Becoming a Video Games Journalist (Episode 1 Why?)

To those of you who frequent my blog or have read either my reviews or opinions from the gaming industry it may be apparent I AM NO PROFFESIONAL! No no its true, however writing these reviews and opinion pieces is something (Like many of you Im sure) that I do eventually wish to be paid for in a professional capacity, yes ladies and gentlemen of RedManGaming I am an aspiring videogames journalist. The most important thing for any aspiring writer in any writing profession to do is keep writing! At all times always be writing and when youre not writing you better damn sure be thinking about writing! So I was sat here this evening at my laptop wracking my brains as to where I should cast my typing fingers next, what hop-topic in the world of video games will cause me to put finger to key next? Although theres always a game to be reviewed or some piece of hot gaming news to be discussed Ive decided to open a journal of such much to my own benefit as to the enjoyment of anyone reading about my pursuit into the world of professional games journalism and what steps I have taken and more importantly where I intend to step next. So this is the first in a series of blogs I intent to post weekly (Fingers crossed) about me becoming a video games journalist.

Why?

Possibly the most vital component as to why someone wants to do something is why do they want to do it? So why do I want to become a video games journalist. Well firstly and quite simply I love games, games of all kinds not just video games. Ive had experience in all things gaming from home console gaming, arcade gaming and even tabletop war gaming all through my childhood and my (although quite short) adult life and I love and enjoy everything about it, the vast community it has spawned, the challenge and the feeling of success of you win at one, I can honestly say that games are the one thing I cant imagine my life being without and a pity all those (we know who they are) who dont feel the same. But Im sure many of you reading this share the same love of video games and Ill be the first to argue that this Isnt enough for someone to pursue a career writing about games because well theres a writing component  necessary. Luckily for me I love doing this too, I am currently studying a Film and Video degree at university (2nd year) and a large part of this degree is focused upon screen writing which is a huge passion of mine, I am and have always been a keen reader Ive always gotten a novel on the go (more often than not Its some game tie-in cant get enough of that extended fiction!)  I can often have my opinion on a film or game swayed based upon the quality of the writing,  personally I try to write as much as possible in many different forms , in the past there have been short stories and screen plays  and currently as it stands much of my writing time is dominated by games. In short writing is something I love and enjoy almost as much as games. Yet games journalism is only a part of the world of writing within the games industry and Its the part Ive decided to pursue a career in because I HAVE AN OPION ON STUFF! More importantly I love letting my opinions known to you lovely readers and I want to let my opinions known to as many readers as possible, we gamers love a good debate about the latest releases and gaming news because more than most of us also have our own views on whether the latest Halo 4 map pack sucks or kicks ass! and what could be better than making it my career to let the gaming public know that they kick ass! Not only this I hope to save we many £££ strapped gamers from making poor purchases by hopefully swaying you from an ill fated purchase through my reviews and opinions on the games I play and just maybe Ill convince you into experiencing something ud never had considered, If in some way I can leave an imprint on a single reader then Ill consider it a small success on my road to becoming a games journalist. Wow that sounds quite noble doesnt it? Honestly I love games, I love playing games and most of all I love discussing video games and Ive always believed that you should make a living doing what you love!

How am I doing?

This career choice of mine is a fairly new decision to my life, hence me being deep into a film degree which may not be of the biggest benefit to my games writing intentions. But I assure you dear reader this is no passing phase no no, I am fully focused into throwing myself 100% into making writing about games my life, Its what I want to do. Anyway taking into account that this is a fairly new pursuit for me I am of course learning much and learning fast. So I thought it necessary if not only for myself but for all those aspiring games journos who may come across this to keep a record of what Ive learned and what I still have to learn, we all enjoy looking back at those FB posts from 3 years ago and I imagine this will provide me with such enjoyment whether I make it or not and hopefully anyone reading this can at least learn from my mistakes. So I intend week by week to sum anything of worth I think Ive learned.

What Ive learned:

• Write a lot!- Ive read countless articles and books about games journalism and journalism in general and the most vital piece of advice Ive taken from this is to always be practising your craft, to always be honing your skills. I understand that at the moment Im no Alan Poe of games journalism but hopefully the more I write the closer Ill get.
• Read, Watch and Play A lot!- Second only to writing is the reading, Its important to pull from as many different sources as possible in your writing so that your readers have something to connect to you by, youll be more interested in what I have to say If were on the same wave length and the best way to do this is to read what you guys are saying! Also reading improves the writing.
• If you dont ask you dont get. From what Ive experienced thus far no one is going to give you anything. No theres plenty of resources out there to help kick start your career into journalism, but It is entirely down to you to seek out the various organisations available to you (which are many here in South Wales, more than I expected! GamesDev South Wales,  Bafta Cymru, Creative Skillset Games and Skillset Media Academy Wales to name a few). Also seek out the people who are already in the profession they may be able to offer more than just advice.
• Write like a gamer- Yes Its important to use correct grammar and punctuation when writing anything in a professional capacity, otherwise your risk looking anything but professional. However It is both to your benefit and to your readers to write something they enjoy reading, rather than sounding like an extract from War & Peace try and sound human like your discussing the latest Dead Space DLC over a pint down your localmuch more appealing.
• A degree is not essential. but it does help, from across all the advice Ive seeked out thus far this has popped up quite a lot. A Degree in journalism is not essential to get a job in the business, there are many different paths to head down to get paid work and most important of all is to have an attractive portfolio of quality journalism but theres nothing to say that a degree in something media related cant add colour to his portfolio.  
• Never stop!- Keep yourself active in the gaming community, keep your finger on the pulse at all times in order to remain in the public eye, something that is bound to get you noticed. Post as often and as regular as possible without it becoming a chore, it has to be enjoyable and if it Isnt? Then maybe games journalism isnt for you.

Well thats all Ive got so far, hopefully it was somewhat help full if not provided much needed amusement for my future self (Hey future Ben!) and for any aspiring games journalists. Now I intend to keep my blog updated weekly (fingers crossed) with what Ive learned on my path to games journalism and what further steps I plan on taking, one of these being Im currently teaching myself to code (Its a slow process) in order to add a more professional look to my blog and eventually start hosting my own website (Such aspirations I know!) so look out for that.   In the mean time however keep checking back for more reviews and editorials so long as my intrepid diary, but for now heres a few articles and books Ive found helpful so far peruse ate your leisure: So You Want To Become a Games Journalist, How To Become a Games Journalist, Critical Path, Extra Lives, Replay and for now wish me luck dear reader no doubt Ill need it, once again thanks for reading.

