Games Journalism Or Bust!

“Oh, he’s the…”

Yep, that’s me and Robert Knepper - also known as Prison Break’s T-Bag. He was a really friendly bloke, who seemed caught up in the wonder of talking about the show’s first season, having not given it two seconds thought since filming upwards of four years ago. Also, I’m standing on the opposite side of the banner from him for symmetrical purpose - not out of fear. He’s nowhere near as psychotic as his PB character.

Interestingly, I haven’t watched Prison Break so I didn’t know much about T-bag and his crimes. So it was more than a little amusing when Robert turned up at the Soho Hotel, got out of the car - only to have someone exclaim: “Oh, he’s the paedophile!”

The Expected Reaction

Gamers have certain expectations for developers these days. Almost every current generation game is expected to have high quality graphics. Any multiplayer mode is expected to have online functionality. Every control scheme is expected to be responsive to player inputs.

Moreover, objects and environments are expected to react realistically to a player’s actions. It is no longer a surprise when a head-on collision with another car creates a dented bumper or when barrels explode after you unload a few rounds into them. After years of being incorporated in various games, what were once unique selling points (e.g. realistic damage system) are now the norm.

It’s interesting how quickly mechanics can go from being groundbreaking features to expected mechanics. Two to three years ago, it stunned us when crowds panicked as Altair drew his sword, or as Bowerstone guards became angry every time your Fable II hero bumped into them. Back then it came as a surprise that they reacted to players’ actions, but it becomes even more of a shock when NPCs don’t.

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Pretty In Pink

A new analysis feature originally published in MCV, Issue 572 - Friday, January 29th 2010, and subsequently published on MCVUK.com.

James Batchelor talks to Nintendo’s junior product manager Zoe Cooper about why retailers should show the new version of the handheld some love this Valentine’s weekend…

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Giving Up Games

Only for lent, of course.

My housemate has given up coffee, my girlfriend has given up alcohol, and her friend has given up giving up things. I have given up games. Yes, you read that right. Stop laughing.

Now, the reasons I’ve picked games are threefold: a) Everyone else including my family, friends, girlfriend and colleagues don’t believe I can do this, b) I am utterly convinced I can, and c) I’ll get so much more done. I’ve got a pile of books to read, my own book to be writing, a library of DVDs and videos to enjoy and - of course - this blog to stop neglecting.

To further clarify, I will not be playing any video games for the next 40 days. No console games, handheld games, or PC games (including flash games). Not even iPhone apps - with the exception of Chess With Friends and Words With Friends, as they’re essentially board games.

However, I am allowed to play games at work events when required, such as this Thursday’s preview of Prison Break: The Conspiracy and next week’s Nintendo European Gamers Summit. It’s my job - I’m not going to stop working, obviously.

Anyone that knows me knows how tough this is going to be. It is certainly not going to be helped by the fact that I had almost reached the end of Mass Effect 2, and that Perfect Dark will be arriving on XBLA on March 17th.

Roll on April, eh?

A New War On Piracy

A new analysis feature originally published in MCV, Issue 572 - Friday, January 29th 2010, and subsequently published on MCVUK.com.

As illegal copies threaten the newest blockbusters, EA and Ubisoft have unveiled opposing initiatives to thwart piracy. James Batchelor looks at the latest approaches to a long-running problem…

No matter what lengths publishers and platform holders go to when protecting their titles from illegal duplication, the proponents of piracy almost always find a workaround.

From cracked and downloadable PC titles to the DS R4 cards, it’s an issue that has dogged the industry for decades and is unlikely to disappear in the near future.

And yet publishers continue to find new ways to hinder pirates with an admirable determination.

Within the last two weeks alone, publishing giants EA and Ubisoft both announced new initiatives that try to lessen the impact piracy has on the revenue made by their latest big hits.

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Postcards from… Alchera

Spoiler Alert: I have become well and truly immersed in the Mass Effect universe once more, so it should be little surprise that BioWare’s space opera serves as the inspiration for my latest Postcards from…. Given that the key selling point of the game is the story, I recognise that fans who have yet to play it (hurry up!) will not appreciate plot spoilers.

