A warning to the curious

First things first- I like Peter Molyneux. He gets a lot of flak from some gamers but a games industry with figures like him in it is far more interesting than the one without. Yes, he may oversell his games prior to their release, trailing features that never see the light of day and I'm sure that makes him a nightmare for his employees. However, his games are always interesting and, at the very least, they stoke debate. As if the Internet needed any stoking.

After leaving Microsoft/Lionhead earlier this year, he formed a start-up company by the name of 22Cans. Its first game, Curiosity, was released on iOS and Android a few weeks ago. It has a very simple premise - there is a cube, covered with hundreds of millions of small tiles. Players chip away at these tiles, slowly over time revealing the layer below. Layers feature artwork and 'Guardian Eye Witness'-style photographs, alternating between plain layers but those are the only changes in 'play' from one layer to the next.

The cube has many, many layers - no one outside of 22Cans knows how many - and, at the very centre, there is an, as yet unknown, prize. And that's where the game gets its title - all the players are chipping away because they are curious as to the cube's contents and want to win it for themselves. One of the key concepts of Curiosity is that all players worldwide are chipping away at the same cube, held on 22Cans's server, with only one possible winner (increasing the curiosity still further). In some ways, this makes it is a lo-fi version of Ernest Clines's book Ready Player One, with Molyneux's spoils only available to the ultimate winner. All he says, with uncharacteristic coyness (yet still managing hyperbole - quite a feat), is that the contents are 'life-changing'.

I doubt that they are but still...chip-chip-chip.

There isn't much 'game' here. Playing it, even with multi-tile destroying bombs, firecrackers and super-chisels that you can buy with the gold coins that can be uncovered under some tiles - is quite a laborious and monotonous task. It's not really much fun. You can write short messages, if you have the patience, or if you have lots of patience you can use the removal of tiles to create simple pictures.
The Internet being what it is, at times the cube has essentially looked like a school blackboard without a teacher in the class - there have been lots of drawings of cocks.

My daughter's addition to Curiosity.  I'm so proud

To be fair, incidences of cock-art have decreased over time. My theory is that this is because, as the numbers of players has increased, you have less time to create art - basically, there's little worse than another player chipping out your midsection halfway through your Penis de Milo.

I really don't think Molyneux and 22Cans have created a game in Curiosity. Molyneux has taken his artistic leanings to their logical conclusion - this isn't a game, it's an interactive art installation. I became a lot more comfortable with the app when this realisation dawned on me. We - all the tens of thousands of players - are just elements in this installation (and I have no problem with this). That installation will reach its completion when one of us reaches the middle. And then we'll find out what it was all about.

If anyone is having a 'game experience' out of Curiosity it is 22Cans itself. On one level, this is the ultimate god game - 22Cans has its world (the cube) and we, the players, are all the little workers in it. Given Molyneux's creation of the original Populous back in the 90s, he has come full circle albeit on a much grander scale than was available in 16-bit days.

Dishonored Special Edition

I've not bought a special edition of a game for a while but, as some of my other posts attest, I am a sucker for a fancy deck of playing cards. For that reason the special edition of newly-released stealth/slay 'em up Dishonored - complete with tarot deck - was a no-brainer.




Unusually for me, I preordered instore and picked the game up on day of release (yesterday, at the time of writing) for £45. As is generally the case these days with a special edition, there is a code for in-game downloadable content included in the set ('Arcane Assassin pack') but the only physical extra content is the afore-mentioned deck of cards.





The cards are quite slick, as the pictures show and come complete with the rules for 'The Game of Nancy' that can be played with them.





