-RedManGaming.

This blog was also posted over at my blog RedManGaming

The Gaming BAFTAs

So tonight (05/03/13) Is the night of the Prestigious BAFTA Game Awards, being streamed live at 9pm (GMT) over at their website and being hosted once again by the always hilarious Dara O'Briain who has already given his views on the quality of past year of games. I agree with him in saying that this past year has not been the year of the Blockbuster game, with the critical acclaim of more indie and less mainstream orientated tiles such as Journey and the Walking Dead we've defiantly seen a change in what is considered a AAA quality title and Im sure were going to see this reflected in the distribution of the awards tonight.

We already know some of the awards to be given out tonight, Gabe Newell is to join the ranks of industry big names Shingeru Miyamoto and Peter Molyneux in being awarded the Academy Fellowship Award  but heres a rundown on the more major categories  award nominees and my predictions.

 Action Games 2013

The nominees: Far Cry 3, Hitman Absolution, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Halo 4, Mass Effect 3, Borderlands 2.

My Prediction:  Purley down to the fact of it offering an experience beyond that of an action game and giving the player one of the most enjoyable toy boxes to explore this generations Its gotta be Far Cry 3.

Game Innovation 2013

The Nominees: Fez, Call of Duty: Black Ops , Wonderbook: Book of Spells,  Journey, The Unfinished Swan,  Kinect Sesame Street TV.

My Prediction: No doubt comments like this are gunna be cropping up alot in this blog but due to it offering one the most innovative co-op and solo player experience throughout the history of Gaming Im voting Journey.

Artistic Achievement 2013

The Nominees: Journey, Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, The Room, Dear Esther.

My Prediction: Tough one to call this most of the titles in this category offer an example of some supreme artistic merit, but once again for its unique and simply beautiful art style Im voting Journey.

Mobile & Handheld 2013

The nominees: Little Big Planet (Vita), New Star Soccer, Incoboto, The walking Dead, Super Monsterss Ate My Condo, The Room.

My Prediction: Now unfortunately I havent had the chance to experience every title in this category, but having played a fair amount an experienced the mystery of it Im voting The Room for this.

Online Multiplayer 2013

The Nominees: Assassins Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Journey, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Halo 4, Borderlands 2.

My Prediction: Due to the reinvention I believe Its experienced making it one of the most enjoyable and addictive multiplayer experiences Ive had in a while (Seriously Im still hooked!) Halo 4.

Best British Game 2013

The Nominees: Need for Speed Most Wanted,  Forza Horizon, Dear Esther, Super Hexagon, LEGO: The Lord of The Rings, The room.

My Prediction: Again for showing such innovation and mysticism and simply spurring me to keep playing, much more than the other titles in this category Im voting for The Room.

Best Debut Game 2013

The Nominees: Deadlight, The Unfinished Swan, Forza Horizon, Dear Esther, Proteus, The Room.

My Prediction: Simply because It questions what can even be considered a game which I believe is something were going to see more and more in the coming generations Im voting for Proteus.

Story 2013

The Nominees: Journey, Far Cry 3, The Walking Dead, Thomas Was Alone, Mass Effect 3, Dishonoured.

My Prediction: I think this one is fairly obvious, for one of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking gaming experiences Ive ever had through my entire gaming career! It has to be HAS TO BE The Walking Dead.

Game Design 2013

The Nominees: Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Journey, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Borderlands 2, The Walking Dead.

My Prediction:  Im gunna go against the grain a little here I believe but because it re-introduced the strategy genre to a whole console generation and opened uo consoles for more RTSs to be considered mainstream titles Im voting for XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

...and last but not least.

Best Game 2013

The Nominees: Far Cry 3, Journey, Mass Effect 3, Dishnonored, The Walking Dead,  Fifa 13

My Prediction: even though most of the nominees in this category on any usual year filled with the generic ream of blockbuster titles weve become accustomed to, could quite easily walk away with this award. But this wasnt any standard year and because of that Im voting for the game I believe offered the least game-like yet rewarding experience I had all year and that game is... The Walking Dead.

So there you have it folks themz is my predictions, lemme know If you agree or think Im completely wide of the mark! Were gunna find out come this evening so make sure you tune into the live stream, Im sure with it being about games being presented by gamers It wont be a completely cringe worthy affair awards ceremonies usually are. But then dont hold your breath...

-RedManGaming. 

This was also posted over at my blog RedManGaming

FTL (PC)

I plan to go boldly go where no ships captain has gone before! That is until I get boarded by some alien species whom Ive never encountered before and watch helplessly as they tear apart my in-experienced crew (Id given them all names!...Ill never Figo III) in a matter of moments and then continue to do the same to the ship of the now ex crew members. This is a situation I found myself in more than once when playing FTL (Faster Than Light), no matter how pre-paired you may convince yourself of being to make that jump to the next solar system FTL can still manage to throw you a curve ball and send you right back to the very beginning of your space fairing voyage into the great unknown, now this may sound unfair, the general consensus when playing a game is to be rewarded for your time an effort spent playing by being allowed to progress through the game, this is not the case for FTL..nope! The game will find away to tear apart all your hard work whether youve been playing 20 minutes or 200 and thats because it is unfair! As Im sure the multiple posts in the FTL forum will attest to.

Yet every time I find myself staring at that hanger bay screen yet again havent just seen the last 30 munities of my life blown to pieces, I can help myself but tool up my ship once again, give It a new name and individually name each member of my crew (hello Figo IV) and once again venture out into the howling dark to no doubt find myself in the same situation in possibly an even shorter amount of time due to the unpredictable manner FTL doles out Its bad guys, Its this fear of knowing no matter how pre-paired I think I am FTL can still prove me wrong that makes this game so addictive.

