Bad Conscience Chicane

So...

Things have been fairly quiet around here haven't they? In all honesty, that shouldn't serve as a surprise to anyone who regularly reads this blog and thus, would be aware of my inconsistency over the years, not to mention some troubling recent months. Despite this silence I can assure you that the blog isn't dead and neither is my passion for writing on it, thinking about games in a critical or analytical way and, indeed, aspiring to my personal goal of covering the racing game genre because no one else seemingly will.

Speaking of which, I have news! It's my great pleasure to announce that I have an article published in the latest issue (#5) of Ctrl.Alt.Defeat, an e-zine that you can find here. The theme of the issue is guilt (and related emotions) and I took the opportunity to experiment with my piece and try something different -- not only in terms of writing generally, like my review of F1 2011 last year for Pixel Hunt (another e-zine, coincidentally enough), but also in terms of my Living The Life story. As most of you would know, my F1 2010 (and beyond) role-playing story has so far been firmly focused on the actual rounds of the championship, leaving no room for anything else. If I am to be honest, this format -- as crucial as it is considering it's the entire point of doing it to begin with -- became rather dull, fast, and that in turn provides some explanation as to why the first season hasn't seen its published conclusion yet, despite being finished over a year ago now in terms of playing. I imagine the format isn't that exciting to read, either, when a good portion of it involves describing small moments in various corners (such as running wide or locking a brake) which, let's be honest, would mean very little to people either uninterested in Motorsport or racing games, or who aren't familiar with the tracks that I'm talking about. I have tried to enhance the story series somewhat by adding exposition to certain points as they come up, such as explaining issues with traffic or discussing a circuit's pit-lane, but even with that I feel like the format as a whole is probably boring to all but the absolutely most dedicated, which to be honest only feels like myself.

Why do I feel like that? Well, firstly I realise that few people have an interest in the racing genre as a whole let alone the Formula 1 games and then, beyond that, my attempts to create a story out of my experience. I understand that what I am essentially doing is niche, and unlikely to interest most of my readers. But having said that, I also believe that this experiment I am doing -- creating this story -- is important in the sense that it can be used as a platform to highlight some interesting issues (within the sport, within the games, within gaming in general), and that it can also enlighten us in unexpected ways. As the player who is actually doing the story, I know it has certainly given me an amazing insight into things that I was previously oblivious to, and I'm someone who is immensely experienced with the genre and racing in general. Using that experience and knowledge to convey the less-obvious aspects of a game or the hidden attributes of a particular approach feels like a worthy endeavor, and is something that I find both fascinating and valuable -- especially if by doing so I can inform others.

So, behind the scenes, I have been thinking about ways to enhance the series and make it better, so it still does what I set out for it to do when I originally started it but does so in a (hopefully) more entertaining way. I feel I have discovered a way to improve the series and plan to implement those changes when I commence season two (believe it or not, despite silence for months now, I am still fully committed to this story) some time in the near future, but in the meantime my article in Ctrl.Alt.Defeat serves as a teaser for that change in approach. By focusing on a particular emotion, guilt, and writing about its impact on both the driver (IE: me) and the category of Formula 1 at large (and thus, by extension, Motorsport in general), the piece enabled me to highlight some of the things that are critical to racing but, for the most part, are usually overlooked. It was an opportunity to frame my story with a different but related perspective, and as a result not only do I think the piece came out brilliantly but it also gave me a foundation from which to build when it comes to making those aforementioned changes for season two. Suddenly, as if almost out of nowhere, I can make the entire Living The Life story much bigger than just the individual rounds of a given season, and that feeling has certainly reinvigorated my motivation for continuing the series.

So check it out and, should you want to, let me know what you think. It is somewhat left-field when compared to the other articles found in the issue -- again, I realise racing games aren't the most compelling genre in this medium for most people -- but it was a pleasure doing it, and I look forward to doing similar things in the future. And hey, if you're not interested in reading my article then check the issue out anyway as you'll find some great content penned by some great people, including Katie Williams, Ben Abraham, Alex Maunder and the Experience Points guys Scott Juster and Jorge Albor.

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Dilyan Damyanov for giving me the opportunity to begin with. It has always been a small dream to be published in a print context (rather than just online) and that desire has now been fulfilled, so thanks Dilyan, it's really appreciated!

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Now that I've told you about that, I suppose I should explain what has been going on with the blog.

As I mentioned above I haven't lost interest in writing, thinking about games or covering the racing genre. In fact, my desire to do so and my passion for it has only increased as each month has passed. Yet the silence here in recent months suggest that there's something up, and that bears addressing.

While I won't go into details, lately I have been dealing with some personal issues that began in December and continue (although nowhere near as badly) even now. That, along with life commitments and various other things combined to make writing for Raptured Reality more difficult than I'd like, and whenever there was an opportunity or three I was always too unmotivated to do it. I feel like the tides are changing again, however, so with any luck posting will resume on here in the near future. I'm not going to commit to a time frame or suggest that I'll be back by a certain date, because I've done that before and it has never panned out that way. But rest assured that this blog isn't dead, I still want to use it to post my opinion and analyse games, and that stuff like my Metroid Marathon will be resuming soon.

Thank you for your patience, for sticking with me and, indeed, for even reading Raptured Reality to begin with. It means a lot to me -- more than you can imagine -- and I look forward to things returning to normal around here very soon. Until then, however, enjoy your games and keep expressing those opinions on them -- it's why we are all here to begin with, after all!

The Year That Was 2011: Blog Edition

If I were to sum up last year with just one word, it would most likely be: horrible. I choose this word because of things that took place in my real life, such as the death of my Nan; I choose it because of how disappointing, I felt, the year was for gaming (more on this tomorrow); I pick it due to some of the events that took place within the gaming industry, such as the PlayStation Network hack; and I use it because of my unproductive, less than ideal year here on the blog. Despite starting and pursuing some things that I thought were really interesting, such as my ‘Living The Life’ series, I definitely feel as if 2011 as a whole was disappointing as far as Raptured Reality is concerned, and that it was probably my worst year of blogging to date. I am proud of some of the content I produced and some of the experiments I conducted but, for every success it felt like there were many more failures, so I am definitely unhappy with the blog’s final outcome for 2011. I tried some things that didn’t eventuate (and which you never knew about), I seemingly failed to stick to my word and keep my promises whenever I laid out my plans to you, and my consistency was… well, it was non-existent. The year is over now, though, so there is little point in dwelling on what could or should have been. Instead, it is time to reflect on the year that was, so here are some thoughts, observations and insight into some of the posts that were published on Raptured Reality in 2011.

