Cheating/rubber band AI i am not a fan

With games like mario kart and some of the need for speed games they have something called rubber band ai which means if you are doing well the opponents would get better perhaps via a speed boost or if you are doing badly they will slow down.

Now i know why they do that to keep the races close but i hate it i remember i was the last corner of a lap i crashed and was overtaken and it was not for the rubber band ai i would have probably had a decent lead. I would much prefer a more realistic take to try and simulate over players as rubber band feels cheap.

Cheating ai is even worse i have come across it a few times such as in some of the mortal kombat where the opponent can seem to counter all attacks.Worse i ever saw though was in a puzzle quest game not sure what one.

But i noticed that the opponent would always go for the 5 in a row or 4 in a row above everything but i remember several times it would go for a 3 in a row and gems would drop in from off screen and then chain into a 4 or a 5 in a row...blatant cheating.

All i ask is make the game fair if you are a lot better then the AI do not resort to cheap AI to make up the difference   

Always online needs to die a horrible and painful death

Recently we heard about the psn and xbox live network being brought offline. And it has been a couple of days and there are still issues.

I wanted a go of killer instinct which has a single player "offline " component but guess what it would not let me as it needed to get online and god knows what other games are having issues.

Problem is obvious if online was not such a important component then there would not be a issue the fact people have to rely on another company and there servers to play the games the consumer paid for is just asking for trouble.

I really hope this is a wake up call for the companies and we get some changes done.

Killer instinct review

I have been following killer instinct since the e3 reveal and it was one of those game because i had seen so many videos and coverage i felt i knew the game so well. Due to lack of money i had not been able to get a xbox one but this month i finally got a xbox one and the game.

Now first thing i will say see the game as a work in progress when i first saw the game till now it has changed a lot .But the price of season 1 and 2 together is the same as a normal xbox one game

The blank character selects are for characters coming out over the coming months. The ultra edition of the season come with ports of KI 1 and 2 and costumes but there optional and for the hardcore fans .

The original release was bare bones now there is a lot more meat on the game a story mode and a really good dojo training mode but i would love the story and the dojo mode to be expanded especially character specific training.I was a bit put off with the microtransactions where you can use real money to pay for KI gold to purchase unlockables but thankfully after a few min i realised you can unlock stuff just playing the game. I would really love more unlockables and more customization but it is a decent selection.

Graphics wise it is decent though i do find some character animations odd but it runs smooth and i love the particle effects

Character wise it is very diverse and looks like will have all characters from KI 1 which as far as i am concerned completes the game (not to fussed about the KI 2 characters though) . Gameplay wise it is classic killer instinct but brought upto date i will not go through the finer details but it deals with my complaints with a lot of modern fighters that it will always give you a way around things even if you are being hit by a massive combo you have a way out . Online play i have had a few matches only had a bit of lag but to be honest that is more due to my connection then the game 

I do not really have any major issues with the game and the game is being updated all the time so here is my wishlist on what i would love to see 

Hidden ender for each character perhaps can only be done after meeting certain criteria

Improvements to the ultra combo, Now while they do look decent i think they could look so much better perhaps some insane hit sparks like from KI 2 and a dynamic camera . This is minor but hit counter font.....to be honest it looks boring and i can just see where the hit counter starts boring but as the hits build up the font gets more and more crazy. And of course i would love to see more content. 

I would say a 8/10 

The death of retro ?

I still have some old consoles like the original xbox/ps2 and older such as megadrive and i know that i can always buy games plug them in and play them. But the previous gen it got me worried with digital becoming more and more popular i wondered would it kill retro ?.

Past few years i have seen games being removed from digital distribution for example outrun/marvel vs capcom 2 usually due to licensing. But i do wonder will servers still be around in 20 years so i can download games for the xbox 360?.

Its not just the downloadable titles i worry about major games like skyrim and fallout 3 in there unpatched no dlc state they have a lot of issues while in 20 years i may still be able to play them can i still get the patches and dlc if there is not a game of the year on disc version.

I really had this feeling with a lot of games that i was just renting them what with always online needed for more and more

Two comics that i think would make good films or even tv series

First comic is called leviathan and appeared in the comic 2000ad. Think of it as a cross between titanic/twilight zone and lost. Brief summary is set in 1928 a ship called the leviathan which is like a floating city a mile long and half a mile high which after setting off never arrive to there destination and are trapped on a endless still ocean for 20 years and follows what happens on board. 

I will not spoil but it had a great atmosphere alot of mystery and a payoff that was far better then in lost 

Next one is a manga called bio-meat set in the future.Meat has become in short supply but this new thing called bio-meat comes out which you do not know where it comes from but then it shows later on. And it becomes a really good horror comic and i am not usually a fan of horror comics but it just appealed to me. 

What games would you see remade or updated for next gen ?

News came through that capcom were updating DMC (the more recent devil may cry game) and devil may cry 4. They were only released last gen so i doubt will be a huge update.

But i was thinking what games i would like to see remade and i mean not a token texture update and up rezzing .


1. Panzer dragoon games. I really loved them all and to have them released now would be great especially orta and saga

2.Vampire :The masquerade bloodlines. This game had so much potential i mean it is great just it is unfinished and i would really love it expanded on.

3.Hokuto no ken (Arc systems fighting game) had this for the ps2 was a pretty good fighting game but was broken and unfinished and while i know due to licensing would be difficult this is one of the arc system games i would love to see updated

Hatred (PC game)

There has been a lot of controversy about the upcoming pc game hatred. Now when i first saw the look and the graphics of the game i thought that looks cool reminded me a bit of syndicate.I thought the graphics were pretty decent.

But then i saw and heard about the subject matter and i thought oh that does make feel very uncomfortable. Now people say oh there not real it is only game but the idea of the game is to immerse you into a world. Now if you are playing call of duty killing the bad guys that feels right in a bizarre way.But the way hatred is set up i do not think i could really play it.

I just really wish they had taken that engine and Gameplay and just done something a more killing bad guys type of thing.

I imagine they did it so they could get the press and it will either make the game a huge hit or backfire badly  

Arc systems stop or at least slow down with the Blazblue releases

So they recently announced Chrono Phantasma Extend. for ps4 ps3 and xbox one in april next year .Now while it will be the first time on a next gen console ( i will be interested to see if it will look a lot better). I find  myself getting wary with the way arc system release there games now.

These are all the versions

• BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (BBCT) - (Arcade, PS3, 360) - (2008) - (PSP, PC) - (2010)
• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (BBCS) - (Arcade) - (2009) - (PS3, 360) - (2010)
  • BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (BBCS2) - (Arcade, PSP, 3DS) (2010)
  • BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (BBCSX) - (Arcade, PS3, 360, PSVita) - (2011) - (PSP) - (2012) - (PC) - (2014)
• BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (BBCP) - (Arcade) - (2012) - (PS3) - (2013) - (PSVita) - (2014)
• BlazBlue:Chrono Phantasma extend (2015) - (ps3) - (ps4) - (xone)

 And of course you had DLC Characters for a couple of versions aswell (though appears annoyingly for chrono phantasma seems in europe did not get the free dlc characters).

