Too commercialised - Why I think consoles are rubbish?

After browsing the net looking at what games are due to come out I notice a trend. Nearly all of the games were the same for each console. Now this is something I've noticed before but now I'm fed up.

First Person Shooters, First Person Shooters, War Game, First Person Shooter with some strategy thrown in, more shovel-ware...it goes on and on. The 360 and PS3 are just full of First Person Shooters (FPS)  or some other shooter and racers - Gears of War, Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six 15: let's have it on the Falkland islands to make it interesting, Army of Two, Medal of Honour, Counter Strike, Halo, Quake, Unreal Tournament. I realise these games have slight variations in style and storyline but not a whole lot. 

The Wii is no better - arguably worse. Apart from a handful of titles the rest of the Wii's library is full of copycat shovel-ware and shallow tacked on motion controlled ports. There was hope that with less focus on graphics and more on gameplay the Wii would actually fuel innovation. Things started promising with Wii sports - yes a casual game but nonetheless it showed perfectly what the console could do. Yet, ever since we've had hardly anything to spend our hard earned cash on. In fact some of Nintendo's best franchises don't utilise motion controls that well if at all; Mario Kart Wii (allegedly) and Super Smash bros.

I played a number of upcoming shooters on the 360 and PS3 at play.com live but none seriously impressed me. Haze was good but still nothing new. Every game promises to deliver a 'new element' or 'a degree of realism never seen before' and each time they usually manage to do this...so what?! Big deal if some bushes catch on fire, whoopee if buildings are damaged when a great whacking bomb just exploded. 

I want games that are new, different and interesting. Don't get me wrong -  I enjoy FPS games etc but I'm fed up of the sheer amount. You buy one and you've essentially bought them all. 

Things are looking up though. With planned services such as Wii Ware and the already existing Xbox Live Arcade we could see innovation come from smaller developers as they get a chance at the big time. Maybe we'll actually see decent use of the hi-def consoles power other than graphics and perhaps we'll see intuitive use of the wii-mote for games with new concepts. 

I think big developers and publishers have ruined the industry to an extent. Just when things were getting interesting. We see a lot innovation on the net where not much processing power is available or nifty controls, just a mouse and keyboard, flash and some lateral thinking from hobbyists and small development teams. Some games have had phenomenal success over the net with games such as 'Defend your Castle'. A simple game where you must defend your castle by clicking and chucking the enemy stick men in the air. (There are other elements but that's the general idea). Defend your Castle is even making it's way to Wii Ware.

I really hope the industry wakes up, takes some bold decisions to make some genuinely different and interesting games. 

Pro Evo Wii - Full Review

It’s easy to dismiss the Wii and cast it aside. The console has been so popular, not only amongst gamers, but also with ‘non-gamers’. With popularity come a lot of issues – the main one being third party developers cashing in on the Wii with awfully conceived and poorly designed games. These usually have some waggle controls tacked on to give the impression of some effort when in reality barely any human input is to be seen.

As a result of this, so called, shovel-ware the Wii is slated as a casual gamers console only with very few killer titles for the hardcore audience. While Nintendo fans know this isn’t true, not with the likes of Mario and Metroid, no one can deny that third party support hasn’t been great. In fact, the features that brought the original hype of the Wii seem to have forgotten. Apart from first party titles and a few others there have not been many innovative implementations of the wii-mote.
Well, hopefully that is starting to change.

I present to you…Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 Wii! Or PES for short. If you’ve the first impressions then you’ll know I like this game. After playing it some more I’ve decided that I love this game! Who needs Fifa when you have this? Seriously, Fifa 08 did nothing for the Wii. The party mode was a waste of time and I’m glad PES doesn’t condescend to Wii owners as if we’re all a bunch of kids. No offence kids.

Let’s start with the defining feature of PES Wii and how it’s changed football games on the console forever. When I heard about the control scheme I was initially sceptical. How was pointing at the screen and moving players realistic? But then again, how is tapping some buttons realistic?

