Call Of Duty 4, Assassins Creed and Mass Effect.

My November will be quite an industrious one in terms of gaming, however my body will not be thankign me come December.

Having just finished reviewing Call of Duty 4 (I gave it a 9.0) and being absolutly smitten with the damn thing I am very much looking forward to the next two blockbusters set to hit our shelves in the coming weeks. I feel that after a very slow build up the 360 and PS3 are finally coming into their own. On a technical side the graphics in COD4 are superb and I am expecting Assassins Creed to be even better. Not to mention the seemingly fantastic visuals and body modelling in Mass Effect.

I bought my sibling a Wii for christmas, on the day of purchase I was excited about playing it come December, however now I have tasted the fruits of the trinity I couldn't give a monkeys..what ever a monkey doesn't like to give, about Nintendo's lapdog. It's a great console for non-gamers however in the end I feel that those who have gamed for longest will remain the market in the next few years whilst the Wii will loose popularity like all Fads and "must-haves."

Back to the trinity (I quite like calling them that,) so far I have completed COD4's single player element which raised some fantastic issues with global politics, however I wont get into them here incase anyone reading this hasn't played through it yet, and am trawling my way through the multiplayer. Of the 55 levels available im currently 21 and loving it. I wonder however if I will neglect it once AC and ME come out. The orange box is gathering a few specks of dust, and looks non to happy about it.

Anyway, roll on the 16th and my advertures in the middle east....hang on...I've just had one in COD4 and it ended non to well. Maybe the crusades of Assassins Creed will prove more fortuitous...no wait they went badly too....maybe there shouldnt be a war there at the moment, I dont think it's a good place to be..the games..they tell of bad tidings to come..oooo. Thank goodness Mass Effect takes place in outer space. Keep an eye on those headlines for inter stellar travel and pirates.

The Gaming press has been the keystone of the games market recently. With the sheer number of games and cross-platform products flooding the shelves of retailers, the market has begun turning more and more to the press for guidance on gaming and where to invest those precious monies. However the problem is that whilst the market has evolved to cover a far greater number of genres, cultures and needs; the press is still arguably in the palm of publishers hands.

With magazines often on the payroll of large companies such as Microsoft and Sony, and Internet sites such as Gamespot, IGN and 1up falling pray to internet hype the true value of the gaming press is still looked at as a token gesture by more solicited products such as newspapers and academic journals.

Whilst I do not wish to draw myself into the endless battle of which product is greater, I cannot help but feel that until there are truly independent properties available to critique games in a more general and less "fanboy[esque]" sense gaming will be destined to be filed under more frivolous pursuits. I feel that when the gaming community realises that it can afford to critique without loosing it's key demographic and be likened to the press related to film and literature, it will eventually overshadow both due to the truly unlimited potential for innovation in a platform of entertainment that has the ability to do literally anything it likes.

This leads on the desperate need for key figures in the gaming industry, whilst those inside of it know who the forerunner are, as soon as you set foot outside of the bubble all sense of hierarchy breaks down. There are no 'pinup's' of game development that are see in the mainstream. Until a few developers start really attempting to break into the mainstream and persuade the public that gaming is indeed the future for entertainment then there will be no evolution.

Furthermore gaming academia at the moment is very much aimed at already converted gamers, thus failing to draw in a new generation of creative input, instead keeping a grasp on the programming types of yesteryear.

To put all this into a simple sentence: "Gaming is in need of an open door policy." whereby people not necessarily already into gaming can view the industry as the innovator it truly is and not the domain of the socially doomed or geek culture.

I am not a particularly sporty person, I don't enjoy football, I occasionally watch tennis, I'd rather poke my eyes out than watch snooker. However the two sports I do enjoy are Rugby and Formula One.

Being a welshman I think it is almost genetic to be a fan of rugby, and having followed this years world cup closely I can say that the final was atrocious. Both England and South Africa played a boring game and in all fairness to South Africa they deserved to win, whenever they did try and increase the tempo of the game England would come in and play its trump card of kicking the ball into touch...sigh. I am unashamed to say I never want England to win, it's like how England never want France to win, however amusingly allot of English people I know find it odd that the rest of the U.K really don't like to see England win anything. Maybe it's the fact that our history is steeped in English oppression of maybe it's that we enjoy being the small plucky countries standing up to the big school yard bully.