January-March

The start to the year was interesting because it felt like I hardly published anything and yet I did get a fair bit done. I explored some interesting subjects, continued to add to things like my Living The Life series and I started a new tradition, too, by looking back at the year that was 2010. Re-reading over that post now brings to my attention that I didn’t get to do a lot of the things I wanted to as I began 2011, but despite this it was interesting to reflect back on the insanely packed year that 2010 was and to remember the games, issues and themes that defined the year for me. I revealed the ten games of 2010 that were important to me through two extensive posts; achieved a mini-goal of mine by looking at and responding to the reveal of the new Tomb Raider (the goal being to respond to things I found interesting more often, also demonstrated by a look at the cancellation of Perfect Dark Core in March); continued to display a deep affection for and addiction to Minecraft by taking a look at the addition of Wolves to the game, of all things; and I reflected back on the season so far of my Living The Life series after finishing the fifth round (of nineteen) of the season. This last one was particularly intriguing and fun to do as it enabled me to look back on the story both in character and out if it, highlighting some of the things that doing this role-playing story had enlightened me to as well as explaining some other aspects that were only merely mentioned in the summary of each round up to that point. It is an aspect of the series that I plan on continuing as the season progresses (it’s already finished in terms of playing but, obviously, not in terms of being published here on the blog) so look out for more insight as more rounds are published.

February also marked the release of the first of my “big four” games of 2011 (more on those tomorrow) with Test Drive Unlimited 2, a game I was eagerly anticipating after loving the original but ultimately a game that was somewhat disappointing, too. I still love it of course and will explain why in the near future but there’s no denying that it has a lot of problems and flaws, too, and that it didn’t meet expectations either. A trend that seemed to be a theme for the entire year, actually, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for me to elaborate on that.

April-June

April was a particularly significant month for two reasons, one public and one private. Publicly, it was the month in which the PlayStation Network hack occurred and where gamers around the world were concerned about whether their credit card details were obtained or not. Personally, while I was worried too, I was more interested in the response to the debacle and whether other companies, Sony themselves or industries in general would learn from the situation and use it to ensure online security in the future. It was the most important ‘event’ of the year, no doubt about it, and I really wanted to see everyone react to it in that way but, instead (and like I expected), people got over it pretty quickly -- especially once the PlayStation Network itself was back up and running -- and now it is almost as if the entire thing didn’t even happen. That is the most disappointing thing about 2011 for me as a whole, but it is not surprising at all and was probably predictable from the start. When the potential was there for identity theft and personal information to be obtained (if not utilised) everyone rightfully was in a state of panic, but once it became clear that the only real impact was a lengthy down-time for the ability to play games online on the PS3, everyone expressed their disdain and then ultimately moved on to forget about it. Not only is that an example of how quickly people move on and forget on the Internet but, more seriously, it is also an example of how blasé industries, companies and consumers all are when it comes to the convenience of the thing and its many online services. When things go wrong the complaints come thick and fast but when they become ‘right’ again, everybody goes back to their routines, privileges and schedules, and it gets lost in the digital ether until the next big disaster takes place. It really bothers me (if you can’t half tell) but that is the Internet for you, so whining about it here isn’t going to change anything.

More privately the month was also significant because of something that was happening behind the scenes and also something that ultimately didn’t eventuate. Any regular reader of this blog knew that I had a strong addiction to Minecraft and that part of that obsession involved watching videos on it such as Coe’s Quest, a series I had mentioned in 2010 a couple of times when discussing my experiences with the game. What you didn’t know, however, was that I had contacted Coe and asked if I could interview him, something he kindly agreed to. I requested it because he was approaching his 150th episode and I thought it would be a good thing to coincide with the milestone and, some email exchanges later, I had a series of questions and answers ready to go. So why wasn’t it ever published? Quite simply, because it wasn’t finished and for whatever reason Coe never responded to one of my emails. He had a particularly busy period with his work and also preparing for that milestone and as such he went quiet for a few weeks, apologising every now and again for not replying to me. I told him that it was fine and that I was happy to wait (that and the 150th episode still hadn’t aired yet, so I thought there was plenty of time) and after that I never heard from him again. As you can imagine that was quite annoying as we had already progressed quite far and, because interviewing someone was something new for me (one of the many experiments I ended up trying in 2011), I was really looking forward to finishing it and publishing it here on the blog. Despite these frustrations I don’t hold anything against Coe for failing to respond and I am still glad I got the opportunity to try interviewing someone, even if it didn’t pan out or ever see the light of day publicly. I even still watch Coe’s Quest which recently hit 200 episodes and continues beyond that, so really nothing has changed for me and my relationship (if you will) with his story in Minecraft -- the only thing that was different was that I had talked to him and no one ever knew about it. That’s disappointing to be sure, but it is the way things go sometimes, too, so I put it down as an interesting experiment and nothing more.

April was also rather hard to bear as it was the month in which I wrote a tribute, of sorts, to Bizarre Creations. When news broke that Activision were shutting down the studio I was pretty upset about it. Sure, studio closures and lay-offs were nothing new in the industry -- especially last year -- and as such, it is something I should be accustomed to, but it was particularly hard news personally because Bizarre made some of my favourite racing games of all time and were absolutely one of the best developers in the genre. Alongside Criterion Games (thankfully still alive and well), Bizarre defined what Arcade racing thrills meant to me so to lose that was not only serious -- due to insane talent losing their jobs and thus, livelihoods -- it was devastating, and probably the other big low-point of 2011 for me. Most of the talent appear to have landed on their feet and now work for other studios, which is good to see, but it was still a significant loss to the industry and, perhaps more importantly, the medium of videogames itself, too. Rest in peace Bizarre Creations.

May was also a busy month as it saw the release of L.A. Noire, the second game of my “big four”, as well as posts looking critically and analytically at Gran Turismo 5 and Mafia II. The former also marked the beginning of my ‘Behind The Wheel’ series which is where all my racing game critical coverage will now go. I enjoyed looking at Gran Turismo 5 from three different perspectives and definitely took pleasure in trying to pin-point just what made GT5 unique, but I was also fairly disappointed, too, because looking back on the year as a whole I now realise that I still haven’t finished appraising that game in the way that I intended. Something to attend to this year, then, especially considering that I feel like the game has been rebooted (in a sense) after the release of Spec 2.0 in October: a significant update to the game that brought with it some interesting changes and was released in preparation for the (then) upcoming downloadable content.

