section. I say proudly because, even though I've only had a handle of good, long sessions with it, I can safely say it is one of my favourite games I have played on iOS. And it's free. 

I'm fairly new to the game, but my first impressions are that this is an iOS classic. It's fun and easy to dip in and out of but if you have the time you can easily lose a good few hours running the battery down on whatever device you choose - I've tried it on iPod but a bigger screen allows for less claustrophobic gameplay, but as a zombie game perhaps that's a bonus to iPod and iPhone play. 

Employing a first person shooting stance governed by two primary controls: move around with left and look around with right, the game is set around a series of search and rescue / fix this very important commodity missions with various in game rewards. From the map screen, select your mission (be it a side mission you encountered before, a new mission to progress, or a challenge of the day type battle), using your hideout as an hq of weaponry, health, and gold mining. The missions get heart-racingly challenging, especially playing on iPad - turning round after defeating a horde of pumpkin headed zombies (celebrating the game's Halloween-ish birthday) only to find one gnawing on your shoulder has sent my iPad flying after desperate attempts to shoot. 

The controls fit the iOS design - simply move to look at your enemy, line up the crosshair, and the trigger pull comes naturally. By this I mean the game shoots automatically. This kind of frustrated me at first - I couldn't line up the perfect headshot without already shooting the guy half a dozen times. But it's an easy way to get the look and feel of movement on a console game on an iOS device that requires a simpler set of controls, and it makes the game slightly easier, so you feel like a boss. 

The story-line isn't that developed - the main basis is that you have been dropped into a zombie apocalypse, saved, and taken to a safety base by a woman you met in a tunnel. After that, it's more the completion of missions set in an impressively large set of locations, the simple controls, and the thirst for zombie blood that will keep bringing you back to Dead Trigger 2. 

Why I'm Loving #screenshotsaturday

Is there really a better way to convey the tone, genre, style, and overall sense of a game than through the good old screenshot? I don't think so, and this is why I am a lover of all things frozen in time and put on the internet. This is perhaps why i'm loving the #screenshotsaturday trend that's been going around in the blur between my Saturday and Sunday. I've spent hours browsing the exciting images of thousands of different games, each one presenting its own individual presentation of its own unique entertainment.

There's a distinct sense of pride that the screenshot conveys. For all the effort put into the game, especially when its independently developed (see my earlier post), it's relieving to understand that indie developers make this effort because of their love of entertainment and pride in their end product. Such pride is beautifully demonstrated in this shared display space of the internet. Developers posting screenshots of their works are not only trying to advertise their product, they're sharing with the world their own pride in the work they have undertaken.

Of all the ways the internet has changed the world, this space to share and the camaraderie that comes from it is perhaps the most important to me. With the recent gamergate epidemic, it's refreshing to see the internet's anonymity and freedom being utilised to breed positivity. I think it's too easy to fall into dwelling too much on the presence online trolls. Evidence of social networking, Twitter in particular, being used to exhibit a confident pride in a project and then being received by others sharing that pride, providing feedback and posting their own projects illustrates one of the greatest powers of the internet - bringing individuals around the world together based on common interests.

And I think screenshots themselves deserve some attention. They capture the essence of a game that could be hours long to provide the viewer with a wealth of information from just a glance. I think you can really get the feel of a game from an atmospheric shot of action, and they are composed (whether intended to or not) as art pieces.

I don't believe that pride is a bad thing. The fact that these developers are sharing their work with the world in such a public way shows their care, personal investment, dedication, and enthusiasm for their endeavours. Trolls are just the people who don't have anything worth showing off.

Secrets That Should Remain Hidden: Top 5 Creepy Easter Eggs

The term 'Easter Egg' to refer to secrets hidden by developers in games was supposedly coined by Atari after it was brought to their attention that Warren Robinett left a secret message in the game Adventure. Referring to the idea of the "Easter egg hunt", the phrase came to stand for any secret items, levels or messages left by developers. Nowadays, the term has been used to also cover hidden elements of gameplay such as audio files, as well as glitches and seemingly irrelevant story information.

Since it's Halloween, I thought it would interesting to delve into the top 5 of the creepiest easter eggs the internet has pulled up.

5. Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Shadows

When playing the Shiverburn Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, the player can look up and see three strange figures atop the mountain. On closer inspection it seems that these figures are watching you, and with no reference to them in the game, it seems they are something to slowly back away from, before putting down the controller and running out of the house. What's even worse is the fact that hackers have tried to put an end to everyone's fears by searching within the game, but the mysterious figures seem to disappear if you are getting too close.