Now i really loved the look of guilty gear xrd and i may still get it but i know there will be another version and i do not mind paying for dlc but when characters are available at launch i do feel a bit wary (like what happened with chrono phantasma).

All i ask is just be a little bit more sensible as people will get burned out at some point and make sure there is enough value for the update.

(Pre) review

So eurogamer on youtube did a video about the upcoming game The Order :1886. And 5 reasons you may not want to pre order the game. And it got me thinking in previews how often do we actually see a opinon on the game ?.

People would often use the argument that is not a finished game. But you could still say what the game is like as if the game is close to release if there is any major game breaking elements they could be mentioned especially if there so integral to the game chances are they will still be in the game.

For example in the eurogamer video they mention QTE events and instafail stealth sections two of my most hated things ever.

Two games i have to mention where i do not remember it happening since are nightmare creatures for the psone and timeshift for the pc. Nightmare creatures was finished and sent for magazines to review and it got average reviews so they actually took the game back into production and polished it making a better game. Timeshift i remember playing a demo of it and i think it was near finished but they took the game back into production for another year i believe and the final game was far far better (And different) to the demo i had played


Here is the eurogamer vid

Early access game arcane worlds

So saw this game on there called arcane worlds and it looked promising had mixed reviews on steam but thought i would read some of them and check the forums and it almost seems like a catch 22 situation.

From what i can gather it is only being done by one or two people and they released it on early access in january and been fairly regular with updates on the game and then  due to not quite getting enough sales to make much money then put up a indie gogo campaign to speed up the development.

Unfortunately it failed  (though i have to say i only heard about the game through just browsing on steam) so i would have assumed perhaps would try again say on kickstarter or try again but spread the word more.

But nope seems like was working on another game called level up! and the priority is finishing that and releasing that on steam. Now that is the part that puzzles me for people who have bought the game arcane worlds i bet they would be a little bit annoyed. But also from a business point of view.Would people buy your second game if the first game is not finished ? (As with what happened with UBER entertainment) and also i think the first game looks a lot better.

In the end i have to say at least he was being upfront with things and i guess if making a much simpler second game and getting the money for that to help with finishing the first that makes sense but i wonder what other people would think ?  

Why they should banish Quick time events in games

So watched a video on eurogamer about the game coming next year order:1886 and low and behold it had quick time events.

Now i HATE them in the majority of cases i think the first time i came across them was dragons lair and of course since then we have had so many in a variety of games from shenmue , Resident evil 4 upto more action based games like god of war.

I was trying to think what about them i hate and the games i do not mind them in.

So games i do not mind are such as god of war in gameplay where you fighting as normal against a normal enemy you weaken them then you can do optional QTE. That i find fine as its quick and you are not really penalised for failing in fact you will have weakened the enemy more if failed .

But then you have games like dragons lair where it is really just one long movie and with quick time events there it is just succeed or fail and that's it. With games i think there is always a grey area where you can get better and improve but with those type of games that is not the case.

Also i find they are just put in to give the player something to do for what would normally just be a cutscene. Now while you do have more recent takes on it such as heavy rain but it is not expanded to the degree i would like.

I would really love a option in games where it says "Disable QTE scenes "   

My new years resolution is....1080p

So my last monitor packed in and had a old back up monitor which runs at 1280x1024  (though oddly can go up to 75Hz)

Been looking at a lot of monitors firstly i can say 4k is out of the question. Game wise rigs capable of running games  at 4k at a modest price is a long way away and also with 4k monitors in there infancy there is still a lot of improvements needed.

G-sync monitors i was really really tempted with but with the choice of monitors not being that many.Upgrade kits no longer for sale and the price premium for the g-sync is a bit to much

In the end i plan to look for a monitor that is 144hz less them 1ms response time  (ideally price wise around £200-£300) the Asus VG248QE is at the top of my list at the moment but if anyone has any other ideas please let me know

Could Killer instinct come out on pc ??

So in the killer instinct forums one of the producers put a poll to find out how much interest there would be for a port of killer instinct to the PC.

I am in two minds about it. One of the reasons i would get a Xbox one is for killer instinct so from my point of view if it came for the PC would be great saves me having to buy a Xbox one (though i suspect if it did come to PC would not be for ages)

From Microsoft's point a view if they want the Xbox one to sell they need to keep those exclusives. Sony and Microsoft seem to have this point of view where the PC is not in competition with the consoles but i disagree.

Any game that comes out for the PC and consoles i would usually plump for the PC version just because of better performance and potential modding tools. Also it does seem like the PC is getting more and more games that would have normally been console exclusive with tons of fighting games now out.

With killer instinct though as it is developed based on feedback i would welcome more people to play it as the more feedback they get the better the game would be  

Why do publishers do stuff to annoy the fans ?

So past few of months a lot of things has happened from ubisoft and the assassins creed unity issues . Square enix and there massive Final fantasy VII troll and capcom with there copyright strikes for legitimate videos.


It did make me wonder why do they do this ? is it just stupidity ? or do they just want to try and make as much money at the cost of there reputation.

I put the blame on the publishers though there are exceptions but as someone said on gametrailers it can often happen that a developer make there first game is released and is closed down before even the first sales are known.

Every time something bad happens they do lose the trust of the people who actually pay for the game. Take the game destiny for example sure it had record breaking sales to begin with but i suspect was due to the reputation of bungie and many people who play the game may not be willing to take a second chance with them.

I do wonder when the breaking point will be i really do not want a video games crash of the 80s but with buggy games so much nickel and dimeing going on


All i can say is get more people who have a bit of common sense and treat the customer as they would want to be treated themselves.

Bring back the shareware sales model

The early and the mid 90s for pc games what they would do for example doom they would give away free on floppy disk a large chunk of the game often 1/3 or even 1/2.



And after you played through you could then send off and buy the rest. Now while it could be argued as a glorified demo the games were complete with no cut content and all game modes accessible.Just the additional levels that you had to pay for.

You got a real good look and play of the game. They did die out later on and when the digital age came now hardly hear anything about them.


Was only reminded of it recently with the release of killer instinct you had the option of a free version which only had one character but you had access to everything else.

Would love to see it make a return

Youtube and there copyright strikes

So something happened online today which irritated me today after capcom had accidentally released the Streetfighter 5 trailer.

And of course people watched it downloaded and commented about it now one of my fav youtubers uploaded the trailer and they asked him to take it down which is fair enough (though i still argue pointless at that point the cat was so far out of the bag it had got to the next town) So he uploaded another video with his opinions and a few screenshots only....and he got a copyright strike over a few pictures ????. Now he did it again with no pictures and got ANOTHER copyright strike.