Tomorrow (checks the time), today is the day when Lewis Hamilton can make my weekend complete by winning the world championship in formula one, the man has had a meteoric rise to fame and I think he's an absolute cracker of a driver. Furthermore anything to see that smug look wiped off of Fernando Alonso's face will make me a happy man. The conduct between the Mclaren drivers again makes me think of school yard taddle tales and running to the head master. I often wonder what it would be like if people were allowed to duel eachother, knowing that your aggresie (if thats even word, it's late!) can at anytime challenge you to death would put an end to allot of the bickering that frequents (word of the day) the sporting world.

Thinking of this I turned my mind to video games, I have always been intrigued with developing a form of game in which the idea of competition arises without the need for conflict. However the more one looks into human thinking and behaviours the more we see that it is against our very nature to completly avoid conflict. It is what fuels our competitive drive and encourages us to succeed. Even in games such as Guitar Hero or Nintendogs there is always that conflict present where the player wishes to outdo someone of something in reach of a goal. Be it playing more notes than a friend or getting your dog to sit more times than an NPC mutt. Whilst these things may not be seen as conflict in a more accepted sense (e.g. War, killing etc.) they still remain a vehicle from which competition arises through the need to engage in conflict with some external entity.

My thinking on this subject is very much in the infantile stages, and I am far too tired to properly engage in a discussion, however the desire to find a way to eliminate conflict from a game whilst ensuring it's integrity has intrigued me into pursuing this line of enquiry further, stay tuned.

I realise in my last post I was going to finish my Halo3 impressions but in all honesty they boil down to "It's the most generic thing since beige."

My heart has been stolen, not by some exotic beauty or stunning vista but by a piece of story telling that revolves around a bald man killing people.

I had played some of the earlier Hitman games years ago when I was very much a different person. I enjoyed the theory behind them but lacked the patience and imagination needed to truly appreciate a game such as "Blood Money." The reason I am so smitten with this game is because it is different. In the murky depths of generic blandness that are the current games market Hitman was a breath of fresh air. In this article I will outline my reasons for believing this and opinions on where I believe the market can go from here.

Stage Presence: This may seem like a mute point in a game, however I believe first impressions are as important as in a film or indeed when meeting another person. Most games boot up with various publisher screens (which people inevitably skip through) then throw us onto a menu screen of contrasting colours and the words "PRESS START" or "NEW GAME." Hitman, whilst obviously keeping the menu options, was one of the few games I never felt the need to skip through. The moment those first few bars of Shuberts - Ave Maria hit my eardrums I was hooked. I had no idea whether the game would be trash or a gem, yet the choice of opening screens and music combined to make a, dare i say it, sophisticated, piece of design. Once the menu pops up and we see a full motion backdrop with intriguing characters and what looks like a church setting, we are drawn in once again. The fact that this set piece is indeed a vital element of the Blood Money plot again shows the great design.

Art Style: At full setting on the PC version, the set design and characters are just fantastic. Whilst the characters show their age somewhat in 2007 their slightly over the top design and erratic behaviours truly do show that quality beats quantity. However the game also has droves of quantity. One memorable level places '47' into the middle of Mardi-Gras with hundreds of NPC's buzzing around him. It's a testament to the programmers that the engine runs so smoothly with all these characters on screen. Whilst you can see, if you look closely, that the low poly models pop into high when they get close to you, the design of the set takes your eye off of the crowd so many times that it never affected my immersion. This game, quite simply, contains the most well designed and beautifully dressed levels I have ever seen. They may not win any titles for highest polygons of most wrinkles in a face, but I have never felt as much a part of the level as I do when playing hitman. From psychiatric hospital wings, to adandoned fun-fairs, to Las Vegas casinos and beyond, this game does everything to the n'th degree.

Music: or lack thereof. Aside from the opening title music, I was never aware of any other key musical pieces. However, where the design once again shows it's substance was in the use of contextual music. e.g. gangsters listening to jugle music on their cd-players, ambient music in the psych hospital or turkish musak in the casino bars. Every piece of sound felt like it belonged where it was placed. There was no tension music, no emotional music. There was no need for music, because the gameplay ensured you constantly felt the emotion. Aside from music, the sounds in the game worked perfectly too, the mumblings of passers by, the deep satisfying sounds of the weapons and the groans of an unconcious victim all created a fantastic environment to "work" in. I will say it again though, that Ave Maria track...LOVE IT!

