Realising Change

This may sound rather stupid but I think I am evolving as a gamer.

By that I mean, well, I seem to be going through a period of change with my gaming. I am still the completionist I have always been, I still have a keen interest in racing games and despite having access to Xbox Live and a whole bunch of friends, I am still generally a lone gamer. Yet this year during the typical rush of games that are all trying to release before the holiday period, I have come to the realisation that something is different. Now what that exactly is, I couldn't tell you but with every day that passes I find that I am noticing the change more and more and personally, I am finding it both intriguing and fascinating.

Take the recently released Fable II for example. Here is a sequel to a game I never had the chance to play yet as it came close to release I found myself interested in it more and more. It got to the point where I was thinking to myself that I would get it and give it a try but not straight away and after I had gotten the games I was anticipating first. The week of its release I saw it lying on the shelf of my local games store and before I knew it, I had purchased it, brought it home and had put it into my 360's disc drive ready to play. I don't know why I ended up buying it that day but after playing it that night, I was glad I did and do not regret a thing. I have barely played the game since that night, though. Why? Well no reason other than I thought it would be best to save the experience until a time when I can appreciate it more, so instead I continued to focus on the games I was playing beforehand in order to try and get them finished. That is irrelevant though; The short time I have had with the game has already impressed me and I am finding it very hard to resist firing it up each night. Of course it doesn't help when I see my friends playing it, but even so the allure of the game is compelling and again I find that fascinating. I plan on going more in-depth with my thoughts on the game in the near future when I play it more and can summarise my thoughts and impressions a little better, but in the meantime I want to point out that I think part of the reason why Fable II is alluring to me at the moment is because of how the gaming community at large has discussed the game. Reading this discussion (especially the blog posts) is, I think, presenting the game to me as an experience and when I combine that with the short time I have played, I think it is actually an experience rather than just another game. There are so many different aspects of the game being discussed and each one can inspire its own in-depth conversation from the community.

Another thing I have found interesting lately is that games I wasn't really interested in, or was not planning on looking at until a later date have now found their way onto my radar. Fable II was one of these games and another is Mirror's Edge. While I appreciated what EA/Dice were doing with the game and also the fact that it was rather original, I didn't really care for it because of a few reasons: one being that the game could go either way (success or failure), another being that it just didn't seem like it should be a priority of mine at the current time. Playing the demo earlier this week however completely changed my perception of the game and as I said, it is now on my radar and I am hoping to be able to pick it up on release. Now obviously demos are meant to be a taste of a game to give you an idea of whether you will like it or not, but the experience of playing this demo was different to how I come away from playing other demos and it did surprise me. Again I can't really pinpoint why (seems to be becoming a regular occurrence these days...) but the surprise meant that I find it intriguing.

Another EA game has also changed my perception of it recently and I think it is in part because of the gaming community. That game? Dead Space. Again while I appreciated that it was a new IP and that it was a Sci-Fi Horror game (I love my Sci-Fi), it never really seemed to be interesting until very recently when it released. First thing I noticed about it was that it seems to have a BioShock vibe about it. By that I mean atmospheric and isolated, yet almost an experience that could feel real. The other things I noticed come more from what people within the gaming community have been saying than anything but even so it is a game that went from a possible future purchase to a game that I want now.

To take this in a different direction, this Friday sees the release of Gears of War 2. That alone makes the day a good day and myself excited, but, thanks to quite a wonderful birthday I have found myself in a position to buy not one game, not two games and not even three. I am able to buy FOUR games on Friday and honestly, I can't believe it. While I am lucky enough to get the majority of games I want within a year, I don't generally get them at or near release and I definitely do not get more than one game at a time when I make a purchase. Fable is an example of that despite it being an unexpected purchase. Yet come Friday I find myself lucky enough to get four games and I almost feel guilty about it. If I weren't getting these games, I could get a Wii! Or, I could save it and get something not gaming related instead. It is definitely an interesting position to be in personally and like everything else I have mentioned so far in this post, it intrigues me. For the record the games I am getting are Gears of War 2 as I said, Fallout 3 (like Fable, another sequel to a game(s) that I haven't played) and probably Dead Space and Midnight Club LA.