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My New ZX Spectrum Collection

As I've said elsewhere, the first videogame machine I ever owned was a rubber-keyed Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48k, received for Christmas 1983. I'd played my brother's Pong-a-like Binatone TV Master prior to that but this was the first that was a) mine and b) any good.  For the next 5 or so  years, the Spectrum got some heavy usage and a fair amount of wear and tear (and that was just from Daley Thompson's Decathlon).  I still owned it (and it still worked, miraculously)  up until the late 90s, when, like a great many other 8-bit computer owners I'm sure, I was told by my Mum that "You've moved out of my house, can you now shift all of  your old junk, please, thanks very much?".  At the time I was living in a small starter home and, despite (I'm sure) an understanding wife, had nowhere to stow my Spectrum and its games and so had to give them away  - my loss was Warnham Church jumble sale's gain (and some lucky proto retro gamer, no doubt).

The collection in full (well, as it was a couple of weeks ago, anyway...)

Fast forward 12 years (and two house moves) and I'd been thinking about buying a Spectrum again for a while. Not a rubber-keyed wonder - I fancied getting a 128K version, so I could give those larger games I'd missed out on back in the 80s a go. Most Spectrum games were only available on magnetic tape and, as I've not had a tape recorder for about 15 years, I decided to go for a 128k +2 , which came with a built-in tape recorder. This machine was produced after Amstrad bought out Sinclair's computer range in the mid 80s and has a passing familial resemblance to Amstrad's earlier  CPC464, bar the numeric pad.

Best. Joystick. Ever.

The 15-year old me actively disliked Baron Hardup-esque businessman, the-then Sir Alan Sugar for his buying out seemingly friendly*, if slightly inept at business, inventor Uncle Clive Sinclair. In that young man's eyes, I've probably sold out by getting an Amstrad machine (even the copyright message when you boot up is 'Amstrad', rather than 'Sinclair Research Ltd' [sniff]). Still - and you'll have to take my word for this - the 15-year old me really talked a load of old cobblers.

Beyond made some absolute classic games

Over the past few months, I've been harvesting eBay for the cream of Spectrum releases from the 80s and 90s. I'd initially decided to only buy great games that I'd not owned or played back in the 80s, such as  Elite, for example, or maybe 128k versions of games either not available (or hosting cut-down, inferior versions) on my old 48k machine (like 128k-only Where Time Stood Still, or the 128k version of Glider Rider). However, over the weeks after my initial purchase of the 128k, I became aware of games that I'd not known about back in the 80s, or that were released after I stopped playing an active interest in the scene (around 1987/88). The fabulous online resource at www.worldofspectrum.org lists thousands of Spectrum games and links to contemporaneous reviews and, through that, I discovered (and subsequently bought on eBay), a number of great games that I'd never heard of before.

I'm a fan of 2000AD, but these games (box-art apart), aren't much good

And that brings us to another question - are these actually great games, or am I playing them for nostalgia reasons alone? I'd be lying if I said nostalgia played no part in my enjoyment of these games but, equally, there are some Spectrum games that are intrinsically great games, regardless of the era. I would argue that their relative simplicity is present in many successful iOS games, though with the Spectrum this simplicity was caused by constraints of the system, rather than the input control method, or the throwaway (given the price points) of many iOS games. Games like Green Beret, Skool Daze, Batman, Bobby Bearing (a sequel to which is available on iOS), Gyroscope, West Bank and many others are still very enjoyable to play.

In any era, these games originally developed by Gargoyle, would be considered excellent

One of the things I found surprising in my trawl through eBay was how many games associated with later, more powerful systems, were also released on Spectrum. Games like Smash TV, Lemmings, Sim City were all developed for the Spectrum (and now owned by me). I suppose this is similar to how games like FIFA or the Harry Potter games were released on PS1 and PS2, long after the focus of mainstream gaming had moved on to subsequent generations. And for the same reasons - if there are gamers gaming on them, there's money to be made for publishers from selling games to them.

Another facet of  late-era Spectrum gaming, was budget-priced re-releases

It has been great to see the works of long-standing names from the UK games industry, which disappeared in the 90s, again.  Chief among those was Ocean Software, a UK behemoth in the 80s, that  was bought out (like another great old developer, Gremlin Graphics) in the 90s.  Great Bob Wakelin artwork on many of their games, they were best known for licensed games (films and arcade games), though my favourite of their games was an original IP, Match Day (if football games can be considered original).

