Eckyman.com

Slow month for gaming.

1. Guitar – Learnt some new things and started recording some ideas
2. Socom 4 (PS3) – Single Player on Elite
3. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox360) – Second time through the story

So… PSN being down sank my plans of whipping some folks on Socom 4 all month and I had to stick to the single player. Completed it on Normal, half with the Sharpshooter, half with just the Sony Move and Navigation controller. I enjoyed the campaign but it wasn’t anything remarkable. The team based element is quite good once you get into the swing of it. If you try and one man army it and only have your team there as backup you won’t get the most out of it.

If you take your time and set up the teams well it can be very fun to use. You can stealth team mates into flanking positions and set up ambushes very easily. There is also a nice option that allows you to mark targets for takedown, but only on your say so. This gave me a few great moments in the single player.

I’m now playing through the single player campaign on Elite difficulty, with the Sony Move and Navi controller, and recording it for my youtube channel. You can watch me play the first mission here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUpQW3rWpSo

With LA Noire coming up I decided to restart the single player on Read Dead Redemption. Well, technically I put it back on so I could ride through the desert (on a horse with no name) and listen to Ennio Morricone… but one thing led to another and I’m about 5 hours in to the story again. Every time I play I’m constantly blown away at how impressive RDR’s setting is. I could sit and look at scenery for hours in this game!

Mainly though I have been playing guitar. I’d not played seriously in nearly 10 years so had to go back and refresh myself on a few things, and build up the ol’ callouses once more. Picked up some new things and started messing around mic’ing amps up and recording/editing stuff in Audacity. Not sure why I left it so long till playing again but kicking myself for stopping when I did.

Damn well won’t be stopping again this time that is for sure!

Well, I bought and completed Socom 4 and Portal 2 but I’m not reviewing them yet till I play through the online components of each game. If they ever can channel enough lightning to jump start FrankenPSN back into life anyway!

Obviously you can tell what I’m going to say about Portal 2… I loved the first back when I played through the Orange box. I love the second.

It has some issues and I have a few problems with it, but it was in every way an improvement on the original.

Socom 4 has moments of greatness and moments of rising anger and frustration. It’s a mixed bag really… the offline anyway. I enjoyed it, but the story was nothing to write home about. The main missions felt pretty far removed from what I am used to in a Socom game too.

However, I did enjoy it. Parts of it really narked me off, but not enough to drag my opinion down too far. I’m very eager to try out the co-op with some friends, and I already know the multiplayer is good as I played heavily during the beta. Can’t wait to get in some new maps though!

Hmmm, what else…

With the PSN down I’ve been catching up on some reading again. Working my way through “The Complete Chronicles of Conan” which is several kinds of great! Also reading “Necronomicon: The Best Weird Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft” and really enjoying that too.

Might be a while before I get a review of those up as they are both hefty wedges of books, but I may post up some individual reviews of a few stories I really enjoyed.

Of all the books I’ve recommended or talked about here, I really can advise picking up either or both of these books.

The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition

Necronomicon: The Best Weird Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft (Gollancz S.F.)

I know, I know… it has been a damn slow month here!

I’ve not forgotten you all, just had a bit of a lazy month. That and I’ve been messing with video editors and game footage more than actual gaming.

Anyway, lots of posts on the way (I promise this time), and hopefully something a little different!

I always get the feeling that people may as well be arguing over which brand of DVD player is the best whenever I see PC/console versus console/PC debates.

Star Wars was no less impressive on VHS at its time of release than it is now. It doesn’t matter if you saw it on Blu-Ray, DVD, VHS, TV… the first time you see Star Wars it’s a great experience no matter the format. When it gets re-released in 3D, it will still be the story that people enjoy.

(I’ll grant that a cinema viewing will kick ass over a home viewing but it doesn’t fit my argument so shhhh )

Playing games is no different. So some games look crisper on the PC / The textures are better on this or that console / A controller is more comfortable to use / Mouse & keyboard controls are more precise.

