Gambit’s Blog

Well, I honestly dont believe it.
Those of you who know me may (or may not) know that I own a number of varying monopoly boards, and sort of collect them. Well, the day has come where Monopoly is changing. Yes, it’s ditching the cash, the ability to cheat, and half the fun of being the banker and moving to the digital age. Monopoly will now be played with credit cards. I personally believe this is a bad move. Afterall, do people not play board games to get away from the digital world? This is just making board games move a step closer to computer games.

While that may seem sensible to board game manufacturers, i genuinely think they target totally different audiences, and trying to cross the two is not the way forward.

Show me the money!

This is brilliant. As you should all be aware, EA make ALOT of crap games. They have made a few good ones over time, and now own rights to release a few awesome ones (C&C anyone?), but this is just funny!

So, i just wrote a great post about Duke Nukem Forever, told it to publish, and realised my new firewall was blocking me being able to post… grr

So, rather than write it all out again, here is a great list of all the stuff that could have happened in the time they have so far taken to get Duke Nukem Forever finished. Enjoy!

After just posting my views on E3 overall, I have now decided that it’s time for me to post about the games I’m looking forwards to. Quite simply, this is going to be a list…

(Oh, and something that i forgot to mention in my last post - thanks Microsoft! Let’s bring down Sony together!!)

So, the games i can’t wait for:

Wii
Super Mario Galaxy - it’s mario, need i say more!?
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - great fun with the mates - i’ll be interested to see how they use the new controller…
Metroid Prime 3 - still havent played the first two (although have the second), but i will eventually!
WarioWare Smooth Moves - great fun on the GBA, even more fun with a few beers and mates on the cube - bring it
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz - more fun with Monkey’s in balls
Donkey Kong Bongo Blast - actually for Gamecube, but gives me another reason to have those Bongo’s lying about!!

PC
Pirates of the Caribbean Onile - except for the fact that it’s a subscription based MMO, so i probably wont play it
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - looks really gory with great AI - hope the fun matches!

Another year, another E3, and i’ll be honest, it looks like Nintendo have stolen the show… Can’t say I’m disappointed either.

It’s no secret to those of you who know me that i’m a bit of a Nintendo fanboy, having bought a Gamecube on release day, and sticking by it to this day. And now, with a more detailed look at the Rev…sorry, Wii, i cannot wait! Ok, so I cant support the decision to go with the name Wii, i really dont see what was wrong with Revolution, but it is starting to settle. I still think whatever clever clogs over in Japan thought it up needs to be given a slap, and the bods in Nintendo Europe which didnt put their foot down because of all the potential innuendo when the name was suggested, well, they need one too!

Anyway, that’s all by the by, the name’s staying, and looking on the bright side, it certainly gave Nintendo alot of publicity in the run up to E3! That, along with the excellence of the press conference at the start of the week have led to the queues being the longest seen at E3 for a number of years!

At Nintendo’s press conference, we learned more about the controller; the fact that it’s now going to have a built in speaker (which i initially doubted, but now think is a great idea), we saw previews of some great games (Mario Galaxy and Zelda Twilight Princess were the highlights for me) and found out that we’ll have it by Christmas (although no definate date). I just cant wait!

Outside of the press conference, the main highlight for me is the announcement of Super Smash Bros Brawl. SSB:Melee was one of my favorite games on the Gamecube, and it looks like its going to be amazing on the Wii, with loads of new characters. There were also some other great looking games for the Wii being previewed (Sadness comes to mind, and the new WarioWare but i’m there were definately others).

Looking further afield than Nintendo, I’ll be honest, i was less than impressed by the other companies. Sony have STOLEN Nintendo’s 3D movement idea last minute (developers only found out about it 3 weeks ago apparently), and this just puts them further down in my estimations. I’ve always disliked Sony, but that has just taken the biscuit in my mind. Oh, and the $500-$600 price tag - idiots.

Microsoft were always a second choice for me, but to be honest, apart from Halo 3 (which i have never played the first 2 of, so no big deal to me) didnt really have a great deal to show. Their live features all look good, but again, have never really interested me.

As was the case with me and my Gamecube, every game i want to play (minus the odd few, which i think i can live without) is either going to be available on the Wii, or on my PC, so i have absolutely no need for any other console! Even the games on Xbox 360 which i want to play (the new Indiana Jones developed by Lucasarts looks amazing with the advanced AI and links into the new film) will very likely come out on the PC given a bit of wait.