Now this as far as i am concerned is abusing the system and while it may be all cleared up later on it would not be a nice situation to be in to be close to getting the channel deleted.

Now capcom are not the first to abuse the copyright system there have been plenty of others from sega and nintendo to smaller developers (total biscuit did a video about it a while ago).

As far as i am concerned the whole stike system needs to be changed and i think the burden of proof needs to come from the companies and not the person who did the video as the "fair use" policy is being negated    

Thankfully i have not had any strikes at all though probably because my channel is so small but there is always that fear

What i want to see from streetfighter 5

So it has been announced and just for the ps4 and pc which really surprised me and there were a few very brief glimpses.

Here is what i want to see in the game

1. Fewer characters but more diverse balanced and fun to play in sf4 there were so many characters a lot of shoto characters and other characters who i just did not feel were fun to play or lacked options

2.Stages for each characters and perhaps stuff that happens in the background which reacts to when you play

3.Throws into combos i know this is personal preference but i would love the ability for grappler characters to do a combo which includes a command throw

4. A really good story mode nuff said really

5. Unlockables and secrets i know people like to have everything up front but i love to unlock stuff

6. No on disc dlc and no content that should have been on disc released later on

7. Reduce the charge time for characters with charge based moves again this is a personal thing but i think it would help the pace of the game

STEAM (sales and what i think of it)

I loved pc gaming and i used to buy things on physical media. I did not have broadband till fairly recently i had steam but never really used it then the summer sale happened last year 

And i got a lot of stuff now it did not break the bank but i was so happy getting a collection of games to play and steam being so easy to use and autoupdating i thought why did i never use this before. Games that i would never have been interested in before were so cheap i thought i would give them a try.

So things i like about it first ease of use no need for manual updates.Second the community when a game comes out very soon you will see peoples opinions and it really helps with buying. Mod support which again is simple to use. And my fav offline mode.

Things i am not to keen on though are early access while i appreciate the idea i think there has to be a lot more rules as there is a lot of rubbish out there. I still wish the search options were a little bit better. Also i really really wish that some publishers did not use there own drm on top of the steam (like ubisoft and there uplay) but i know that is not steams fault 

Updates and Patches

So if you have a console or a pc or other technology such as phone and tablets you will be aware of updates and patches. I use steam for pc gaming and every day there is a update of sorts to games which can vary from a small bug fix or a major content update (often with early access).

Now go back many many years i had a load of dvds filled with patches for games which i had to update manually now with steam it is seamless.

And with hardware its the same with consoles like xbox 360 or ps4 you will have updates which again can add stuff and fix bugs sometimes you get a major overhaul with the UI. such as here is the original xbox 360 ui

and here is the most recent version

Now while it can be good it does have downsides firstly if you do not like the changes there is nothing you can do like with the xbox 360 UI i still preferred the original. And with games it can change gameplay in a way you may not like. Second issue far worse sometimes it can cause a problem with the game or a system perhaps erasing saves or a gamebreaking bug or even bricking a system.

Now in principle i have no problems with the way it works but my major concern is will it kill systems from being retro in 10 years could i boot up my ps3 and play a fully patched version of a game such as skyrim

More of the same or something new ?

There are games where i want more and others where i have my fill.You will often see games which have so many sequels (and often released quite quickly after the previous game) that people do get burnt out.

I played through borderlands 2 and i wanted more then there were the dlc which i played through and by that point i had my fill. Then there was the presequel and while i enjoyed the game but it did feel like a offshoot (and was obvious was done by another developer)

Then there is a company like nintendo which has some of my fav franchises like metroid/starfox but since it was so long ago since those games were released and i enjoyed them so much i would love to see something new.

Creating something new is a risk but it can pay off such as the demon souls (And its spiritual sequel dark souls) but i would always say if you are going to make a sequel do not go for a annual thing give the games the time they need because when you create a bad sequel it can kill off the franchise

Brand/company loyalty (or could be classed as fanboy syndrome) i really do not get it

It was back in the early 90s i noticed you had the snes and megadrive wars and you would have people who would ONLY like one or the other

I had a megadrive and a lot of people i knew who also had a megadrive kept saying how bad the snes was back then and i was thinking what are you talking about it had a load of great games ? i think it was just a way to make people really believe the system they chose was the right one. But for me personally i liked both and could appreciate them.

Cut forward to now days and is still happening microsoft/sony , amd/intel ,apple/samsung  and i really do not care about company's or brands if its a gaming console i would get the one with the games i want to play. If it is a phone then it is specs and prices i would look out for.

Now i do have to say i can understand avoiding some brands i will not name the company but i had bought two hardrives made by the same manufacturer and they both died so i avoid them.

In the end i would say do not follow company's or brands just get the stuff that makes sense

why i think mobile hardware needs to concentrate on battery life now

Had a galaxy s4 for a while now and i just use it for calls/internet/camera and the odd game and i have to charge it every day.

Now the specs of a lot of modern phones and tablets you are talking quad core 2ghz + and 3gb of ram and i have to say i really do not see why they need that sort of specs perhaps there might be the odd game but i really cannot see how going online or watching a video needs that.

Every year we get a incremental upgrade but the battery remains the same while there may be improvements to battery life by making it more efficient but battery's remain the same for me personally i would sacrifice the slimness on a phone for a bigger battery.

Though one thing i did wonder i had a old calculator which had a little solar panel in it i wonder why that has not been done on a phone yet sure you may keep your phone in the pocket but taking it out to charge would not be a issue  

what do game characters do when the player is not there ?

I tend to overthink things and was playing doom 3 a while back and i picked up a armor and this hidden wall came down and a imp came out and attacked.

And it just got me wondering what would have been thinking if it was real ?

"i hope someone takes the bait soon i have been here for hours"

" i really need to go to the toilet"

"next time i go into a hidden room i will make sure it has heating"


It is more common with older games but you do get the impression the games revolve around the player character. Can you imagine in zelda the shop keeper thinking "i only have that one customer that keeps me in business"

DRM or no you cannot play the game you paid for

Many many years ago i bought a copy of half life 2 and it was one of the worst experiences i ever had on the pc. Not because of the game which is great but the time it took me to get to the stage of playing the thing.

At the time only had a 56k modem and of course with half life 2 you had to install STEAM which back then was a far different beast. I really do not know how long it took me from actually putting the disc in to actually playing the game but it was a long time and i was getting very annoyed.

Now i have to say if someone had said to me here is a pirate copy of the game on disc you just install and play i would have done it and justified it by saying i already paid for the thing.

Now many years later steam is far better (though now having broadband helps) but there many games where drm is a issue i heard the new dragons age inquisition caused a few problems and then we have the always online issues.

In the end drm affects the people who actually pay for the game make it much friendlier for example instead of having always online perhaps have it check into the servers once every week so if the servers are down you can still play it. 