PES Wii takes a step back and uses a team led approach. Rather than controlling just one player you can direct multiple players simultaneously. The controls are strange at first but simple. When you’re on the ball you click and drag the player in the direction you want to go. You can also use the analogue stick but this is limited to jogging. Usually when using the click and drag system the analogue stick acts as various skill techniques etc depending on the direction you push. Click and drag works extremely well, it’s very responsive and allows you to point exactly where you want to go. At the same time you can select players off of the ball and, using the same click and drag system, direct them to move into space.

This is one of the highlights of the game and it completely changed the way you think about football as well as the way you play. The matches suddenly become a lot more tactile, choosing your passes carefully and waiting for the precise moment to unleash your deadly through ball rather than just blistering down the sidelines. (Although that is still an option). You can choose to manually move a player into space or as you’re dragging the player in possession you can also click B in any space and the nearest player will move to intercept. However, this is not always as effective. One-two passes are also available. This is done via the same method but without letting go of the A button. The system is great for deceiving the opposition but making runs to pull away defenders or sending players surging into the box as you send in a cross.

These elements are the best parts of PES Wii because at any moment your defence, or the opponents, can be ripped apart. In that way it is much more like real football – a goal can come out of nowhere. There is one minor gripe about the controls in Pro Evo and that’s the defensive side. There are no real options for defending. As with attacking you take a team approach selecting players to man mark or dragging them to cover vulnerable areas. However, this style of defending is too indirect. The players feel slow and sluggish when it comes to tackling giving an unfair advantage to the attacking team. Of course, the same applies to the opposition when you’re attacking but nonetheless it slightly dampens the achievements by Konami on the control front. In ‘panicky’ situations where your own box is flooded with players it becomes very difficult to take hold of one player to make a tackle. Instead you’re left attempting to man mark every player in the hope you can get close enough to execute a slide tackle. The slide tackles themselves are fine (done by holding Z and shaking the nunchuck) but it’s getting close enough that’s the problem. Hopefully Konami will address this by taking a more direct approach or making the AI of the defenders that bit more intelligent in the next version.

That said there are hardly any other issues. Besides, attack is the best form of defence. Everything else is pretty straightforward once you get used to it. Shooting is done by shaking the nunchuck or the wii-mote to perform a chip. It may seem clumsy but considering how much you need to concentrate elsewhere on the pitch…it makes sense. The training mode is nicely designed easing players into the new control scheme with a good learning curve. Once you know the basics it is up to you to implement the new system and make it work. I.e. it’s down to your own skill, sweat and blood…but mostly sweat.

The initial training mode teaches you the basics. After this you must start the Champions Road mode to learn new tips and tricks. This mode is what will keep you coming back. You pick either a team like ‘Man Red’ (guess they still don’t have the licenses), pick a made up team and edit the kit etc or start from scratch. Not having licensed teams has no bearing on the game at all – as soon as you start playing you’ll forget which team you are anyway. In Champions Road the idea is simple: Enter the tournaments and leagues, win them, unlock more tournaments around the world and win those.

Along the way your players attributes increase with experience. Once their ‘bar’ has filled up you can allocate new experience points in basic skills or special skills. You also have a great degree of control over player positions and formations. Using the wii-mote you can ‘grab’ the player caricatures and move them into the desired position. This allows for greater control of your team’s tactics and style of play. As well as this, when you beat a team you can add some of their players to your team. You do not know which player you’ve picked until you choose one but it’s an interesting way of building up your squad. You’ve just thrashed your opponents and now you rub salt into the wound by nabbing their best players – nice! As you progress different missions become available to complete in each match such as ‘Complete 3 short passes’ or ‘Have 10 shots on target’. By completing these you earn the right to pick more players from beaten opponents, choosing players of higher ability (based on a star rating) and more.