A small selection of the games Ocean released in its life

For the last few generations platform holders have exercised a degree of control over game cases. Other than special edition steelbooks, game cases are pretty uniform. Even big limited editions will generally have a DVD-style 'normal' box secreted in them somewhere. In the Spectrum era there was no such control and boxes of all shapes and sizes were released, from sensible single cassette boxes to big ugly VHS-rental style boxes.  I was surprised, particularly having become used to this uniformity, of how many different styles of cases there were, even in the small selection of the over 10,000 games released on the system that I have purchased.

There are some fugly boxes there

Sports games have always been big business, dating back to the minimalist look of Pong and the Spectrum was also graced with some great sports games (the hours I put into Match Day...). Sports games, like driving games, rarely date well, even between single generations, and that is certainly the case for the Spectrum sports games I've picked up and shown below. Definitely a 'nostalgia only' section of my new;y-obtained collection (I'll own up to still loving Match Day though - nostalgia rules).

Sir Trevor Brooking  was my childhood hero; I had no idea he'd lent his name to a game :)

I've really enjoyed bidding on, winning, owning and playing on my new Spectrum collection and, while I've slowed down my purchasing over the last couple of months - I've got most of the games that I really want now - I think that I'll be scouring eBay for a while yet.  My postie delivered my factory-sealed (though not for long - games are for playing) copy of Sim City only yesterday (together with Solomon's Key, Cybernoid II and Trap Door)  - I'm sure there are plenty more  great Spectrum games out there.  Time to log onto eBay again.

Such quality here

* maybe not completely friendly (if you're Acorn's Chris Curry), though 'fucking buggering shitbucket' is one of my all-time favourite insults http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2009/oct/09/micro-men-sinclair-curry

Nintendo 3DS XL - 2nd iteration trumps first, AGAIN

I've just bought a Nintendo 3DS XL, part-exchanging the original iteration of the device to fund the purchase (I got £100 for it - only £8 less than I paid for it, new, 9 months ago). It struck me that I'd bought the original iteration of the last three Nintendo handhelds - 3DS, DS and GBA - and part-exchanged them all on the day of release of the new, improved version of the device when it became available.

I didn't buy any of the original versions of those three when they launched - those purchases were driven by a software release (Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA), Mario Kart DS (er, DS) ) or a ridiculously low offer (the afore-mentioned £108 3DS - thanks Toys R Us). Given I'm a sucker for shiny new things, the fact that I didn't feel the urge to rush out and buy the DS Chunky and its friends when they were released, is probably an indication that they weren't quite 'right'. The first, backlight-free GBA was barely visible other than under strong light, the DS Chunky was too heavy and plug ugly and the 3DS was (or is, I suppose) extremely uncomfortable after extended play (and looked a bit 'Fisher Price'). On the other hand, the GBASP, the DS Lite and now the 3DS XL are great pieces of kit - what Nintendo should have done in the first place.

Given the rise of phone/tablet gaming, I have my doubts that there'll be any future generations of dedicated handheld consoles but, if there are, I hope Nintendo's entries are finished versions of its consoles (as the lovely Sony PS Vita clearly is this time around) , rather than a late prototype.


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Jacked by David Kushner (book review)

When I started this videogames blog, I didn't expect to be reviewing many books. For a start, there aren't many written away from the game guide or 'greatest games ever' market. However, there are now a few books that seek to explore the cultural significance of games, gamers and gaming. Jacked is one such book - an entertaining tale of the rise of one of gaming's largest and most controversial franchises, Grand Theft Auto.

One of the criticisms of video games from those that don't play them is 'why don't you read a book instead?'. Putting to one side the fact that - hey - it's
possible to enjoy doing both, this argument is born of a lack of understanding. It can better be rephrased as 'I don't know/understand this new thing society is doing, so I'm against it. Think of the children!'.

Not only is this the editorial line of the Daily Mail, it also is a theme that runs through Jacked. Not the voice of the author, David Kushner, but that of noughties gamers' bête noire, sometime lawyer, full-time moral crusader, Jack Thompson.