Sound in games

Have to say i have never been a audiophile while i like a good tune and can appreciate a good sound effect like dooms pump action shotgun sound has always been just there for me

Also it feels like audio has not progressed as much as other things for my pc have not used a sound card for years as i always felt like the onboard sound was good enough for what i need

Though part of that could be down to headphones/speakers often people tell me you get good ones it would make a difference though i just never felt compelled to get them.

However i can say in some games the 3d sound is a gameplay help so you can tell where enemies are coming from

I would be very interested in hearing (pun intented) from people who have a top of the line sound system on how much better it is  

Putting together a desktop PC

So i have been building pc's for many years my first ever pc i built was a athlon xp in about 2003 and since then mostly stuck with amd (more to do with price ) though did build a intel Q6600 and i thought i would give a few things i have learned. now this is mostly from my point of view in that i use the pc 80% for games and the rest video editing

1. Research on the components often picking the wrong parts  can cause problems perhaps a motherboard is not compatible with a certain processor or memory config (i got a 990fx motherboard and went to my local computer shop and bought a random 8gb memory.....turns out it was not compatible. If you are paying for a whole new rig then bundles on trusted web sites might be a good idea

2.Price vs performance for example a 4790k compared to a 4690k in games may only be a few frames faster per second or in handbrake might be a little bit faster but the price difference is over 100 euro so would it be worth paying the extra ? if time is money and its for productivity then probably so but for general use i doubt it ,

3.Do not scrimp though quite a few times i bought that graphics card that was cheap and really it was  not good enough to handle games later on and i really wish i had saved and waited that little bit longer

4. WAIT, that new processor/hard drive/graphics card/motherboard just come out i would always say wait till any issues are known and drivers are updated also hopefully prices come down

Give me a Assassin's creed type of game with no animus stuff

So i was intrigued by these games i thought they looked cool so i picked up the first one i really like history and to be taken back to a time to soak in the atmosphere

However for me and this i understand is a personal preference the Animus stuff really killed the atmosphere in the first game and while that has been cut back in later games it is still there

When you were roaming through a place and then these future elements creep in or you get things like no memory to prevent you seeing a certain area it broke the atmosphere for me but also they acted as obvious ways so you did what the developers wanted.

I would really love that type of a game and the new lord of the rings game which had elements of assassins creed as well as other games like batman really did a great job and i hope with there future games that they really go in a different direction

Lee evans comedy gig dublin

So just got back from seeing lee evans thought i would give my opinions

Weather wise was not the best was raining alot so really had to get taxis to get there thankfully was nice weather after the gig so can walk back to the hotel afterwards

The venue itself (the three arena) was pretty good but the prices for drinks and food was horrendous (6.50 euro for a small bottle of coors light )

Where we were sitting was not the best

But there were worse and it was a good enough view as for the gig itself i thought it was excellent the jokes were constant and he never missed a beat (i always thought with dvds they were edited but after seeing him live perhaps not) there were a lot of laughs and towards the end he really put on a show.And even stayed on to shake hands with people  As my first ever comedy gig i would go back again but i would really want more prime seats.   

What would your dream game be ?

Some of my dream games would be 

A sequel to symphony of the night with HD art and insane amount of 2d animation and detail in characters and backgrounds 

Baldurs gate 3 the second game was awesome and very few games came to that sort of size and depth (i think bioware even stated they would never make a game on that scale again which is a shame )

A massive epic story based rpg but with a combat along the lines of bayonetta or devil may cry 

Pokemon but a wii u version with a huge 3d game world (was thinking like a skyrim/zelda/pokemon hybrid)

A 2d fighting game with epic sized characters amazing 2d animation and really over the top combat (skull girls was pretty close but was thinking more in the lines of the marvel vs capcom )

HD remake of final fantasy VII/vagrant story/dark cloud 2 (and many more rpgs) and i mean a complete redo not just up res

A dynasty warriors style game but with much better combat (like with bayonetta etc) and more of a feeling of a massive campaign where what you do and how well you do impacts on happens in the war.

Colony wars sequel one of the first games i remember where how well you did impacted the mission you did next 

Diablo 3 two years on

Much has changed in the past few years diablo 3 has undergone many changes from the removal of the auction house the addition of the paragon system plus the reaper of souls addon.

It is almost hard to remember what the game was originally like but all i can say it is a far far better game then before  a lot of my original irks still remain though 

Always online should be got rid of (lag is still a issue) and i still would like paragon points put into skills you use (more like in diablo 2) and more hot keys for skills

But the reaper of souls dlc adds a pretty good campaign and the loot drops are now far better also the adventure mode and rifts are quite addictive 

In the end its far beyond the game it was..I would like one more dlc  another campaign to really finish the story off but i would like it if the previous campaigns they added more content like sidequests 

Endings in video games ?

So you have played through a epic 10 hr + game filled with story and cutscenes and the reward at the end a 5 min cutscene

Happened in bioshock and to be honest cannot say i was that happy especially when they spent so long on the narrative and the story it felt like a afterthought.

Now do not get me wrong i am not after a hour long ending movie. I would just like a bit of effort that closes the game nicely  

Bayonetta ended the game really well for me and there are alot of role playing games that have really good endings (though do not get me started on mass effect 3)

All i ask for if you set up for a big story do not skimp on ending it

Things in games i think should be banished

This will be a personal list so may be stuff other people like which i can appreciate  .

QTE (Quick time events) Now they can be done well like in god of war but having games made up by them or as part of what would normally be a cutscene just really is one of my gripes i think with gameplay you need to have variety and with QTE it is either succeed or fail and once memorized just feels like a waste of time.

Really slow tutorials with no option to skip. Many games have that starting level to show you what to do (and often as part of the story which makes things very slow) and worse when you want to play the game again you have to go through that slog.

Unskippable cutscenes . Cannot believe this still happens in 2014.

Winning in the battle then losing in the following cutscene . Happens a lot in blazblue but have seen it in other games but where you completely thrash the enemy then in the cutscene shows you lost.

Pixel art ....when done well it can be good but i have just seen far to many where it just goes for the over the top blocky look i would like the art to at least be up to 8bit/16bit level i would really kill for a hi res fantastic animation art style nowdays.

Invisible walls i think are pretty lazy now and could be hidden with more design

Graphics tearing and stuttering sensitivity

Dunno if i am just unlucky but i notice things like screen tearing and microstuttering a lot in games and they really bug me and if there really bad i just cannot play them.

Screen tearing is where two frames show up on the same screen here is a pic

Now you can fix that by enabling v-sync but then that brings to my next issue

Microstuttering is where even if the frame rate is 60fps on average it is not consistent so you get these noticeable stutters which makes the visuals not as smooth as the number would (happens a lot in crossfire and sli cards )

Now at the moment i have a old monitor and people have been saying g-sync solves the problems though the price is quite a lot and the selection of monitors are a bit limited. Nvidia do a have a free thing called adaptive v-sync though have heard it helps but does not solve the issue. There is the new free sync standard coming but not sure when the monitors will arrive and how it compares to g-sync 

But i would like to ask people if getting a 144hz would be the answer or if g-sync is so much better ? 