The online mode, while basic, works perfectly. As with most other online games for Wii you can choose either a friend match or a free match with random opponents. In my online matches there was no lag at all. The only problem I had was within 30 seconds I had a player sent off, went down two goals, and came back by two only to have my keeper sent off. Made the match interesting though. There are no league tables or ranking systems here. As a result you lose the competitive reason to return online but if you’re no good then it’s nice not to have to bother with it all. However, I do think Konami should include this feature next time round. There is also normal match mode in which you can compete with the computer or a friend.

The graphics of this game are mixed. It’s obviously not as good as its hi-def cousins but overall it’s okay. Player models are good, well animated but perhaps a little scary. It seems all the players have an abnormal amount of freckles and wrinkles. The opening sequences and stadiums are well animated. The pitch is as you’d expect…green; but suffers from some bizarre texture issues which appear in replays mostly. I have no idea what it is, whether it only occurs on an HDTV or what. All in all there’s nothing special here. But as I said before, none of it matters once you start playing.

Konami have done a great job here. Finally someone else has bothered to put the Wii’s functions to good use and implement them. After a few games it feels natural to play this way and I wouldn’t go back to a traditional pad/control scheme. In fact that would feel weird now. A few minor gripes here and there but these don’t detract from the experience at all. Definitely buy this game if you’re a footie fan – if you aren’t you’d still enjoy it. I’m sure future iterations will improve on an already great game.

9/10

Pro Evo - First Impressions

Well, I picked up my copy of Pro Evo Wii this morning. I have to say that, while I've been looking forward to getting a proper football game on Wii, I was also skeptical about how good it actually was.

After some training and a couple of games, my initial skepticism has gone and overwhelming joy has replaced it. These are just initial thoughts (a full review soon) but Pro Evo Wii is a masterpiece as far as I can tell. There has never been this degree of accuracy in a football game ever. I don't care how good Fifa of PES is on 360 etc...this is better!

Almost all controls are through the wii-motes Infra Red (IR). This works perfectly. Selecting players, man marking, dribbling, one-two movements, through balls, crosses, movement into space...it's all done via IR. Weird to get used to at first, the game's training camp is well crafted to initiate players into this new style of play. The basics are there as well as more complicated manouevres opening up as you progress through the game.

Playing a match was brilliant. Scoring a goal was just pure joy!It finally felt like I'd taken control, executed the play and finished with a well placed goal. You begin to think more about the play and set pieces because now you have full control. In other games, you hope that the AI moves into space, you hope they man mark properly. Now, we have no excuse - "I didn't want the pass to go there", "The through-ball wasn't supposed to be there?!" No more can we use these as reasons for missing a glorious opportunity because we have pin-point accuracy.

Full review soon...but one thing is for sure - you need to get this game!

Win a Nintendo Wii with 'Hitman's Life'

If you want a Nintendo Wii but can't get hold of one or you simply don't have the money - then do not fear!

Hitman's Life is offering users the chance to win a Nintendo Wii! There are two up for grabs.

To enter and have a chance of winning this fantastic console then go to:
http://www.hitmanslife.com/competition.php

Follow the instructions and you could be swinging that wii-mote in no time.

Hitman's Life is a free MMORPG. Sign up and work your way through the ranks of 'The Company' to become the best hitman around. You have the ability to be a leader and create your own hitman company to drive to the top or can equally join other companies to help build an unstoppable empire. Perform Hitjobs, collect cash and purchase weapons along the way of attacking your enemies to help build up respect. Always keep an eye on your friends and employers!

Rock Band...Wii

No, the UK release date has not been confirmed...unfortunately. But Rock Band Wii has been on the cards for a while. Today, the cards have been put on the table and the US release of Rock Band has been confirmed for June. However, it seems some of the cards along the way have been lost. (see what I did there)

How do we know this? Well, here come the dreaded words from a representative for Harmonix: "The feature-set is a lot closer to the PS2 version of Rock Band which was also developed by Pi Studios". Those are words no Wii owner ever wants to hear. It basically means milked down version.