Jacked maintains a twin narrative throughout - one featuring Sam Houser, president of Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar Games and one featuring the anti videogame campaigner Thompson. From a European perspective, this is a strange approach - at an ocean's distance, Thompson seems a curious figure, tilting at videogame windmills in an increasingly sclerotic series of tirades against his twin gaming hates, sex and violence. Kushner however, promotes Thompson to a leading character in GTA's narrative, focussing on his efforts to stop GTA (and other Rockstar games) as a juxtaposition to Houser's efforts to elevate videogames to an adult art form.

Even from an American perspective, I'm not sure Thompson merits this promotion. GTA was/is such a worldwide publishing phenomenon, regular writs from a Floridian lawyer were never realistically anything more than an inconvenience to Take-Two, particularly given the protection afforded by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Take Two's unrelated 'issues' with the SEC in the US were a far more resonant threat to its business than a green-ink-brigade Southern lawyer. Unfortunately for Kushner accounting irregularities make for unexciting reading. Fortunately for the reader, while they are covered descriptively, Kushner does not dwell on them overmuch. To have done so would have detracted from the central narrative of how a British videogame series (as American as it is in theme, GTA is programmed by pasty-faced - I assume - Scotsmen and women in Rockstar North in Edinburgh) broke sales records worldwide.

Kushner writes for magazines and, at times, that makes itself apparent - his prose style can be somewhat breathless. However, he tells the tale well (even if you know how it will end) and I would recommend what is an enjoyable read to anyone with an interest in the series (and popular culture generally).

A Digital First

Last week, I bought what would otherwise have been a boxed game, via digital distribution - something I'd never done before. I have no doubt that, as broadband speeds increase, this will be the primary method of distribution in future hardware generations but I didn't think I'd buy into that method this gen.

The game in question was the fantastic Everybody's Golf on the PS Vita and the reason I bought it via a download was the simple fact that it was cheaper - Sony was offering it for £11.99 via PSN and bricks-and-mortar shops were selling it for upwards of £15. Often with download versions of boxed games, the price is the same, or even higher than their boxed brethren, so this pricing was the exception rather than the rule (at the moment, anyway).

I like the idea of owning a physical product when I've paid money for something but I think that this is, more than anything, habit. I am quite used to not owning physical media any more when buying songs and am getting that way with magazines. Games are just another step along that particular road and I'm sure that, in ten years' time downloads will be the norm.





Bringing retail doom to a High St near you. In a mini skirt




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Dynamite Dan II - ZX Spectrum/iOS

As it says in my bio, I've been playing games since 1983, when I received the seminal UK micro, ZX Spectrum, for Christmas. Back then, it seemed like every other game was a platformer of one kind or another and two of the best were the Dynamite Dan games, programmed by Rod Bowkett and released on the Mirrorsoft label. They are now also available in iOS versions - the first game is available as part of the Spectaculator Spectrum emulator app and the second game is a 69p in-app purchase in that app or for the same price as a standalone game (the photos here are from the latter app).

The second of the two DD games, Dynamite Dan II: Dr Blitzen and the Islands of Arcanum, was one of my favourite games on the system (which is saying something on a system that had 10,000 games released for it over its lifetime).

On iPad, the lower half of the screen is given over to the joystick/fire button

It was a flip-screen platformer, set across the titular Islands of Arcanum. In true 80s computer game style, there was a hokey, probably tacked on, plot linking all the onscreen action together. Series bad guy, Dr Blitzen, was enslaving the youth of the world by putting subliminal messages into vinyl pop singles (possibly commentary on the mid-80s rise of the PWE stable of singers? Or probably not...). You have to shut this evil enterprise down by - of course - finding a record on each of the islands and then playing it on the Island's jukebox, before grabbing a jerrycan of petrol to refuel your airship to travel to the next island.