FTL is the brain child of Justin Ma and Matthew Davis, the two developers went onto to form Subset Studios after a successful Kick-starter campaign, where they then produced the 2D space faring RTS. FTL tells the tale of a lone ship which you must pilot as you attempt to cross the 7 sectors of space whilst being chased by a rebel fleet in order to determine the fate of the Galactic Federation, Its thin story but really all thats necessary to provide context to your steady progression across each system and the different enemies and allies you encounter in each system. The gameplay consists on you jumping to a beacon, roughly 10-20 of these make up a system depending on your route, where in each beacon you will randomly encounter either an enemy pirate, a neutral mercenary or trader or, or even friendly Federation allies. When the encounter is the former the combat comes down to you balancing your ships systems between weapons, shield and movement in order to defeat your foe whilst not sustaining too much damage in the process, Its a combat system that soon reveals much depth when different weapon types and drones and the possibility to board the enemy are introduced. As you progress through each beacon you will acquire scarps, missiles and fuel, which you use to respectively upgrade your ship, destroy the enemy and spend to cross space. The upgrade system offers various paths to upgrade your ship, you can either pool your points into your weapons systems to take down your enemies quicker or go the opposite route into tanking your own ship in the shield respect. I often found myself at a loss as to where I should focus my upgrades as no route seem to offer a greater advantage in any type of encounter, so I found myself often just aimlessly upgrading without much interest. No matter how tactically sound I believed my set up to be FTL would just throw a different type of enemy, of which there are many from pirate factions to alien races and rogue drones, and Id find myself helplessly unequipped to deal with it ending my mission there and then.

Its important to remember when playing FTL that no matter how much progression youve made or how many boss battles (which come along every 3rd system you jump through)youve scraped through FTL will strip it all away from you instantly in a manner you never expected, which only adds to the terror of heading out into space the next time. Which I did many times and although the therapeutic techno soundtrack and simple 2D style graphics somewhat softened the blow of many replays, I eventually found my willingness to pit myself against the un-known of space worn down. FTL is a game that requires much time to fully appreciate time I believe all may not have for it. If more thought had gone into the upgrade system and how the enemies scale to your progression then I believe a longer more enjoyable time could be had with FTL, as it stands however Its only fun for a few short agonising playthroughs before no doubt like myself you throw your arms up in the air screaming injustice!... and simply walk away.

6/10

-RedManGaming.      

This blog can also been read over at my blog RedManGaming

Halo 4

Now Its going to be hard but Im going to try and write this review in a most unbiased view i can muster, but Im just laying this out there from the off I am a massive Halo fan, well pretty big anyway I havent quite reached the fanaticism of dressing in full Mark IV Mjolnir armour to take the dog for a walk, but I am fully invested in the Halo fiction Ive read man a Halo novel both graphic and fiction and Ive followed all web-series both live action and animated that expand upon the halo universe (the best of which In my opinion has to be Forward Unto Dawn, seriously Its fantastic check it out!) and of course Ive put endless hours into every title in the Halo series (with the exception of Halo Wars, but then we all have that dark secret who lives in the attic and every now and again we throw it a few fish heads) since the days of Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox.

Im also writing this review what is a good 4 months after Halo 4s initial release in the UK, why Ive left it so late? Well I wanted to give the game all the time it deserved to fully experience the entire multiplayer and to see how Spartan Ops and Forge improved. But now to the game!

The Campaign

For those of you fearing whether Bungie left the Halo franchise in good hands when they passed the torch on to 343 industries need worry no more, this game is defiantly the Halo we know and love from the prior games in the series and yet this is Halo quite as weve never seen it before, this is Halo with personality. Now Im not saying that previous games in the serious have lacked any personality far from it but prior to Halo 4 it could never be said that the narratives were the strongest element of a Halo title. However this time round were treated to what is easily the most moving narrative tale of any Halo title, It would appear that 343 have taken on some elements found in most Hollywood narratives in developing this Halo game, we have bad guys and damsels in distress and the Chief now has a personality beyond that of a faceless space marine.

So the story Halo 4 opens as Halo 3 closed, with the chief fast asleep in cryo-stais adrift in deep space. However your slumber is quickly broken by the arrival of the Covenant, wait didnt we make it good with those guys? Well appears not all the covenant were happy to agree with this, although never fully explained in-game this is a branch of pirate covenant who are more than happy to once again try and splatter your cyborg guts across deep space lovely. The chief is also quick to notice that things arent all hunky-dory with Cortana, It would appear the years you spent drifting in deep space aboard the broken wreckage of the UNSC Forward unto Dawn have not been kind to Cortana. She has started to develop Rampency a condition that comes about when Smart AIs like Cortana have been in active commission for over 7 years and well all of your frolics through the previous Halo trilogy and the many years Cortana spent alone thinking, means she is now running on borrowed time. Thus creating the main narrative arc that will carry you through Halo 4 as the chief tries to get Cortana back Dr. Halsey the creator of smart AIs in order to try an save Cortana (he knew he cared after all this time). Its quite an emotional tale and at points really pulls on your heart strings as Cortanas condition worsens through the course of the campaign and has to fall back on the chief to defend her against characters less sympathetic to her plight. Its nice to see an emotional connection develop between the two characters that dominate so much of the screen time, something that Im sure 343 will carry on into the other two promised titles in the series. There is also now a villain for the first time in the Halo story, one big bad guy who the Chief will inevitably have to go toe to toe with, however his existence is poorly explained and for those of you who arent fully brushed up in the Halo-verse the introduction of the Didact as the central villain will mean nothing.

In terms of the game-play, Its very much the Halo formula were all very used to the combat is still focused around the three tier set up of ranged, melee and grenade based combat and the AI is just and challenging even on the normal difficulty as ever, forcing you to mix up all three available combat routes in order to tack the various opponents, the level design often very varied offering vast open arenas in order to do battle in the many different vehicles (some of the better set-pieces of the game take place during these sections) Halo has to offer and also shrinking down to tight often quite frustrating corridors were all that grenade spamming can be somewhat of a nuisance. There isnt a whole lot new on offer here that we havent seen in the previous games, you kinda get the feeling 343 may have been playing it safe. Except for of course the introduction of the Prometheans the new alien race you encounter shortly after crash landing on the surface of Requiem the mysterious planet the Forward Unto Dawn has spent the last 4 years drifting toward. The Prometheans offer a nice variation from the often frustrating Flood from the previous games. Youre going to have to keep all your wits about you when tackling these foes as the Promethean Knights will goad you into charging forward before teleporting to another part of the battlefield to pick you off from afar whilst having their own shields boosted by the ever present Watchers youd do well to take out these guys first before tackling the bigger foes and then there is the Crawler similar in some respects to the locust swarms found in the covenant these guys present little challenge on their own but can quickly outflank you and bring you down in swarms. There is also a new range of Promethean weaponry on offer, most weapons offer simply a Promethean variation o weapons found in the UNSC and Covenant arsenals the Scattershot is simply a slight change on the shotgun and the Suppressor Is simply an assault rifle, however new additions the Incendiary Cannon and Boltshot do offer a new way to gun down your foes. But apart from these new additions there is little in the realm of the new to be found in this latest Halo 4 campaign, this of course has meant that I wasnt left disappointed It wasnt quite the big statement I expected 343 to make with their first game in the series.