It appears the Wii version will ship without downloadable content or online play - two major features of the 360 and PS3 compatriots.

I find this extremely baffling. Why on earth would they exclude this feature? Yes, yes I understand about family play, casual gamers etc but do they really think that they can do without these key features. Suppose people get bored of the tracklist? Normally they could buy more but ohh no, not on the Wii. Suppose the family has gone out and there are no 'casual' friends on hand; maybe, just maybe a player would want to battle online?

It's completely pointless to eliminate these features from the Wii. It's perfectly capable. They need to expand Nintendo's online library not limit it. I want to see more innovation in Wii games such as Konami's Pro Evo.

Anyone else? Add your comments

World War 3 is on it's way

After a weekend of relaxing, nearly completing Virtua Tennis and eating a lot of cake; I've been reading reviews and watching videos of Rainbow Six Vegas. Along the way I came across End War - another game from the Tom Clancy franchise. The trailer and in-game footage is impressive and I have to say the storyline, although nuclear war is nothing new, intrigues me.

Check out the trailer here: http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=7920&size=large

Dream On!

The last couple of days have been good...no great! Aside from scoring a truly awe-inspiring goal at football this week I managed to purchase a Dreamcast AV cable.

Perhaps not the news you were expecting but nonetheless it is a historic week. When the Dreamcast released in the UK I was one of the first to jump of the bandwagon. After the downfall of the Saturn, and plumping for a Playstation instead, I was ready to forgive SEGA and once again have them grace my home with their console. This time I was not disappointed. By the time the Playstation 2 had been released, the Dreamcast was a bargain. I only paid £140 for mine minus the games. With brilliant graphics, decent games to look forward to, and pioneering online play, it seemed like the obvious choice. However, this sadly was not to last. Soon after, Sony took over the world and banned production of the SEGA Dreamcast...well, they couldn't compete actually. The lack of games for the Dreamcast and the sheer volume of PS2's sold, with the Gamecube and Xbox on the way, the console was doomed.

That is the short story of the Dreamcast. But even after, I refused to give into the corrupted powers of Sony. I continued to play my Dreamcast; I couldn't get enough of Crazy Taxi, Sonic or Virtua Tennis.

Then as I moved house, errgen, I lost the AV cable and have never been able to find one in stores ever since. Until now! The kind assistant at Gamestation looked high and low for an AV cable and he found one! I purchased it for a measley 99p. Blowing the dust off the console, I readied myself for what was approaching. A good old drive around on Crazy Taxi, a head to head on Virtua Tennis and some challenging puzzles from ChuChu Rocket. For the moment I have forsaken my PC, pool table and Wii for this humble, yet underrated console.

Buy a Dreamcast now...and may it long live on!

A 'Misspent' youth isn't such a bad thing after all!

Collectormania – A haven for sci-fi fans, geeks and nerds arguably, but with movie and TV stars, Lightsabres, cool collectibles and manic memorabilia this is anything but a ‘sad’ day out. On the back of the many stalls at the event are real life businesses born out of childhood fantasies. I spoke to Gary Stanton, co-founder of Retro GT, to find out more.

I had never been to a ‘Collectormania’ event before. The mere thought of everyone else dressed up as Stormtroopers and Klingons made me feel out of place. However in the pursuit of inspiration (and a Krispy Kreme Donut) I went along to discover this place of unique hobbies and interests.

To my surprise, and disappointment, there were only a handful of people dressed up as your friendly neighbourhood Klingon. This, at first, eased my concerns and as I began to walk around the stalls I realised that I actually feel at home here. I’m not an avid fan as some people but I certainly didn’t feel out of place, I mean a Nintendo Monopoly…who wouldn’t want that!?

Then one stall in particular caught my eye. Retro GT. The tables were covered in t-shirts and I immediately recognised the pictures as older classic gaming icons such as Pong. I got chatting to co-founder Gary (surname) asking him about his personal life in gaming and how it eventually became part of his business.

