Mass Defect

When it comes to the mainstream media the events of this past week have proven more than ever that as a medium there is a long way to go before video-games become acceptable and talked about with the same level of criticism and knowledge that movies and music currently enjoy. In case you missed it the whole furore involves the game Mass Effect, Bioware’s epic sci-fi role playing game which sees you create a character and move through a huge and detailed universe building relationships, solving puzzles and becoming immersed in one of the most well crafted and involving stories yet found in a videogame. Oh and yes there is a short two minute non-controllable sex scene which can be a part of the story. The horror. Never mind the fact that the scene in question is far more tasteful than 90% of even pre-watershed TV, or that it is a scene crucial to the plot and characters, or the mere fact that it is something that has to be worked towards through genuine affection and relationships between characters, the media has chosen to side with the usual uneducated ‘video-games are corrupting our children’ line of enquiry, the typical knee jerk reaction to something they have little experience of or understand, and which leads to these scare mongering stories. This little debacle started out a couple of weeks ago with an extremely uneducated and alarmist post from political blogger Kevin McCullough who posted an article on the net basically condemning mass effect as videogame porn and condemning videogames in general, his post containing so many inaccuracies it was almost laughable. He later posted an apology of sorts for the misinformation (after the massive gamer backlash) but never fully rescinded his position. Naturally such an inflammatory piece garnered much attention in the media and gaming sites, however things dies down a bit until the other night when a fox special news report was broadcast focusing once again on Mass Effect, the staggering fact being that this national news broadcaster chose to re-iterate many of Kevin McCullough’s inaccuracies in a fluff piece that soon become clear had no bearing on reality. Videogame expert Geoff Keighley was brought in to bring some facts to the proceedings but that the piece itself made it to air or warranted such attention boggles the mind. You can watch the whole exchange here and there is a much better analysis and transcript of the piece over at Bill Harris’s blog here, it’s an excellent read and sums up my feelings 100% (but in better words.) Thankfully today EA have issued a statement and a letter to Fox news stating their disappointment and seeking an apology, whilst they are often seen as the corporate baddies of the videogame world this time I am right behind them, this kind of misinformed tripe needs to be monitored and corrected and the people responsible held accountable. All such news pieces do are bring the industry into disrepute and add more stains to an already blotchy history, and of course peddle misinformation to the general public who, shockingly, rely on the national news for information. If such blatant untruths were spoken about a book or film there would be an outrage, but somehow gathering people who have played the game in question to host a debate on it is acceptable and normal? I am glad however at the storm that the games playing public has caused around this issue and can only hope that it leads to sensible and well reasoned discussion in the future, there may well need to be questions raised about targeting games to children and the content of such titles, but with more violence and sexuality than ever before available on the internet and on TV it seems mightily hypocritical, not to mention ironic, that the finger ends up pointing at one of the few modern games to really try and push the medium as an art form and whose structure and ambition should be lauded as one of the best example of recent years of videogames finally growing up.

Strike!

It may have come to your attention that in the US at the moment there is a writers strike on. Now equally this may well have passed you by, but if you don’t know much about it then ponder the fact that a few months down the line and the effects will be felt by all. Currently all members of the WGA (writers Guild of America) are on strike, they will produce no writing during this time. Of course this has led to productions being shut down of many of TV’s big shows, 24 has already announced it has been postponed indefinitely and will not start in January as usual, writers also from Lost and nearly every major TV drama have joined in meaning that while the companies may have a certain amount of materials stored up, if the strike continues for a while this will soon run out and the lack of programming on TV will be all too obvious during much of next year.

So what’s the fuss all about? Why are the writers striking? Well many much more knowledgeable bloggers than myself have answered this very question eloquently and I shall link to a number of articles on this subject in a minute. But in layman’s terms, and from my limited understanding, it comes down to the subject of residuals and the internet. Currently a writer is paid in two ways, they get an initial fee for a piece of work and in exchange for signing the work over to the studios (so they become the recognised legal authors) they are entitled to residuals. These are basically royalties, the same as what artists get for music and authors get for books. So every time a TV episode is repeated on TV, or bought on DVD the writers gets a small share of the money (currently 0.3%). The systems works well because the media is an uncertain beast, when writing a pilot for a TV series or a screenplay both the writer and the production company have no idea how big (if any) a success the finished product will be. Consequently a better received, and thus promoted, watched and sold, product leads to more money both for the studio and the writer, the risk of the new remains but it is now shared. After all if there was simply a set fee it would unfair for a studio to continue to make millions from the property years later and have the writer lumped with nothing.

The internet is where the problem lies. You see the future will see convergence between TV and the internet and eventually the two will become one. Already stations are streaming whole episodes and series on their websites and even offering them for download from places like iTunes, and yet the writers have no residuals when it comes to the internet. The production companies claim these streaming broadcasts are merely ‘promotions’, and yet they feature adverts (which make the studio’s money). The strike has happened now because writers got stung a few years back with the proliferation of DVD sales, whereby the studios were very reluctant to negotiate a residuals deal. Rather than make the same mistake twice the guild has decided to sort out internet residuals now, rather than down the line. You see already it is costing money, by streaming episodes or offering them for download the networks don’t need to repeat old shows anymore, in realty they’ve found a way of bypassing the writer and keeping all the profits to themselves. The studios argue that they don’t make any money off of the internet, an argument that is irrelevant especially as residuals deal with a portion of the profits made from a property, hence if the studio makes a loss, the writer doesn’t get anything. The trouble is neither side wants to budge and in the long run it is the viewers who will pay. Writers get a rough enough deal as it is sometimes, they also have pretty amazing jobs, but anyone who views them as whining spoilt rich kids needs to get acquainted with the way things really work. It is a justified and long established idea that creative artists are entitled to royalties and for the muti-billion dollar networks who already control so much of the media and even the production of that media to play the innocent victim in all this is unacceptable.

A deal will be done, and at the end of the day the writers probably will get slightly screwed over once again, but the strike is as much about the result as it is taking a stand. It is heartening to see so many actors and producers supporting the writers, they are the lifeblood of the entertainment industry and are so easily overlooked. If someone asked you to name 10 TV writers could you? I think even I might struggle. Writers fade to the background, many intentionally, but they deserve the proper credit and reward for the job they do. From these people come all the thousands of hours of free entertainment we enjoy every year, some of which affect us in real and life changing ways. Without the writers there would be no TV, and if things continue the way they are, the executives are going to find this out sooner rather than later.