The last thing I have noticed that seems to be changing and is again, intriguing me is how I feel about RPGs. Playing through Eternal Sonata recently, a Japanese RPG, has been quite a mixed bag of feelings for me. During the first playthrough of the game I found myself really enjoying it and as an overall game it was worth playing, but during the second playthrough I have honestly found it to be a chore. I don't HAVE to play through it this second time but I am because of the completionist trait of my gaming. The reason it has been a chore though is what is quite common with RPGs and that is the grind. This entire second playthrough has basically been a grind as I am skipping the cutscenes (on a side note: thank god you can - all games should have this option). That means all I am really doing is walking either to the next battle or to the next location. As it is a 'New Game +' the enemies are stronger this time around which means even more grinding to make sure I am strong enough to take them on and yeah it has not been fun at all. Because of this grind and how hard it has been to motivate myself to continue with it, I have found myself reflecting on Japanese RPGs in general and how I feel about them. In the past I could play them over and over again with no problem, my multiple playthroughs of Final Fantasy VIII in particular can attest to that, but as I have grown older my patience for these games seems to have decreased as I realise that I haven't played more recent JRPGs as much as I did the older ones and that some games were hard to even finish the first time let alone multiple playthroughs.

Now it could be a case of these games just not having a compelling enough story and therefore reason to continue playing, or it could be a case of myself going off (for lack of a better term) these games in favour of other experiences. I love a good story and RPGs provide them in the bucket loads but it just seems like I want to have these experiences elsewhere. Where? Perhaps ironically, in Western RPGs. The more I think about it the more I am realising that here I am re-assessing my interest in JRPGs while also absolutely loving the Western RPG experiences I have had. I haven't played many WRPGs but the recent ones I have like the aforementioned Fable II (although small) and Mass Effect have absolutely been brilliant and I can see that continuing with Fallout 3. Which brings me back to the whole point of this post, things seem to be changing within my gaming lately and while I clearly can't explain it or even what these changes are, it has been quite intriguing for me. The last few weeks have been very interesting for me as a gamer and what I have said above are only a few examples of what I have been thinking about. Change is afoot in the land of Nismo and what else can I say other than that I look forward to seeing where these changes end up taking me.

It's interesting though, isn't it?

Overdue Opinion

As I have mentioned in both of my recent Tidbits posts, I have been playing quite a few different games in the past few months. I went from a phase of not really having anything to play to a phase of, arguably, too much to play. Originally I intended on writing individual posts for the individual games here but as time went on (and we all know how hard I am finding it to manage my time at the moment) I realised that it would be better to just put it all in the one post and get it out of the way. So with that in mind, here are some impressions and/or thoughts I have on the various games I have had on rotation lately.

GRID - As a longtime fan of the V8 Supercars games, I wasn't sure how to approach this game after hearing that the V8 Supercars (and other championships like Germany's DTM series) were not going to be in the game. Being a Codemasters game though, I was quite confident in their ability to create something that was worth playing. DiRT added to that confidence even more and I did end up enjoying GRID. A lot.

First thing that I noticed wasn't the rather gorgeous graphics, the feel of the handling (when compared to other racing games that I am used to) or the in-car camera view; no, it was instead the small touch of having your name being called out. When you first start the game you're asked to choose your name and then at various times in the game that name will be spoken. It was nice hearing a "nice job Steven" after taking victory and it certainly added to the experience. Of course, the aforementioned graphics and in-car camera view added to it too because eye candy is always good and I feel like all racing games should have an in-car, behind the wheel camera view. Another small touch I noticed was the smoke effects and how they actually covered the car to the point where you couldn't see it. It's nothing important but most racing games have the smoke coming from the burning tyres disappear too fast. Anyway I enjoyed the game as I progressed through its career and felt the difficulty was just right too. It wasn't that long of a game either so it didn't get boring. Well actually that's a lie, it did get boring as I had to play it online for 25 hours or so until I had gained enough experience to get the two online achievements for the game. That's my own fault for being a completionist though. Anyway good game that comes recommended if you want a reasonably easy but enjoyable racing experience.

Eternal Sonata - I keep on repeating this every time I talk about the game, but, that art direction is absolutely stunningly beautiful. It was an absolute pleasure playing through the game because of this and I looked forward to seeing every new area just so I could marvel some more at the beauty of it. The soundtrack that accompanied the journey was also quite enjoyable, moreso because of the Chopin influence. Which brings me to the story. Having a story revolve around Chopin's life (sort of) was intriguing and the moments where the game played one of his pieces while detailing something that happened in his life were great. The actual story of the game however was a bit, well, weird and didn't really seem to maintain a focus. It chopped and changed a fair bit and while it wasn't confusing, it certainly took away from the experience somewhat. I am now playing through it for a second time to get the rest of the achievements I need and it is here where it has become a relative bore. I'm skipping cutscenes and because it's a 'New Game +', having to grind a fair bit so I am strong enough to defeat enemies/bosses that I had no troubles with in the first run. Again, my fault though for being a completionist...