“It was like an epiphony,” Gary tells me with a fond memory of the moment Retro GT was born. “Me and Lawrence (co-founder) were playing Street Fighter until about 3am and we both had to go to work the next morning and we were talking about how awesome it would be if we didn’t have to go work the next day.”

Gary continues to tell me how he and Lawrence realised that actually they could be “their own bosses”. But how did t-shirts become part of the mix?

“The t-shirt thing came about because we were both graphic designers at the time, I was working on websites and Lawrence was freelancing, and we thought we could design graphics and put them on t-shirts and sell them at Camden market.”

Gary and Lawrence took around 300 t-shirts to Camden Market with hopes held high.

“We went to Camden Market thinking we were going to come back rich. We didn’t make a great deal of money but we did get a lot of ideas.”

Many of the business success stories we hear today begun with humble beginnings, cue Richard Branson. Laughing, Gary comments, “Yeah, I think the place you generally start is at the bottom.”

“We went there (Camden) not knowing what people were going to want and we came back with a much better idea of what people were going to be interested in.”

It’s fair to say that games clothing, specifically retro ones, is quite a niche market. However with the popularity of the interactive Nintendo Wii filtering it’s way into homes of many families, is it a growing niche?

“Retro is really popular at the moment. Retro games are making a comeback. You’ve got software houses like Capcom and Taito putting their games onto services such as Xbox Live and on Virtual Console for the Wii…it’s becoming really popular at the moment.”

Most of the people who have grown up with games from the 80’s and 90’s are now adults with disposable income of their own. This means many have bought into the retro games market for nostalgic purposes. Not only does this open a market to the original players of the games but also to their children who can access the content on their Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii.

This inevitably leads to many businesses jumping on the bandwagon in order to grab a slice of the profits. The games industry is growing at an impeccable rate and there’s a lot to be had from an industry worth £15billion annually.

Gary insists that although there are an increasing number of competitors, Retro GT stands out from among them, he says “Where we differ is a lot of people are just taking photos of old machines or direct screenshots of computer games and printing them on t-shirts, but because we’re graphic designers all our stuff is original. In that way it’s art in its own right.”

I could see that both Gary and Lawrence were enthusiastic and passionate about their business venture stemming from their love of retro video games. I wanted to find out more about Gary’s love of video games and how it developed.

“I was just a geek as a kid…I had no friends! I got my first computer when I was eight years old, it was a Spectrum 48k. I’m not sure, I’ve always been interested in games.”

It would be easy to think that Gary followed suit with video games, buying into consoles like the Playstation as the industry progressed into ever more complicated games with many ‘wowing’ consumers with the graphics and not the gameplay, but Gary tells me that wasn’t the case.

“I was playing games when I was younger and as games got better I ended up sticking with the older games.”

Gary explained that even when consoles like the Playstation and Playstation Two came out, with the inevitable graphics overhaul games got as a result, he didn’t feel the urge to buy into it.

“It wasn’t as appealing as the old stuff. Whereas before games were made by enthusiasts and they really had to think about the gameplay, now games are made by teams of up to 30 people.” He continues “…and it looks beautiful and are kind of cool games but I think they lost something from the old days where it was all about the playability because you couldn’t be wowed by the sound or graphics, it was all about how fun and addictive the game could be.”

Having your own business doing what you love would appeal to many people, especially younger people who have grown up with the video games industry. How does Gary feel about combining work and play and does he have any advice for young people wanting to start their own business whether it be in games or another interest?

“I always wanted to do something cool for a living and work for myself which basically combines my great love, which has always been computer games, and my talents which are graphic design and website design. Plus the fact I can get up when I want and I don’t have someone shouting at me to get stuff done. It’s the best of both worlds.”

