Consolation Prize

I think it’s safe to say I’m now done with The Orange Box after successfully escorting the garden gnome - sometimes affectionately known as Trey - to the White Forest missile silo. Placing him carefully into his streamlined carriage with only Lamarr as company we said our farewells, or rather a moment of respectful silence passed between Gordon and Trey as neither uttered a word.

Overall the achievement wasn’t particularly difficult, just time consuming, and careful progress is required in some areas. The most frustrating aspect of the entire adventure was trying to keep poor old Trey in the Dodge Charger, whom had a tendency to fly out of the car at the slightest change of direction or touch of the brakes as neither the car seats nor Alyx are apparently solid objects.

It got me thinking as to the reason why I bothered to spend the time and effort to get this achievement given that it’s only worth a measly 30G. I mean to be fair; some games award that many points just for putting the game disc in the 360 so it certainly wasn’t for the miserly boost it gave my gamerscore.

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Having played through the sublime Castle Crashers a couple of times now, and in addition to my initial impressions, I thought I’d give you five six reasons why this rapidly became one of my favourite games of the year and is definitely my top pick from Xbox Live Arcade. Oh, and just as a warning: I’ll be referencing a few events that transpire during the game so if you don’t like spoilers now is the time to jump out.

Visual Splendour

There’s no denying that Castle Crashers looks absolutely amazing thanks to the artistic talents of Dan Paladin. The locations, characters, and environmental effects are all lovingly drawn and a joy to behold. While a lot of mainstream developers strive for what seems to be the holy grail of “ultra-realism”, this game shows us that an unconventional art style which is well designed and implemented can still easily hold its own in today’s marketplace and in fact actually elevates it above the masses making it stand out from the crowd. It reminds me of why I play video games in the first place – Escapism.

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Well the major three players Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have all had there time in the limelight at the E3 show to shovel there wares and bamboozle you with statistics and claims but what really stood out at there respective conferences? The short answer was not a great deal. There were a few surprises, but on the whole there wasn’t a great deal that left me gob smacked and speechless. The following however, are my personal highlights from E3.

Microsoft NXE Dashboard

It was rumoured for a while that Microsoft were working on the introduction of Avatars into Xbox Live and as expected the “New Xbox Experience” (NXE) was unveiled which completely overhauls the Xbox dashboard. Removing all traces of the “blades” that have been a staple part of the dashboard since the 360 was born, the new lick of paint looks like the bastard child offspring should “iTunes” and “Mii’s” ever make sweet whoopee. Although the Avatars themselves are obviously a nod towards the more casual gamer and clearly influenced by Nintendo’s success I’m all for reinvigorating the whole Xbox 360 user interface. It’s hard to imagine how the existing dashboard could be enhanced further so it’s definitely time for a change.

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The latest firmware for the Sony PS3 (2.40) was released today and contained a few tasty morsels to keep gamers happy. Of primary interest to the majority was the introduction of “Trophies”.

Similar in nature to Microsoft’s “Achievements” on the Xbox 360, trophies are earned upon completion of a specific game related task and a little notification will kindly pop-up in the top right hand corner of the screen informing you of your success. However unlike “Achievements” which award a number of points contributing to an overall gamer score trophies are instead just classed as “bronze”, “silver”, “gold” or “platinum, and as you would imagine the easier tasks are classed as “bronze” whilst more difficult ones “gold”. A “platinum” trophy of which there is but one per game is only awarded once all other trophies have been attained for that game.

All these trophies however have little value unless there is some sort of gauge with which gamers can compare themselves against. In Sony’s case each PSN account now has a “Level” (starting at 1) and each trophy earned contributes a certain amount of experience towards the next level. The easiest way to think of this system is as if you’re leveling up your PSN account (like an RPG). We can already assume that thousands of gamers across the globe are beavering away in order to obtain the highest level possible and boast that they’re currently top of the tree.