Call of Duty 4 - I am growing tired of all of the FPS games out there. Actually, growing tired of the big focus that the entire industry seems to have with guns (not just FPS but almost all genres). That's a subject for another day though. I am also not really a fan of war games, generally steering clear of the WWII ones due to just not having an interest in the subject matter. It was refreshing then to find that I absolutely enjoyed Call of Duty 4. I don't quite know how to explain it, but the modern war games (Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter for example) seem to be fascinating to me. Others can put it better than I can but the experience of these games just seems to be worth having. They seem important even if they are just fiction and if a game can make me feel that way, then it is doing something right. There's no need for me to comment on how it looks, sounds or even plays because we all know that it is brilliant. What I will say though is that some of those levels and set pieces are amazing and if that's the sort of thing we are going to see in gaming in the future, we are headed to a wonderful place.

Assassin's Creed - Like Call of Duty 4, this game felt important while playing but I just can't pinpoint why. Perhaps it was because it was so different, so unique or perhaps it was because it was one of the only games out there that allows you to play as an assassin? I don't know. What I do know is that as soon as it was announced I was anticipating it and Ubisoft's brilliant trailers for the game only added to that anticipation. Actually playing it was something else though and like Call of Duty 4, like BioShock and some other recent games, I was quite surprised to find just how immersive it was. I think it was the setting of the game that nailed the immersion and while yes, that twist that isn't really a twist made everything even more intriguing, just playing in that era was something enjoyable due to it being quite unique to our medium. Upon completion of the game I also begun thinking about how much potential it had as a franchise and how many different directions it can go in. I'm really interested to see where Ubisoft take it next that's for sure.

Two quick notes I'd like to touch on though: firstly the common complaints about it being repetitive weren't a concern for me. I could understand the complaints but due to the way I play my games, it wasn't an issue. Secondly the complaints about the collection of the flags wasn't an issue for me either as I treat collect-a-thons like that as something that is supposed to be taken as a nice and slow experience of the game's world. Taking it slow allowed me to enjoy it and as such, it never got tedious.

Skate - It has been quite a while since I played a Tony Hawk game - the last being Tony Hawk 4 - so I was looking forward to playing this. I'm not a skater in real life nor what you could call a fan but for some reason or another I always enjoyed the Tony Hawk games and you can now add Skate to that list. In fact, despite not knowing much about the sport in real life I still found myself appreciating the more realistic approach that this game has when compared to Tony Hawk which in turn added to my enjoyment while playing. It took a while to get used to the controls (using the right control stick to 'flick' your tricks) so it did have a steep learning curve, but before long I had the hang of it and loved every second of it. It reminded me of Test Drive Unlimited actually and how I loved to just choose a car and go for a cruise in that. I did something similar in Skate where just skating around and finding a set of stairs or something to do tricks off was fun and at times more interesting than following the main game. The challenges at the end of the game were pretty damn hard though and I definitely struggled to complete it so when I actually did, I was quite proud of my effort. I'm not sure if it was a skill (read: my lack of) thing or the game's difficulty really did ramp up, but either way the overall experience was great and a nice change from the shooting and racing games that I had been playing.

Braid - Another game that felt important while playing it, however I wonder if that was because everyone else was going in-depth on what the game's meaning was (and so on) or because it is actually important. I appreciate the experience that Jonathon Blow has created though and thoroughly enjoyed playing it. Solving some of those puzzles was hard but the feeling of accomplishment afterwards was great and I can definitely see why it was compared to Portal (which I just recently started playing) as well. I'm a sucker for art direction and this one definitely had a gorgeous one that, when combined with the homages to older platformers like Mario and a nice and relaxed soundtrack made for a nice and short gaming experience and one of the best games to hit the Xbox Live Arcade so far.

Lost: Via Domus - I don't have much to say about this game other than that yes, I liked it. Sure it was short and sure as a game, it wasn't all that special but to me it didn't really matter. As an extension of the show it was definitely worth playing and it naturally ended in typical Lost fashion, posing more questions than answering them. It confuses me though that the creators of the show haven't tapped into this cross-over plot a bit more as it seems a bit pointless to ask those questions and then not follow them up somewhere with answers. Even Wikipedia doesn't really link it in with the show...

So there you have it, a summary of the games I have played in recent months and what I think of them. I didn't really say anything worthwhile or go in-depth with any of them but in a way, I don't feel like I have to. Everyone has discussed them already so I'm not going to add anything new but it is still nice to write some thoughts on them, even if it's only so I can remind myself of them in a few years time.

I haven't covered every game that I have been playing recently though and will cover games like Fable 2, Portal: Still Alive and The Darkness as I play them more and form my thoughts. Individual posts this time though, I hope. ;)

Repair Status

Checking the status of my 360 repair earlier this evening revealed that it has been fixed and shipped back to me. Hopefully that means it arrives by the end of this week. I'm not here to talk about that though, no, instead I am here to talk about something that I have been disappointed in lately. What is that? Myself.