Aesthetics

Graphically Halo has never looked better; Id even go as far as to say Its the best looking game currently available on the Xbox (sorry Gears 3) but then of course that is saying Its the best looking game on a console that is now 8 years old and those 8 years are really starting to show, up close textures can become bland and flat and there are at times frame-rate issues when the action on screen becomes too much. These things aside however the lighting is fantastic and with the introduction of the promethean weaponry youre often accompanied by a soft neon glow throughout really adding to the futuristic appeal , there were also moments when I genuinely stopped playing simply to take in the gorgeous vista on display (Im sure youll do the same at these moments) and the animation in the CGI is scarily realistic I was unsure at times as to whether I was watching animation or in-fact live action. Having also revamped the game graphically 343 have also taken steps to make their on stamp on the Halo universe through the sound, every weapon, armour ability and vehicle has had new sound recorded to great effect, each weapon fires with a very satisfying sound the new D.M.R and S.A.W being some of my personal favourites. I did at first miss the memorable soundtrack of heavy guitar rift accompanied by a choir of angles that had accompanied you throughout the previous Halo games, but the new sound track from composer Neil Davidge quickly fills the void well with a massively fresh and enjoyable soundtrack.  Overall theres very little to complain about where the game is concerned both graphically and sound wise 343 have done a fantastic job at making Halo look and sound better than it ever has.

Infinity   

The multiplayer side of Halo has now been folded under the wing of a new section called Infinity this is to incorporate the idea that all multiplayer battles, Spartan-Ops missions take place as a training exercise aboard the UNSC Infinity.  I have to say from the off here that Halo 4s multiplayer or War Games as Its been re-branded is possibly the best most addictive multiplayer Halo has had since the days of Halo 3, borrowing much from the world of other online multiplayer shooters such as CoD to its benefit, War games now incorporates kill-streak rewards in Its Ordanace Drops which will give you a random shield ability or weapon to give you the advantage, theres also an in-depth levelling up system and as you level up you unlock skill points which you can spend on new weapons and amour abilities which can be swapped in and out through the 5 equipment set ups you have available to you, although not as vast in Its armoury as CoD Its a re-think on the Halo multiplayer that I found kept me coming back for more, all the amour abilities from Reach make a return along with a few underwhelming additions in the form of Promethean Vision and other Promethean based abilities. All of the familiar playlists are there from Team Slayer to Grifball (which now gets its own exclusive playlist) and it would appear that 343 are intent on keeping you coming back for more by adding new play lists after Halos initial release, most recently of which being Extraction which was included in the Majestic Map pack. The initial launch maps added a different flavour I believe to Halo multiplayer. They were mostly large maps favouring long range battle over close and personal, however there were choke points where the action really did get fast and furious. The latest map pack the Majestic Map pack however seems to be aimed at bringing back the more classic flavour of the original Halo: Combat Evolved multiplayer maps favouring closer quarters, either style of map you find yourself playing on, the multitude of weaponry and armour abilities on offer makes for a compelling and addictive multiplayer experience that Im still very much addicted to months after launch.

Firefight has made way for Spartan-Ops, an attempt from 343 to give us added value for money with the promise of releasing more content episodically for free after launch, this content comes in the form of Spartan-Ops missions which get released in seasons alongside a series of short animations. The missions themselves are somewhat disappointing being little more than maps taken from the campaign and the filled with enemies and objectives that you can choose to tackle either co-op or solo, Its rather uninspired and despite attempts from 343 to change up the formula as more and more episodes are released It never quite lives up to the rest of what Halo 4 has to offer and is probably not worth the time needed to complete the marathon of episodes now available. Although the animations are pretty and quite enjoyable to follow and the completion of some episodes is necessary in order to get that 100% achievement completion so you may find it worth some of your time, I however did not and after completing a few episodes in the series I havent returned to it. Apart from this Infinity will keep you coming back to Halo long after you slain your last Elite in the campaign.

In Conclusion...

Halo 4 really is a magnificent gaming achievement, 343 Industries have done a fantastic job of picking up the mantle left to by Bungie, although Halo 4 doesnt change up the series greatly rather it reminds us of what we loved most about Bungies games from the fantastic multiplayer and we experience something new In a story filled with enjoyable characters and heart wrenching plot twists. Some may argue that this Halo 4 is little more than a fan service making not attempt to change the series and only continue it and they may be right, but being the avid Halo fan myself Im more than ready to play some more Halo and Halo 4 only reminded me of this fact. If we can expect more of the top notch quality on display here mixed in with more narrative innovation and whatever innovation we can expect from the next generation of consoles then a new trilogy of Halo titles is a very exciting prospect indeed.

9/10

-RedManGaming  

You can also read this review over at my blog RedManGaming

An Evening with Andrew Walsh and Kim Blake

Being both Welsh and a student and most importantly a student in Wales Im lucky enough to be a member of quite a large organisation Skillset Media Wales, they are an organisation targeted toward furthering the careers of all promising students in Wales within the various media industries (Film, Tv, Animation and Video Games), It was through Skillset Media Wales that the existence of GamesDev South Wales was brought to my attention, now bare with me here I hope I havent lost you just yet. But GamesDev South Wales work in-conjunction with companies such as Skillset Media Wales and other larger organisations like BAFTA Cymru to host events like the one I attended last night for the benefit of all those wishing to pursue a career within the games industry (like myself). To cut to the chase GamesDev South or a fantastic organisation and thanks to their existence I was able to (for free) attend an evening of lectures from industry professionals Andrew Walsh and Kim Blake.