4. Halo 3 - Monkey Family

On Level Sierra 117, after seeing Sgt Johnson's pelican go down, enter the woods and kill all the snipers. Once you are at the end, go back down to where you started and jump up to the elevated part on the right. Turn around again, and walk along the wall to your left until it ends. Have a look around. You are not going mad if you see a family of monkeys with human faces occupying your wall with you. They do not move, but they are not part of the scenery as shooting them will cause them to bleed. So these weird monkey people inhabit the world of Halo more often than you might think. They are dotted around levels, some of which are practically impossible to access. Perhaps the worst though is at the end of Halo 3 ODST. Settle in for the credits and watch the cut scene after them, but be ready to move the camera to the left during the last few cut scenes. Look around the spaceship and find an old friend sitting next to you the whole time... yep... monkey man.

3. Red Dead Redemption - Tumbleweed

Not so much an easter egg, more of a creepy level not necessitated by gameplay, the ghost town of
Tumbleweed is advertised throughout newspaper articles throughout the game. If you actually take the time to go there, the creepy atmosphere, only intensified by the disembodied whisperings and mutterings. One player has got to the bottom of these voices however, by going through a previously locked door to find a few random characters hiding out in a small room. It's obviously pretty boring in Tumbleweed if they spend their days waiting for someone to walk past so they can whisper to them... The real fear, however, comes when you notice the dog that's been constantly barking throughout your exploits in Tumbleweed. You follow the sound of his barking until you reach a cemetery with an adjoining churchyard. Inside this church is a pulpit with the words "The Devil has got into that beast" carved into it, suggesting a creepy little ghost dog following you around, possibly inhabited by the devil. That's always fun.

2. Bit.Trip Runner 2 - Slender

The problem with fast-paced side scrolling platform games is the fact that you don't really have the time to stop and look around at the backdrop to your dashing, jumping, falling, and flying. That's probably a good thing in Bit.Trip Runner 2. If you happen to need to pause, and you are looking for an adrenaline rush, take a look at the background and you may see the horrifically recognisable image of the internet's favourite demon guy in a suit - Slenderman. The thing with this one is the fact that you could be playing the level over and over and not realise that Slender has been following you the whole time. The fact that the kids game is so colourful and light-hearted only serves to make Slender's appearance just a little more terrifying.

1. Game Boy Camera - Run

In the old days of the Game Boy Camera, if a user pressed the 'run' button while on one of the menu
screens, the game would sometimes freeze. An image of a face vandalised with marker would then appear with equally creepy text - the worst of which, "who are you running from", would have sent me straight to the Yellow Pages, looking up any good demon-exorcizing priests in the area. And this was in the days when googling why your Game Boy had suddenly turned against you was out of  the question. 

Gorillas, Carpentry, and Sewers: The History of Mario

In thinking about the origins of classic video game characters, who better to start with than Mario? The chubby Italian plumber bounced his way into the top spot in the video game hall of fame in the 80's and has broken more records than he has power up boxes in the decades since. Hailed as the video game icon, Mario's history is just as endearing as his famous catchphrases, stature, and gaggle of friends.

Around the time of the video game crash in 1983, Miyamoto understood that players were growing
tiresome of the similar designs of games that we're being rapidly churned out in the industry. Recognising the need for players to have a human character to connect with through the game rather than just a spaceship, he began working a carpenter character into his Donkey Kong game. And so the concept of Mario was born. 

Originally named Jumpman, Mario's original carpentry profession was developed to fit with the construction site setting of Donkey Kong. When he was granted his own title, however, his career path took a turn towards plumbing. It has been said that Mario's career was an effort to make him look more hard working, and therefore relatable to the player. A colleague apparently mentioned to Miyamoto that the character looked more like a plumber, and so Mario Bros. was based in the sewers of New York City. 

Mario's iconic outfit was originally reversed, with a red jumpsuit accompanied by a blue shirt. The character needed to stand out against his background and so his prominent nose, brightly coloured clothing and light-heartedly Italian moustache were necessary. Miyamoto completed the outfit with a red cap for simplicity's sake, to work around the issue of animating Mario's hair every time he jumped.

This appearance has developed with the abolishment of technical limitations. As the technology available for video games improved, so did Mario's characterisation. The colours of his clothes were reversed to what we see today, his cap took on the iconic 'M' marking, and his facial features became more animated. 