Yep, myself. Not being able to play the 360 has obviously meant that I have had to look elsewhere for my gaming entertainment and since I don't own the other two current consoles, I had to return to the older consoles within my collection. Now in theory, there is nothing wrong with this because there are so many classic fun games that I love out there, that my entertainment should be covered no problem. Yet, strangely enough, I found this hasn't been the case over the past week or so that my 360 has been away and to be honest, I find that to be quite confusing.

On the first day that I returned to the older consoles I was actually looking forward to it. Looking forward to firing up some old games that I love, games like F-Zero GX which I have already discussed here previously and giving them another run. For the first ten minutes or so, it was fun but before long I found myself turning off whatever game I was playing at the time only to swap to another one. Rinse and repeat the process for the rest of the night and instead of having a relaxed night of gaming on my hands I instead just dabbled a little bit here and a little bit there. This continued to happen over the next few nights and the more I realised I wasn't having any fun, the more I felt disappointed with myself which eventually led to me giving up and rewatching the entire first season of Battlestar Galactica instead. Now I could try and figure out why I felt the way I did, but at the end of the day I don't see the point because honestly I just don't know.

What I do know however and something that I find interesting is that the games with fantastic art directions like Metroid Prime, Shadow of the Colossus and Okami were enjoyable and I definitely had fun playing them. Either that suggests that a strong art direction can really make or break a game, or, that I am so used to the current generation of visuals that going back to the games that don't really have a unique art direction was just too hard for my eyes to handle. I am going to go with the former.

Anyway I ended up finishing Metroid Prime for the 29th time, Shadow of the Colossus again and Super Mario Sunshine with every Shine Sprite. That combined with season one of BSG has been my entertainment week. As you can probably tell, I don't know what to think about the way I have felt recently, nor where it comes from or why. What I do know is that the sooner the 360 gets back the better because then, hopefully, my motivation towards gaming returns and everything can go back to normal. Time will tell, then.

Tidbits

Almost two months since I last posted here. If I could describe that in one word, it would be neglect. Neglect in the sense that I ignored this blog and stopped writing for far too long and regardless of whether it was unintentional or not, it shouldn't have happened. For that I apologise but the good news is that I am back and ready to write again. I actually plan on revitalising this blog a bit but more on that in a moment.

The reason I stopped posting here for a while wasn't anything in particular but more just a combination of little things. My time management (or lack thereof) played a part and I just couldn't find the time to write anything because I was always too busy playing catch up with stuff I wanted to read online, games I wanted to play or shows that I wanted to watch. One show in particular also played a part in the lack of posting, that being The Wire. I was so enthralled and even immersed in that show that I kept on watching its five seasons instead of keeping up to date with gaming news or whatever. An onslaught (if you will) of games also played a part as I went from a phase of not really having anything in particular to play (and as a result, swapping between many games) to a phase of having arguably too much to play at the one time. Again, more on that in a moment but basically the reason for the lack of posting here was because I just couldn't manage myself, my interests and what I wanted to do, very well at all and Raptured Reality suffered as a result. I intend on changing that right now, beginning with the following tidbits:

Changes - As mentioned above, I plan on revitalising this blog a bit. What I mean by that is to give it a slight makeover and change a few things around to hopefully make it more appealing to read. A big part of that is obvious in that I need to start writing regularly and I definitely plan on doing so from now on. I have a fair few things I want to talk about so I'm not short on content at the moment.

Gaming - Also mentioned above, my gaming entered a phase where I had a fair bit to play. From downloadable titles like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and Braid to catching up on some games I missed from the end of last year like Call of Duty 4, Skate and Assassin's Creed, I had quite a lot of gaming to be done and I am still not finished with these games. I'm fortunate enough to have some nice friends out there who lent me these games which I'm grateful for because if they didn't, chances are I wouldn't have gotten around to playing these games at all.

A Farewell - For the moment Raptured Reality has returned to just being my blog again as various commitments (like living in Japan) has seen the other main contributor, GTPod, have to stop writing here. I thank him and appreciate the work that he did do here though and who knows, maybe he will return in the future.

Back Up - I will probably start a secondary blog soon as an extension of Raptured Reality, this time just focusing on the 360 aspect of my gaming. This basically means anything and everything Achievements although I may include other things as well. As much as I love achievements, they aren't the be all and end all of my gaming thoughts (or progress, for that matter) so they definitely don't need such a strong focus here.

The Future - September sees us heading into the end of year rush of games and while it isn't as exciting this year as it was last year, I have still found myself anticipating a few of the upcoming titles. Much to my surprise some of these titles are games I wasn't expecting to be interested in but as more and more information came about for them, my interest piqued and now they are on my purchasing radar. I'll elaborate on this point soon.