If this story interests you at all then do read up on the stories below, I frequent some of the blogs and they are always entertaining and insightful and, being an (aspiring) writer myself something to look up to and learn from.

The Artful Writer – Blog of Craig Mazin screenwriter of Scary Movie 3 and 4, his site is a veritable goldmine of info on the WGA and the strike and is well worth reading.

John August – Screenwriter of Big Fish and Go details more about residuals and the strike on his blog.

John Rogers – Screenwriter and TV writer whose blog constantly makes me laugh has a lot on the strike as well.

Ken Levine – Legendary writer of shows such as Cheers, Mash and Fraiser keep daily updates of the strike amongst his other humorous posts.

Josh Friedman - Elusive scribe has his own unique take on events, read if you dare.

Article by Damon Lindeloff, one of the key writers from Lost on the strike.

Reviews, scores and sequels – far from perfect?

There has been a air of muttering and discussion in the gaming community recently with regards to game reviews and scores, in my opinion very welcome discussion as to whether the current model and system is effective and accurate and indeed a fair way of rating and judging the plethora of new releases that hit the shelves every week, some with every increasing hype and publicity surrounding them. Now that we are in November there are two months coming up packing to the gills with big releases, and that’s after such big titles as Halo 3, Bioshock, Metroid Prime 3, Heavenly Sword, Guitar Hero 3 and the Orange Box have already been released within the last couple of months. With all these titles competing for your hard earned money reviews will play a big part in many people’s purchasing decisions, so what exactly is the problem with the way things are at the moment? Well one of the big things people are quite rightly contesting is the scoring systems favoured throughout the industry. Typically games tend to be rated either out of 10 or 100 (as a percentage) but when it comes down to it who decides if a game is worth 86 or 58 or even quite how a 77 game is better than a 76 game? Personal choice? Along with these rather meaningless numbers that can be associated with a game, comes the belief that anything below 70-ish is rubbish. This comes from having too wide a spread of numbers, logically a 50 game should be average, not bad but not great either, however in reality these games are marked in the 60s or 70s. Very few games tend to score below 50, So why have these numbers as an option? Even the magazines and sites that score out of 10 don’t avoid this problem, naturally a game rated 5 will be seen as bad, and best avoided, so average games scores get a bump as a result. Then comes along the issue of perfection. Scoring on a numerical scale implies that a perfect score is possible, it also implies that a game that received this mark is therefore perfect. This is, of course, a load of old rubbish, there is no such quantifiable thing as a perfect game, no such measures exist to mark such a thing, even without such heavy weighing factors as personal opinions there are millions of variables which cannot be measures in such a way. I mean what in life can be? Have you ever had a perfect meal? A perfect date? The term can only exist in quantifiable situations, a perfect score on a maths test for example, a perfect score on the snooker table etc. But while games remain scored this way reviewers will be reluctant to hand out 10s, equally a scoring system out of 100 will never give out the 100 score, meaning that there are scores that will never be used as part of the rating system, it’s crazy. Logically a 10 game should be a rare occurrence, but not impossible. A game that stands head and shoulders above others, that represents the pinnacle of the genre or platform should be applauded as such. One solution is to adapt a similar rating to that used with relation to films, a scar system out of 5, as some have commented a pictorial system doesn’t imply perfection and therefore is less psychologically limiting. However many would argue that scoring at all does games a disservice, how often have you looked a review score first without paying attention to the writing of the review? After 500 words of carefully selected prose, all that matters to some is the number at the end, similarly after years of hard work and thousands of man hours poured into a 20+ hour gaming experience, for many people it boils down to the review score. In this respect I have sympathy, gaming has become such a lucrative hobby and with so many games vying for your attention often review scores are all they have. But equally this leads to rushed reviews, heavily weighted scores for the most hyped games and a general unbalancing of the system. Big magazines and websites fight to get their reviews of the big games out first scrambling to deadlines, are they giving the games a proper run through? How can you just such things as the online service and longevity of the ingame features when you have a couple of days to complete the game and get your review up? Yet these articles are so sought after, and so lucrative that the cycle continues. Unfortunately because of the nature of the beast review scores are here to stay, like them or not. Without a measurable way of rating a game the power would be lost. Central to much of this debate, and what certainly sparked these thoughts in my own mind was the subject of sequels. Unlike films, where sequels are often viewed as inferior and money driven, gaming suits itself to sequels and they have been, in one form or another, it’s backbone for many years now. Yet as new generations of games roll around there are cries to old days of innovation and creativeness, but what many fail to realise is that such a leap is not possible any more. How can any game simulate the jump from 2D to 3D. From pong to Mario? When any art form is in its infancy the leaps are huge and revolutionary, but become less as time progresses. Film critics do not criticise films because they fail to replicate the same sense of shock as the first time they saw Star Wars, or watching a film in colour, or with sound? So why do a lot of game reviews begrudge such a thing? A recent review of Mario Galaxy in Games TM magazine praises the game highly, in fact I spotted barely a negative comment, so why did it not garner a maximum score? What else would it have needed to do to make this jump? The review claims that it is more of an evolution than a revolution – similar claims were recently made of Halo 3 recently. But what else could the developers do? There may well have been justifiable reasons for the score the game received but they were not clear in the review. Sometimes it feels like sequels are actually punished for building on work established in their predecessors, especially if their predecessors are celebrated. No game can replicate what Mario 64 brought to the table, so why mark them down for this? If Galaxy can improve this, add new ideas and show genuine innovation and be celebrated as a better game in itself, why should it be marked down? Surely it should be marked up? I admit that games should be punished for not showing innovation and merely being carbon copies of what has gone before (many EA sports game spring to mind) but the notion that a game could never score as highly as Zelda Ocarina of Time or Mario 64 purely because they are not as revolutionary now is ridiculous and basically trips up all new games at the first hurdle by saying ‘no matter how good you are, you can’t match up to this’ which limits the reviewers opinion from the off. A game that is a sequel needs to be looked at in light of its place in a series, but also as a game in its own right. If the previous game had not existed, what would you think of it? Without the hype and the previews and the claims of the developer, how do you feel when you play the game? How does it compare to similar titles? If the bias of the familiar is clouding out your opinion, ask yourself whose fault that is, the games or your own expectations? This is not an issue that will go away any time soon, but in the future when looking at games, take time to read the reviews, read a few not just one and from a variety of sources. Ultimately games are to be enjoyed, worrying about which games are better than others, or certain games place in the all time rankings is missing the point, as I have said before the games are meant to be enjoyed, savoured and appreciated and with such rich picking this winter, there should be plenty out there for everyone, regardless of the reviews.