Even worse than failing to continue my look at Gran Turismo 5 in-depth was my failure to continue talking about Mafia II, a game that left me with incredibly mixed, strong feelings and a title that still to this day stands out to me as intriguing and important. Back then I likened it to the way in which Mirror’s Edge ultimately made me feel, an analogy that I think is even more apt now as I reflect back on my time with Mafia II and realise that, despite its flaws, I really loved it. I think one of my goals for this year will be to return to Mafia II and knuckle down on what my overall thoughts on it actually happen to be because I truly do believe the game deserves some more time in the spotlight. I think it will be even more interesting to do it now that I have also experienced L.A. Noire, as the two games have more than just their 1940s setting in common.

Perhaps luckily after all of that, June was a rather quiet month, the distraction that is E3 being particularly prominent. Even so I still managed to begin another series that I have since left neglected. As you would expect I am not proud of the fact that I posted just one entry in the ‘Evaluating My Driving Style’ series before leaving it dormant, so that’s something that frustrates me especially now that we are in 2012. Having said that, I never lost interest in doing it as I believe the series as a whole will offer a fascinating insight (for people who aren’t as familiar with the racing genre -- or racing in general -- as I am) into the ways in which someone can approach a videogame or, indeed, racing. So I definitely intend to continue the series this year. I have the entire thing planned out and drafted so in a sense it is appalling that I never got it done, but these things happen and I will rectify this problem in the future. I promise.

As I touched on above, E3 was particularly significant in June with many games revealed, many more announcements made and the industry as a whole taking the time to celebrate all things gaming. What you might not have realised, however, was that I didn’t post anything on the show last year, breaking a self-imposed tradition that I wanted for Raptured Reality in the process. I had eight (!) posts lined up in reaction to the show, believe it or not, but for whatever reason I couldn’t get them done straight away and then later in the month my Nanna passed away, distracting me even further. Obviously I regard her death as the biggest and most unfortunate event of the year, which makes June the worst month of the year for me by default, but even so I found it frustrating that I couldn’t offer my thoughts on E3 or anything related to the show. In hindsight, it was probably good that I didn’t get to publish the other thing related to E3 that I was going to, which was a response to all of the snark and sarcasm that appeared, particularly after the conclusion of each press conference. I was absolutely appalled by some of the comments and behaviour exhibited by various people -- both whom I knew and random comments on trailers and stuff like that -- and really wanted to rant about it and call them out on it, but it didn’t take place for the same reasons any E3 coverage here on the blog didn’t eventuate. Having said that, people really need to think about what they are saying publicly because a lot of people looked absolutely silly during E3 and we as a collective whole are never going to move forward or mature if everyone is behaving like that. Hopefully this year’s E3 is different but, if I am to be honest, I expect it will be even worse -- especially if the big three reveal their new consoles…

July-September

The third quarter of 2011 was perhaps the best part of the year for the blog, for a variety of reasons. Not only was it the most packed and varied in terms of content, it also saw the beginning of two new projects and the publication of a few posts that were important to me. I also happened to buy my purpose-built gaming PC in July, finally giving me access to a platform and range of games that I had to ignore for so long prior to that purchase. Of course, my love affair with Minecraft and inability to keep on top of the things that I commit to has resulted in my Steam library remaining largely untouched, but as the months and years go on I definitely look forward to exploring PC gaming fully, and having an even deeper understanding of and connection to the medium I love so much: videogames.

Perhaps the most important thing that happened in the third quarter was an especially important milestone for a franchise that I absolutely adore: Metroid. Not only did the series celebrate its 25th birthday, an incredible feat that few other franchises can manage, the milestone also inspired me to get on with a series of posts I had been planning for months: my Metroid Marathon. So far, I would say the Marathon has been a success with people enjoying my analysis and coverage of the game -- particularly the post in which I look at the game’s 'Magic Moments' -- and personally I have really enjoyed the fact that I can take such an in-depth look at what is easily my favourite franchise ever. It has gone a little quiet in recent months for various reasons, but so far it has been great and I look forward to continuing it throughout 2012.

Other interesting posts to come out of the period included some musings on Let’s Plays, continuing my desire to respond to various things; a post lamenting the inevitable ‘loss’ of Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto IV once it is succeeded by even more impressive cities, most likely from future GTA installments; the continuation of my Living The Life series after yet another little hiatus, as well as a look at some discoveries I had made whilst playing F1 2010 out of character; a look at the ways in which developers can (and do) approach realism in racing games, including a convenient example not long afterwards; and an editorial expressing my desire to see games use Mother Nature and natural disasters a little more effectively and in ways that affect the game experience. Writing that last one was hard as it had to be delayed a few times due to (and out of respect for the victims from) the many natural disasters that took place in real life during 2011, and because it is hard to contemplate the subject as it relates to games when it is unclear as to what will and won’t be possible in the future. In theory the ways in which games can use disasters and Mother Nature to impact the gameplay has massive potential and, as such, that’s why I would like to see that aspect of the medium explored further; in practice, however, it’s simply not clear what technical limitations will impede on the possibilities in this area, so I will continue to observe with interest as we continue moving forward into the new generation and beyond. I do hope we can make some progress in this space, however, and that weather in general doesn’t just remain a superficial element of videogames only.

October-December

If the third quarter was the best part of the year for the blog, then the final quarter was the worst. All three months were relatively quiet with very little happening on the blog, mostly because I needed to take a break from my usual routines as I dealt with some stuff in my personal life. This silent period bothers me because I don’t like being inconsistent, but history from previous years would suggest that consistency as a whole is an issue that I have always had trouble dealing with and that, in particular, the final months of the year are always rather quiet here on the blog. I would like to take the opportunity now to apologise for that because it is in no way intentional but obviously it keeps occurring, too, so it is something that I need to work on.