Andrew Walsh is a writer, speech designer, scriptwriter, script consultant, narrative designer, narrative director, motion capture director, voice over director and other assorted titles, Andrew has worked for companies including 2K Marin, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Bungie, 2K China, Criterion, Travellers Tales, Creative Assembly, Codemasters and Koch on titles including Need for Speed:Most Wanted, Prince of Persia, Harry Potter, LEGO City:Undercover, Risen, Medieval II: Total War, and SOCOM. He has numerous credits in animation, theatre, television, radio and film, including the UK version of Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. Kim Blake has worked in the games industry since 1993, for much of that time as a project manager at independent development studios such as Gremlin Interactive, Particle Systems and Argonaut Software. During her time at Blitz Games Studios, Kim played a major role in Blitzs various educational activities, particularly the organisation of the Blitz Games Open Days which have been a huge success with both students and lecturers. She is a member of Industry Advisory Boards for the Scottish Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education and the Informatics & Media board for Bradford Universitys School of Computing, sits on Creative Skillsets Video Games Skills Council and became a Fellow of the RSA in 2010.

So around 7pm on a windy evening in the Welsh Capital I found myself in the upstairs bar (of which no tills we weroking) of the central Cineworld mingling with Game developers of all walks students t0 industry veterans and games journalists and just avid gaming hobbyists eagerly anticipating to hear what such experienced heads in the industry had to say on their respective areas in gaming. So without anymore stalling here it is.

Kim Blake

Kim Blake talked only briefly and about what she intended to do in her current position of Next-Gen Talent Development Co-ordinator for Creative Skillset and UKIE  andtopics that may be more focused upon the state of the UK games industry so apologies overseas readers. The main issue that Kim raised was highlighting a need for change in how we view careers within the games industry. How the key skills such as coding need to be introduced into our curriculum at an earlier age. She raised some interesting arguments that she intended to tackle in her current position, arguments such as:

• We need to allow the way that Games are made penetrate our culture, much in the same way that since the birth of the film industry over 100 years ago we all have some understanding of how Films are made, we all know it involves writing and cameras and editing and if we are going to increase the amount of young game developers and coders coming through the education system the same needs to happen to the games industry.
• No one knows where games are made. Developers such as Rocksteady, Rockstar North and Lionhead are practically unheard of within the public domain, people believe that all the big name titles are simply made over sea and thats where the games industry is. So the UK games industry needs to publicise itself more.
• Careers in all creative mediums are still seen as soft options with no security, in particular in the case of the games industry. Many parents often discourage pursuing careers in such industries due to their lack of understanding that positions with salaries and staff jobs are now available in such industries and because of these aspiring games developers are only becoming available around age 18 this needs to be sooner!
•  It has never been easier to become an Indie games developer, the technology available to all people has never been easier to use and the increase in size of audiences seeking more niche titles has never been greater (ask Notch) and this can bring you great success.
• It is important we use the current generation studying games at degree level to inspire the younger generations into pursuing similar careers.

All of the above arguments were areas that Kim intends to tackle from her position with UKIE and it was quite an illuminating talk on the current situation facing the UK games industry Im sure youll agree and because of this I wish her the best of luck for the future in the hope we will have many more studios like doing work like that or RockSteady in the future.

Next to take the podium was Mr Andrew Walsh .

Andrew Walsh

Andy Walsh came fully armed with a very detailed power point packed full of pictures to enforce his points titled The Art of Game Writing. His speech tackled the art of games writing in an arc discussing how writing in games has progressed over the last ten years. Here are some of the key points I took from his speech (my head at this point was buzzing he really did inspire me to pursue a career in videogames writing).

• The world of writers has only just started to adapt to writing for games, Its been a slow progress over the space of ten years.
• Writers found the world of writing completely changed when entering the world of writing for games, where as in the past Film and TV had only advanced the writing format born out of theatre, gaming flipped it on Its head.
• The narrative of Games was often already pre-determined by the game play genre before the narrative genre eg: Shooter, Racer, Platformer and so the when determining the narrative of a game it had to fit the game play genre first in order to make it work (Call of Duty doesnt always make the best of love stories) .
• Writing in games is necessary even when a narrative and 3 act structure is not. Lines of dialogue are always needed in order to convince the player that the world is real and not just one or two but literally thousands of lines of dialogue know in the business as barks are used when the player is exploring the world. (That cop car chacing you feels all the more real when you can hear the cop driving it chatting to his squad mates over the radio about what car your driving)
• In the past games developers would often have to reach out to already established writers who would then in turn have to learn about games in order to adapt their writing to fit the format of games writing, which often doused the desire to get expert writing in your game, but freelance game writers are becoming more and more common within the industry and being able to call upon a writer who already knows well the world of games vastly improves the cost/speed and quality of the writing in the game.
• There is a hierarchy of writing when introducing it into the game, first comes the speech design (A.I interface, trigger design, testing) this is because it is vital above all else that the player understands what he has to do Its no go engrossing them within the game world through exposition if they dont know what to do when there. Secondly is the writing design this is where and when the writing is brought into the game how much of the story do you feed the developer when their busy shooting terrorists in the face? Or would it be better served in a 5 minute cut scene, finally comes the narrative design this is still important as it adds to the feeling of progression through the game but comes third as a narrative is the section of the game that comes in-bewteen the actual bit of games.
• The writer needs to be there from the beginning If youre going to stand a chance of having a decent standard of writing in your game, there is no use in bringing a writer in 1 month before the launch of the game and (as Andy had many pictures to express this point) polish a turd know at this point its too late and the best you can expect is a top hat... On a similar topic get a good writer! A writer should know where exposition is and Isnt needed in a game, much of the narrative can be explained visually and therefore doesnt need a line of dialogue a good writer should know this.

I was lucky enough to share a few words with Andy after his speech to get a few tips on how to break into the world of games writing, as with much advice aspiring writers get he told me to WRITE LOTS always an important point to enforce and I encourage you to do the same, but beyond this he recommend I try writing barks and working on as many student projects I can in my current situation to make my portfolio appeal to games developers in particular. It was a fascinating discussion on games writing, one i fear this blog cannot do justice, but I urge you to seek out the work of Andy he seriously knows his stuff!

There were a few exciting announcements from the people at GamesDev South Wales themselves (prior to another attempt to see if the till at the bar was now working!) and although this may only be of interest to the people of South Wales Im excited to report on it  just the same. Firstly GamesDev South Wales will be hosting the Wales Games Development show 2013 on the 26/6/2013 in the Wales Millennium centre Cardiff and secondly BAFTA Cymru will be presenting the BAFTA Cymru Games Awards at the show on the 26th an exciting proposition for all aspiring game developers in Wales to gain recognistion for their talent! I cant wait to get the chance to report on and play some of the winners and nominees.