Masqueraded Simplicity: The core of the game is obviously it's gameplay, and here it truly excels. Unlike other stealth games such as Splinter Cell which got frustrating quickly, Hitman gives you enough freedom to really feel like you can do whatever you please. Instead of hardly using guns or keeping to the shadows, every player can live his of her fantasy and dress up infiltrating various key locations hunting down unscrupulous types, or just blast their way to victory. Because it feels so open we easily over look the fact that there are finite possibilities for success. Yet so many possibilites are implemented that I never once felt frustrated at having to retry a failed mission. Furthermore just like the best films, the premise of the game is a simple one: "kill the target" yet never is the target someone we would empathise with. They range from phedophiles, to drug barons, weapons dealers and many other elements that most of society would deem "Undesirable." Everything in this game works, because it was built to be a players game. Not to show off technology, not to have big name actors (however the acting in this game is top-notch) but simply to be played and enjoyed. By god does it succeed.

Mature: I love maturity. I like it when a game engages the adult market and makes no apologies for being brutal. Whilst GTA is most famous for it's mature nature I believe Hitman succeeds the most in creating a realistic environment in which adults can truly play. I ask what is the point in killing something or someone if you do not feel that you have commited an act of brutality. It is no wonder people complain so much about gaming, the lack of realistic death and violence coupled with placing said brutality in a fantasy world completly detracts from the harsh reality of killing thus desensitising the youth, allowing them to think far to freely about commiting violence in real-life. Whilst games such as Manhunt make killing something to be praised I feel Hitman always makes it a second option. During my play time I was rewarded for the less blood I spilt and the less fear and panic I instilled in the surrounding populus. That kind of mechanic, the choice mechanic is vital in creating a living world.

Rant: I'm ranting, I know. Furthermore I know alot of this won't make sense or will be stricken with terrible grammar, well never mind, I'm tired. I simply wanted to write down my thoughts on Hitman so I can look at them down the line and remember why I think I can make a difference in Gaming.

Bah, I tried making a lovely and attractive post yesterday, with pictures and a fancy layout. However even after putting it through a HTML editor and checking it was all working Gamespot said my code was bad....yeah well....your downloads are bad!

Anyway, I finally caved in and bought Halo3 yesterday. Jesus, it's an expensive game. I don't think i've paid over £30 for a game in a couple of years. The reason I'd put off buying it until now was the rationalisation that it was probably just a shiny Halo2. I was right.

When I put the game in I started playing it on Heroic difficulty solo. Seeing as I hadn't played Halo2 for about a year I died far to often and reduced the difficulty. This was my first indication that this was nothing more than Halo2.5. I was annoyed that Normal mode removed half of the enemies instead of scaling their A.I, a cheap dirty trick and it really ruined the atmosphere quite a bit. I ploughed on though, and noticed more and more odd things, I shall list them for effect!

1: The textures have the most odd properties, e.g rocks should not be so shiny they look like they have a layer of soap all over them. Foreground textures looked low res compared to background and the character models look rigid. I've played Bioshock, I thought some of those textures were shiny, but that game puts halo to shame.

Oh, will continue my Halo impressions after the jump. Rugby World cup semi-final is on soon...to the PUB!

Well, recently the old Spondoolas have been running painfully low. So instead of "Budgetting" for various "non-essentials" (bah, who makes up these crazy notions) I've found nifty work arounds. Take my gaming for example. Instead of spending £40 on that nice shiny copy of Halo3, which I'm bound to get bored of; I've signed up to that much publicised Metaboli service. So far things are going well, and it's made me really quite grateful for this kind of service.

So far I've had a generally good experience, as expected there are alot of sub-par games on the service but seeing as I have unlimited access as long as I keep up my monthly fee I have no need to want to approach these games developers with a hand grenade and a pin between my teeth.

Many games that I'd played over a mates house or simply been to lazy to buy I've enjoyed on this service. I hadn't even played F.E.A.R until last week. Woah what a game. I digress, the point I wish to make is that a few games on their service I'd wanted to try and was almost willing to buy, however after trying them I'm oh so glad I didn't shell out the big bucks.