Charles Martinet is the prominent voice of Mario, and has been working for Nintendo since 1990. Originally uninvited to the auditions, he rocked up late to a video game trade show and asked to read the part. He originally planned a stereotypically husky Italian voice but developed the idea to become more child friendly, making his voice light, bouncy, and soft. The legend goes that Martinet's audition tape was the only one sent to Nintendo, but it must have been lengthly as Martinet stated that he maintained the Mario voice until the tape ran out. Martinet started as the voice of Mario at video game trade shows through the "Mario in Real Time" system - a motion capture interactive display in which groups of people would approach a 3D Mario head on a screen, watched on camera by Martinet, who would then have his movements synchronised with the image of his Italian character to respond to them. 

Mario is the proud icon of the best selling video game series of all time and has become one of the most widely recognised symbols of digital entertainment. With over 115 title games and countless other crossovers and references throughout the video game industry (everyone chuckled when the line "it's me Mario" was cheekily thrown into Assassin's Creed 2), his plumbing business has certainly had to take the back seat for a while. 

Hoops and Hurdles: Just How Difficult Is It To Go Indie

Creating video games without the financial backing of a large company comes with a new set of game design rules. Developers focus on what makes them unique - the innovation and creativity of one or two individuals or a small group, and have done since the 1990s. Early shareware allowed independent developers for PC games to distribute their creations among fellow developers and players. However the steep rise of technology that occurred during the millennium saw a larger internet audience, bigger expectations for the quality of video games, and a more competitive market. While this has seen a large growth in social media marketing, retail (through sites such as Steam), and the general means to create these games, developers need to jump through the hoops this larger audience scope demands. 

In writing this, I was attempting to consider some of the most challenging aspects of independent video game design, and came to the conclusion that I pretty much had no clue what kinds of issues faced these organisations in the digital age. So I channelled Sherlock and took to Twitter. 

Finances are a big thing on developers' minds, when asked their opinions on the biggest hurdle in indie game development, it seemed the biggest limitation was the dollar. Red Tentacle Studios (@Red_Tentacle),developers of Crazy Critter Dash for iOS, pretty much sum it up when they say "with limited financial resources you have to compete with game companies with millions to spend on advertising, making it feel nearly impossible at times". Relying on social media and word of mouth is stressful and risky, in that sense the advertisement of these games is a slow, repetitive process of plugging, tweeting, posting and pleading, whereas top games companies just have to say one word at the right conference and half the world starts pre-ordering for next year. 

And this is mostly funded through a day job, which in itself presents difficulties. For Robert Ota Dietrich (@nobunagaota), this financial matter is "like a timer" - financing a daily life around the demands of creating a successful video game is tricky. He says "for devs with day jobs, time is the biggest limit. Finding the time to make games can be hard. Especially if you have a family". Working around the timings and finances of daily life to create a game independently and then advertise and boost recognition means it's a sink or swim situation in the gaming world (which is why you can help Robert out and vote for his game Ookibloks on Steam Greenlight 

So you've passed the time constrictions and the financial risks, but the actual creative process of game design is what Voltwar Games (@VoltwarGames) reckon presents the most difficulty. Focus is something I had never really considered before these guys brought it to my attention, but now I can 100% understand when they say "no matter what, there will always be thoughts like "wouldn't it be cool if we added this thing or this other thing?". You need to learn how to handle that, when to say no". I suppose in the bid to stand out against this vast scope of internet audience, you want to do something innovative, unique and new. But in an unfocused project, this can run away with the developer and they end up throwing everything at a game and then realising it's far too unfocused and cluttered. Voltwar told me that "our first game was a disaster. We kept changing the concept, the target platforms, the scope of the entire project. We changed the art style, went from multiplayer to single player, changed the entire theme of the game... In the end we just put it on ice, because it was so unfocused."

So you've put the hours in, worried about the rent, re-modelled a game over and over until it was sleek, original, focused and fun to play - you have the finished product and you're pretty proud. But then comes the issue of quality highlighted by James Oliver (@JamesDestined) who says the most difficult part is "seeing the reality of how good your product is and not believing it is best / better in an unrealistic way". So after pouring so much of your life into this product, it's difficult not to become blind to its faults - it's what you've sacrificed months of your life for and it can be difficult then, not to get your hopes up for a Nintendo job offer. 