Anyway that about sums up my evening at  the event of what was a fascinating insight into the games industry and my first chance to try my hand at some real world games journalism, hopefully Ive brought a little taste of Welsh games developer to all of you, once again thanks for reading!

-RedManGaming 

http://wp.me/p38pCb-e

What Humble Beginnings

So here It is, this is my first post on my very first blog RedManGaming. I'm gunna' keep it brief, I don't wanna scare away a potential audience that I'm sure at the moment is balancing on a knife edge as to whether your going to keep reading, but please bare with me and keep reading!

I just want to take some time to explain who I am, where I'm blogging from and more importantly why I'm blogging about video games. So like many upstart video games bloggers I want to write about video games, they are my love my passion and I've invested so much time into this hobby and still do,  that i believe I must have something constructive to say about them by now surely?

So who exactly RedManGaming, well my name is Ben I am at the time of writing 21 years of age and am currently deep into my 2nd year of study of Film and Video at University of Wales Newport in Newport South Wales, I'm also currently employed part time at a local cinema, the meager salary of which I am stretching to breaking point with my excessive gaming habits. Now you may ask what could a second year film student in some small town Welsh University have to say about games that could be of any worth? Well for one I don't care if It's of worth or not I'm gunna' say it anyway! But secondly I also believe i can offer a viewpoint on the world of games not often found within the world of games journalism. You see I may be in quite a small university in a small corner of Wales, but what i can offer you is how the world of Games effects this small part of the world. I believe being surrounded daily with students of all sorts of creative mediums, Film, Games Development and Animation at my rather swanky university.......

.......puts me in prime location to report upon what Wales is bringing to the worlds fastest expanding entertainment industry. Also with the city being quite small and with many high street stores going into administration, there is really only one outlet left on the streets of Newport where you can not only buy games but meet other gamer's, this one.

What I intend to do is keep my finger on the creative pulse of South Wales where it concerns gaming and offer this up to you, along side this I want to write about how the international world of games affects us here and hopefully in doing so I'm able to give you something fresh and distinctively Welsh because I'm Welsh  and i Love games and the two things should belong in a blog together.

I'm also going to keep the blog regularly updated with reviews of games new and old and I'm also going to share my views on the gaming industry, at least to the best I can with my professional setup. 

......It's a sweet rig i know right? But this year of 2013 Is set to be one of the most exciting years we've had in a long time what with the release of the next generation of home consoles and even more interesting innervation's  such as the Ouya and Steam Box (If they ever come to be) and well I hope i can share this exciting year with all you fellow gamer's, so please come back and read some more when you have the chance cause' Ill be writing more. 

Thanks Reading 

-RedManGaming.

The First Shots are fired

February the 20th has come and gone and with it came the announcement we all expected, yes folks its official the PlayStation 4 is here...almost.  Sony streaming live from New York (a first for Sony, could this possibly highlight their intentions to push in on Microsofts home ground?) announced to the world that the PS4 was in production. But who are we kidding; we all already knew this didnt us? The series of teasers documenting the illustrious history of the PlayStation brand put out by Sony days prior to the event pretty much confirmed our suspicions that by See The Future Sony meant come have a look at the PS4, and boy did we get all get a good look at the PS4 (even though we are one the edge of such futuristic technology as the PS4, Sony still couldnt offer us a look at the PS4 that wasnt interrupted with lag issues). The Dawn of the Next-Gen is here (apologies WiiU) but did the announcement live up to the hype? 

Yes!... Well mostly rather surprisingly Sony offered up a lot more information that I would have accepted so early in the year, but there were still some glaring omissions from the press conference which was somewhat disappointing, but then Sony need to save something for E3. But lets take a look at what we do know rather than what we dont.

·         Its called the PlayStation 4, the name straight of the back is PS4no Orbis is simply Playstation as some may have expected, no Sony are sticking with the numerical values and have slapped a 4 on the end. This is a bad move in my opinion not simply because the number 4 carries negative connotations on eastern culture, but it will cause most people to look at it as simply an evolution on the PS3, but I believe the PS4 is somewhat more than this.

·         Holiday Season 2013 is the expected release date, again no surprises here. This gives Sony ample time to drum up the hype necessary to go toe to toe with Microsoft over the Christmas period.

·         Whats inside? Well Sony quite surprisingly opened with the guts of the PS4 laying it all out there to see, developers in particular. Now Im not one to get a hardon over the amount of RAM the system has, all I know is that it matches what specs were leaked prior to the announcement. But Ill leave the dissection over what the specs really mean for the coming generation to a more interested party than me.

·          Controller redesign. This is the first significant redesign the dual-shock controller has had since its launch way back in 1997. The dual-shock 4now comes graced with a touch pad and a Share button which as was expected at the push of a button uploads the last 15 minutes of game play as recorded by a camera built into the new Move sensor bar which works in conjunction with the light bar on the back of the new pad. Its a somewhat ugly design if you ask me, here take a look for yourself. 

·         Interface Remodel, yes the rather cumbersome PlayStation interface now gets a much needed update, this was kind of a theme throughout the whole conference We understand we messed this and now were fixing it and the new interface looks rather more user friendly and comes accompanied by such revolutionary technological feats such as background downloads (no more switching on your PlayStation a good hour before you actually plan on playing anything). But nothing but playing catch up to Microsoft here.

·         David Perry.  So next up on Sonys somewhat lacklustre meeting was dear old David Perry, the Irish game developer made famous for bringing us the likes of Earthworm Jim and also the co-founder of the cloud based streaming service Gaikai. Following Sonys acquisition of the games based streaming service in 2012, Mr Perry went on to explain (In what felt like an overly long amount of time) how the Gaikai service will be integrated into the PS4, Gaikai will alow players to instantly stream games over the PlayStation Network without having to wait for the whole title to download. Which sounds quite exciting being able to instantly stream any PlayStation at the push of a button, but then it isnt all that revolutionary NetFlix has been offering it to us for a while now.  This was also accompanied with talk of Everything, Everywhere the ability to be able to play your PS4 games via Vita, tablets and phones through the streaming service and he finally ended his waffle with the social aspects Gaikai is going to bring, apparently in the future my friends will be able to play games for me and my PlayStation will also start buying the games I want before I know the games I want? Yeah not too sure about that one

The Games.