But Gary insisted that him and Lawrence don’t relax too much.
“We work very hard to be fair. We’re making all of our t-shirts by hand so the more we sell the more work it is for us. It is a hard slog at the moment, but it always is when you’re starting up a business.”

After asking Gary about students and career choices regarding setting up a business he insists University is a good thing.
“Use University as a way to get contacts and to meet people who are interested in similar things to you because you’re all going out into the real world and, later in life, that will come very much in handy. Uni also allows you access to facilities and equipment that you might not have at home.”

“If you’ve got an idea just do it. The only thing it takes to make money is the guts to try. It’s not easy and you’re going to have to work hard…there’s no reason to hold back.”

As a last piece of advice Gary told me it’s best to work hard while you’re younger stating “Don’t go and get wrecked at 18. Do that when you’re 25 and rich!”

Comical, but sound, advice from someone who has worked hard to get where they are in just two years.

If you’re interested in Retro GT products, or you want to find helpful links related to gaming etc, then head over to www.retrogt.com

Pro Wii-volution

I couldn't resist. Everyone else and their dog seems to make a pun at some point and I felt Games Verdict was missing this aspect. So there you have it...Pro Wii-volution; get it? get it? aahh never mind.

Pro Evo Wii is a tad behind it's console counterparts but it has just received one of it's first reviews online. The review comes from IGN US and, judging by the review, the game looks really promising: http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/860/860254p1.html
IGN gave it 8.6 overall but expect UK and european reviews to be higher given the love of the sport. Even so, that is a very good score along with comments such as "The first sports game on Wii to revolutionise the experience rather than dumb it down".

I'm so glad that finally someone had bothered to take the time and sit down thinking properly about how to best implement the controls. It's ironic that Fifa 08 is awful and rushed on the Wii yet fluid, innovative and (arguably) better than Pro Evo on the 360 and PS3. Whereas Pro Evo has not advanced as much as Fifa did this year on the hi-def consoles, it has made a huge leap in terms of gameplay with the iteration on the Wii. The use of IR control seems obvious but Konami have done a great job. Being able to control more than one player simultaneously is brilliant. After all, that's how football works...a team effort rather than just one player steaming down the wing and scoring a seemingly impossible goal.

I'm not sure how the multiplayer works other than online. That is if there is local multiplayer. Being able to see what your opponent is doing on screen in the same room would defeat the object of it. However, this game is released on the 28th March in the UK. I'm promptly selling my copy of Fifa 08 and getting Pro Evo. Expect a review soon after. Long live the Wii-volution! (sorry :D )

Play.com Live...Thoughts and Views

After returning from a long day in London at the play.com live event I had a lot to think about. Working out which tube to get, trying to find Wembley, finding Wembley, then losing it again wondering how on earth can we lose sight of Wembley football stadium, having my food contents taken off of me, queuing for games, getting killed on Halo 3...you get the picture. But the one thing I thought about most was: Play.com Live - Was it a success?

I'll just get straight to the point. It wasn't quite as big as I'd hoped nor were there enough previewable games. We were promised Ghostbusters (which we didn't get), LEGO Batman (which we didn't get), Iron Man (which we didn't get) plus some others. Some parts of the event weren't organised well. For instance there were actually three floors to the event and I think most people didn't realise this. Handy for us because it meant lots of play time in the 'over 18's' area. (Over 18 gaming area that is...nothing else). Perhaps play.com weren't expecting such a large turnout but it was pretty packed in the main atrium, but considering they arranged it in three months the event was functional.

Okay, so there's the negative points. Putting aside the fact that some games were missing, and most playable content had already been released, the event was thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some highlights on the day's best games:

Haze: It took me nearly all day to get some play time on this but I finally managed and what I saw was very promising indeed. Crisp and nice looking graphics, good design with a decent storyline as far as I can tell. The controls were very impressive; tight and responsive. Many of the other console FPS's I played that day were not so easily controlled. Should be a big hit.