So for me, come Christmas, i intend to have a Wii in my stocking, and a copy of Twilight Princess. Don’t expect to see me for a few weeks!!

All in all, a great showing at E3, mainly from Nintendo, and I really like the way things are going. For me, the charm of Nintendo is that anyone will be able to pick up and play, which means that when my mates come over we can have alot of fun. Add to that the fact that their system is bringing a whole new dimension to gaming, and i dont doubt that it is one that will stay due to the advanced immersion possibilities, and I am just bursting for a Wii (sorry, i couldnt resist!)

The other day i came across Trackmania Nations, a new free game from Nadeo, the creators of Trackmania and Trackmania Sunrise - two of the greatest racers ever devised. So, after the nearly 300meg download, I gave it a try, and believe me when I tell you that this is the greatest free game ever created. It adds a slightly new dimension to the Trackmania experience as I found myself breaking alot more than is necessary in the other two games, but it maintains the arcade like fun of the original two.

If you have some spare time, but no spare cash, i definately advise downloading this and give it a try. It comes complete with single play levels, as well as lan, internet and hot seat multiplayer! What more could you want! You can even create your own levels. If you do get it, let me know when you’re on and i’ll give you a game

Sony have announced that the launch of the Playstation 3 has been delayed till November. Many gamers will see this a blow to their gaming year, but I see it as a potential advantage to Nintendo. As far as i am aware, there is still no official release date for the Revolution apart from being touted for release in the ‘latter part of 2006′. If Nintendo can get the console out before the PS3 they will at least escape the problem of being the last on the market which they had last time around.

I’ve never been a fan of Sony gaming, they churn out the same old stuff over and over again, and while i wouldnt consider myself a Nintendo fanboy, i am a massive fan of Nintendo games and hardware. I personally really cannot wait until the revolution release, and I really hope that they manage to get it out before Sony to give them that extra leg up. Bring on the Nintendo goodness!

There seems to be an awful lot of GTA publicity as of late - on top of it being announced that the franchise is worth over $900 million in the next 5 years, it’s now in the press because of prostitutes.Anyone who has played any of the GTA games knows that on every street corner in every city, you’ll find a prostitute (or there abouts). In the game, these ladies dont really put up much of a fight, but it seems that the same doesnt follow in the real world! The Sex Workers Outreach Project has called for a boycott of all GTA games due to the ‘influence they may have on children’. Something tells me that if prostitutes weren’t featured so prominently in the game, they may not have bothered to make this statement. Maybe they arent following the news closely enough - this game could actually be benefiting the children of the world
Seriously though, all other things aside, what are these guys (or more probably, ladies) going to gain from issuing this statement now. Its been a good few months since the last GTA game was released, and most of the media surrounding it had died down. By issuing this statement now, all they have done is revive the free publicity being provided to GTA around the world and is surely helping Rockstar sell more copies - afterall, everybody is intrigued by controversy. If nothing else, it’ll be whetting peoples appetites for the next game.

My point is that while these statements are clearly trying to make a point, and to discourage purchases of what some people see as an overly violent game, in reality they are going to have minimal effect in the way that they want. When i look at these games, i dont see the violence or the sex, i see great gameplay, new ideas and a game to keep people hooked for hours. There is nothing more horrific in these games than in the average Quentin Tarantino movie, and it isnt like the same age restrictions arent placed on them. People shouldnt be buying these games for their kids anyway - they werent made for kids - if they do, its their choice and their problem. If people like SWOP just left games like this be, then they would be doing themselves a favor!

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, for PSP:

So there is hope for all us geeks out there!

While it doesnt stop you ageing all over, it does save your brain from ageing! My first thoughts on this were that it’s a bad thing - surely if your brain isnt ageing then you arent going to be learning anything and if you start gaming at 3 you’ll keep a mental age of 3?!

However, apparently (from globeandmail.com) “playing video games provides benefits similar to bilingualism in exercising the mind. Just as people fluent in two languages learn to suppress one language while speaking the other, so too are gamers adept at shutting out distractions to swiftly switch attention between different tasks.”

This means that gamers outperform in mental tests…

But hold on a second… arent many games just mental tests in their own right? So how does this really prove anything - you play games, you can solve mental tests easier… surely thats equivalent to saying that if you solve mental tests, you can solve mental tests!?!?

I’m sure there is probably alot more to it than that, but if thats the only factor, then it seems like a bit of a waste of money to me in order to solve something that’s pretty obvious!!

Anyway, at least it gives me an excuse for all those hours i spend kicking my housemates at Mario Kart!