Having said that, the period wasn’t all bad. I still did some interesting things, the most significant being yet another experiment. In October I may have only posted one post but that post was a link to and additional musings on my very first review which focused on F1 2011. I wasn’t really expecting to try my hand at reviewing back then but I am glad I was given the opportunity and thought that I did fairly well for my first attempt, though whether anyone who read it agrees is another thing entirely. Obviously I haven’t reviewed anything since, either, which may or may not suggest things to you, but overall I am glad I tried it and wouldn't mind doing so again in the future if the opportunity ever arises. Even if it doesn't, however, I would be fine with that too as I much prefer the freedom that editorials provide, and my incessant ability to ramble certainly ensures that I prefer longer-form writing as well.

Perhaps ironically, the month after my first review I published a post that looked at some recent reviews surrounding the blockbuster videogames that had just been released, expressing concern with the seemingly relentless praise these titles were garnering. The idea wasn’t to suggest that these reviews were “wrong” or anything like that but, rather, that critics should (and need to) be careful with their appraisals and should try to avoid falling under the spell of hype and excitement that the end of year release schedule usually brings. Seeing a whole host of games be awarded ‘perfect’ scores (IE: 10/10) was worrying not because they were full marks, but because of how easily (and quickly!) titles can have a backlash a few months after release. In the post I used The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess and BioShock 2 as my examples; now, just a couple of months after release, there’s people retracting their opinions on Batman: Arkham City, The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception -- all titles that received perfect scores at some publications.* I’m not going to be so bold as to say I told you so or anything like that, because that is just being arrogant, but the change in perception around these titles certainly suggests that I was right to be as concerned as I was.

The final significant thing of the year, aside from yet another return of the Living The Life series after another hiatus, was a post looking at the announcement of Grand Theft Auto V. Any regular reader would know how much I love GTA IV so it was only natural that I was going to be excited by the announcement, and eager to hear more about what direction the franchise was heading in. I used the opportunity to lay out some of my own desires for where I think GTA should go, as well as gave some predictions for GTA V. Really, though, I simply look forward to the day that I can step out into the re-envisioned Los Santos for the first time and discover what it has to offer -- I love getting lost (figuratively) in new virtual environments and can't wait to explore the city and its surrounding countryside when the game finally hits.

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And there you have it, a look at the year that was here on Raptured Reality. As I said this is now a blog tradition for me as I find it really interesting reflecting on the year that I had and commenting on some of the posts that I made, giving you insight into how I go about writing here as well as the way in which some posts came about. It wasn’t exactly the most ideal or pleasant year, but overall I'd classify the year as a learning one. Will 2012 be as experimental and inconsistent as 2011 was? Honestly I have no idea, but unlike last year I have some direction for where I want to go with the blog this year, some of which you will be seeing sooner than you may think.

Hopefully you have enjoyed this look back at 2011 as it fared on Raptured Reality. Come back tomorrow for a look at the games that I played throughout the year, as well as some explanations as to why I found the year as a whole to be rather disappointing.

*I’m actually somewhat surprised that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim isn’t receiving a similar level of backlash, as I would argue that the titles that are receiving some negativity are more polished than Bethesda's title ultimately was.

F1 2011

Pixel Hunt, an E-Zine and online website, recently posted their review of F1 2011... meaning that after many years posting here on the blog, I have finally been published elsewhere!

Yes, it's true, I wrote the review of Codemasters' latest installment in their rather wonderful Formula 1 series, and it was an absolute pleasure to try my hand at writing a review rather than whatever I feel like here on Raptured Reality. Writing a review means that you're writing for an audience, basically, so with that in mind I tried my best to keep things simple and cover a variety of things about F1 2011 that I thought would be beneficial to anyone who may end up reading it. F1 being what is, however, it was rather challenging as the sport is just too complex to be able to describe without venturing into motorsport jargon territory, or at the very least areas in which only automotive enthusiasts would understand. Still, I thought the review came out pretty well considering it was my first, so do let me know what you think.

While we're on the subject of Formula 1 games, I suppose I should address a few things. First of all, reviewing this year's title suggests that I have moved on from last year's F1 2010 and, by extension, that I might be done with my Living The Life story or, indeed, covering that game from an analytical point of view. Not true! Whilst I have slacked off, again, with coverage for the game and my story, I don't consider myself to be finished with either and will continue to focus on that game until I am. This means that you can expect the story to resume (sooner than you may think, too!) and that I am still dedicated to seeing it through to the last round, in Abu Dhabi. You can also expect me to start posting about why I fell in love with F1 2010 so much as well as pick up on some of the issues I think the game has -- some of which I actually mention in my review of F1 2011. 

Once I have done that, then I will shift my focus over to F1 2011 and begin discussing what makes that game worth playing, as well as why it is so different (surprisingly) from Codemasters' first effort with the license.  I will also elaborate on some of the things I covered in the review, and point out some of the things I left out. Then I'll begin the second season of my Living The Life story because I'm interested in what it would be like to experience another season using that mentality (or persona) and to then convey those findings, once again, here on the blog. 

As far as other content is concerned, both the Metroid Marathon and Red Dead Ruminations posts will continue (apologies for the delays) and I will also be taking a look at both L.A. Noire and Test Drive Unlimited 2, finally, as I am now ready to think about my experiences with them.

It was an absolute pleasure to try something new and do a review of F1 2011 for Pixel Hunt. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my editor for the review, Dylan Burns (if he's reading this), for giving me the chance to experiment with my writing. Will I do more reviews in the future? I'm not sure yet but considering this experience was nothing but positive the entire way through, I am certainly willing to consider it if the chance arises once again.

Anyway, if you're interested then by all means give it a read and let me know what you think. Thanks again for reading my work, everyone, and happy gaming.

The Year That Was: 2010

[Note: This post is a reflection on the entire year of 2010, as it was here on the blog. In it I'll reflect on how I thought the year fared, as well as add some thoughts on some of the posts I published throughout the year.]

Monday marked the third birthday of Raptured Reality.

Not many blogs reach their third month, let alone their third year, so the fact mine has is a feat that is both surprising and pleasing. I never expected this, I never intended to be writing for so long, yet here I am and I couldn't be happier. Life has been rocky for me in recent years and blogging, no matter how inconsistent or irregular, has been my outlet. Without the ability to convey my opinion or express myself, my life would have taken another path and I'm not so sure it would have been a pleasant one. To put it simply, blogging has been nothing but a positive aspect of my life and, since you guys have played a significant part in that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for engaging a passion that made me happy when other areas of my life were trying to bring me down.