You've got your final product now, you've managed not to get your hopes up and don't have unreasonable expectations for its success. Now you just have to do that hard bit and get noticed. This, as well as financing, was the most common response to my inquiries. After all that work, you may still be a tiny, insignificant dot on the web. Steam, blogs, Twitter and Facebook seem to be your methods of advertising, while also relying on the risk of word of mouth. Lazy Lizzard (@TheLazyLizzard), creator of Stray Cat, told me that "it is way too easy to disappear in the crowd. Plus, the freemium market is unsustainable, so you either get rich quick or go broke". So once you've put the endless hours, worry, money, and risk into your project, you still have to break your way into recognition through the sometimes frustratingly slow process of social media marketing. 

I've discovered a new form of respect for independent developers now, I already had respect for their creativity and innovation. But the process of developing a game under normal pressures of every day life and then meeting the ever growing demands of both the consumer and the platform of advertisement creates a whole new respect for the dedication and resilience required to make a name for yourself in this day and age. 

Red Tentacle Studios: http://www.redtentaclestudios.com/ 

Lazy Lizzard: http://lazylizzard.org/

Robert Ota Dietrich: http://gamedevwithoutacause.com/ 

James Oliver: http://www.destined.com 

 

Cheap Weekends - PS2 Classics Now Under £5

With game prices hitting the £70 mark in some cases, it's proving more and more difficult to pick a title up on your way home from work to have a laugh with over the weekend. But never fear, because good second hand game shops are here to help. So, if you're between games or just fancying a chilled weekend of classic favourites, here is a list of top PS2 games you can get from second hand shops for under a fiver.

Something Classic: 

Crash Banidcoot, The Wrath of a Cortex - ok, you caught me, it's around £8 second hand, but it's worth missing your morning coffee and saving those few coins for the chance to spend your weekend saving Wumba Island through some of the most memorable levels of PS2's impressive repertoire. 

Something Chilled:

The Sims Bustin Out is a good weekend game, purely because it's easy to spend a few hours moseying around the game but after that it gets a bit boring. There's certainly a lot more freedom than The Sims on PlayStation in that you can actually leave the house, and the rewards you unlock in the story mode are then available in the freeplay mode. However, it gets fairly repetitive so maybe not one if you're looking for story development over patient completion of quests. But it's only about £2, so that's a win.

A Bargain: 

Gun is one of my favourite PS2 games to have graced my many consoles. Set in the Wild West, this shooter consists of missions just easy enough to actually get somewhere in the game but still warrant several tries in certain places, making for excellently engaging gameplay. When you're not completing missions feel free to explore the landscapes and take up a day job as a cattle rancher - much more fun than it sounds. Think Red Dead Redemption but available to your for about a quid. 

Something Psychotic: 

The third person stealth game Manhunt will leave you questioning your moral integrity but not after hours of ducking and diving to complete a white-knuckle Rockstar hit. Famously surrounded in controversy after it's graphic executions, today you can pick it up for about £1.50 and test those fiddly controls for yourself... 

Something Funny: 

Destroy All Humans, despite it's potentially samey missions, flips the alien invasion genre on its oversized, grey head.  Presenting the protagonist as an alien on a pretty obvious mission, the game achieved critical success on its comedic value alone, so at £2.50 it's a good shout for some light-hearted Saturday morning gameplay. 

Something Scary:

Obviously it's Resident Evil 4 - arguably the pinnacle of Resi's success. We all know the terrifying laboratory creatures and the creepy villagers of the small town but what you might not know is that you can enjoy their lovely company for a fiver now. 

Something With A Great Soundtrack: 

I've always been an advocate of the SSX game, the best being Tricky (also available cheap now), but for a soundtrack to kickstart your weekend go for World Tour. With music from Billy Talent, Avenged Sevenfold, Def Leppard, Queens of the Stone Age, and OK Go. Tricks and manoeuvres feel really good when set against this tuneage, and the whole experience can be picked up for 10 minutes or marathoned until sleep deprivation kicks in. 

Something Destructive: 

If it's been a signficiantly stressful week, the urge to smash may be your primary concern in picking up a game. Burnout will give you the opportunity to plough into anything you see with immensely satisfying replays, all for £1. The gameplay is fun for a while but it's more of a 'see how many cars I can hit' for 5 minutes kind of game, which is telling seeing as the gameplay revolves around... not... hitting the cars... 