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Once upon a time there was an annual event that took place, a dreadful event, so horrendous that gamers could only whisper of its impending arrival. As regular as clockwork the dark tendrils of the summer games drought would descend upon the land leaving children no option but to brave the great outdoors and adults facing the bleak summer months with their faces buried in a good book or catching up on the latest movies.

Yeah, fine, I know I’m embellishing the situation a little but it’s true I would dread the coming of summer. Slowly watching as the number of video game releases slowly dried to a trickle as publishers re-prioritised release schedules to suit the run up to Christmas. I longed for the day when quality games were released throughout the year, but you know what? I could really do with a games drought right about now.

Now that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are in full swing the number of quality titles available to the video gamer is just staggering. It’s not just brand spanking new releases jostling for your attention, but retro titles and re-releases from the last generation are making there presence known thanks to the rise in distributable medium services like Xbox Live, WiiWare, Virtual Console and Playstation Network.

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Luke Plunkett has put together a good article over at
Kotaku about the global release of games.

As someone from the European marketplace I’ve frequently felt very disgruntled with the delays of some key titles but it’s very interesting to see some of the facts laid bare. Europe is not (surprisingly) always bottom of the pile with Japan receiving delays on some western big releases, however these are mainly genre’s that are less favourable in the east i.e. first person shooters.

Did you notice how many titles Europe led the pack on? Just the one: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, which makes sense considering just how football mad we all are, but I would have liked to see additional titles in there if possible. Some of the delays I just don’t feel are acceptable: Pokemon: Diamond / Pearl: 302 days, and worst of the bunch Final Fantasy XII arrived a staggering 344 days later on European shores than in Japan.

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I’ve been having a few problems with my Xbox 360 over the last few months, it’s been locking up on games and even more worryingly scratching game discs. It’s a refurbished unit, the original one was
replaced when it was sent back to Microsoft for repairs when it
RROD’d.

So yesterday I decided to upgrade to a shiny new Xbox 360 Elite. I was quite tempted to upgrade when they were first released but I didn’t want the older “Zephyr” chipset which was still being used in early elites, preferring instead to wait for the new and hopefully more reliable “Falcon” chipset. I also wanted the larger 120gb HD which will come in very handy due to the fact that I download a lot of demo’s and arcade games from Xbox Live Marketplace.

Replacing hardware is not something I usually do. In fact apart from having to buy another Sony PS1 (I sold the original so that I could afford an Nintendo 64) I’ve never previously had to replace a piece of console hardware. One advantage I always used to tout about consoles compared to say a PC was that you never have to upgrade or replace your hardware, you buy your kit and you’re set-up for the life of the console. I don’t however think this is the case any more, especially in the case of the Xbox 360. Every new hardware variant that’s introduced is not only going to appeal to new adopters but also to the devoted followers whom will want the best kit on offer. I wonder how many Core (arcade) or Premium users have bought replacement units or upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite? I somehow don’t think that’s a statistic that Microsoft would be willing to divulge.

Well readers if you hadn’t already have guessed I’ve been thoroughly engrossed in GTA IV since its release last Tuesday and I’m pleased to say that so far it’s lived up to my expectations. It’s been a while since I’ve been so totally immersed in a game to the extent where I’ve lost track of the time, but every time I’ve loaded the disc into the 360 over the last week the entire evening has just melted away into Liberty City.

The in-game counter informs me that to date I’ve been cruising the streets for about 20 hours and completed just 23% of the game and I’ve only just opened up the second island. Man, this game is epic! Granted there’s nothing stopping me from just concentrating on the story arc and condensing the experience just to say “I’ve completed the game” but what’s the point? For me GTA is also about the exploration, the side quests, cruising the streets, and just soaking in the sights and sounds of Liberty City as much as its about the story.

I love the attention to detail in this game and could wax lyrically about all the little things that have made me smile and say out loud “that’s cool!”, but I’ll save that for another day as I’m sure there’s more surprises to come. Previously the crown for the best (personal preference) GTA game was worn by GTA: Vice City but it looks like in all probability there’s going to be a new monarch in town… The king is dead. Long live the King!