On a separate note, unfortunately I can't play my 360 at the moment as it has randomly decided to stop reading discs. It was rather unexpected because on Saturday night of last weekend, I was playing it fine and it was running perfectly, then on the Sunday night I couldn't play anything. None of my games, DVDs or CDs (burnt or retail) worked and naturally as a result I was disappointed. Most would expect me to be angry, especially considering I had problems with my first 360 at around the same time (August) of last year but I am not angry, just disappointed. Perhaps a bit ridiculous here but I actually would have preferred it if the console had given me the infamous Red Rings of Death because then I would have been able to get the console repaired for free under Microsoft's 3 year extended warranty. Typically, the problem isn't the RROD so I now have to pay for the repairs to this console. Not happy with the idea of paying for the repairs but alas, it must be done and as such I now have a 'downtime' with the 360. I have been playing my older consoles in the meantime though so it hasn't all been bad.

And with that, it's time to articulate my thoughts on some other subjects. I have missed writing here so it is great to be back.

Tidbits

Just a random update on some things that are interesting or exciting me at the moment.

PS3 Trophies - Rumoured for a while, the PS3 is finally seeing a gaming reward system similar to the Achievements found on the 360. Instead of points that add to a Gamerscore, the trophy system sees players unlocking a variety or trophies depending on the achievements they reach in the various games. Trophies will be rewarded at a Bronze, Silver and Gold level with Bronze obviously being for easy stuff and Gold being for the really hard goals. There will also be one Platinum trophy for every game which will be obtained once every other trophy for that game has been acquired. While Sony's loyal fans are shouting from the rooftops and claiming the system to be shitting all over the 360's Achievements, to me they are exactly the same in the sense that they require goals to be met for them to be obtained and that the games' trophy list can be completed (just like scoring 1k in a 360 game, then) if the player is good enough or has put enough time in. I can understand the comments that perhaps the trophy system has a bit more depth than the 360 system, but either way they are both brilliant systems and I look forward to becoming a Trophy whore (just like I'm an Achievement whore now) when I finally get my PS3 in the future. Now if only the Wii would get a similar system as well...

Soul Calibur on Xbox Live Arcade - I'm frustrated that I can't get this when it releases later today due to a lack of points, but the fact that it is coming to the Marketplace is awesome as far as I am concerned. I remember playing it a fair bit at a friend's house and always wanted the game for myself. I was going to buy a Dreamcast for this game but when I finally got the money to, Sega announced that production was to be halted and as such I decided against buying one. I regret that decision a fair bit now, but thankfully for me I can play what is perhaps my favourite Fighting game of all time again. There's just something about the Soul Calibur series that 'ticks' with me and while SC II, SC III and no doubt the upcoming Soul Calibur IV are brilliant titles, the first will always be dear to my heart. Looking forward to grabbing it as soon as I get some MS points.

E3 - The show has lost a lot of importance in recent years and I have to admit that I'm not as excited for it as I would have been, say, 3 years ago (as I prefer shows like DICE now) but I'm still looking forward to seeing what will be announced and shown. While some might think of me as somewhat of a Microsoft fanboy at the moment given the fact I only own a 360 currently and I'm also an Achievement whore, I am actually looking forward to Sony's show this year the most and that is purely because of the possibility of both Heavy Rain and Team ICO's next project being there. I'm really hoping at least one will be there. There's a chance neither will be and if that is the case, I won't really care about Sony's other games such as Resistance 2 and Killzone 2, but until then I hold hope that both games are there. On the Nintendo front, well I'm interested in what they are up to especially since they have been rather quiet. Rumours are going around of course but I'm not paying attention to them and I am happy to wait until the show. It would be nice to see a new IP or two actually. On the MS front, a lot of this year's games are already known about such as Gears 2, Fable 2 and Too Human so I'm not expecting too much from them. It would be awesome to see Alan Wake at the show as I'm really looking forward to that. Oh and after the supposed leaks a few weeks ago, it will be nice to see Forza 3 being announced. I really hope Beyond Good and Evil 2 is there as well.

Geometry Wars 2 announced - Well not on the big news sites but MyGamercard.net have revealed the achievement list for the game and since they are a Microsoft community website, I think it is pretty obvious that it is coming. Which means, I'm REALLY excited about it as I absolutely love Geometry Wars. I still play Retro Evolved regularly, it is still my favourite XBLA game to date and if Geometry Wars: Waves had released on the XBLA, I would have definitely bought it despite having access to it already via PGR4. No doubt it will be announced/shown at E3 in the coming weeks so I look forward to seeing it there and if it releases this year which I think it will, then I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being my Game of the Year this year. Yes, I am that much of a Geo Wars fanboy.