Where Nintendo is going wrong

But that’s the wrong title, you protest, surely you mean Sony! ‘Where Sony is going wrong’. Can’t be that hard to mix up the two names, can it? Well no, and I have in fact typed the correct one, for, whilst Nintendo are proving to be very successful at the moment, and Sony have had what the very generous would call a ‘difficult year’, that does not exclude them from the mistakes and pratfalls that befall all big companies. In fact were the DS and the Wii not proving to be so popular there may be some serious questions being asked of the Kyoto giant, rather than rapturous praise. However don’t get me wrong, I think Nintendo have been very clever and made a lot of good and wise decisions in the past few years, they have somehow turned around a flagging business into the model of success and done so without seemingly breaking a sweat. Through this they have remained humble and true to their core values, backing away from the proverbial slagging match that becomes technological warfare amongst the cutting edge. The fact still remains though that the console race, as many dub it, is far from over and there are several areas that Nintendo have been slow to correct or act on, that could hurt them in the future. Once the Wii is no longer new and exciting it will need a strong foundation, Nintendo’s job is to build that now for when the inevitable come-down occurs. In this article I will look at some of the questionable decisions of the past year or so, but also at action the company should be taking, but is not, remember a mistake can be one of omission as well as perpetration. 1. Attracting 3rd Parties Nintendo have always struggled in their relationship with third party developers. The reason for this is that historically Nintendo gamers have tended to buy Nintendo products over those from other companies. This trend was obvious back in the days of the N64 and continued throughout the life of the Gamecube despite many exclusive and top quality titles being released. However it must be noted that amongst these were an awful lot of rubbish games as well. Still the fact was that for whatever reason multiplatform games sell better on other systems, which led many third parties to discredit the Wii early on. When you are next in town take a look at the Wii games shelf. See all those party games, ports of older games and rubbish looking film tie ins? That is the result of this discredit. As soon as the Wii was proving to be a massive success third parties wanted in, unfortunately because they were late to the game, and making games takes quite a long time, many rushed ports and half finished games to shelves, desperate for some of the success. However it hasn’t exactly worked out for them, being that consumers can be more wary than some think. Charging full price for a port of a PS2 game is beyond cheeky and Wii has been sullied by these bad games. Still Nintendo should have been more vocal from the start in attracting these developers. While it is true that some companies only started developing for the Wii when it was launched others were on board beforehand, but Nintendo were slow releasing development kits and licenses and offered little help. Recently they have been improving third party relations but it’s a two sided coin. Third parties need to ensure they release quality products on the Wii, but Nintendo need to support them, advertise them and the public need to buy them. Once third party games starts to sell more will come, if the dearth of multiplatform releases with badly implanted control remains, then Nintendo, despite the huge console sales, could still be struggling software-wise. 2. Growing the attach rate So how does a console that has outsold everything consistently all year, struggle to sell games? Well it comes down to attach-rate. This is the number of games per console that is sold. This is a good figure to be able to see whether people, after buying a console, are keeping up by actually buying games for it. The Xbox 360 leads the way in this field with its more hardcore user base buying between 5 and 10 games each, Sony has struggled but bundles and such have meant more game sales. Nintendo however have always struggled, with the Wii it is a slightly different matter, with such a wide reaching console those elderly grandma’s who love playing Wii Sports are unlikely to rush out for the new Madden football game, but it is still a problem if, with a such a big user base your games are being outsold. Using Madden as an example, even though it was released on all three next gen systems at the same time the Wii version got trounced in sales – the message was clear, the Wii has a vastly different user base. Developers are cottoning onto this though and with original games such as My Sims and Zach and Wiki as well as EA’s upcoming Wii Playground developers are, more and more trying to connect with the Wii’s audience to create the next ‘big hit’. I only hope this happens soon before developers get tired of trying, there seems no logical reason why, with so many more units in homes, games can’t be huge sellers on the Wii, especially those games that offer something other consoles can’t, it’s just a case of finding the right formula. 3. Advertising One reason game sales may be down is advertising, or lack of it. Many posts have been made recently in online communities about Nintendo’s lack of aggression when it comes to marketing their titles, for example Metroid Prime 3 is released in Europe on Friday but I have yet to see a single advert or announcement relating to this. Nintendo have said that they are trying a new strategy of advertising games in the few weeks before launch so as not to jump the gun, but they seem unwilling to pay for the big advertising that may push games such as this into people’s hands. Nintendo are making a killing from console sales at the moment yet need to be more aggressive in selling the games, third party games as well. The introduction of the Metroid 3 channel you can download to the Wii is good start, but it needed more fanfare and more to back it up with. Nintendo may hope such games will sell on name alone, but until they get out of these bad habits (advertising has never been a strong point) sales will continue to be disappointing. Case in point is Guitar Hero 3. This will be a huge game, the first two were amazingly popular, this is the first time the game has been on a Nintendo system, with the guitar accessory that fits the Wii-remote neatly inside and online options the Wii version could be a massive hit, moreso than the PS3 and Xbox versions, but people need to know about it. There need to be ads highlighting the differences and getting the message out there, to miss something like this is to miss a trick and customers Nintendo can get buying games now, will pay off in the future in terms of loyalty and developer commitment. If Guitar hero 3 sells a million on Wii, that’s a guarantee that more games of its ilk will make their way in the future. 4. Embracing online gaming The Wii has online gaming, however while this is alright and with Mario Kart and Smash Bros. coming up, about to be expanded, it is still a shadow of what you can get on the PS3 or through Xbox Live. Now I’m not saying Nintendo should copy those schemes, but more commitment to downloadable content, demo’s for example, and the removal of friend codes for games (along with the introduction of voice chat) would allow their games to be at least comparable. As it is the Wii has a good basic set up, but feels ancient next to the competition. Online may not be the focus of the Wii but there is so much that could be done with it that it feels as if Nintendo aren’t bothering some of the time. Again if developers were given more tools and access we might stop seeing games that are online for other consoles but not for Wii, there is no excuse for this and the removal of online functionality may be a good reason why some games fail to sell on Nintendo’s console. 5. Alienating the hardcore Finally Nintendo need to be wary that in attracting casual gamers and people who have never played before they risk alienating the gaming fans they first attracted. For this they need games, and a wider variety, preferably with some of the aforementioned online functionality included. The Wii may be less powerful than the competition but it’s no reason why shooters, RPG’s and action games won’t work on the system. The Wii may not be the hardcore console of choice, but can work well as a backup. For example not many people will own an Xbox and PS3, but many may have either and a Wii. The variety in games means it is not directly competing, but Nintendo still need to support these people, as do third parties. For this reason I hope that come Christmas we see some big sellers on the Wii, games such as Pro Evolution Soccer (coming to Wii for the first time) should make a difference, but as I commented before it is a fine line to walk. Overall Nintendo remains in a strong position and will continue to sell out over the holidays, but can’t afford to rest on its laurels. As games get more advanced on Xbox and PS3 and the second and third generation of titles are released Nintendo needs to make sure it has enough up its sleeve to keep the magic going. For the start of a consoles life lazy ports and party games are to be expected, if the landscape remains the same in 12 months we will have a problem on our hands. The question to ask is, once you’ve changed the face of gaming – what do you do next?