DLC or disc locked content

So one of my irks from the previous generation was so called Dlc which was actually already on the disc and you pay money to unlock it.

Happened with quite a few capcom games and many others (if you buy something like a new character or level etc and the download is 100kb then you know it is on disc most of the time)

And it seems to have happened with the new borderlands game which some bright spark has hacked and stuff has been leaked about the baroness class and the clone jack. Now while they may say stuff like there not finished which could well be true i think leaving evidence like that is a pretty stupid thing to do.

However that reminded me of a real annoyance that never got reported basically in borderlands 2 when the 3rd headhunter pack got released it actually had in it included the 4th one in its entire finished form (a month or 2 before it was supposed to be finished )and it could be played through. I think that was the first case of the already on dlc dlc.

In the end all it makes me do is wait for a more complete game later on. Especially when they encourage to pay for a season pass. I mean with a game you know what is in store but a season pass (which is often nearly the same price as the full game) the dlc could be anything from perhaps a few skins or costumes to a few new maps  

Game genres i would love to see make a comeback

So with the space sim coming back i thought i would make a list of other game genres that need to make a comeback.

God games . I really miss games such as populous/power monger/dungeon keeper/startopia etc just the idea of the control you have and the sense of expanding is great. Even the game black and white was awesome (though i thought the control you had was to limited).

On rails space/flying shooters. Games such as starfox and panzer dragoon i really loved them and felt they could be so much more now while crimson dragoon came out recently was not a patch on previous panzer dragoon games. And with star fox the multiple levels and secrets now that would blow my mind.

Pinball. Now while pinball has come back such as the excellent pinball fx series i still feel that that is to firmly rooted in "real world" pinball and with the things they can do in video games could be so much more if anyone remembers the games dragons fury and flipnic on the ps2 will know what i mean.

Military flight sim. There has been a few recently but i am still looking out for that big one that brings me back to the days of playing gunship 2000 and falcon 4.0 which can be accessible but have that massive in depth campaign but also would be cool to have a world war 1 flight sim as i loved the amiga game knights of the sky  

I really really hate cheap jump scares in films and games

Games and films that rely on these are really showing a lack of imagination. The earliest one i remember was the zombie dog jumping through a window in resident evil 1 and then it felt new. But now it has been overdone

I would much rather the atmosphere and the story bring out the scare's a few games create such a atmosphere you always feel unsettled and even if there are no jumps you nerves are on a razer's edge.

I found the jump scares are not really scary but more of a surprise jump as really it could be anything that would pop out even a cute puppy but it would still make you jump.

For me what i find scary is the unseen and the way things can trick your mind into seeing things that may not be there the more psychological scares.

All i can say the the film makers and game makers do not rely on jump scares as once they are seen you know there coming but if you create the right atmosphere and setting it will always last.

Halloween the only time of the year

Where parents get there kids to dress up and beg for sweets from strangers

What would put you off a game that is announced ?

So you catch the first look of a new game or trailer and you think this game looks great the idea is good the setting is awesome but they mention that one thing that just puts you off.

This is purely a subjective list but i will try to explain on why the things put me off

The 3 dreaded letters MMO that really puts me off. I have played Mmo's before and have enjoyed them but i have seen many projects that i just feel would have been alot better without the mmo trappings.

Android/Mobile etc seen quite a few times on kickstarter games that looked promising but were aiming for android or mobile gaming first and that really puts off as i always think they would be cutdown affairs.

Turn based. Now this is a personal thing but i have always preferred real time to turn based game play i think probably more to do with my attention span and patience rather then anything wrong with turn based games.

Multiplayer focused. I think this is a combination of me having poor broadband and the fact that i have to really rely on other people for the enjoyment of a game. I would much rather have a solid single player game.

If anyone has more please comment

Project nimbus kickstarter some early impressions of the alpha build

So while backed i backed a kickstarter project and they have released the alpha version which they update regular.So i thought i would give a few opinions. Now i will stress it is very early and they do take on feedback some things mentioned in the forum have already been implemented which impressed me a lot.

It is a mech shooter where you fly around a specific area and you take down enemies with either machine gun or missiles and a few other weapons aswell. There is a dash mechanic so you can get the enemy quicker or dodge bullets and if you hold shift there is a bullet time mode. It is good fun even in this early version the issues i have had so far are slow frame rates (even lowest details would get about 27fps and i am using a amd 8350 and a 270x) i imagine though it will get optimized later on.

Sometimes the camera can got a bit crazy when you lock onto enemies though pressing Q switches the type of lock on mode

In the recent build they added the choice of multiple mechs in survival mode had a play of a few and will post a vid of that.

As far as what i would like to see well better frame rates /bigger explosions/ perhaps some kind of grading system as that would encourage replaying the game and perhaps secret unlocks linked to that and i am really hoping the mech's all have big differences in the way they play.

The return of the space sim

Ok granted it never really left but with the big names of Star citizen and elite:dangerous they are back in a much bigger way.

When i was a kid i played a little bit of elite but a lot of elite 2 for the amiga it was one of those mind blowing games with a real sense of the scale of space and even landing on planets and all on one floppy disk.

They did disappear for while and the only space games was more focused with levels and missions rather then a open world  like with freespace. But there have been a fair few the past 14 years such as Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos, Terminus and the X series

Now the only one that really got me addicted was the X series mostly X-2 and X-3 (give X-rebirth a wide miss for the moment).They got alot right with ships upgrades and trading but just did not get the open space feel as it felt like a series of sectors and they needed a lot of hours put in.

With star citizen and elite coming out they look really promising (And really hoping to try the Elite beta soon) what i really really hope though is they give you plenty to do.Having a open universe is great but not if there is very little to do

Also if they do well hopefully will mean we will get a lot more of that type of game.

Secrets in games

The memories of playing doom and coming across this secret door with a weapon that normally you could not get till later on was such a thrill and really missing in games now. Was playing the remake of shadow warrior and came across a secret and i thought oh i forgot about secret areas as i see them so rarely.

Now secrets are either unlockables or hidden items you can find that have no real use and do not feel really substantial i mean even in the original doom there were entire secret hidden levels to play

Now do not get me wrong there are games out there that have some decent secrets i was playing bayonetta and came across some decent ones but while playing bayonetta and just exploring that modern games in many cases are so linear and narrow that i never even thought about exploring for hidden stuff. And RAGE had some really cool stuff 

All i can ask please bring back more secrets and easter eggs in games

Kingdom come: Deliverance alpha

So for backers the released a extremely early alpha footage and i have posted some footage which i will post a link

And even though it is literally a taster it is showing a lot of promise graphics wise it looks great even on low detail though prepare for a fair bit of popup and of course there are bugs and crashes as a alpha build but as far as the basics they have a solid foundation.