In other news, I am trading with a friend for a while so I will have some new games to play soon. He is getting my copy of Mass Effect while I get his copy of Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty 4, two games that I have wanted for ages. Really looking forward to Assassin's Creed despite the mixed reviews. Also, over the weekend I got my hands on Shivering Isles, the Oblivion expansion pack. Naturally that means I was able to finally finish off the achievements for the game but I also really enjoyed the content so in a way I am kind of disappointed that I'm finished with it now. I'll make an entry on it soon. Speaking of entries, that MGS 2 one is still cooking as is a few others. Right, off to play Geometry Wars and have a fanboy moment thanks to the sequel's announcement.

Why Doesn't It Rain On Me?

Quite the odd topic to talk about but it is one that has been on my mind for a while now, why do most games lack rain or just general weather effects?

Now I can understand that with the older consoles technology might not have allowed for it (or if it did, other game design choices had higher priority) but to me we should be seeing it on the current generation consoles and we're not. Why is that I wonder? Is it because developers can't be bothered adding them in? Is it because with water effects now looking pretty damn realistic, developers aren't adding in rain or snow because they want it to be on the same level of realism as the water is?

I guess the only people who can answer those questions are the developers themselves so rather than question the concept of weather effects in gaming (or lack thereof), let's change course and talk about weather effects and gaming in general.

Most examples of games that I can think of that have rain, wind or weather effects are survival horror games. Games like Resident Evil use weather effects to set the mood of the scene/level of the game. It's used as a technique to create atmosphere which ultimately adds to the immersion the player has and therefore the level of hesitation they might have from what may or may not scare them next in the game. Take Resident Evil Zero as an example and the game's opening moments on the train; it's absolutely pouring down outside and when you combine that with the train that is speeding along the train tracks and of course the zombies that are on the train and it sets the tone for that particular section of the game. It creates the sense of urgency while also giving an eerie feeling to the player as they become more and more anxious to not only find out what's going on but also to get off the train as soon as they can. It's brilliantly done, does exactly as intended to and is a technique that many similar games use to set the tone and mood of their experiences.

Take another genre like racing as another example and the use of weather effects changes again. Depending on the type of racing game, a wet track can completely change how you approach your racing line and/or overall race when compared to a dry track. The tarmac is slipperier, it's easier to go off the track and you as the player have to be a little more cautious with how you drive. One thing I have noticed with racing games though is that it is actually quite rare to see rain, or indeed general weather effects in most racing games that get released. If tracks are going to be wet, it won't be because it is raining. It will be because it has rained, or at least that's what the developers want you to think. It seems somewhat ironic to me actually; I can remember more games from the SNES and N64 era that featured weather effects than I can from the current and previous generation and yet technology is arguably allowing developers to include these effects these days. The only recent game that I can recall that had rain and weather effects (and did it bloody wonderfully I might add) is Project Gotham Racing 4. I was very happy to see rain falling down on the windscreen (literally, thanks to the joys of the in-car view) with wipers moving back and forth as I was trying to avoid puddles on the track and still race fast enough to win the race. It was totally awesome racing around the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the snow for a change, rather than the dry versions of the track from say Gran Turismo 4 or Forza 2. Put simply it was a welcome addition to the game and was one that has made me desire to see it in other games.

Changing genres and examples again, look at open world games like Grand Theft Auto and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. They both feature rainy weather and many other open world games do too. Sure it may not add or hinder the actual gaming experience but to me, it adds to the immersion of the experience (especially if the game is supposed to be based on real life) and the experience can only be better for it. Sure, your average joe won't notice something as trivial as this but after playing games like PGR 4 and the upcoming GTA IV (which has been shown to include weather effects) it would be nice to see more games start to include weather effects and I honestly don't know why the majority of games lack such effects. What can you do, though?

What I'm Playing

I originally intended the What I'm Playing entries to be weekly, detailing what I was playing for that week and also offering thoughts on a few things. Obviously, it hasn't been a weekly entry and I apologise for that, but I do still intend on keeping it a regular thing and here's hoping I can find a way to balance my time so that it can be a regular piece.

Anyway, this week I have been playing the following:

Burnout Paradise

Picked this up on Friday night and according to the in-game timer, have already played it for over 25 hours. See what I mean about time getting away from me easily?
Anyway, I have been playing it so much because it's just so damn awesome. Whether it is doing the races, Road Rages, Marked Man challenges or Stunt Runs; Or whether it is mucking around online with friends, Paradise is an absolute blast to play and I look forward to playing it some more in this coming week.

Mass Effect

I have returned to this game after a short break, this time playing through it for the second time. I decided to re-use my character from the first run although this time I'm being a bit more of an arsehole while I go for the Renegade achievement. I'm also going to try some other options in the game but I won't detail them here to save for spoilers. It's still a brilliant game though and it actually feels weird seeing different things happen in the game knowing that it was different the first time.