Five is the magic number

Well according to Sony it is anyway. With the announcement of a 40GB version of the Playstation 3 due for release in Europe this week, sans a couple of USB slots, memory card reader and backwards compatibility (more on that later) the console will go on sale for £299 and be the fifth SKU or version of the PS3 released so far into the wild. Along with this announcement was the news of a price drop on the existing 60GB model to £350, however along with this came the news that, like when a similar drop was announced in the US a couple of months ago, this is basically a clearance sale so that when all the consoles are sold they are gone, leaving the 40GB model as the only one available in Europe.

So if you are wanting to play any of your old PS2 games now is the time to get a PS3, of course it’s possible that a larger fully specc’d version of the console will replace the 60GB model (most like the 80GB version now on sale in the US) but as of now there are no plans. Obviously this is a move born from sluggish sales and poor yearly performance and to be fair to Sony they haven’t just sat back and watched the train-wreck that has been the PS3 this year, they have responded, but their decision making has been baffling at best leading to the aforementioned 5 models of the console, each slightly different, each in different territories. The message that simple, clear and transparent business is good for the customer has obviously been lost amongst the scramble to get the PS3 to sell.

I understand the concept of different models of a console, when the full package is too expensive then it makes sense, but the cheaper 20GB version that launched alongside the main 60GB in the US flopped massively, leading it to be canned within months. The proof was obvious; when faced with a choice between the full product, or a version that it cheaper but missing features, people will splash the extra cash. The difference between the new 40GB version and the existing one is now just £50, and you get 2 games with the 60GB one. Obviously Sony want to get rid of their 60GB stock by having this price but, but if consumers are willing to splash out that sort of money for something, they want to feel like they are getting what they pay for, rather than an almost version. Yes the price should make the PS3 more competitive this winter, but the consequences of this decision are more than sales oriented, in fact as some have commented it seems like a shift in their whole business strategy.

But first a little history, flash back to 2006 when Sony revealed the details about the PS3 to the world. There Phil Harrison proudly stated that: "backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices -- PSOne, PS2 and now PS3.".

These remarks were echoed by Sony Head honcho Ken Kutaragi who went on to say that: "the PS3 will feature backwards compatibility with PS and PS2 games from day one. I'm emphasizing this because, from what I hear, there are some platforms that haven't been able to completely do this. It's costly in terms of hardware, but we'd rather invest firmly on compatibility from the beginning, rather than to have issues later on.". The message to those listening was clear, the Playstation 3 is about the brand, it is about rewarding loyalty and consistency from one generation to the next. In fact Sony were subtly mocking Microsoft who’s Xbox 360 had limited backwards compatibility. I wrote an article for my old website a while back that complained against companies misleading and treating customers unfairly and this kind of doublespeak and going back on ‘core principles’ is at the heart of what got me riled up. The trouble is that Sony are stuck, trying to promote all these new developments as positive, when everyone knows what is really going on. When talking about the new model Sony Europe president Nick Sharples said: "We have made clear on many occasions that our priority is on developing innovative new features and services for PS3 and not on backwards compatibility." Many occasions? I’d like to see one!

What frustrates me is not necessarily the decisions made, but the naïve business talk that accompanies them. Everyone knows that if the PS3 were selling like hotcakes and had been since launch we would not be in this situation. There would be no other models, no gimped backwards compatibility, so spilling some spiel about how it has always been Sony’s interest just doesn’t cut it. Thanks to the internet now people can easily keep track of everything your company executives say, and more than a few times this year that has come back to bite Sony.

When I talked about a new business strategy this is what I meant. Sony are shifting their focus and trying to leave the PS2 behind. It’s immense success this year has been a stone around the PS3s neck, and whilst it was probably bringing Sony some much needed income the truth is that as long as the PS2 kept selling, the PS3 wouldn’t. By supporting the PS2, allowing people to play cheaper PS2 games on their PS3 Sony were handicapping themselves; no-one was buying PS3 games. Sony boast about having 65 titles available at Christmas for people to choose from, somehow implying this is better than a catalogue of thousands. As Bill Harris, in his excellent weekly console post, rightly points out the price and the PS2 have been holding Sony back, this new SKU is their attempt to correct that, and it may, just may, work. But it’s a heck of a risk, the risk of alienating PS2 owners, frustrating fans and gamers alike. What this move more than anything sends out is a lack of confidence in the product, tweaking it and re-releasing it in the way that film companies do with DVDs these days. The only company to be worried about this is Microsoft, at £299 the PS3 is very close the Xbox price and with a Blu-ray drive included, if Microsoft want to keep their lead and attract the tech-savvy consumers they need some good PR, Halo 3 will have helped them recently but persistent problems with consoles failing do not help, especially against the PS3 which, in this regard at least, has been flawless.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out in the short term future, Sony’s real hope will be that when the dust settles people will forget all the fuss and with some more software and the new lower price the PS3 can move forward in its own right, no longer dwarfed by the success of its younger brother.