I almost find it unfair to really give any feedback as it is just a tester with one basic quest a but what i hope for is plenty of stuff to do plenty of quests even better graphics and a awesome combat system with great enemy blow reactions.If they can pack plenty of history into it i will be happy though i am not sure if this will be based on a real place and people or if they will create there own.

Will probably give more feedback when more and more stuff is released  here is some footage

Does practice always make perfect ?

I have been playing games for years and have always been told practice makes perfect. But in my case that never happens i always seem to reach a ceiling in my skill level which is far from perfect.

Best way i can describe it is with fighting games most have challenge modes where you have to do a certain combos and in most i can get to around 60% of them done but then no further no matter how hard i practice

With online fights i see my self as not to bad but again i do reach a certain level and get no further

Now is it to do with my reactions or do i have to put even more time into it ? i am not to sure but in a few months i will not be working so i will get to put time into my games so will hope to test it out and see if can get above this ceiling  

The lessons to be learned from the failed Kickstarter game Human resources

So past few hours it was announced they were cancelling there kickstarter for the game human resources and i wanted to give a few opinions on why i think it failed.

Firstly and i think the biggest reason is that  they had a lot of good will previously.There game planetary annihilation did very well on kickstarter thought i have yet to play it but from what i read a lot of people are not happy with it so far was missing features and it still felt very unfinished even though it was now a full release. And i suspect that put people off for there next game.

Secondly they really should have clarified more about how planetary annihilation was going to progress if human resources was successfully funded. In the kickstarter for torment tides of numera they had said that only the preproduction part of the company would work on that (as they had little to do) while the rest would finish work on wastelands 2

Thirdly comments and feedback from the developers seem to be fairly sporadic and while it appeared they seem to reply to positive comments. When there were negative comments (even if it is constructive ) they seemed to skip over it.

Finally no real single player mode and a always online connection for me that was the reason i cancelled my pledge everyone can play single player games without issue usually to have a decent multiplayer game does require a decent connection which not everyone has. And i would have thought if you want to get as many people to buy into a game you need to get as many people on boards as possible. Also them saying using there always online system cuts down on cost and i am really not sure how thats possible as you would need more servers


It is a shame really as i really liked the idea and the look i am hoping it comes back and i plan to give planetary annihilation a try.

Can too much challenge take the fun out of a game ?

So now when people say challenging games the dark souls/demon souls games pop up.Now i did complete demon souls but dark souls pushed my patience to far. And it got me thinking why are some games a challenge but fun and other games are a challenge but frustrating.So some of the stuff i personally find frustrating.

Technical issues. Now this is what the developer may not have intended but can include bad camera or unresponsive controls had the camera issue in quite a lot of games.

You should have known that was coming....if you are a mutant that can predict the future.Now some games you can be cautious and it will work but there are some games where you die because something happened you could not have possibly known in advance the trial and error approach sure you will remember for the future but chances are more will come up again.

Superhuman enemy AI. Happens a lot in fighting games where the enemy seems to counter every attack in a way that no human could.

Grinding, A good game should not need you having to grind to increase your stats so you can beat a enemy.If its a action game your skill should be able to win (i would always say for a decent action game if you are good enough you should be able to complete a game without taking a hit). And perhaps a turn based game the strategy should be enough to make up the difference.

Time sink.This is one i really hate basically a enemy that takes so long to beat that dying and having to do it again is really frustrating


if anyone has got more examples let me know

Publisher NDA's and embargo's

So this generation and previous generation the thing i have seen coming up are non disclosure agreements and embargo's. Basically from what i can gather sites and magazines get early access to a game but that is providing they do not disclose information until a specific date. The idea (supposedly) was so no specific site or publication had the advantage of a early review and everything was equal.

Nice in theory not that good in practice firstly when the embargo ends can be a big giveaway.If for example the embargo ends on the release date of the game or worse later on you can usually guess they do not have much faith in the game. Second if a certain site or magazine has a earlier then the rest review you can guess there was a specific deal done with them and i would be very wary of there opinion.

I do have a concern on how much hold a publisher has on the sites if for example they give a bad review would they blacklist them with holding future games ?. If a site was under that much pressure i would imagine it would be really hard to be unbiased.

Its even happen with youtuber's recent one was the middle earth lord of the rings game if you wanted a early access to it you needed to comply with a huge list of demands (Rather then requests) like for example not mentioning any negatives.

Have to say it has changed my buying habits and i no longer preorder games at all i wait until i get variety of opinions before i put down my money. I think in the end publishers need to give a lot more leeway it would be fairer for the consumers aswell as the reviewers.

Resolution and frame rates

With all this talk about resolutions and frame rates i thought i would give my two cents about it. Recently my 1080p monitor broke and i had to use a old monitor i had which was 720p and to be honest after a period of time i got used to it. Now granted when i get a new monitor i will probably notice the difference but for now its good enough.

Frame rates though that i do notice a lot more i really notice low frame rates and things like microstuttering (where even if the frame rate is say a 60fps but its not a constant speed) i really love a smooth frame rate in games i find it makes the experience better (also because if there is more frames per second the controls can be more responsive

Ubisoft saying with the new assassins creed having a 30fps to make a more cinematice experience to me is like peter jackson saying the hobbit is 48ps to have better gameplay. In my mind i do not play games solely for the cinematic feel.

In the end for me though frames per second is not the be and end all as long as the game plays well enough that is good for me

Developer feedback done right

I have to give major kudos to the makers of project nimbus now in its alpha stage and they have a forum on steam and they really are taking on feedback. One bug was mentioned and a few hours later a patch came out fixing it 

Some of the requested stuff has already been implemented though still say it is early days and there is still a lot of work to such as optimization and polishing.


You really get a feeling that you are interacting with the developers i really hope it gets early access as i just do not have the time to put into the game to give more feedback 

The waiting game

I used to be the type of gamer that would get the stuff at launch but past few years i have learnt to be a lot more patient. The reason being most of the time the game at launch is the buggiest most expensive and has the least content of what the game will eventually become.

There are a load of games from borderlands 2 to skyrim and fighting games like blazblue to MMO'S such startrek. With either content updates or game of the year editions with all patches and dlc or just a quasi sequel if you can wait you can get a better game.

With stuff like early access it really often pays to wait as some games may never actually finished and how gutting would it be to spend the money only never to get a completed product.

I was really really glad i held out on getting GTA V for previous gen i knew it would get a pc version and while the wait has been long hopefully it would be worth it .

RTS games with the emphasis on the Strategy part

i grew up on real time strategy games but i noticed with quite a few of them there is not that much emphasis on the actual strategy most of the time it boils down to building and researching as fast as possible to try an overrun the enemy.