Halo 3: I know it's been out for ages but there were multiple 360's system linked to allow over 12 of us to play. Believe it or not I hadn't played Halo 3 multiplayer before then and it was brilliant. Well designed maps, plenty of weapons and vehicles plus lots and lots of killing. It was mainly me being killed because I was so awful at it - I guess being in a team of my own on snow terrain in a pink suit didn't help.

COD4: I'm not sure what all the hype is about. I didn't think the game was as amazing as some made it out to be but nonetheless a very impressive game. Intelligent AI, realistic controls and military tactics with an adequate multiplayer mode. I wish all console FPS's had a standard and polish like this.

Rock Band: Now delayed until late May/June (does anyone actually know?) it was good to see it in action. I didn't play because I didn't feel like making a fool of myself in front of a crowd. But I did watch other people doing this. Very entertaining to watch and looks even better to play. It definitely seems to work best with friends (durr) but the single player mode seems pointless. If you're a larry don't bother with this game. Get Guitar Hero instead.

Gran Turismo 5: There were only five 'pods' to queue up for and boy were the queues long. There was no chance of getting on this but I stuck around to watch. This looks absolutely amazing. Seriously, the cars looked real, the shops lining the London race track looked photo realistic. I was blown away by the graphical realism of this. Of course, that doesn't mean the gameplay is great but if previous renditions are anything to go by then we shouldn't have any problems. Made me want to buy a PS3 there and then.

Farcry 2: This was only a promo but it was very impressive. A 50sqkm map to roam around with no loading times. Lovely graphics and AI was very intelligent. Realism was taken to a new level in terms of gameplay. This was only a demo from November 2007 so expect alot more in the coming months with a view to release in Autumn/Winter.

Summary: Overall a great day. Could have been bigger and better, but it's the first year so we forgive you play.com . We should be grateful someone has bothered to organise an event like this in UK after any other shows we used to have don't exist anymore. There are rumours of multiple events up and down the country but one thing is for sure there will be one in 2009. I hope it will be in a better location such as Wembley Arena, with more backing from developers and studios and far more input from Nintendo. A lowly four stands showing the latest casual games was not impressive. That aside, I'm really looking forward to next year. Keep it up play.com

Check some of the photos in the album. Obviously we weren't allowed to have any sort of recording of games during the event.

Play.com Live...here we come!

The Play.com Live event/festival is happening this weekend on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th March at Wembley Stadium. The event hosts some of the best entertainment coming our way in 2008 onwards including: previews of the best games before they hit the shelves, live music from bands such as We are Scientists plus a whole host of memorabilia like the real Tom Baker from Dr. Who and the Aston Martin DBS.

Awesome stuff! Well, me and some friends have managed to get tickets for sunday. So, here at Games Verdict, we'll try and bring you news and previews of the best games and entertainment around; previews on games such as: Haze, Lego Indiana Jones, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Street Fighter 4, Army of Two, Rock Band (which is delayed errgen), SEGA Superstars Tennis, Ghostbusters, three different Final Fantasy Games and loads more. Phew!

It's set to be a great day. We'll try and get as much stuff on here as possible, perhaps focusing on a couple of games. There will definitely be photos so make sure you check back in soon.

Wii Ware Tetris

A version of iconic game Tetris will make it's way to the Wii Ware service, it has been announced. The game will include online capabilities for battling opponents. It's likely the Wii's Infra Red (IR) functionality will be used as an on-screen pointer as well as some motion based controls being implemented.

For those than don't know, Wii Ware is a service that allows users to purchase and download games from a variety of developers. It allows smaller businesses to develop games for the service with relatively low risk as well as more established franchises having a presence. Downloadable games cost 'Wii points' much like buying anything from the Wii shop. A number of games have been named for Wii Ware as well as plenty on the way. Japan is set to have the service operational this month with other regions to follow.