Oh and what about Nintendo you might ask, what to make of them with this whole business? Well right now they are that little spec in the distance, riding high atop the sales charts wondering what all the fuss is about.

My Games #1: Super Mario 64

A new regular feature I have decided to add to the blog is a retrospective look at some of the games and films that have influenced me or that I have particularly enjoyed or connected with over the years. Often these may not be critically impressive, but each has impacted a certain part of my life in a very real way and looking back it is interesting to see what games and films have such an impact upon me and how they have shaped the person I am now and to share those memories on this site.

Back in 1997 Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 games console, off the back of the massive success they had with the SNES. However this was the generation that Sony would enter the console race releasing their Playstation console a year and a half previously. Whilst the N64 was more powerful it struggled with its choice of cartridges over CDs and to match Sony new and fresh take on the industry. However it was the release of Mario 64 with the console that brought it worldwide attention, simultaneously re-inventing the platform game and exemplifying the potential within 3D worlds the game was a landmark title and one that proved to be my real introduction to console video gaming. Whilst my family had owned an Amiga back in the day the first console me and my brother ever got was the N64 for the Christmas of 1997, almost 10 years ago. Until the point I had no particular bias to choose Nintendo over Sony, the only reason I can think of choosing it was that the games appealed to me more, and I distinctly remember playing a demo of Mario in a local shop and deciding that was the game I wanted to play.

So Christmas rolled around the N64 and Mario was turned on and I was hooked. It’s easy now to look back and forget what was so revolutionary about Mario 64 at the time, it was the first game to really take advantage of the concept of 3D worlds but retained the tight platforming and level design that made the older Mario games such classics. What remains amazing about the game today is how much it accomplishes that had never been done before. The game is huge with 15 distinct worlds each with their own challenges, enemies and secrets. Add to this the castle which was the perfect ‘hub’ world and showcase for the graphics and controls. Rather than walk you through a 20 minute tutorial on how to the play the game Mario 64 brilliantly lets you work it out for yourself at the start as you simply explore the landscape. It is an inspired idea and something that, even now, few games tend to implement successfully.

What makes Mario stick in my mind so much is that it is one of the few games I continue to go back to. There is something wonderfully fun and enjoyable about the game that I find myself itching to play it every now and again, not just play it mind, but complete it. It is just the right side of challenging and the collecting element of the game allows you to decide between completing the game, or continuing to get everything before the big finish. The game is also remarkably solid in design and feel, there are a few glitches but generally the rigorous testing that Nintendo employ is visible in the sheer quality of the game. In a way it is sad to look back nearly ten years on from Mario 64 and see that the platform game has not greatly evolved or changed in that time, in fact platform games are much less common these days with more realistic shooters and racing games prevailing as the dominant genres within gaming. But, largely due to this single game, it will remain a type of game I always have a soft spot for, and as a result of this the reason I still look back at the N64 with such fond memories.

Nowadays platformers seem to be the easy choice for film tie-ins and it seems once again it has taken Nintendo to really play about with the conventions in the upcoming Mario Galaxy which is due for release in November and which may be the first game in all this time to eclipse Mario 64. Of course nothing can really replace the change that Mario 64 represented within the industry or the impact it still holds today. It was the first console game I ever owned, played and completed and remains to this day one of the best. If you have never played it I urge you to check it out either by buying an old copy or downloading it from the Wii’s Virtual Console, like good films and music great games will always remain great despite the primitive graphics and technology and there is no finer example of this than Super Mario 64.

A Console Retrospective

So we are now in August and the long barren early months of the year are about to yield for the oncoming flood of titles that populate the gaming horizons between now and the new year. Whatever console you own there is plenty to look forward to, and so I will have a brief look at what to look forward to in the coming months mixed with some reflection on the current state of play.

The year so far has been surprising in many ways with a current situation few would have predicted a couple of years ago. Struggling Nintendo have bounced back to dominate this generation so far and sales of the Wii are set to pass those of the Xbox 360 in a couple of weeks despite the fact that the latter console was released over a year beforehand. Such is the popularity of the console all over the world, and yet for many it has yet to truly prove its worth, the big holiday release of titles will come as a big relief for those (like me) whose consoles have been scarcely used these past months.

Europe gets Super Paper Mario next month (the US got it in April) with Metroid Prime 3 seeing a US release in the next couple of weeks, it arrived here at the end of October. As well as this Super Mario Galaxy should ship to all regions by the end of the year and the US will get Smash Brothers Brawl as well, a stellar line up to be sure and it should ensure that the Wii tops the best seller list this Christmas, ensuring Nintendo manage to supply enough consoles to meet demand. While the over abundance of lazy ports and party games has been a shame the truth is that the Wii has surprised everyone and so a lot of companies, EA in particular, have been late to the game and are only now developing stand alone software, so expect this problem to be less of an issue next year with more games making use of the unique controls and audience. The Xbox 360 sees a slew of big releases as well, however the delay of GTA IV has dented both theirs and Sony’s end of year line up,. Still of the two Microsoft have the big guns with developers able to get more out of the console than ever the line up of Mass Effect, Halo 3, Bioshock and many more make it a good choice for the hardcore gamer this Christmas. However constant talk about the Xbox’s reliability has hit Microsoft hard with them having to fork up over $1 billion to extend all current consoles warranties, word is that improved consoles are making their way to the market but first Microsoft need to get rid of all the old stock, this coupled with falling sales and a lack of a price cut (they have only just announced one for the US now after 20 months at the same price) coupled with the fact that they have failed to capitalise on Sony’s PS3 has rather left them afloat.

Truthfully with the line up they have, the head start and the online capabilities of Xbox live the 360 should be far ahead of where it is, and the general apathy amongst consumers to both it and the PS3 may be an indicator that their strategies are not totally in line with what the public want. A couple of recent surveys have highlighted this point and whiles some may be amazed by the findings I am not at all surprised. Just because those of us who follow the games industry and are fairly tech savvy know the capabilities of these machines does in no way mean the mass market do. The whole HD situation is in flux at the moment and a bit of a mess as I have talked about, and frankly I think a lot of people just don’t care. They want to sit down and play games and don’t worry about HD graphics, Blu-Ray players or the online marketplace. Still with the price cut and some good bundles in stores Microsoft should have a strong second half of the year, but until their reliability problems are sorted and their message to the consumers clearer (seriously, 3 versions of the same console? Really?) they will fall short of what they should be achieving.