But enough about the emotional celebration; what did 2010 mean for Raptured Reality, and did it pan out as I expected? To answer that question I thought I’d break the year down into each month, to offer how I feel about the way they went, and to comment on any individual post that I feel is worth focusing on.

January was a great month last year with quite a few interesting things happening throughout. To start with, it featured my first ever Games Of The Year series of posts. Normally I hesitate when it comes to these things but my unique approach made the idea enjoyable. Instead of following the expected template and selecting favourites, I elected to highlight a smaller bunch of games and explain why I wanted to see certain elements and trends that they exhibited continued in the future. This meant my choices were limited but in doing so it allowed me to think about why these games were important and convey that on here. The results were interesting, I thought, and due to their intended succinct nature, the posts challenged me to summarise my feelings concisely and effectively, something I believe I did do.* January also marked the beginning of a series that, unfortunately, wasn’t continued, in which I looked at the ways in which games could teach and how that could be enjoyable. If I’m to be honest for a moment here, that series came out of nowhere and really was born from my enjoyment of watching the Australian Open. It was completely unexpected and so was the strong desire I had to attempt the series and see what happened. Unfortunately life matters saw it go dormant after just one post but even so the experience was enlightening and definitely something I’d like to revisit in the future. January also stands out as an important month due to the beginning of another series, one that did go on to see future posts and one that is of particular importance to me. My Space Invaders series is yet another subject that I never thought I’d be writing about, but suddenly I realised that game spaces were important to me and that I needed to find out why. While all I really did is start the series -- with a short suggestion of what was to potentially come in the opening paragraph -- it’s crucial because it is, perhaps, the series I am most passionate about doing, even if I haven’t been able to do it as much as I have wanted to. Aside from that I had a quick muse on the importance of creativity versus profits, and I continued to discuss the Assassin’s Creed series with a good friend of mine. On that point, that conversation was never completed and I have more thoughts on the series, particularly ACII, which I plan on revealing in the near future.

February was also an important month, mostly because it marked the start of my Space Invaders series proper with an in-depth look at -- what else? -- the city of Rapture from BioShock. While on the outside it may be predictable that I’d start with such a place, on the inside it was fully intentional: Rapture is, without a doubt, my favourite place that I’ve inhabited in videogames and also the city that really enlightened me to what games could do in terms of immersion, curiosity and discovery. It was the inevitable choice not because I’m a fanboy, not because the city is so incredible, but because Rapture was the turning point for me and my interest in game spaces and, thus, my desire to understand them through analysis here on the blog. Despite everything I said in those two posts about Rapture, however, I didn’t cover everything I wanted to and now, with BioShock 2 showing a different side to the underwater metropolis, I definitely feel like it’s time to revisit it in order to further understand just why Andrew Ryan’s baby is so damn compelling. Speaking of BioShock 2, February saw the release of my most anticipated game ever and the game itself went on to become even more important to me than the original did. I haven’t explained the reasons why yet, but in that month I did offer my initial thoughts on the game and discussed the reaction others had, as well as the potential future of the franchise. In news that surprises no one, this is another area in which I have more to say, so look out for that soon too.

March rounds out the trio of important months but, in a move that surprised me, it was because of a different game rather than BioShock 2. I honestly was expecting to spend March discussing 2K Marin's new game at the expense of anything else, but then Heavy Rain came along -- another game that was high on the anticipation list -- and completely rendered any content I may have had irrelevant until further notice. Heavy Rain blew me away and because of this, I just had to write up my feelings even if it meant forgetting about BioShock 2 in the meantime. I talked about the story that felt unique and personal to me, as well as the mundane actions that make up a good portion of the title's interactivity. Both of those posts were surprisingly popular and, based on the comments I received about them, seemed to resonate with other people. This was notable to me because, prior to these two posts, no one really complimented me on anything I wrote. Sure they commented and responded to what I may have said, but no one really engaged the posts beyond that so it was particularly interesting to see such a change occur. March also saw me start the wonderful and overlooked Rockstar game Bully, as well as muse on what I saw to be an increasing trend in the industry: the proliferation of quality games and how the general standard had been raised.

Heavy Rain discussion wasn’t exclusive to March, the continuation of The Origami Collection starting April off with yet another popular post, this time talking about the themes the game contended with and, by extension, Quantic Dream’s attempts to mature the medium of videogames. The important thing for me with this one was the sheer amount of themes -- most of which are seldom seen in any other game -- that were included in Heavy Rain, and while not all were successfully implemented, the attempt to include them was certainly noteworthy. March also saw a discussion of my feelings about Super Mario Galaxy and MotorStorm -- the latter being a lot more popular than I was expecting -- as well as the beginning of my Preview Power series, a short bunch of posts explaining why I’m excited about certain upcoming games.

May was another interesting month, this time because of yet another series that was started but dropped quickly thereafter. The Friday Night Forza series was intended to be weekly and was created to talk about my thoughts on not just the game itself, but any other topic that it inspired, including but not limited to: rival racing game franchises, the genre as a whole or even real life racing. I managed to talk about the various mentalities that exist while racing, as well as a phenomenon that is hard to explain but easily understood if one enjoys racing around a track like I do. Was the series successful despite its short-lived existence? I’d say so as it gave insight into some of the thoughts and feelings that come into my mind while I revel in a sport and a genre that I absolutely adore. Why didn’t it continue? Well, I didn’t want to inundate my readers with a barrage of Forza related posts, and because it wasn’t the right format to discuss my thoughts on the game effectively. I also managed to continue my Heavy Rain series with a post on its unique use of weather; as well as consider what Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City would be like if it was viewed in the eyes of Jimmy Hopkins, Bully’s protagonist. That post in particular was a pleasure to do, both because it gave me yet another perspective on a city I’m so utterly enamoured with -- on top of the ones already offered by GTA IV’s downloadable episodes -- and because it’s a concept that I’d like to see experimented with in the future. May also saw an embarrassing moment for me in which I panicked more than necessary about a computer that, to put it nicely, wasn’t co-operating with me at the time. You win some and you lose some, I guess.

June was a quiet month, the massive distraction of E3 as well as the newly released Red Dead Redemption and Alan Wake taking up the majority of my time. Even so, I did manage to have a rant about the biggest gaming event of the year, offering my thoughts on the show whilst also complaining about the sheer stupidity I thought was demonstrated by both Microsoft and Sony. I still fail to understand the appeal of Kevin Butler, all these months later, and have come to accept that either I just don’t get him, or that I do but just find the guy -- and the marketing material that comes with him -- uninteresting, overrated and simply unnecessary. I also posted another installment in my Space Invaders series, a post I’m particularly proud of as it looked at the town of Bullworth from Bully, a game most people wouldn’t consider when talking about interesting, compelling and unique game spaces.