Prices from: https://uk.webuy.com 

Why We Don't Trust Hollywood And Why We Should

The industry over the last few years has seen a pretty impressive boost in terms of how many beloved video games are being churned into films. The fear is prevalent though. This is the fear of placing our heroes and storylines into the hands of Hollywood and waiting to nervously fidget in the cinema some time in 2015 wondering if you will ever look at Assassin's Creed, Ratchet and Clank, or World of Warcraft in the same way again. 

In this discussion, the quality of the film itself is being set aside, I am thinking about the way the consumer changes from an active role in the story to a passive onlooker, and the reasons why this perhaps contributes to the distrust of Hollywood in the adaptation of our games. 

Why is it such a risk for companies to develop these cinematic adaptations? 

To start, everyone goes into that cinema with their own experience of the game, an experience and interpretation unique to them, but still imprinted on their memory of the game and their enjoyment of the game. A film is a complex collaboration of interpretations amalgamating into one representation of the game that is birthed into the world as the definitive representation of that game. The player will therefore begin to feel a certain amount of estrangement from the characters, story and setting because they are no longer in control of their experience. The character they have previously been playing is now operating outside of this control, losing the link between player and protagonist that drives emotional response to action. 

It's easy to see a film adaptation as a betrayal of a game's storyline, especially if different writers are employed. However, thinking about the film as a different product to the game can often lead to more enjoyment overall.  

The brand of the game series essentially works as a chain of products, with movie adaptations fitting neatly into this chain. Each individual link of this chain contributes something to the overall brand, a new Resident Evil game that perhaps doesn't perform as well will contribute to the hit and miss nature of the brand. However, at the same time, each individual link will differ and comment on links before it in order to keep the brand fresh and exciting. For example, though not technically part of the Resident Evil brand,  The Evil Within comments on the Resi games before it and sets up a new psychological element to the Shinji Mikami survival horror game concept. 

Films sit in this chain of branding because they offer a different way of viewing aspects of the game that continue or build around previously developed plots. The differences between the film and the game within the branding chain make certain aspects of storytelling more difficult in film. The main example of this is internality. As a player, we have access to the character's thoughts and control over their corresponding actions. A film, though it can use bawdy voiceovers, performs best when presenting the external. This distances the viewer from the protagonist and when the protagonist is a character the viewer has previously had this internal connection with, the result is often disjointed. 

It is worth remembering then, in 2015, that these movie adaptations are a continuation of the ongoing dialogue between the player and the game as represented by the branding chain. Essentially they work as an aside, something to give the consumer an external depiction of the world of the game to 'colour' the events that take place within the game itself. 

So when shuffling nervously in the cinema next year, just remember to watch the movie adaptation as both a separate product to the game and an expansion of the information already presented, it might make the whole experience a little easier. And if you really need to, you can always take a PlayStation controller with you. 

SUPERHYPER review

There is rarely a new iOS game that really brings my life to a halt. It took some getting used to, but once you've retrained your brain to swipe left, right or up whenever faced with any flash of an obstacle (because your thumbs do have to become blurs across the screen) you're in for a pretty damn fun time. In truth, the game is disgustingly addictive. Its simplistic design and feel force you to question all skill you thought you ever had in gaming and return to the days of just trying to get pixels to stay on the screen.

It's refreshingly simple but diabolically tricky. Swipe left and right to guide a ball down a track with various pitfalls and obstacles to overcome and watch your life fade away behind the screen of your phone. 

It really is a brilliant new release from Sets and Settings and one I will definitely be spending a lot of time procrastinating with. 

Video Games That Broke The Mold

When we talk about revolutionary video games, or the 'most important' games, we often sit back and relax claiming 'Pong', 'Space Invaders' and 'Pac-man' are obviously the most influential games in gaming history. I don't think this is necessarily true. Sure, they are the leaders of the basic idea of gaming that we have but there are other games that have heavily contributed to the way we see gaming today and if these games didn't exist, the gaming world would be unrecognisable. The interesting thing is, I hadn't really ever considered the role some of these games played in the long history of electronic entertainment, and some of them I outright despise (sorry Mark Zuckerberg).

The Browser Based Game 

World of Warcraft 

Browser based games came about after Runescape popularised the genre through its free to play design. Released in January 2001, Runescape now charges a subscription fee but was one of the first games to offer a basis for a virtual world populated by other people across the world. It was eclipsed in 2004 however, by World of Warcraft that surpassed 10 million players at its peak and is essentially the MMO responsible for placing the genre within the mainstream perspective. 