Finally we get on to Sony, who to be honest have had a pretty tough year. Currently the PS3 has sales of just over 4 million units, not bad but les than 40% of the sales of the Xbox and the Wii. The thing is, again, this should have been expected, I mean they released a very advanced piece of kit, but at far to high a price. Sony focused far to much on the tech rather than the consumer and just arrogantly assumed people would follow. Now the problem lies in that they can’t afford to drop the price any more, their recent price cut in the US may only be temporary, to get rid of the 60GB models from the shelves before returning to the $600 price point with the new 80GB consoles. Notice a pattern here? Like Microsoft Sony have made a complete pigs ear of marketing their console to consumers, what is wrong with having one version of a console and having that same console everywhere? Why have both Sony and Microsoft seen fit to firstly release 2 versions, one essentially a stripped back version of the ‘proper’ more expensive version? Well again this backfired as just a few months after launch Sony announced they had stopped making the smaller 20GB models of the PS3, but now they go and put another version out there, as have Microsoft with the Elite Xbox 360. If this is confusing to you reading this then I rest my case, something can only achieve mass-market success by being at a popular price point ($200 is the usual) and by being simple and not confusing. If you wanted to get an Xbox and were faced with 3 models at 3 different prices you may well feel overwhelmed and confused, not empowered.

As for games Sony have some good looking stuff for the rest of the year, Heavenly Sword looks very impressive visually for example, but a lot of their big guns are scheduled for next year, MGS4, GT5 and now GTA IV but with some decent software on the shelves (another reason the PS3 has failed to ignite sales-wise so far) it could see an improvement to the end of the year. Still as long as that price remains so high the PS3 will remain a high-end electronics device rather than a mass market product and frankly the damage done this generation so far has made it impossible for Sony to reclaim its position at the top that it claimed so well last generation. It shall be interesting to see what the future holds and whether there is any way of saving the PS3 from anything but being seen as a failure in the long term.

Personally I am looking forward to dusting off my Wii-motes and spending some time with Mario and Samus this holiday, and if I could afford it (or had the time) the Xbox 360 makes a very tempting proposition for the future, but as for the wider world? Who knows, all I know is that we have an almost unprecedented slew of top quality games coming in the next 5 or 6 months and no matter what the politics behind the consoles themselves, it has always been the games that count, to forget that is to forget why we play in the first place.

No thanks Nigel

Yesterday, whilst at the local cinema an advert was shown that linked in many ways with themes that I had been wanting to write about here on the site for a while. The advert in question was in fact a trailer for Pixar’s Ratatouille, well it seemed like a trailer, until the point where Remy (the hero of the film) started talking about movies, specifically how a good movie is like good food (tenuous link but I went with it) and how pirated DVDs lessen the quality and experience, like eating garbage. He then uttered the phrase ‘don’t be a knock off Nigel’, accompanied by the phrase on screen.

Now in case you are unaware (maybe blissfully so) the ‘knock-off Nigel’ campaign is the latest effort by the BBFC to try and discourage pirating, especially that if DVD’s, the current TV advert can be seen here and consists of someone singing about how a guy is basically cheap, mainly because he buys pirated DVDs. Now barring the quality of the advert itself, what gets to me about this is that, as a consumer, it seems to me that every campaign of this nature misses the point completely. Pirated DVDs are illegal, but contrary to dodgy film ads they are often of a much higher quality than they are seen, add to that the expansion of peer-to-peer downloading on programs such as BitTorrent and these adverts seem strangely out of date. You’re average pirater isn’t going to care about supposedly being seen as cheap, or scared of any legal repercussions because, and there’s the kicker, it all seems like scare tactics with very little to back it up.

The nature of digital media nowadays makes it more common than you might think, and therefore nearly impossible to police or monitor. So what can be done? Well personally I don’t have a concrete answer, but my initial thought comes down to improving the service of the actual product. Most people are happy to pay for films in all forms, very few I would say choose pirating because it saves money. In fact I’d wager more people choose pirating in any form because it is easier and saves time and sometimes is better than facing the hassles that come with wanting to watch a film these days. For example how annoying is it to legally buy a DVD only to try and play it and be faced with a 2 minute advert about how bad it is to pirate DVDs, surely the legal consumers should be spared this? And then there’s the key question, that of timing.

Now the advert that hangs all this together was for Ratatouille, as I have said, a film with a real stake in the heart of the matter. Ratatouille you see has been released in America for a good few weeks now to rave reviews and popularity. However the film is not released over here until September. In creating this advert, using the characters from the film, the makers are stating loud and clear that a big reason people pirate is to see something early. To get the jump on everyone else, and to get there first. Personally I am really looking forward to the film and a 3 month wait seems agonizing, if someone came up to me with a copy of the film on DVD it could be hard to say no. However were the film out already, there would be no temptation, and no reason to accept. With our globalised culture now it seems silly that Europe is continually left behind in terms of movies and games. In fact recently movies have made significant improvements in this area with more and more films launching simultaneously, gaming though lags behind. Frequently games are released months before release here, first in Japan then the US, decisions like this frustrate, especially now with the internet where for months we can read about our neighbours across the pond enjoying the games without us. Similarly with television, global blogging meant that with the final episode of the Soprano’s aired in the US last month everyone was talking about, I dread to think what it was like being a British Soprano’s fan desperately trying not to have everything spoiled before the last series shown later this year on Channel 4.

Pirated goods hold their worth primarily whilst there is no alternative, hence the films found on pirate DVD are those at the cinemas, as soon as a film is released officially there is little demand. The gap between formats and locations is what feeds the market, I believe to stop people using it as an option you need to convince them why they should wait. Why the product is worth their money. The adverts against piracy in the cinema’s proudly proclaim that ‘it’s the experience that counts’ but on my recent visits to the cinema, with rising prices to boot, I am yet to be convinced of that. Paying nearly £7 for half an hour of adverts mish-mashed with trailers before a film to overpriced food and quite often rude and noisy patrons is hardly a great experience, and yet is commonly one people find. Now this is not always the case, and the whole feel of going to the movies still excites me, but it seems that this is hardly a priority any more.