Therefore I’ve focused this entry on the an incident that occurs at the very beginning on, but if you still don’t want the first hour or so to be spoiled for you, don’t click the jump. Seriously, don’t touch it.

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Dancing Wii’s Troubles Away

A new analysis feature originally published in MCV, Issue 572 - Friday, January 29th 2010, and subsequently published on MCVUK.com.

When a casual title topples Call Of Duty from the top of the charts, can publishers still insist it’s not possible to succeed on Wii? James Batchelor looks at how Just Dance grew into a hit…

The surprise news that Ubisoft’s Just Dance topped the All Formats Chart last month was, let’s be honest, a bit of a jaw-dropper. While the game had grown in popularity since its debut, rising from No.100 to No.3 in the space of six weeks, few would have expected it to seize the No.1 spot – least of all from the grasp of Activision Blizzard’s revenue goliath Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The game’s victory is multi-faceted. In addition to dethroning one of the world’s biggest selling entertainment products ever, it has undermined the conventional wisdom that has dogged Nintendo: it turns out third-party publishers can succeed on the Wii.

The charts speak for themselves. While it’s true that no game holds the top spot forever – Modern Warfare 2’s decline was inevitable given that millions of consumers have already purchased the game – that does not change the fact that the odds were arguably against Just Dance ever becoming No.1. But Nintendo and Ubisoft both believe the game proves that the Wii’s ship certainly hasn’t sailed yet.

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[Elsewhere] TGS Replay: Mass Effect

Head on over to their site and listen in to the likes of Xantiriad, Dits, Strident, Leg Of Time, Major Lag and Ostemb0r. They were all fantastic guys, passionate about the game and brought up some interesting points.

Also, cringe and grimace as I discuss what choices I was looking forward to seeing play out in Mass Effect 2, unaware that barely 24 hours later I would find out that said character no longer exists.

(And does anyone have any suggestions for a decent gamertag? The name ‘James Batchelor’ just looks completely out of place when listed with the other hosts/guests. Think I need to come up with some sort of pseudonym).

Why I Won’t Be Playing Mass Effect 2

Fuck you, Microsoft. Seriously, fuck you.

So the other day I took my Xbox 360 to my girlfriend’s house so we could watch some TV off her hard drive on the big screen rather than all crowding round her laptop. Upon arrival, I realised I had forgotten my memory card and had to recover my gamertag via the internet so that the media update (which is obviously already on the hard drive) could be used and we could actually watch the files. Heaven forbid an anonymous Xbox user should use something installed on the hard drive that affects a key universal funciton of the console.

Upon returning home, I realised I now had a copy of my gamertag on my hard drive (recovered for the TV fest) and one on my memory card (my original gamertag). Before you all start snorting and ridiculing me for running my account off a memory card, it’s because I often play multiplayer games on my flatmates’ consoles and don’t see why I should have to copy or recover the gamertag every time I do.

Now, back when I first got my Xbox, I originally started my gamertag on my hard drive, copied it to my memory card for convenience and deleted the version on the HDD. No fuss, no bother. So, in order to avoid confusion between the two tags now, what’s the harm in doing the same thing once more? Eh? What’s the fucking harm?

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The Glee Drinking Game

The Glee Drinking Game

• If Rachael storms out of a room: Take one swig
• If Emma cleans something: Take one swig
• If someone mentions MySpace: Take one swig
• If a Slushie is thrown in someone’s face: Take one swig
• If Principal Figgins mentions budget or financial cuts: Take one swig
• If a packet of Chronic Lady is on screen: Take one swig
• If a character is singing while everyone around them is oblivious: Take three swigs
• If someone says “That’s how Sue ‘C’s it”: Take one swig
• If the ginger kids are screaming: Swig constantly until they stop
• If Rachael and Finn walk around each other in a circle while singing, not breaking eye contact: Down your drink

(As always, more rules may follow. Feel free to suggest your own)