So what about the games? What titles will we be itching to get our hands on come Holiday Season 2013. Well Sony kinda played it safe here, until they started talking games the conference had defiantly been aimed at developers, possibly in an attempt to make up for the PS3 having been an infamously hard system to develop for, Sony want to advertise just how developer friendly their next system is gunna be. But when the games were rolled out it was defiantly for the gamers. We got to see a few new IPs and some very pretty in game footage but nothing overly ground breaking.

·         Killzone Shadowfall.  Rather unsurprisingly we treated to a very pretty live gameplay demo of the 4th Killzone title in the series; It was later confirmed to be a launch title for the PS4. Nothing special here if anything it only stressed how the gap between what can be achieved on consoles graphically is shrinking.

·         Drive Club.  Its always nice to show of the power of your new tech with some nice shiny expensive cars and thats what we got for Motorstorm creator Evolution Studios, they also aim to imitate  Test Drives social features with there up and coming racer.

·         The Witness. So after we got to see the obligatory shooter and racer, Mr Jonathan Braid Blow was wheeled out on stage to tell us about The Witness a new colourful first person puzzler that will be an exclusive to the PS4 during Its launch window.

·         Deep Down. Capcoms Deep Down was one of the more interesting titles shown, It was a game similar to the series of Dragons Dogma and I wouldnt be surprised it was set in the same world, however this game looked outstanding if anything truly showed of the power of the PS4 it was this.

·         Knack. From Japan studio and helmed by Mark Cerny, Knack was the first new IP we got seen Its a colourful platform where Humanity is threatened by a band of evil goblins and have to tackle the threat with the help of shape shifting robot.

The Infamous series also made a dramatic reappearance in the form of Infamous: Second Son now focused on the idea of taking down big brother through its new Christian Slater look-a-like superhero.  Watchdogs also made reappearance this time with more gameplay footage and is looking evermore impressive Im seriously quite stoked for this title; it later came out that Watchdogs would be released on the PS4 first with Xbox 360, PS3 and WiiU versions scheduled for a later release. Destiny also got a brief mention to show of so more gameplay footage and announce that the PS4 will be getting some Destiny DLC exclusivity; slightly surprising considering Bungies close affiliation with Microsoft (Im guessing Sony is learning Its lesson from the Skyrim DLC fiasco). Blizzard accounted for what was possibly the biggest disappointment of the night, appearing only momentarily to announce that Diablo 3 would be coming to both PS4 and PS3...meh, Im sure if your still playing Diablo 3 the prospect of playing it on a console doesnt excite you all that much . Square showed their face briefly to show us a Final Fantasy trailer that we all saw last year and to tell us it would be coming to the PS4 an announcement worthy of the plane ticket from Japan to New York Im sure....it wasnt. Media Molecule showed us how theyre going to be using the new move controller to shape clay and pretend to be in a band not entirely convinced on the game applications of that yet.

No big surprises really, I have to admit once the press conference started to push the two hour mark and the initial rush of having seen the PS4 logo had subsided, the whole thing began to take on a rather disappointing air and those glaring omissions really started to make them self feel present.... even if they werent....

What we didnt see!

Yes  not unsurprisingly Sony did hold back info on some stuff preferring not two have their entire game plan on display for Microsoft to pick over for an entire year prior to launch. But here I believe are some of the more glaring omissions.

·         The Last Guardian.  Nope not a single feathery screenshot in sight. So still no news on this much anticipated Sony IP since its initial reveal way back in 2009, I really thought that we have seen some more of this it would have provided Sony with the perfect title to sit alongside a new Killzone and Drive Club in their launch line up, However it came out in an interview with Shuhei Yoshida  the president of SCE that Sony are biding their time for the big announcements. E3 Is going to be very exciting I imagine.

·         PS4 In Practice. Sony talked allot about  the social aspects of the coming generation but we never actually got to see any of it in practice, the same can be said about the Move functions of the controller and the heavily discussed games streaming service which forces me to question how much of that stuff is still Pie in the Sky at the moment.

·         The PlayStation 4. Didnt make an appearance all night! Not a single glossy black box to drool over all evening. Normally these press events are build ups to the final crescendo of what is revealing the actual design of the console itself , unfortunately however we were all left begging to see more, which really only added to air of disappointment now surrounding the show. But again in an interview with Shuhei  Yoshida he said that he felt that the PlayStation 4 was more than just a games console and for this reason we didnt need to see a box, so like a groom on his wedding day were all gunna have to wait that little bit longer to see that little black number that were all dying to see.

·          

However despite Sony lacking a in a few key areas (but I suppose we woudnt want the rest of the year to be all Microsoft.... that would just be boring) I would mark down the Sony Meeting as a success, we all got what we came to see (mostly) which was indeed as Sony pitched it the future and not just the future of console gaming although that does look very pretty indeed, but also the future of how we interact with the media we consume and if Sony can follow up on at least half of what its promising then were in for a very exciting generation of consoles.

So the first shots have been fired and Its over to Microsoft now to fire back, so what have you got Xbox 720?

-xbenblasterx 

Wearing Youre Colours on Your Chest

Does the Chiefs featureless mask adorn most of your favourite shirts, Is links legendary coat of arms splattered across the back of your favourite hoodie? How much of your wardrobe is taken up by geek chic and if so why? Is it simply due to your love of the game or is it something more? More and more these days do we see people sporting the various well know symbols of gaming culture, could this be because gaming is simply becoming diluted into what is considered fashionable or is it more of us gamers are willing to pull on our N7 branded hoodies and wear them as a badge of honour, are we making a statement Yes Im a gaming nerd and heres the proof! And I want everyone to see. I have to admit that it makes me smile when I see someone who loves this hobby just as much as me, who loves it enough to wear it on their chest.