Even so for a family of 4 to go to a film and buy food will cost in excess of £30, now give the same family the option of a knock-off DVD of the same film to watch at home on their big-TV with home made popcorn for a couple of quid, and you have a decision that is a lot tougher than it should be. For as long as we see these faceless corporations as profit driven multinationals we will have no specific loyalty to their products, or therefore respecting their rules. The point of films, and games for that matter, is to entertain, to be an enjoyable experience, be it by yourself or as part of a group. However again audience perception of film companies, fuelled by an abundance of commercial tie-ins and sequels, can be rightly cynical at the moment, with the feeling that the executive board room’s collective eyes are on profit margins, as opposed to creative output or quality. Maybe this is why it is a canny move to have a Pixar film promote this cause as they are one of the few studios to prioritise quality and individuality within projects, and yet have created films that are both sequels and that have had creative tie-ins, without losing audience favour or box office receipts. There is something reassuring and pleasing about a company as passionate about films as their audience, and it is this goodwill that the public should feel if piracy really is to be dealt with.

But like I said before, the problem is not that the majority of people don’t want to pay for things, the problem is convincing them what they get is worth the price of admission and until the root of the problem is sorted and the companies listen to the consumers rather than trying to scare them, expect more of these adverts, unfortunately, directed at entirely the wrong crowd.

The obesity ‘crisis’, what’s really going on?

Health is not an area I have taken a particular interest in during my life. I have always tried to eat ‘well’ (a concept I will talk about in a bit) and keep active, but calorie counting and weighing are not things I have been to familiar with. If anything I have always struggled putting on weight, rather than shedding the pounds. However recently there been an increased awareness and promotion of healthy eating and living, weight loss and dieting, something that until a few weeks ago I was certain was a good thing. After all we as a nation are getting fatter, there are more obese children than ever before, and these people are at risk from all sorts of diseases. As a nation we were facing an epidemic, a crisis and we have to act fast to prevent it. In America things are worse, half the nation is overweight and as Bill Clinton famously said this could be the first generation of children who fail to outlive their parents because of weight related diseases. But what if this wasn’t true? What if a combination of scaremongering, bad science and scare tactics have infiltrated society and left perfectly healthy people afraid, worried and obsessive. What if promoting healthy living wasn’t in the publics best interest but being proposed for much more sinister reasons? All these things are discussed far more eloquently that I could and dissected meticulously over at the eye-opening blog Junk Food Science where the studies behind the headlines are looked at, and more often than not the reported ‘facts’ that we get fed day after day are loosely based and interpreted from information that often proves no such thing. The site is essential reading for everyone but especially if these issues interest you and whether you accept it or not it is a fascinating critical look at the way our society looks at body image and health. For all the fear we see in the media nowadays there is no evidence whatsoever that we are unhealthier as a nation than before. In fact studies of heart disease and cancer are at their lowest ever and average life expectancy continues to rise year on year. Not only that but we have the widest choice of the safest and healthiest foods ever available. We have more knowledge of food preparation and production than ever before and the choice you get a local supermarkets is far beyond what you even would have found 10 years ago. So why are we convinced that ‘bad’ foods will kill us and that we should watch what we eat with careful scrutiny? The answer is found in that sentence, the notion of ’bad’ foods, a ridiculously simplified and dangerous term that has infiltrated society almost unknowingly. Food is good for you, we need it to survive. It gives us vitamins and protein and energy and hundreds of things our bodies need to function each day. What is much worse for us than so called bad food, that is food high in fats or sugars, is bacteria or germs. It is much worse for our bodies to eat ill prepared or out of date food than what we are told is unhealthy. Yet in the past when such food was more prevalent there were no such scares and the risks were so much greater. Fat has become a byword for unhealthy. Yet we need fat. We need to eat a certain amount of fat a day; our bodies store it for a reason, so why is it something so many people feel they need to get rid of when they don’t? Sugar has been studied for years and has never been found to cause disease or obesity, yet even I feel such guilt from eating sweet food. Somehow, through the twisted views of healthy food we see sweets or drinks high in sugar as bad, and yet fruit with just as much sugar as healthy. Yes fruit has vitamins etc. but our bodies process all sugar the same way, saying one is natural and the other man made is not the point, if our bodies can’t tell then surely it doesn’t make a difference? Now through this I am not noting that there isn’t a problem. People drastically overweight have severe health risks, and eating a diet of high fatty foods without a healthy mix of other nutrients is, of course, going to be bad for you. But the trouble is people who are in effect perfectly healthy start to think that they aren’t. The media’s constant vindication of petite models that adorn every newspaper, magazine and TV show have somehow convinced an entire generation of women that they are fat ugly and need to change. It breaks my heart to see this trend sweeping the nation. In surveys over the majority of women claim they are unhappy with their appearance, the rise of plastic surgery and diets such as the Atkins diet shows a nation of people who rather than feeling healthier than ever before, merely look at themselves as not good enough, as failures. In extreme cases this leads to eating disorders such as anorexia, but the fact is that this element exists in nearly everyone, even the men now. This saddens me so much as we are all individual, all unique and we all have different shapes and sizes. The more people study the more they find that your genes influence your general appearance far more than the food you eat. The dangerous simplified diet + exercise = weight loss formula presented by many doesn’t help this. Our bodies are not simple calculators. You can’t count calories in and out and create a weight change, it doesn’t work like that. The way our bodies regulate and control weight is far more complicated and this is why people find it so hard to not only lose weight but keep it off. The irony of this whole venture is that we could even end up with a much unhealthier nation than before with the dangers from under-eating and over-exercising just as bad as those for obesity. The reason I have chosen to post about this is mainly because I feel this needs to be discussed. There is very little critical debate of these policies and procedures, people take news reports and newspaper stories as fact, even I did until a few weeks ago, and we shouldn’t We should question these things, look into the science and decide for ourselves. We are being convinced we all suffer from a problem most of us don’t have, simply so that we buy the cure and eat up the solution without question. It is scary how many so called facts can be called into question. For starters a worrying number of articles recently focus on overweight children. Mainly these have been extreme cases, but an article in the BBC today calls for parents of such children to be eligible for neglect. Again in extreme cases this may be fair, overfeeding a child can cause so many problems that something must be done, but for everyone? So what is an overweight child? Well typically this is measured by BMI, a simple weight by height ratio, but can this really be accurate for children? One scary study shows how a simply 5lb gain by an 8 year old girl can change her weight from being in the normal to the obese category. Similarly the fact that children’s bodies are still growing at different rates at different times means it is such an inaccurate guide, and yet the thought that simply based on this reading a child’s parents could be charged with neglect and the children taken away is a disturbing thought. Now we are not at that stage yet but where will this hand-holding end? I agree that having a healthy nation is a good thing but there are no proven long term government led health incentives that have worked. People will always make their own decisions; all we can do is ensure the information we have in order to make those choices is accurate and complete; currently what we have in uncertainty. Every day a new study warns of the risks of a different food or substance, what is good for us today may be bad in a week and yet for centuries we never had these problems. As long as we keep active, eat a variety of all kinds of foods we will, for the most part, live long and healthy lives. That one mars bar you had will not make the difference between life and death, on average we eat 1 million calories a year, yet our weight changes very little. We need to learn to love the people we are, the way our bodies look and work and the fact we live in a time with such effective healthcare and where people on average live to over 70 years old. We are so used to being scared that we forget how fortunate we are, so next time you peruse the calories label on a sandwich or turn down an invitation to dinner just think, is it worth it? Being sensible is not hard, our bodies naturally do more than we ever know towards keeping us healthy. When you feel guilty ask yourself why, is it because you feel bad, or are you living for what other people think? If you have a fridge full of food and a smile on your face then appreciate that you are one of the lucky ones, and that food is good and something to be savoured in all its shaped and forms. Junk Food Science