Whatever.

To the average gamer without a side by side comparison of games running on other formats there is very little difference graphically lets be honest. If you like the precision of Mouse/Keyboard you are most likely tied to your desk/monitor. If you prefer sitting on the couch with a controller and a large wide-screen HD TV you give up the customization and precision that comes with PC gaming.

Have a preference by all means. If you want the best possible quality/comfort from your gaming experience then buy the machine that will give you that performance/comfort. Just don’t then try and justify your choice by attempting to belittle competing products.

Games matter, not platforms.

I think the Wii as a console is a letdown but if I didn’t own one I’d miss out on Monster Hunter, Super Mario Galaxy, and Donky Kong. Xbox has a somewhat problematic technical history (I’m on my third now) but if I didn’t own one I’d miss out on some great exclusive games. I don’t own a PS3 yet but I plan to remedy that very soon or I won’t get to play The Last Guardian, arguably the game I have been anticipating the most.

Platform wars are a waste of time…

Well, it’s been quiet here this month. Don’t worry, I’m still here… with about 6 posts sitting in my draft box waiting to be finished!

Finish work for Christmas this aft though so updates incoming asap!

The pack on my back is heavy with ore and minerals, valuable resources I need to last the coming weeks. I’ve spent the last three nights down here and I’m beginning to lose it. I’m sure I can hear something… inhuman. The foul air down here and lack of sunlight is playing tricks on me, making me paranoid. I know I’ve secured the area and provided sufficient light but I can’t shake the feeling that something is down here with me.

I reach in my pack for another torch and realise I’m running short. Time for a resupply.

If subterranean life makes me paranoid, it’s nothing in comparison to the living hell my above-ground life has become. I’ve taken to living just below the surface so I don’t have to see those dead eyes staring at me nightly. Waiting, planning…

They seem mindless, they don’t even have the sense to get out of the sunlight in the morning. As their green flesh and bony remains ignites with the rising sun, I’m offered a glimpse of victory over my undead companions. If I wait it out long enough the sun will take care of everything for me. At least, that’s what I thought at first. Now I’m not so naive. Every night there are more, no matter how many I kill there are always more.

At first I searched for a cure. For a long time I would mix various types of mushrooms and plants with some of the minerals I had found underground, trying anything I could to cure these, things. It was around this time I almost lost my arm and fully lost my drive to find a cure. Whatever had happened here, I was obviously as immune to their disease as they were to my attempts at a cure.

I soon began to use a bow from the top of my tower to pick them off, but as the months passed, so did my fear, or perhaps my sanity. Slowly I forgot the sorrow I once felt and became consumed by hatred. I spend days constructing varied elaborate traps designed to burn, explode, or drown my foes. I sometimes watch them drown through a glass wall I have built for such purposes. It gives me pleasure.

Who exactly are the monsters here? Them or me?

Pushing these thoughts from my mind, I concentrate on the task at hand and continue my ascent. As my thoughts clear I feel my heart tighten. There are no torches in front of me.

This is not the way I came.

I backtrack for a good 20 minutes hoping to find a landmark, something familiar that indicates the way out but I’ve been so engrossed in my thoughts I could have passed a talking chicken and not noticed it.

Idiot! This is exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t do!

Picking up the pace I jog back down the tunnel only to find myself face to face with a gravelly dead end I don’t recognise.

Wait!

I do recognise this! I shovelled out a piece of dirt and all this fell behind me. But which way was behind me? Frantically I begin to shovel the gravel away in all directions. More tumbles down in it’s place. Panic shifts into fifth gear and locks me in its grip. I’m mumbling to myself now, pleading to some unseen force to just let me get out of this tomb alive when I hear it. Slowly I turn and stare into the green face of my death and laugh. A laugh too loud and too long, tinged with madness and despair.