Social Gaming 

The social game is a fairly newborn concept within the larger span of gaming history. Sparked by the micro-transacting, infuriatingly popular, seemingly mundane Farmville in 2009. Farmville pushed this new social gaming market and used native elements of social media (those irritating invites and notifications that narrate to you just how your dinner lady from school just hatched a new batch of virtual eggs) to revolutionise the way casual gamers saw games as well as how casual games were marketed. It is arguable, however, that social gaming began a while before the internet really even took off. Dance Dance Revolution cued the idea that social party games were a viable entertainment option. It proved that video games could be marketed towards a new crowd of individuals and that dance mats could become a frequent fixture in every home and bootsale. 

Fighting 

Oh Mortal Kombat - you are the motorcycle riding, heavy rock playing older brother of the gaming world - the one who just wanted to push those boundaries until they shattered and then pushed on more. The game put the idea of violence into the mainstream media's worried eye with its horrifically violent, brilliantly gory Fatality moves which sparked the thriving violence debate that so plagues the video game industry. You just did it with such style :'). 

Survival Horror 

This one's fairly obvious. Resident Evil popularised the survival horror game after its predecessor, and kind of parent, Sweet Home. The 1996 PlayStation game spawned a large marketing strategy consisting of movies, novels, sequels of varying quality. and comics. Its creator, Shinji Mikami, is still hailed today as the godfather of survival horror with his new release The Evil Within. 

Adventure 

I hadn't even heard of King's Quest before, and now the guilt is raining down because the game revolutionised the way adventure games were played in 1983. Previously players had to work with backdrops and textual information, but King's Quest featured the first controllable character who could move around and perform actions within his surroundings. However, this was only the first game to feature a visible character to relate the text to, Adventure allowed the player to move around a castle and find a key in 1979 and interestingly, featured the first easter egg - a secret room with his name scrolling through. 

Strategy 

Command and Conquer was certainly not the first real time strategy game, but it certainly tied up elements found in slightly earlier games to promote what we come to know now as strategy. It boosted the genre into the public domain and proved its viability with the addictiveness of its plan-20-minute-ahead gameplay. 

Simulation 

Obviously, The Sims brought about the largest video game movement the industry has probably ever seen. Behind The Sims, however, Sim City popularised the entire simulation genre in 1989. Though the 2013 version is a slight embarrassment, the original game was the pinnacle of creativity and freedom within your own gameplay and possibly paved the way for The Sims to ever exist in the first place. 

Indie 

The move to independent developers over the last few years has been pretty revolutionary in itself, however the first Indie game to really see the daylight of grand successes is Minecraft. Minecraft was so successful that is even developed its own genre, leaving players hooked on alternate, free worlds and non-players wondering why... until they tried it... then they were lost to it as well. 

Open World 

GTA is often hailed as the parent of all open world video games. However the first game to give players the freedom to decide where they want and when, was Body Harvest on the N64 in 1998. Since then, however, Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time has held a lot of influence over the open world genre. The 3D world presented in the game changed developers' and players' perceptions of the possible size of the game world, with games such as Super Mario 64 assuring developers that the move to 3D might actually work. 

Mobile Gaming 

Now, you might not like this, but i'm going to say it... Angry Birds was critical in the launch of the Tetris was the poster-child for handheld gaming - a repetitive, addictive game that could fit in the palm of your hand and stay there fore hours, Tetris fully established Nintendo as a force to be reckoned with in the handheld market.
current mobile gaming hype. It was downloaded over 12 million times when it was released in 2009 and helped turn the mobile phone into a handheld gaming device. We must not forget our roots however, and look to the game that revolutionised the handheld console.

Narrative 

Narrative is critical to a game today. In the beginning, games were created with instant gratification Donkey Kong stepped away from the goals of its time (to kill anything you see) and employed a beginning, middle, and end set up to its game narrative. This step pushed storytelling in games a lot further than is often recognised. But then Myst decided to go further. Myst revolutionised the use of a narrative in video games - the linearity of previous games was abandoned and players were sent across different locations to gather clues. The game literally changed the notion of a linear time and space within gaming.
in mind. Nowadays we have the technology to build suspense, and create an in depth story which causes players to question character motives, build up their own suspicions about plot twists, and generally engage deeper with the context of the action.