In the 80s, that use of colour on Spectrum was like witchcraft

DDII featured a lot of innovative elements that are still being used in games today - health bar rather than lives, different coloured baddies having a different effect (e.g. a magenta enemy, when touched, would remove fuel (also magenta) from your inventory; a white enemy removing white bombs and so on); different enemy designs on different islands; secret passages that were only available if a particular object was held - which bears testament to its forward-looking approach. It also had - for a BEEP-y Spectrum, anyway - great sound.

The car park island.  As far as I got in the 80s

In common with pretty much all games of this era, it was insanely difficult - I only ever got to the sixth of the eight islands when playing on Spectrum in the 80s and I played it *a lot*. Back then, once you died, the player would have to go back to the very beginning of the game, to island 1 (very frustrating when you'd been on island 6). That type of game dynamic is unacceptable in the molly-coddled world of 21st Century gaming (thankfully) and the iOS version allows the player to manually save as they go along. Saves games can be reloaded after each (inevitable) death, making the game much easier (but still not easy) to complete.

As a result of playing the app I have now discovered, 25 years after I'd originally played the game, that the game is impossible to complete as envisioned in the instructions! Those instructions state that, on the last island (The Pressing Plant) after the record has been played on the jukebox, Dan must find a bomb and plant it in Dr Blitzen's (Pete Waterman's?) office, in order that the Doctor's nefarious plans cannot resurface. I played the record, found the bomb and what I took to be Blitzen's office (gold records on the the wall) but there's no way of planting or detonating it! I did wonder if I was doing something incorrectly but after a quick look around the internets, I saw it confirmed that the game could not be fully completed. I don't blame the programmer, Rod Bowkett, for who DDII was to be his last game before becoming a full-time musician/sound designer. He must have struggled considerably to put such game as there is into the Spectrum's 48k. No, I blame Mirrorsoft owner and pension-plunderer, Robert Maxwell. Just, y'know, because...

Rod Bowkett still has a public profile now (no mention of DD, sadly). It would be great if premier old games magazine 'Retro Gamer' could interview him regarding these games (and why the ending never made it into the finished game).

This screen features a VERY annoying shortcut

Despite the anti-climax at the game's end, it is still a very playable and enjoyable game, even today - I was playing DDII on iPad in preference to playing on my PS Vita while my family was watching The Voice - and great value for money. After 'completing' DDII, I found myself top of the worldwide Game Center leaderboard for the game, the first time I've been top of anything. Admittedly, there are only 33 entries in the leaderboard but still...

Xtendplay (Xbox 360) Review

As a - ahem - 'veteran' gamer, I've been playing videogames for over thirty years. At times I think that this has had a noticeable impact on my hands and wrists (because, y'know, gaming's the only thing that could have had such an effect). Often, the morning  after a lengthy session, my hands feel a bit 'tingly'  (sorry about the medical jargon there) and stiff - not exactly uncomfortable but a sensation is present where usually there is none.

Yes, it is fugly

When I read about the xtendplay controller extender, I thought that it would be worth a try to see if it alleviated this issue. The product's  basic premise is that 'gamers' claw', the stiffness and discomfort following lengthy play, is caused by the gamer gripping the hard plastic of the controller while playing. With the xtendplay it is the product that grips the plastic, whereas the user instead grips the moulded foam of the xtendplay.  The controller fits snugly and securely (no wobble) into the foam extension (see photos). 

The extended length of the unit allows the controller to rest against the gamer's stomach, thereby removing another cause of wrist stress - weight is being borne by the gamer's midriff, rather than all on the wrists. With this in mind, the bottom of the xtendplay  has a convex profile, an allowance for gamers with *coughs*, a bit of timber about the middle.

Snug

I have the 360 version and there is also  a PS3 version.

I've been using the xtendplay  for over 9 months now and, for me, it has been a success. I've not played games any less, yet my wrists and hands, while not 'tingle-free' have felt noticeably more comfortable the morning after a heavy gaming session and no problems at all while actually gaming. Early on in those six months, when yet to be convinced of the benefits, I removed the extension before playing EDF: Insect Armageddon for a lengthy Saturday night/Sunday morning session. EDF:IA is a high-energy game, with a lot of intense controller use. In the more high-octane moments towards the end of the game my hands (tightly grasping the controller) and wrists, possibly having been spoilt by the benefits of the xtendplay in the preceding weeks, were screaming in agony. Since that time my 360 controller has worn its attractive green sheath continually.