Re-Post: Oh no not the R Word

When I was running my old site I had the aim of writing a lot more articles than I ever did, but one that I did write was on the subject of religion, and more importantly the word itself. Well whilst browsing the interweb today I came across this article on the BBC site that seemed in many ways to echo what I wrote about but also a lot of my feelings on the subject of the church at the moment. The article is well worth a read and so that my article does not get lost in the vaults of cyberspace I have decided to republish it below for those who have not read it, I still think it holds up and what with it being Easter tomorrow it even has a kind of context in which to be published.

P.S This is not just laziness because I have nothing new to write. Honest.

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One of the funny things about being a Christian is the very fact that you have a label. In the instant you adopt that moniker you suddenly have 2000 years of history attached to your name, to the person you are. All the connotations in society from that word are now yours – welcome to the family! I used to, and in some ways still do, live slightly in fear of this. It’s not quite up there with walking into a room full of spiders with the lights off, but it’s true that being a Christian is hardly a cool thing these days. But truthfully, it never has. To society if you’re a Christian you are a) boring, b) a hypocrite, c) in a position to judge people and d) religious.

Aha, there we go. That’s the ‘R’ word isn’t it? In fact religion is a very human thing, often entirely separated from God. What colour drapes or robes to wear. Which book the prayers should come from etc. Not very holy. You see I consider myself someone with faith, not religion. To be a Christian one thing counts, to acknowledge Jesus as God’s son and have a relationship. That’s it. You don’t need church, in fact it’s probably a surprise to many that Christians choose church! It should never be a case of duty, but something you want to do! Crazy but true. That doesn’t of course mean that just because you are tired you shouldn’t go, but it does mean that showing up 100 Sundays in a row just for appearances sake, means nothing if you are there for yourself.

The trouble really is people. We, as imperfect beings, do our best in this life but nearly always make the same mistakes. Namely we feel we don’t need God, that his existence isn’t as important as ours and pout ourselves and our selfish needs first. Often even good deeds are tainted by the fact we want people to see us doing them and to look good! All I’m trying to say here is to dispel some of the rumours and opinions about religion. I am not knocking it at all, its flawed yes but means well. The trouble is when it gives people negative views on Christians. Many a time I cringe and feel ashamed to be Christian after seeing opinions or reports of people. I just hope that the message of love and selflessness that Christianity is all about somehow makes it through the views of failure and corruption. Nobody is perfect, least of all Christians but people living with a sense of purpose and unity in their lives in a society so desperately seeking an answer should be admired, not looked down upon as much of today’s media does. Please note I am not aiming this at any particular person or group of people. I am fortunate enough to have not encountered hostility because of my faith or connections with religion and my friends have been very respectful. I am speaking against society’s general impression of Christians – one example being the strict and dull relative. Watching Cold Feet recently there was an episode with a baby’s christening. His Godmother was the mum’s sister, announced as ‘the Christian.’ True enough for her brief appearance she mentioned the Bible all the time and gave a reading damning people to hell. I’m sure it was very funny, and I’m sure such people exist. But really its like announcing the Godfather as being a Football supporter and have them run in, shirt on their head, with a pie in each hand and have then proceed to shout and tear up the church shouting ‘United!’ ‘United!’. This stereotype of Christians is one I must have missed on my visits to many Christian events, where I have met some of my best friends and some of the, hands down, nicest kindest and most inspiring people you could find. It was the experience of being around Christians that convinced me that there must be something too it, that these people had something special, Something that I wanted. That something is God and I saw that. People complain about Christians for being ‘happy clappy’, I’m sorry – is there something wrong with happiness now? Christians suffer the same problems as everyone else, maybe even more but the difference is they have people to support them and a strong faith in a God that will never forsake them. Surely this is what everyone is looking for? It is an up and down journey, tough, confusing and hard. But also joyful and exciting. Being a Christian is just being a person, who knows he is more than just flesh and blood. You may not agree with it, you may object, but at the end of the day it is either true or false. There is either a God or not. Religion is the result of belief, but not a necessary part. I guess at the end of all this what I’m trying to say is don’t let Religion put you off God, because that would be the biggest crime of all.

Writing

Here you can find an archive of all my posts relating to writing in one form or another, be it actual examples of my own writing, my thoughts on the subject as a whole or articles I have written on various subjects. 2008 Mass Defect 2007 Strike! Reviews, scores and sequels – far from perfect? Where Nintendo is going wrong Five is the magic number My Games #1: Super Mario 64 A Console Retrospective No thanks Nigel The Obesity 'crisis' what's really going on Re-Post: Oh no not the R word