As for the economics, I used to play WoW, now thats £8 a month, for one game. On Metaboli I am paying £12 a month for access to ~190 games. I may not spend as much time on each as I did on WoW and they may not all be up to the same standard but frankly thats a good thing. Wow is a game that is the crystal meth of the gaming world. Everyone knows about it, alot of people do it, but it's going to take a huge number of deaths for someone to notice what a poison it is :P (I curse you Blizzard for making me unfit.) I'll give a quick example of the economics of my experience so far.

Games played on Metaboli so far: 22 (Now alot of those have been a case of the game downloading, me going on it for twenty minutes, screaming as the blood rushes from my eyes and then quickly deleting said title, but at least I'm trying new things!)

Subscribed to service for: 1 month

Ergo: 12/22= 0.55 Oh sweet baby jesus, yes thats right. I have been spending an average of 55 pence per game.

I will continue to note my experience with the service, and with games such as Rainbox Six:Vegas, Supreme Commander and Civilization IV coming to the service things are looking up for metaboli.

This is my first gaming blog and as such I am in need of a damned good rant on my current situation before I can settle into a decent rhythm, here we go.

I am currently twenty years of age. Slap bang in the middle of the "typical gamer" niche, that most elusive of sub-species the eighteen to twenty-five males.

I have so far in my life: travelled to far flung reaches of the world, had a number of meaningful relationships, fallen in love on two occasions, completed high school and sixth form, attended a year of a Philosophy and Film degree, decided to drop said degree in order to find something more worthwhile, made friends, lost friends, watched death, seen birth, drank until I passed out, given up drink as a sign of development, countless other random events and I am now thinking about the future. I am in a stable relationship which I am grateful for everyday, and am applying for a new degree, in that most dreamed about sector, Games Design.

Most institutions I have noticed make sure that programming is the main aspect of their computer game courses. This in my opinion is somewhat of a mistake. To design, one needs to be creative, to draw ideas from nothing and change the way people think in order to achieve a piece of work that will draw people in and allow them to develop some sort of skill therefore feel a sense of achievement. What programming does is develop that person into a just another drone. The crux of the problem revolves around the language used for progamming, it is by definition Logic.

I have the upmost respect for programmers, what they do I find damned near miraculous. However the reason the gaming sector is so damn stagnant is because people of creative and outwardly thinking minds find it damned near impossible to enter this "old boys club." Take Halo 3's success. Why, on this amazing and diverse planet does a sequel to (in my opinion) just another flashy shooter become the single largest entertainment property in the world! The answer in simple terms is marketing. The saturation of the market made it almost impossible not to notice Halo 3. Indeed if it was made from plastic held together by ducktape people would still have paid £40 for it, simple because of the branding. Take Nike for instance, everyone knows that their shoes arn't that special and that they are made by midgets and babies yet we still buy them because of the way they are marketed (note: I haven't bought a pair of nikes since 1997.)

Developers often drone on about how hard it is to get into the gaming business, however should they stop whittling on and set up some decent apprenticeship schemes and partnerships with universities then not only will they provide an opening into the business but they will solve any problems involving less than ideal workers. It's a give and take situation with guaranteed results.

My point is that in the countless hours spent searching through game design degrees in the UK I have found only one that really interests me. The University of Wales, Newport is a relatively small university. It is not high up on the leaugue tables however it seems to be very well regarded among it's student populus and a friend of mine who studies animation there seems to be enjoying it something wonderful. The degree centers around the creative aspects of game design, and by learning skills associated with animation, film, and other disciplines I feel it would be ideal for a solid grounding in creative thinking and game design. With my application underway I hope within the next few days to have completed my UCAS form and be on the way to creating a design portfolio that will help me get into this most intriguing of degrees.

There is an open day on the 14th of October so hopefully after attending that I will have a better understanding of how the course works. Therefore this blog will be a chart of my journey, hopefully, on the road to success. The reason I chose to do this on Gamespot as opposed to Blogspot or another of the myriad blogging services is simply because I always use gamespot for my gaming news and therefore I'm more likely to remember to fill this blog in on here. I am somewhat forgetful.