Undertow

I finished this in Co-Op with my friend a few weeks ago but I am still playing this gradually because I am an achievement whore and only need one achievement to 200/200 the game. The final achievement is 10,000 kills although thankfully it is nowhere near as hard as the 10,000 kills achievement (Seriously...) from Gears of War. I won't be dedicating 8 months of my gaming life to Undertow, put it that way.

Forza 2

I will always be playing this. At least, until either Forza 3 releases or I get a PS3 and Gran Turismo 5. I'm still setting various lap times for various reasons and I am also still playing it online every now and then. I just recently purchased some Microsoft Points too, so next time I fire up the game I will be buying the two DLC tracks - Motegi and Road America - and setting lap times on those as well.

Rez HD

As I mentioned above, I picked up some MS Points recently and there is just no way in hell I was going to pass up on the opportunity to finally play this game. I have been wanting to do so ever since learning about original version and I now finally have the chance to experience it for myself. Awesome times ahead!

In other news, I just recently finished my second play through of BioShock and despite having finished it once, I was still blown away by just how real Rapture feels and how immersive the game is. So expect a post on that (I suppose it was only a matter of time considering this blog is inspired by the game...) in the near future. You can also expect one on Mass Effect, Burnout Paradise and possibly even Rez.

And those are just the posts on particular games...

What I'm Playing

Yes I realise I haven't been updating this blog lately and as such, I also haven't been keeping up to date with what I have been playing. I apologise for that (not that anyone reads it but anyway) but I have been reasonably busy. That and I didn't have access to my computer or the internet for a couple of days. I aim to get back into the swing of things shortly though so patience is your virtue, or something. Moving right along...

Forza 2:

Yes I'm still playing this and still doing what I was a couple of weeks ago; Setting time trial times and playing it online to build up my Online Credits. I'm very close to the latter which means I will have this game 1000d soon but even once I obtain my last achievement I will still be playing this game for a while. Online racing is awesome fun (especially with friends) and I don't see myself stopping that anytime soon. Plus doing the Time Trial times is giving me a little bit of a challenge which is always nice. I have gotten most of my times into the top 200 now and I'll be doing the rest in the coming days.

I'm also seeing how I fare in the Hot Lap Tournament/s that Turn10 are running. Last week's one on Sebring was the first one I tried and much to my surprise/amusement, I managed to place 48th in it. Not bad for my first attempt at the Hot Lap challenge. This week's one is on Road Atlanta using a R1 car. I seem to perform better with the racing cars so I'm hoping to break the top 50 again. We'll see what happens.

Rainbow Six: Vegas:

Yes, still playing this as well. I finished it (on Normal) last week so now I'm gonna do some Terrorist Hunt missions and see if I can get some more achievements. I'm not sure whether I will go through the Campaign again on Realistic though. Normal was hard enough...

New Super Mario Bros:

I'm actually playing a DS game again! Excuse the excitement there but I haven't really played my DS ever since finishing the 5 games that I bought alongside the DS a couple of years ago. So yeah, it's nice to be playing a DS game again. Anyway so far it's been fun. I have only made it to the third World so I'm not too far in, but it's been a nice change from all the 360 gaming I have been doing that's for sure. Plus it's been ages since I last played a (2-D) Mario game.

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Anyway as you can probably tell from only 3 games being listed, I haven't exactly been playing much lately. There's a few reasons for that. Obviously I have been busy as I said earlier but I also haven't really been playing because I was/am going through the 'Gaming Blues'. Like, I want to play games but I look at my collection and just think to myself "meh", which isn't cool. Hopefully I can reignite my interest in the games that I own soon, or grow a money making tree so I can go and get a new game. We'll see eh?

The Benefit Of Hindsight

Last week I posted an entry asking whether I could last a week or not without gaming. My answer was no and I explained why I thought I couldn't do it in the post. Ever since posting it however, I have been thinking about it and whether I was entirely honest about it or not. Let me elaborate.

I mentioned in the post that even having just one day away from playing games would be hard for me and now that I've thought about it, I'm not so sure that is entirely true. Actually no, it is true, but not in the way I outlined before.

You see, when I was typing that post I was thinking about gaming as a whole (as in not just playing them, but reading about them, discussing them and so on) and yet I was writing as if I was referring just to the act of playing them. Hindsight has allowed me to see that I could have wrote that post better than I did and as such, I felt that I should clarify (in a way).