On the downside, it does take some getting used to. I had a palpable feeling, early on, that my hands just weren't 'quite' big enough to hold my new Franken-controller's monster. I wondered if this would hinder my mad  gaming skillz by  not being able to reach buttons as easily or as quickly. However, I don't think that that has happened and that any mistakes made while gaming with the xtendplay have been mine alone.  

If this review tempts you into buying the xtendplay and you, like me, have dainty girl's hands, you might feel the same way initially but it is worth persevering with, as after a time it is far more comfortable and 'right'.

In the few days after being hacked, I barely played my 360. Instead I played Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS (with Circle Pad Pro). I do most of my gaming at weekends and my hands and wrists, after a weekend of 3D survival horror, were noticeably more painful on Monday morning than the when gaming on the extended 360 controller.

Another niggling doubt in my mind is that, while the xtendplay  is easier on my wrists, the tension created between my hands, arms and shoulders by wedging it against my stomach might not be doing my shoulders any good. However I've no noticeable problems in my shoulders to date from this, so it is probably an unnecessary worry on my  part . 

When I bought my xtendplay last year, I paid £15 for it. For the purposes of checking for this review, I discovered that Amazon are now knocking them out for £6.99 (on 360 & PS3), which is an absolute bargain. If  I didn't use the Power A Pro Elite third party pad on PS3, I would definitely buy an xtendplay for PS3 as well.

Hacked Off

Earlier this week, my Xbox Live account was hacked. My Microsoft points balance of about 1600 was all but emptied and an attempted purchase of a further 6000 points only failed as the credit card linked to my account had expired. According to my purchase history 'I' had purchased three items of FIFA 12 'Ultimate Team' DLC (I hadn't). According to my Windows Live account, I'd added another email to my account (nope) and changed my security to one in Chinese (hmm, no).

I'd had a hard, tense day at work and really wanted to unwind by shooting some terrorists in the face (MW2) followed by an early night. As it was, my evening was completely free of face-shooting and I was up until gone midnight deleting stuff and wandering around the internet changing other passwords and generally upping my security levels. Not what I'd wanted to do at all.

I'd been aware of a hacking problem on Live, particularly in relation to FIFA DLC - one of my friends list had had an identical hack before Christmas and you don't have to search far on the internet to find similar stories. Indeed, the verb  'to be FIFA'd' has started being used  ("I have been well and truly FIFA'd").

I'd never succumbed to a phish for my log in details and my password was judged 'strong' but a fat lot of good that did.  The Internets say that there's a weak link in Microsoft's security software and that may be the case (I'm no expert).  There's clearly something wrong given  the number of incidences of hackage reported on the Internet.  

I reported  it to Microsoft, who said that my Live account would be locked and the details  passed to its 'investigation team' and that this was likely to take up to 3 days.  12 hours later, I received an email from the investigations team, which said that they had verified that unauthorised access had taken place and then gave me a code for Microsoft points  slightly in excess of those that I had lost.  All I need now is for my account to be unlocked and I'll be back in the game (this hiatus may do something to remedy my FIFA addiction - 80+ hours to date).

Given how quickly my claim was agreed, coupled to the fact that early reports of this problem last autumn stated that accounts were being locked for up to a month, has led me to think that Microsoft know what's causing the issue and don't want to fix it.  The 360 is coming to the end of its lifespan, with its successor expected to be announced, in some quarters, at this year's E3.  Who knows what shape Live will take in the next generation of Xbox consoles?  Do Microsoft consider it cheaper to pay off those unlucky games like me who've been hacked, compared with the cost of altering deep-grained issues within Live's code, when Live for the Xbox 720 (this almost definitely won't be its name) may be far different?