Now I understand that most pop-culture media is met with a ream of branded merchandise and we as consumers soak up as much as possible in order to express what music/TV/films we love without having to go around telling everyone. But seeing the logos of bands or famous film franchises across t-shirts has become such a social norm that Its become accepted as a fashion style in itself, I can now walk into my nearest Top-Shop and pick up lovely burgundy jumper covered in a Ramones logo and Its hard to know these days whether that group of teen-girls are avid Rolling Stones fans or simply though the 40 Licks album cover looked nice, Im not complaining.... Im no elitist snob honest. This commercial raping of most pop-culture media, save for the more niche sci-fi TV shows , highlights even more the statement we make when we adorn our gaming dominated fashions. Even though gaming is becoming ever increasingly popular amongst the masses as Its fast becoming the largest entertainment industry with more and more blockbuster titles boasting blockbuster budgets and grossing blockbuster takings, the general masses will still instantly brand you as a nerd/geek if you venture out with the Death Mark on your tee because if you love gaming enough to wear it then you must be a nerd surely?

Yet we gamers no longer try to hide our dedicated fandom to the games we love, no we now embrace the mark of nerd we revel in it, it adds to the bond we all share within the family of gamers. So we adorn ourselves so that all can know, so that we know who our gaming brothers and sisters are and whether we choose to dress ourselves in our launch day Call of Duty t-shirt so that we resemble a walking advert for the game or even try to show are love for gaming in a more subtle and fashionable way with designs carrying references only the hardcore gamer can share in (I myself own a T-shirt carrying the logo of the Callers Fine English Ketchup Company try work that one out) Its nice to know were not alone and its even better knowing that more often than not those fanatical enough to wear the games we love are in the masses.

So wear that blood stained Gears tee and hoodie proclaiming the cake to be a lie, because it may not yet be a fashion statement but its defiantly a statement of our culture. And if youre reading this un-gamified? Then I suggest you visit one of these quickly!

·         http://www.insertcoinclothing.com/

·        http://www.fangamer.net/

·        http://www.jinx.com/

·        http://www.etsy.com/

-xbenblasterx

Will the Last Gen Ever Let Go?

So at the moment everyone of us has our eyes fixed firmly on the future, with a whole new generation of home consoles only now a mere number of months away after what is starting to feel like a very long wait indeed. Not a day goes by where you cant long onto one of the various gaming news outlets of the web to see their pages flooded with stories of leaked specs, the latest controller pics or what games we can expect to be playing come launch day. But what about our current generation of gaming boxes? A generation that has shepherded us through massive innovations in the world of home gaming, 8 years ago who honestly expected to be able to browse and instantly stream/download a massive library of games, music and movies all from the comfort of our couches and in some cases without even pressing a button? I know I certainly didnt. Yet here we are at the tail end of the current generation with such luxury now a given. Will we be able to simply let go of consoles that have served us so well?

This week Microsoft reported that for the 25th month in a row the Xbox 360 was once again the number one selling piece of hardware in January, It sold just under 300,00 units this is more than any other console, most notably of which is Its next-gen rival the WiiU which posted Its worst sales figure yet selling just 60,000 in the month of January (considerably worse than the Wii was doing during Its first 3 months of sale). Now the success of the Xbox can be attributed to the budget prices and bundle offers often found for a piece of hardware that has been circulation as long as the 360 has, however there is clearly still a high demand for consoles of this generation, whos to say that this demand wont carry on after the Xbox 720 and PS4 hit the shelves.  

Both Microsoft and Nintendo pretty much dropped all support for the original Xbox and Gamecube to focus their efforts on the Wii and Xbox 360, but their installed player base was not quite as substantial as that of the PS2 and because of this did Sony feel a responsibility to keep the life of the PS2 going long after the PS3? As a result the PS2 only finally finished production a full 12 years after its launch and having sold over 150 million units it is by far the most successful home console of all time. Now all three companies Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo face either supporting or neglecting consoles with an even larger player base than that of the PS2. Not only that but in a console generation spanning 8 years and counting, weve seen many incredible titles and series of games grace our screens, all of which would be worthy of a HD spruce up (or whatever the next-gen equivalent will be) and re-release in a few years. With rumours that neither the PS4 nor Xbox 720 will be supporting backward compatibility, this could be our only chance to play our way through the likes of rapture once again. Unless of course we keep that dust covered white behemoth slotted in next to its sleek and shiny older brother and wee boot it up once and a while to share a nostalgic evening together. How romantic. Its reasons such as this that I will be making room under my television for two gaming boxes, rather than swapping one for the other.

What about you? Do you still refuse to unplug and pack away that Gamecube or even PS1 maybe something even older? Or does the arrival of the next generation mean only onward and upwards for you? I for one will be nursing the old warhorse.

-xbenblasterx

Are We Entering a Pre-Order Arms Race?

The market of used games sales is flourishing, no matter how numbered its days may be if some rumours are to be believed. High street retail stores regularly boast massive profits due to the re-sale of games, explaining their intent to dirty any rumours that may threaten such a lucrative business.  

However such a profitable section of the market must surely point to a decreasing number of gamers who are holding off on shelling out £40-£45 for a day one release title knowing that if they simply wait a week or two they will be able to pick up that hot title for a discounted price, Its a practice Ive found myself partaking in more often. The downside to this however is that none of this money is headed back to the games publishers themselves and so the publishers now have to fight even harder to convince us to lay down our money on day one or even before the game is released  to ensure there getting their reward.  As a result are we seeing the industry enter into a pre-orders arm race?

Pre-order bonuses are a practice that has been about for quite some time. With games being advertised alongside various in game bonus items, mostly cosmetic but in some cases added story missions and other such content, in return for our promise to buy their game on its day of launch. But of recent I believe we are already seeing an escalation in what now passes for a pre-order bonus. Already this year weve seen games such as Dead Space 3 and Aliens Colonial Marines boast long lists of pre-order bonuses such as the Ripley Pack the usual package of in game exclusive weapons and multiplayer skins, but up and coming releases are offering even bigger bonuses such as a full copy of Crysis when you pre-order Crysis 3 or a full copy of either Gears of War 2 or 3 when you pre-order Gears of War Judgment. A full title is quite the jump in comparison to a multiplayer skin, but is this end? Or will we start to see publishers offering early access to missions in the story or even an early access to the online multiplayer giving players an unfair advantage for the pre-order cash?

Can a game no longer be sold on its own merits alone? Will we actually start to judge a games quality based upon the amount/quality of the pre-order bonuses. Is this the start of a pre-order arms race as companies strive to outdo each other in order to get us gamers to pre-order their title over another? Not that Im going to complain about the opportunity to pick up a free copy of Gears of War. 

-xbenblasterx