July was also relatively quiet, the only thing appearing on the blog being a discussion of Quantic Dream’s other well-known game, Fahrenheit, with my good friend Michelle. Once again I’m proud of this series because it challenged me (and her) to knuckle down and find out the why when it came to my feelings on the game, and it was particularly poignant doing this directly after playing Heavy Rain. The series also marked the continuation of my interest in collaborations, something I still would like to do throughout this year.**

August was practically silent but particularly prominent for me personally as it was the month in which BioShock Infinite was announced. Predictably I reacted with a post discussing my feelings on the new game, showing my enthusiasm for the new direction Irrational were taking but also my disappointment that, seemingly, the developer had listened to the complaints of some people who found Rapture boring and believed the series should move on. I vehemently disagree, for reasons I didn’t really explain, but regardless of their thoughts or my own Infinite comes across as important both because of the new direction it is taking and because of what it may mean for the series going forward. I also posted a rather popular post talking about the advantages that silence can have in games, particularly titles intent on providing atmosphere and putting the player on edge.

September was key for a few reasons, the most important being the beginning of my F1 2010 role-playing series Living The Life. I did not expect to be doing such an experiment but the idea hit me after the completion of the first race in Bahrain, and the end result was a series that I’m not only committed to, but one that has brought to light some really intriguing, fascinating things. I won’t speak about what they are right now as I’m saving that for another post, but needless to say, this experiment and unique approach to a racing game has been nothing but a success, changing me as a person and illuminating the different ways in which games can be meaningful. It has also been quite popular with you lot, so there’s that too. Also popular was a post expressing my disdain and exhaustion with the consistent use of weapons and violence in the medium and in particular, how easily areas of the industry -- the media, publishers, developers, consumers -- are able to glorify the content without thinking about the consequences. It was mainly an excuse to show how bored I’m becoming with the notion that the FPS genre is the be all and end all of videogames, as well as my feelings that the medium of games should be past this point by now. Even so, it focused on an issue that in reality probably shouldn’t exist but as it does, was worth considering. My subtle post about how art directions can be timeless also received a positive response. Last but not least for this month, I talked yet again about BioShock Infinite, this time in reaction to the ten minute gameplay demonstration that was revealed to the masses. The game is going to be something, that’s for sure.

October was unintentionally and unfortunately quiet, the only posts to be published being a continuation of my enjoyable F1 series, as well as a “heartfelt” look into the emergent moments that Red Dead Redemption so easily creates, and the impact they had on me. While other games are also able to achieve such immersion and meaning with their own moments, there’s no denying that Rockstar’s Western is particularly special in this regard. November continued the relatively quiet trend, though it does stand out as the month in which I started to exhibit my strong attachment to, and affection for, the indie sensation that is Minecraft. To say I’m in love with this game would be an understatement, that’s for sure. Last but not least we have December, rounding out the trio of quiet months that finished my year. Still, I like to think I finished with a bang -- so to speak -- focusing for the third time on the R18+ issue that continues to arise in this country, as well as continuing, yet again, my F1 2010 series. The latter was important because it had been some time since the last post, the publication of the latest one proving that while I had fallen behind in writing them up, I was still absolutely dedicated to the series; while the former was key because it highlighted the absolutely appalling response and abysmal attitudes that gamers in this country seemingly have when they don’t get their way. It was important to do this, I feel, because of the irony that these people demonstrate when they irrationally and hastily react to key developments in this ongoing issue: these people are arguing for the introduction of the rating because they feel adults deserve to have access to mature content in videogames. Yet here they are acting immaturely when the result doesn’t benefit them, even if it could in the future. Impatience and childish behaviour doesn’t help anyone, and it certainly doesn’t help our cause of eventually getting the rating we’ve been so desperate to acquire -- if only these people could recognise and acknowledge that. I also talked about the impending narrative due to be introduced to Minecraft, though in hindsight the post fell flat -- despite being quite popular -- due to the fact that it hasn’t been added to the game just yet.

So there you have it. That’s a summary of the year that was and an insight into how I feel about what I’ve written, what I’m proud of and disappointed by, and where I feel things could improve. My goals for 2011 and beyond aren’t defined in any way just yet, but I do know what I want to work on and as such, they will be the focus going forward. At the very least, I’m as passionate about writing as I have ever been, I’ve gradually improved as the years have progressed and I’m definitely dedicated to continuing my writing for many years to come. I’m not the most prolific, popular or eloquent blogger out there, but I have established myself in the community and I hope to continue to exist within it well into the future as we celebrate the medium we all know and love: videogames.

Happy gaming.

*In case you’re wondering where my GOTY choices are this year, stick around for the next couple of posts.

**And on that note, if you’re interested in collaborating on a project then by all means get in touch and let me know -- I love doing it and am open to any ideas you may have.

Talking About Minecraft

I'm lucky in that my house overlooks this bay.

[Note: for those only interested in what I have to say about Minecraft, scroll down to the next picture.]