First time i remember using strategy and it worked was playing this game cossacks and using the terrain and the height to my advantage a  squad of riflemen took out a much larger squad because they could shoot further.

Now there are more strategic games such as total war series, company of heroes etc.

I would love to hear from people stories about when strategy paid off and the perhaps more traditional resource collecting games that have a fair amount of strategy rather then base rushing.

Developers that listen to there fans

Have been following two games one was Skullgirls which had a full release then a successful indie gogo campaign and the second was Project nimbus a kickstarter funded game which is now in beta.

Now what has impressed me about these two games is that you can interact and feedback to the developers and they really take the comments on board.

And i do find that missing now days with a lot of companies it feels like there is a barrier or you get lost in the crowd it could have something to do with the size of them and perhaps that the smaller companies are closer to the fans

Will say about diablo 3 it does appear they have took a lot of the feedback aboard and the game is now a lot better (still no offline mode though grrr) so that is a start but i have seen some official forums for a recent kickstarter game where any negative feedback is not acknowledged at all (even if it is valid constructive criticism

When it comes to crowdfunding constant communication i feel is important and they really need the goodwill to be successful.But it is also important to the bigger companies make sure that the constructive feedback can get to the developers even via things like polls

early version compared with full release

Was reading some comments about a game which is in a testing phase at the moment and people were of course commenting on the footage and when people mentioned negative's the response was "its a test/early version"

But that got me thinking if a game is released either in a beta/alpha/demo/test release how often are they different to the final product ?.And for me personally with the limited games i have played i have not played many early versions which does not give me a basis on what the final game will be like. The only game i remember playing was timeshift for the pc when i played the demo the game was took back into development and redone so the final version was very different.

There have been games such as killer instinct and streetfighter x tekken were the first vids i saw the game was changed a fair bit though i suspect even with those early versions you would still get a feel of a game.

And of course we have games like duke nukem forever and aliens colonial marines where the final version is different.

But i would really love to know for the people who play far more games then i would what games have you played where the final version was a lot different ?

Crowdfunding and games

I am a big fan of crowd funding and thankfully been lucky in that all projects i have backed have not fallen down.

I do think it is a good way to get the type of games i enjoy but really have not much chance of coming out any other way

There have been games that i thought would do ok but have done really well and others that i really thought would do amazingly well but barely get funded or not at all.

I think in the end it boils down to these points

Genre you get that right and you will do well for example kingdom come was a skyrim type of rpg but without the magic and dragons and it really hit a chord for a lot of people. I love fighting games and skullgirls did well but there were others i really wish did better

The people involved.If you have the right people involved with the game it makes a huge difference the biggest examples are double fine and the game broken age and the mighty no 9 with Keiji Inafune. the history really helps

Do a really good intro vid ideally with gameplay footage or at the least perhaps test footage

Set a sensible budget and break down how much it will cost to make the game and research it


Now for things i really hate in crowd funding

Stretch goals. Not a fan of these reason being i want the game the best it can be. Goals for 3ds version or a original sound track cd are nice but if it takes away from making the game better that i do not like. And the fact is i do not like it if there is a stretch goal i really want and the game does not make it.

It is a risk i would always say look up the people involved see there track record use a site like http://cliqist.com/ which would often highlight some potentially risky projects

Do not start a project where the game you will get is only a demo or beta version and not a full game i have seen a few projects start off like that and they really struggled

Now this is a personal thing but i see a game and the idea looks amazing and promising but then i see the words "for android/ios" and my heart just sinks i always feel those games are going to be simplified and cut down to a huge extreme to work on mobile

Is the retro look getting.....retro ?

Now i will say graphics do not make the game but over the past few years there have been many many games going for that retro pixel style.Now as a design aesthetic it can work i really liked shovel knights for example as it really looked and felt like a homage to the NES.

But for quite a few games it just seems as a way to make it cheaper to make and the fact is quite a few games do not look as good as games made in the 8 and 16 bit era. But they just do not really have there own style as such. I think it is just getting overloaded with that type of look and really i just want to see games the best they can be. If the pixel look is just purely because that is the in thing and is not a homage i see that as really downgrading i would love to see the games with hires art with awesome animation as well

Are season passes and dlc going to far?

If you want to view this blog please send me $5 or if you want access to all future blogs season pass is $20

Seriously though many games now you will get the option of season passes or preorder on the day dlc. And often different retailers will each have there own dlc so you always get that feeling of the game being complete

For me dlc has to have plenty of content decent price and well after the game has been released (and does not feel like it was cut out of the game)i think borderlands 2 did it right to a degree with its first batch though i was not a fan of the headhunters 

The idea of season passes though i am not a fan off just purely on the basis that unlike preordering the full game with season passes the quality could vary quite a lot you might just end up paying for a few multiplayer maps rather then any significant content.

Played The Sims 4 and it really felt like stuff was cut out or left out with planned dlc coming up to fill the gap later 

It is really annoying but i fear it will get worse but i would say champion the company's that do it well 

Why i think killer instinct for the xbox one could be the best fighting game ever

I need to clarify two points though first i have not played it yet so just from what i have seen and heard and second i am saying it COULD be not that it will be.

So things i do hate in fighting games while i love combos many games have huge combos and deal a lot of damage (in marvel vs capcom 3 you get hit you can lose a character) and you can do nothing about it. Also in fighting games you find what works and stick with me so there is not much variety and with some characters you find something that works to well and there is not way around it. And finally characters. Some games just have characters that are not fun to play and you always have tiers

So from what i can gather with killer instinct there is always options. With huge combos you can break them and the mind games with counter breakers looks insane.

It also appears there is always a way to break through a opponents spamming certain moves there is a way to break through them  

As far as characters go i do often see a mix of characters played on channels i think having the smaller roster is to there advantage as it makes it easier to alter and balance.

So it looks all promising so far and i cannot wait to play it i just hope they continue with the balances and improvements 

The only things i would ask for are more epic ultras i would like them more over the top and more destruction to the backgrounds and effects especially if you did a double ultra. And i would like to see a 5th hidden ender for each character perhaps after a counter breaker and to make them a little bit special perhaps instead of having just one trait it could have two like for example a juggle and battery at the same time.   

What got me back into fighting games

Fighting games are one of my fav genres and had gone off them for a while but i have to say there were a few things that brought me back into them and i will list them out

Maximilian: his videos were so hype and i love the assist me vids they really brought me back into fighting games

Evo :These tournaments have just been getting better and better to begin with they were fairly small but now they have got to a epic scale and always have great moments

Acidglow. Came across his channel when i was looking for killer instinct guides. Loves his fighting games and does a lot of content

Vesper arcade. Would do a lot of videos especially when it comes to mission modes for the games but what i like was he would show footage of his hands on the controller so you can see it

@ImKnomad@RealHKsmash @MrGrimmmmz  i put these three together because i came across them recently around the same time and they all really love killer instinct and do great vids 

If anyone has got any other shoutouts let me know ?