I think the Wii Ware service is a great idea. Finally, something slightly more worthwhile other than a voting channel. As smaller developers are in on the whole thing, expect some quirky, innovative games to be released. As for Tetris, it's good that such a world-renowned game will be on Wii with new additions as well.

Nothing to do on Friday? Buy a 360!

You might be wondering why anyone would suggest buying an Xbox 360 this friday as opposed to any other day. Well, from this friday (March 14th) the UK Xbox 360 price will be cut by £40. This brings the retail price all the way down to £159.99! That makes it the cheapest next-gen console...for the Arcade pack anyway.

It is a further attempt by Microsoft to expand it's market to new consumers. Last year the Arcade pack was released to broaden the console's appeal.

If you're looking to buy the Premium pack or the 360 Elite then don't worry because those prices have also been cut. The Premium pack is now £199, while the Elite is priced at £259.99, saving you £40.

A clever move by Microsoft in my opinion. It certainly takes the shine off any attention Sony might be getting whilst putting it in direct competition with the Nintendo Wii pricewise. I doubt Sony or Nintendo will cut the price of their console's any time soon but this move by Microsoft may force them to do so earlier than expected.

Sony and Microsoft have a 'chat'

It was reported in the Financial Times that Microsoft are 'in talks' with Sony about developing a blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. Microsoft have stated on multiple occasions that they would consider developing a blu-ray drive for the console if HD-DVD failed; so this comes as no surprise.

It's likely if a blu-ray drive was developed it would be an external drive. This is quite a big step for Sony. Yes, it would put blu-ray in the hands of many more consumers worldwide but the PS3 is also losing one of it's main advantages over rival consoles. It should be very interesting to see how this plays out.

Rock Band Delayed

The UK release date of Rock Band has been delayed. It's rumoured the game will now release on the 21st March 2008 (but considering the previous delays I wouldn't bet on it.)

Unfortunately this means a review and video of the set up will also be delayed.

Red Faction: Guerilla

Incase you don’t already know THQ announced that a third Red Faction game was in development a while back. It was confirmed in February that it would be called Red Faction: Guerilla. The aim is to release the game by Q1 2009.

Red Faction’s previous outings were great games with fast-paced action, great weapons and ,best of all, destructible environments. However, the third installment will not just be a prettier version of the last two but is infact stepping out in a new direction. Red Faction:Guerilla will be a ‘third person, open-world shooter’. This opens up a whole world of opportunities regarding the storyline and the destructible environments. The game is set 50 years after the first Red Faction and you take the role of an insurgent new to the Red Faction group. As before, you’re battling for liberation from the ‘Earth Defence Force’.

The press release states that the best elements from the series remain while new elements are introduced: “Red Faction: Guerrilla expands the signature destruction elements of the series and pushes the boundaries of next-gen gaming on a massive, terra-formed Mars where gamers can literally tear down the enemy EDF presence brick by brick,” said Mike Kulas, president of Volition, Inc. ”With a new 3rd person perspective, a full cover system that allows for guerrilla style tactics and a diverse planet to explore we’re excited to revitalize the gripping world of Red Faction for high-definition platforms.”

I’m really looking forward to this game. I thought Red faction ll was great and I especially enjoyed the multiplayer. The third person, open-world aspect should be interesting. It can be very difficult to pull off a game like that but I really hope they do. It’s a great franchise and, although 2009 seems a long way off, it should be worth the wait.

First Post and Rock Band

Hi and welcome to Games Verdict!

Here I will try and keep you updated on the latest in the gaming world with news, reviews and features. The main aim with this site/blog is to keep the reviews simple and honest. Many of the reviews I read seem endless and ongoing. So I'll keep things simple.

Hopefully as time goes on I'll get more review copies and more exclusive news so be sure to check back regularly!

Rock Band is released in the UK tomorrow (6th March, Friday) and I can't wait to have a go. Me and some friends will be rocking together and I will post a review in the next couple of days as well as a video to show you exactly what you're getting out of the box.