When God invented multiplayer gaming (lets assume it was God, and not some spotty nerd, that gives gaming far better kudos in the real world) he clearly did not define the boundaries of fairness. You see, I enjoy a soiree into online multiplayer, and have been known to play FIFA, little bit of Halo 3 (second best example of the soon to be mentioned phenomenon), I've played GTA with friends, done a few races on GT5: Prologue, but, of all of these I find the most frustrating has to be Call of Duty. I am referring specifically to World At War, but I have heard similar problems with Modern Warfare...basically, while you can be good at the game, decent kills, not killed too much etc. etc. there is always someone out there who can a) snipe you from an almost impossible distance, b) sneak up on you like solid snake in stealth camo and butcher you with their knife, c) just own you outright with somehow pinpoint precision with a machine gun or d) have skills with the grenade that no man should have..either that or they just randomly hock grenades in the air, hoping they land on your face... Now, as my first post implies, I am a noob. I will never claim to be awesome at anything because, invariably, I'm not. I complete games on the easy setting, and if I like the game, I will go as far as normal; that's it...But I am ok at Call of Duty, for someone who rarely, if ever plays FPS style games, it's a revelation when I get a fairly decent score, or hold my own against better players; but I do...But then I always seem to get chucked into the game with Sergeant Nobhead and his exceptional random grenade skills. I know its part and parcel of online play but, on CoD, there is a noob camp (called boot camp) where a noob can sample all the basic delights of the multiplayer without upsetting others too much. Why not make this compulsory with all difficulties...The CoD system has multiple levels of experience (1-65 + the prestige) so why not have the noob camp, lvl 10-20, 21-30, 31-40 etc. so that I know I'm playing with people of a similar ability, and with similar weapons (since CoD allows you to unlock different weapons at different levels therefore, usually, they will be more powerful, more accurate etc.) That would stop me (a lowly level 20: That's Gunnery Sergeant III) having to try my best to take on Major General PAin-1n-th3-b3h1nd, at level 57 with his big machine gun, grenades of doom and near invisible bouncing bettys. I don't mean to criticise, it's just, I'm always getting told "Oh, it's only supposed to be a bit of fun, just enjoy it!" ENJOY WHAT, EXACTLY!? Running to a lovely spot to hide only so Lt. General Sn1per-killah92 can spot me from sixteen miles off and put a rifle shot through my nose. That's not fun, that's the very antithesis of fun, indeed, your own death, whether virtual or not is never a fun thing. Then, shock of shocks you happen to respawn in the very same building the opposition team chose to camp in! Cue 300 machine gun rounds and yet another respawn. I must say, with experience, it is getting easier, but, as is the inevitability of life, as you get better, so does everyone else. There will always be someone out there better and thus, I will always end up, inevitably being shot to smithereens. This is why I hope Modern Warfare 2 has a different structure of online lobbies, so that those of a similar level can enjoy their games, whilst also learning to get better.

Game opinions and reviews can often be swayed by how good a gamer the reviewer is. In the case of most reviews I read, they are either by people with no interest in the game their playing, or people with an interest, who are actually quite good. It's all very well and good getting a variety of opinion; but objectivity is key, and that is what I hope to bring to the board. In all my blogs, and any reviews I might make I hope to be as objective as possible. If I know that I am going to dislike a game from the off, I will ensure I put that to the back of my mind and look at it objectively. Instead of hype and rumour I want to talk about fact. I am hoping my balanced views, slightly caustic opinions, and sarcastic delivery will be appreciated, and if you don't appreciate my opinions do tell me in a constructive fashion just what is wrong with them. I am the ultimate noob, jack of all games, master of none (well, Final Fantasies are a bit of an exception, but there are people who are more 1337 than I!), either way I hope to be a servent to gamespot as a passive, objective and opinionated noob. Its great to finally sign up and get involved, I've enjoyed the site for a long time and you are well known for being impartial and knowledgable. I hope I can maintain those standards!