Life and youtube

So been doing a you tube channel only really started it properly late last year finding time to do it was hard as holding down a fulltime job. Now the company announced redundancy's for end of November so after that i plan to give youtube more attention and get the stuff i need to make better and longer videos.

It is still going to be just a hobby if anything can come from it great but i will still be job hunting. But i think i need to focus on what my channel will be about at the moment it really comes across as fairly random as has games/pc hardware/music and various other things.

Reviewing pc hardware is very difficult because of the expense involved and the fact for example if i get a new graphics card the only thing i can compare it to is my old one.

Games should be alot more straightforward though can only do pc stuff will need additional hardware for the consoles

So if anyone has any tips and what hardware i would need to make better vids i would be greatful

www.youtube.com/eastyy

Does anyone really care about resolution in games ?

For me it would not make a huge difference as i care more about frame rates then resolution.

Since my pc monitor packed in i have been using a old 1280 x 1024 and i have been finding it pretty good. Games look  good enough as i need and of course getting decent frame rates of course i will get a better monitor at some point as the screen quality and refresh rate are not as good as i like

But i think the resolution comparison between xbox one and ps4 games i really do not think i would notice a huge difference

Being a casual hardcore gamer

What i mean by that is i play hardcore games such as diablo 3/ultimate marvel vs capcom 3/blazblue devil may cry/king of fighters series etc but only casually .I rarely ever put the time into the games to get really good such as competition level in fighting games. now one reason is time but the bigger reason is my skill level i always reach a point where i can not get any further no matter how much i try.


Best way i can describe it in many fighting games there are challenges where you have to do certain combos and i can do usually around 60% of them and even then it would take me ages

Now in a few months i will be out of a job so will then see if i can improve my gaming skills as i have a youtube channel and really want to make a go of it

4k pc gaming needs to evolve a lot quicker

I have been pc gaming for years and only in the past few years went into 1080p now my system is not to bad and only a few games would struggle at full detail.But at 4k my system would not have a chance and the price of the hardware needed to run would be huge.

Rumors of the next batch of graphics cards are coming in but i think they will just be a incremental increase as they usually are no matter how much new technology phrases they may spout 

For me the hardware needs to get a lot faster and cheaper otherwise i fear it will be left behind.If  you have a titan or a 295x2 it may run stuff at 4k but most people will not want to spend over a grand on just a graphics card 

Will we ever have the PERFECT console launch in the next 20 years

Since the 32/64bit era every console launch seems to be a bit of a damp squib with some issue of sorts so for my perfect launch this is what i would like

1.Be a reasonable price current consoles at 400+ euro at launch that is a bit to much especially when you do not get games with it.

2.Well made reliable good looking  hardware. So consoles that have small enough form factor does not get to hot and make much noise. I would also like the choice for discs as either tray loading or top loading, And of course the joypad being comfortable and well designed

3. GAMES possible the most important thing now many consoles have perhaps 2 or 3 good games but i do not want just that i want 10 or more i would much rather be spoilt for choice and also for varying genres so it covers all tastes

4.Backwards compatibility it would have been really nice to have xbox one to play 360 or even original xbox games and the ps4 to play ps1/2/3 games would have made things a lot neater but what irks me more is i believe they did not do it so they can sell you the games later on. Have to say kudos for nintendo for the wii-u running wii games (would have been nice if it could play game cube though)

There are just a few things i would like to see

Microsoft buying mojang....a good idea yes the price nooo

Ok over 2 billion that is a lot of money with that they could created several gaming studios and create some great triple A games and god knows how many lower budget games.

But to buy a studio that while has created one of the successful games ever does not have a track record yet and the rumor that the creator markus persson will not stay after is not a really good sign.

Thing is for the xbox one microsoft need the exclusives (as do the other consoles) and i believe they need to spend there money wisely

I always thought they would have bought double helix and iron galaxy that while more niche would have just been part setting up there own studios the rumor was that amazon probably spent less then 100 million on double helix

For both the xbox one, ps4 and slightly less so the wii u there is a bit of a gaming drought each company has a stack load of IP's but just not the games released.

The way i see it they should hire the right people and set up studios and get them stuck into developing the games. Buying studios is well and good but make sure they have a track record first

Why i hardly play multi player

I do play the odd game now and then but usually i do not. The last big multiplayer i did put a lot of time into was world of warcraft

Which i did enjoy but thinking about it the actual game play is not that good. If you took the game play mechanics and put it into a single player game it would not be that fun at all. As it rely's and has been designed on the multiplayer component. Also the enjoyment is based on the connection you have and the people you play with (taking the mick out newer people calling them noob's etc does not help)

But i think with a lot of games such as the call of duty series/Destiny and many others they concentrate so much on the online aspect that it takes away from the single player. Now EVERYONE can play single player and only a certain percentage can play multiplayer so i would have always thought get the single player done to a high level and then do the multiplayer

Now granted no matter how good the single player system is the multiplayer will last longer but i just do not want the single player as a after thought.

You know when you are playing games to much when in real life......

1. You look at the ground and think great textures there

2. Seeing a lamp post and think the lighting effects are good

3. See a shadowed area and think "stealth"

4. See the corner of a building and think cover and peeking around the corner

5. Watching boxing/UFC and when they land series of punches your mind pops up COMBO

6. Temptation to break a vase or a box as you think LOOT

Does always online for games affect you ?

I have been a gamer for many years and till about  early 2005 i was still stuck in the 56k era with the joys of trying to install half life 2 (which took many hours to download from steam) but then praise be i finally got broadband it was not perfect but i could play games like world of warcraft and play other games online.

But in the past few years i have noticed a trend with games having to be online even for single player. Now my problem is while  having to have a reliable stable constant connection which mine is not so some games are unplayable for a period of time but also you have to rely on another company's servers being reliable and often you will get downtime

I will always say single player games should be given the offline option even if meant perhaps just logging in once a week as "drm" but you will get people who do not have the broadband connection so games they can never play.

Will retro gaming die out ?

So i can pick up a snes or a megadrive and any game and play it . Now though not only do you have physical but also digital release and even in the previous gen it had caused problems for example on xbox live doom was removed (though added later on) but the game outrun was permanently removed due to licensing. And it got me thinking some games may never become retro servers will eventually be switched off and games will be removed.

But it is not only digital only games but physical media as well  let us for example say in 10 years i fancy playing skyrim on the xbox 360 i can put in the disc and play the game but it had a lot of major bugs but if the servers are down i cannot patch it so while i can play it is not the best it could be
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With games becoming more and more reliant on being online (such as diablo 3) even for single player there is a danger that in many years some of the games i play now i would not be able to play then.

i really hope they come up with ways so i can always play the games i love and at there best