The creature begins to sizzle. A millennia flies by unnoticed. Stars form and die and still that sound spreads til there is nothing else. I look for the last time upon that sad face before the sound fills my brain and rips out my mind.

sssssssssssssssssssssSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

*BOOOOM*

Welcome to Minecraft!

Not that it’s interesting to anyone but me… I’m approaching the 30,000 plays mark on Last.fm!

It’s that time of year again!

Going to Silverstone for the 2010 Renault World Series tomorrow!! I’ve been attending for the last few years and it’s really a great (and free!) day out if you’re into racing.

http://www.worldseriesbyrenault.com/

If you are already going, keep an eye out… I’ll be the one in the Eckyman.com T-Shirt!

Anyone who has read this blog before will be more than aware of my love for all things Monster Hunter and so it may be surprising that I’ve left it so long before writing a review. My save file tells me I have logged around 200 hours now so I guess I’m in a position to finally talk about it, but before I do I should probably go into some detail of my past with the franchise. As such I’ll be splitting this article in two, the first talking about the franchise as a whole, the next will be my actual review of the game. By all means, skip this section if you are already familiar with the history of Monster Hunter, if you are not familiar and interested in some back story on one of gamings most underrated gems, read on… but I warn you now, this may get quite lengthy.

Read more…

To get it out of the way, yes I think some games can qualify as art… to me.

I can also see why some people want to take the opposing view in the ‘games as art’ discussion but at the end of the day, art is subjective and the experience is personal to the viewer/participant. On those terms, anyone trying to tell me games can NOT be art is not only wrong, they are very ignorant to the idea of what art is/can be to individuals.

To put this in broader terms, I have visited the Tate Modern Gallery in London and I firmly believe that not one single exhibit I saw (I did not visit all the sections so I can’t say ALL of it) qualifies as art. I have personally seen a can of baked beans minus the label exhibited at the Tate Modern as art. To me it is nothing but a waste of time, except perhaps a joke at the expense of people who DO believe it is art. To others it is a work of genius… I don’t see it or understand it, but there you have it. Art is, and always will be subjective and it’s definition can change from person to person. I may not see the tin as art, but I understand and accept that other people do see it that way.

The same can be said of games no matter what anyone says on the subject. Die-hard ‘games are NOT art’ opinionated people are not only wrong, but blinded in their eagerness to simply oppose anyone who dares think otherwise. I’m sorry to say, if you believe games can NOT be art to anyone, you are wrong. You simply have not experienced any games that have moved you, or sparked an emotion beyond the feeling of ‘fun’ that a game delivers. I may not think a tin of beans sans label is art, but I’m very aware that to other people that tin of beans embodies art. Not only that but I’m tolerant to the idea that other people see the tin as art when I don’t. I certainly don’t think any less of people who think the tin is art, I simply don’t understand it… and that’s fine, I don’t need to understand it, I only need to be aware of the fact that other people do. Or claim to anyway.

I’m not ashamed to admit that Ico brought a tear to my eye after the credits rolled and I ran along that beach. Why? I wasn’t sure then, and I’m not sure now. I don’t care if anyone else shares my point of view because I don’t need the validation to know that to me, personally, Ico qualifies as art.

The Wikipedia article for Art states;

‘Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression.’

If a game moves you beyond the usual feeling of ‘fun’ that a game delivers, then it qualifies. A game is nothing more than an arrangement of visuals, sounds, and interactive experiences. If that arrangement invokes a feeling of loneliness (Ico), or dread (Limbo), or makes you question basic right & wrong viewpoints (Shadow of the Colossus), who the hell is anyone to tell me that doesn’t qualify as art simply because they did not feel that way while playing the game? That said, I also understand that just like the tin of baked beans, what is art to one person is not to another. Although Ico may have invoked an emotional response in me, I understand and accept that this is not the case for many others.

There is no definitive answer to the ‘games as art’ debate in the same way that there is no definitive answer for a lot of people regarding modern art, only what you personally feel about it. Just don’t be such a jack-ass if other people see things differently please.