When I say that I would struggle to last a day, 3 days or a week without gaming I don't necessarily mean playing them. What I meant was that I couldn't last that amount of time without gaming as a whole. Now obviously playing the games is the main part of our hobby and as such, I was right when I say I couldn't last that time without playing them. But really I was including other aspects of our fine hobby, such as reading a gaming magazine or catching up on the latest news or things like that. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if I were to be disconnected from gaming as a whole, not being able to play them, read about them or talk about them, then I would absolutely not be able to last a set amount of time without gaming.

However, if it was just the one aspect of playing games, then I do feel that I'd be able to last at least a little while without doing so. It would still be hard, don't get me wrong, but if I was at least reading about them, or discussing them (and as extension, thinking about them) then passing the time in which I couldn't play would be a lot easier than passing the time where I was completely disconnected.

So with this in mind, does the answer to the question (am I addicted to games?) change? Yes and no.

I am addicted to games, but I think I am more so addicted to gaming as a whole rather than the act of just playing them. I mean at the end of the day, we can't and don't play games 24/7. If we can last those hours where we're not playing them, then we (or rather I) can certainly last a day or two without playing them too. I can't however, last for that amount of time without being connected to our hobby as a whole in some way, shape or form.

Make of that what you will.

Could I put the brakes on?

Could I, someone who plays games daily, put the brakes on my hobby until it came to a stop? Could I put it in Neutral, the handbrake on and hop out of the hobby for a week or maybe longer, seeing the world from a perspective that isn't hindered by the doors, windows and windscreen that would normally surround me?

Okay, lame car analogy aside, Leigh Alexander of Sexy Videogameland fame recently experimented (along with a few of her blog's readers) to see whether she could last a week without playing any video games. That means no games of any sort, PC, console or handheld. Her latest Aberrant Gamer column reveals that she couldn't last the entirety of seven days and then goes on to discuss why she thought that was and how she should feel. Reading about her desire to trial it and then of course reading about the results afterwards made me question my own self. Would I be able to last a week without playing a single game?

Honestly? I don't even need to think about the answer to that one. I absolutely could not last a week without playing games. I'm not even sure I would be able to last 3 days like Miss Alexander managed. So with that question answered, we move onto the next one. Why wouldn't I be able to control myself and not play a game for what is essentially, a minimal amount of time?

That's something I'm not so sure I can answer. Is it because I'm addicted to my hobby, needing my daily feed of anything gaming in order to satisfy within? Or is it because I lack the self control that other individuals out there seem to have? Or perhaps, it's both? None of the above?

As I said before, I can't answer why. I just know that I wouldn't be able to do it. Previous experiences dictate that missing even just one day of gaming sees me out of my comfort zone. A different person. One that, dare I say it, is similar to a pregnant woman with particular cravings.
During the years that I have been gaming, I have had a few occasions that were out of my control (holidays for example, or hospital visits - things like that) whereby I wouldn't be able to play games for a day or maybe more. The longest time without games that I can remember was 3 days and that was while I was in hospital. Ironically enough this hospital had a few game stations (with Super Nintendos) so I eventually got my gaming fix, but those 3 days (and every other time where I haven't been able to play a game) were absolute torture. Sure, you could argue that I was distracted by whatever it was I was doing at the time (be it the hospital, a holiday or whatever) but even with these distractions all I could think about was my life within my passion, gaming and where it would take me next. I would think about what I had just recently done, be it finish a particularly hard level or setting a lap time in a game. I would think about what I intended to do in these games next, or perhaps even which game I was going to play next. I would think about what wonderful worlds, cities or just locations in general that these games would take me and how I'd feel about them as I experienced them.

I wasn't just thinking about gaming in these times though, I was feeling gaming too. Not literally of course, but I was feeling what it was like to not be participating in something that was a daily ritual for me. My fingers felt different as I wasn't using a controller; my mind was feeling the effects of not escaping into the various worlds and not being immersed within. My body (and this is something that Leigh alludes to, interestingly enough) was not well. Not well in the sense that it was anxious, fidgety and because of this, I even felt ill sometimes.

It didn't matter what length of time it was, 3 days or even just one - Not playing games was hard and it was with a great big sigh of relief that things went back to normal the next time I picked up the controller and sat down with one of my wonderful games.

As I read over what I've just written the question comes to mind again. Am I addicted to games?

Absolutely. Do I care? Not at all. Gaming, as every gamer knows, is a wonderful medium to use to escape. Be it escaping the world of reality, or just escaping from boredom - Gaming is a medium that provides entertainment on many levels and even fulfillment. Satisfaction, through accomplishment, immersion or just the actual fact that you're enjoying yourself.

If that means I play every day and crave to play daily when I can't, then so be it. If that means people see me as an addicted person with no self control, then again, so be it. As long as it's providing me with everything I intend it to in the first place, enjoyment, fulfillment and immersion, then that's all I care about.