Things have been relatively quiet around here lately haven’t they? Sure, I may have just posted about my excitement for the upcoming Donkey Kong Country Returns later this week but aside from that, I have maintained a silence on this blog that I’m not proud of. It wasn’t intentional -- of course it wasn’t -- but it was perhaps necessary, as I just couldn’t bring myself to put the effort in to write the various posts I wanted to write. I was feeling this way not because of a disinterest in writing -- in fact I’d argue my passion for writing is stronger than ever -- but because, when combined with the various games I was trying to play, I just felt too overwhelmed and depressed. The gaming blues aren’t new, we all go through it from time to time, but in my case this instance was particularly severe and was exacerbated by my stubbornness, among other things. See, despite feeling uninterested in playing games for a while I did so anyway and it was definitely to my detriment. I tried playing Red Dead Redemption, already a game I’ve struggled to enjoy due to reasons I’ll elaborate on shortly, and didn’t enjoy it. I tried continuing the Metroid marathon I’m undertaking currently and that wasn’t appealing either -- and that’s one of my favourite franchises around. The only game I could enjoy was F1 2010 and I have a feeling that was more due to my passion for motorsport rather than my enjoyment of the game itself, that and it’s the time of year where real life motorsport is wrapping up for the year, if it hasn’t already done so. This lack of interest saw me try a few new games, such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, in order to try and reinvigorate my passion for gaming and while Batman was interesting, it just wasn’t the right time to play it so it too became a culprit of my animosity towards games. Mentally, I knew this boredom (if you will) was temporary and in no way reflected how I felt about the medium as a whole, or the individual games in question, and I guess knowing this only frustrated me further when it came to how I was feeling. The icing on the cake was seeing all of the games still yet to be played sitting on my shelf, knowing full well that they’d continue to sit there if I waited out this bout of gaming depression and that they wouldn’t be as enjoyable if I tried to persist through it. Furious (mostly with myself), I just decided to stop everything I was doing or planned on doing -- which included my plans for this blog -- and stopped caring until I was ready to re-engage. While gaming blues may have been the biggest reason, it wasn’t the only one. Various life commitments affected my ability to get anything done, as did illness and reoccurring wisdom teeth pain. The aforementioned motorsport also took up time, as did the unfortunate circumstances of my grandfather being in hospital (he still is, actually).

Basically, everything combined at once to hinder my ability to do anything I wanted to and, fatigued from it all I just needed to take a break and pick myself back up. I’ve done that, my bout of gaming blues is over yet again and now things should resume as normal going forward. I hope…

I've named this Lake Hylia as a mark of respect for Zelda.

So, Minecraft. Everybody has heard of it by now and I certainly don’t need to go on about why it’s so popular. Since it’s the other primary reason for my silence here on the blog, however, I do need to explain why I’m so enamored by it, and why I continue to play it more than I should. Before I do that I should explain what got me into it in the first place, so let’s start with that.

When the game started to show signs that it was becoming a phenomenon, I was uncertain as to why and still didn’t really understand what the game was about. When I heard that you mined the world and then crafted from those materials, I thought it sounded boring but also had a feeling that, like most games, there was more to it than initially sounded. So, as I watched more and more people -- particularly on my Twitter feed -- praise the game’s quality, I not only started to form more of an interest in it I also started to learn more of why it was just so good. Then the press got their hands on it, and sites like RockPaperShotgun and GiantBomb begun singing its praises just as much as the gaming community. These articles enlightened me further, particularly showing off its unique art direction through screenshots, and my interest continued to grow and grow. I asked friends about it after they shared articles; I observed conversations as people discussed it; and then I found the thing that converted me to the game’s charms: videos of people playing it on YouTube.

Ah the X-System, how I miss thee.

I had heard of the “Let’s Play” community vaguely and knew roughly what it was about, but it was LPs centered on Minecraft that didn’t just convince me that these series of videos were worth watching, but that they could be thoroughly entertaining too. I started with a tutorial video on how to survive the first day and night on Machinima. Fascinated, I was led to the guy’s channel where I found a series chronicling his adventures in the game, complete with live commentary. I watched the first video, then the second, then the third and continued until, hours later, I was halfway through the series. I was completely enthralled by not only the unique events occurring in his adventures, but the game itself, and all the while I was learning not just how to play the game but why it was so popular and brilliant. Over the next few days I proceeded to marathon the rest of his series -- a massive 40-plus episodes -- as well as check out some of the other Minecraft LPs I kept hearing about through the comments and X’s (the guy behind the videos) own recommendations. This led to Coe’s Quest, another series that I became hooked on and, as he is still uploading new videos, I continue to watch to this very day. Like X before him I was fascinated with what Coe got up to, what features his world contained --and it has to be said, Coe’s world is one of the best Minecraft worlds I have ever seen -- and even learned some new things off him as he created enemy spawner traps, new tools and approached situations differently. An interesting byproduct of watching both his and X’s videos was the realisation that firstly, while similar these two adventures weren’t Let’s Play videos in the traditional sense and secondly, that I was beginning to understand just why I was so captivated by this game. Predictably, I caved and bought the game and proceeded to join everyone else in singing the game’s praises.

Initially, I was somewhat hesitant to play it as it was my first PC gaming experience in a long, long time and I just didn’t feel comfortable inhabiting my own version of this vast, empty and harsh world that Minecraft is famous for. I was also too busy enjoying myself when watching the game be played by Coe (I marathoned his series too -- it’s now up to episode 82) and a few others, the ability to watch someone else do the hard work (so to speak) more enticing than playing it myself. But eventually the addiction and fascination took over and I created my first world, excited and nervous with what I’d find and what could happen.

It was poignant sharing this particular moment with Coe.

Spawning on a beach I did the now common routine of punching some trees for wood and going on a search for coal. My first discovery of it was a fair walk from my spawn point but close enough that I knew where I was if and when I died. As night drew near I dug into the same mountain that the coal was found, creating my first shelter in order to survive the night. Watching the videos as I did I knew what to do in these circumstances and had a rough idea of what I wanted to do now that I was established, so as night fell I began to dig further into the mountain to see what it held. Finding nothing in my tunnel and realising that the sun was rising, I created some more tools and went outside to gather some more basic resources -- lumber, sand, dirt and some more coal -- before climbing to the top of the mountain to survey my surroundings. Impressed with the view, I realised that I wanted this mountain to be my home and my mine, so I began to dig straight down with the plan to not stop until I hit the bottom. Fast forward a bit and I had established my home right where my first shelter was; reached the bottom of the world and bedrock -- a feat considering the peak of the mountain is practically at the highest point you can go in the game -- in my mine; created a branch mine in order to find rare minerals such as gold and diamond (which I did find by the way, lots in fact); explored some of the caves that were close to my mountain; and had lit up a path to spawn with the intention to make something of it later. Making a mark on this land and establishing my base of operations, I was ready to not only get more creative with the appearance and design of the things I had created, I was also ready to go exploring and find new things to discover and do. What these are I might detail in another post but the point is that, like everyone else who plays Minecraft, I worked with what I had and made the most out of it, thoroughly enjoying what the game has to offer in the process.

Home is where the heart is, even if it's unfinished...

That’s all well and good, but what does the game offer me that ensures that I enjoy it as much as I do? Well, as I alluded to before, the videos I watched started to highlight why I found the game so compelling and playing my own version of that just confirmed it. Minecraft is interesting to me for three reasons: the beautiful worlds the procedural generator creates; the personal stories (which explains why the videos were so interesting to me in the first place) that stem from them and the amazing things that can be done with so little. It’s these three features that form the core of the Minecraft experience for me, a fact I find interesting given the main mechanics -- and thus, interactions -- are barely related. Sure, they’re the primary means with which I engage my world, explore it and craft my own narrative, but the actions in themselves bear little to no relevance. Mining for materials is just something that needs to be done from time to time, to gather the things required to build something, create new tools or to ensure safety when travelling at night; the minerals themselves take on a different meaning when stumbled upon, unexpectedly, whilst exploring a gigantic cave system or after digging somewhere for an unrelated reason, such as to build a tunnel. Mining these discoveries isn’t about the actual mining, nor the need to do so, but the simple reward for taking the time to check out something interesting, intentional or not. Crafting is even more insignificant, the end result sometimes fascinating -- when creating a new object or the final part to a much bigger plan -- but the action just something that… happens. I just find this point interesting because, indirectly, most videogames are (or should be) about their mechanics: how you interact with the game’s world, characters, items and objects, and everything else. Interactivity is the means to our selfish ends and as such, it’s important that they accommodate our desired needs and do what we expect them to do. Minecraft’s primary actions do indeed successfully fulfill our expectations but the experience -- at least for me -- is never about them but rather what they allow, and I just found that intriguing the more I considered it.

As for the worlds, the stories they have told and the creations I’ve produced, I’ll save those thoughts for future posts. Needless to say, like practically everyone else who has played the game, Minecraft blew me away and continues to surprise me every single time I play. Few other games can manage that and I think that’s why it has reached levels of popularity that some Triple-A blockbuster titles would envy. Deservedly so, too: like the way in which it’s played, Minecraft made the most of what it had and little else. Enough said.

Just A Heads Up

I didn't want to make this small post as I'd much prefer it if things were going to plan, but realistically and unfortunately, they are not.

The computer I use to work on this blog has some problems and while right now things are okay, I can't trust it to be reliable at the moment. It has a booting problem and this week it has been freezing which has been forcing the need for reboots and thus, it not booting. Somehow we've managed to bypass this problem and get it working again but I can't guarantee how long that will last, so that's why I'm telling you guys, my readers, about it.

Basically, if this blog and indeed my online presence in general goes quiet suddenly, it's because of these computer problems. It's my only point of access to the Internet and therefore Raptured Reality, so if I lose that then the blog goes quiet whether I want it to or not.

I think you'll agree that overall -- despite some quieter months earlier in the year -- I've managed to pick up my consistency here, getting posts out as I've wanted and even needed to as I continue to offer my opinions and thoughts about our commonly shared interest: videogames. I've improved so much that I have actually managed to form a schedule, of sorts, for what I write, so I'm sure you can understand my hesitation with this potential unintended downtime and indeed disappointment should it occur.

Hopefully I'm just worrying over nothing and all can resume as normal going forward, especially with E3 around the corner. If things do go on as they should, then all this post is doing is embarrassing me, but even so I'd rather keep you in the loop than to have silence overtake the blog and as a result, for you to perhaps stop reading. My intention is to continue with my schedule as I would do normally so expect posts to keep on coming, but if they don't, you now know why.

And on a short side note, now is as good a time as any to reiterate: thanks to each and every one of you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate it immensely and without you people, my motivation to convey my thoughts and feelings would be a lot less than it is now. So again, thanks, it means a lot to me.

An Apology

It has been exactly one month since my last post. One, entire, month.

The inactivity around here is not something I am proud of, but unfortunately it was necessary. You see, while I wanted to write and have a lot of posts in mind, the reality was that I was just too far behind with the various things I do and something had to stop for a while in order to help me catch up. Unfortunately, it was the blog and I'd like to take the opportunity right now to apologise for the lack of updates. I'm sorry.

Recent months here have probably suggested a struggle to manage everything, with less posts being published than I would have liked. Such was the situation I was in, however, and by taking the break from the blog that I did, I managed to get myself in a better position with regards to everything else. From reading blogs, magazines and other articles to playing games in that ever-increasing backlog of mine, I gradually chipped away at it all and recovered from the overwhelming amount of things I wanted to get done. I even wrote some blog posts, believe it or not!

So why haven't they been posted then? Well, because they need editing first and foremost, but more importantly I decided to delay the publication of those posts until December, figuring that a fresh month would be a good time to introduce some fresh content. Basically, you could say that I took the month of November off from the blog -- whether I liked the idea or not.

So that's the story of why there has been a lack of activity here. The good news is that come December, I'll be back in full force so hopefully you will join me for some analysis and discussion on some of the games I have been playing in the past couple of months. Some of the games and content you can expect to see include the following:

- An in-depth look at Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption via the release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii. I'll be looking at each game individually, as well as discussing them as a whole series, including discussion on specific areas and levels of the games, the mood and atmosphere they portray, and just why I regard the original Metroid Prime as my favourite game of all time.

- Analysis on both Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the recently released sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. My focus will mostly be with the original, as I speak about how Naughty Dog -- the games' developers -- introduced us to the characters, narrative, and style of play of the game, as well as offering my opinion on some of the commonly discussed aspects of it, such as the introduction of certain enemies in the second half, and the dissonance between Drake's personality and the amount of enemies he defeats throughout the course of the game.

- Coverage of two PlayStation 3 racing games I've been playing quite heavily, MotorStorm and Wipeout HD, as well as a third racing game in the Xbox 360's Forza Motorsport 3. I love all three for different reasons and I will outline those in their respective posts. I'm also considering an experiment where I pick a track every week from Forza 3 and discuss the good and bad aspects of it, what makes it work and so on. We'll see how we go, though.

- I will also have a discussion of Assassin's Creed II with the added help of a friend of mine. Similar to my discussion of GTA: Chinatown Wars earlier in the year, I'll be exchanging thoughts and analysis about the game as well as a synopsis and reflection on the original. In my brief time with the sequel so far, it has already demonstrated some interesting and, I would argue, key differences to the first that seem to, so far, make it a much better game. More on that soon.

All of that plus a few more posts I have in mind will be coming in the not too distant future. As you can tell, my approach to writing is changing with these forthcoming posts as I try a few new things and experiment. I look forward to seeing how it all pans out and I hope you will join me in December when they start to go up on the blog. Until then, enjoy all of the awesome games that have come out recently and happy gaming!