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It’s interesting to try and predict what will happen in the future, but technology is unpredictable so it’s always been hard. With genres becoming saturated and stagnant, innovation is becoming harder and harder. So what will gaming be like in the future? Hit the ‘read more’ button to find out.

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Well, it’s any-one’s guess really, and it’s almost impossible to try and predict what will happen because it’s that kind of industry, but hey, I’ll try my best. In order to look ahead, I think we need to first look back and see how the games industry has advanced in the last decade or two.

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My first observation, is that video games have become far more complicated. Back in the day of the NES, you essentially had three main buttons (A, B and D-pad). Games were simple then. Take the original Super Mario Bros. as an example. You moved left and right with the D-pad, ran with the B button and jumped with the A button. Simplicity at it’s finest. But nowadays, tings are quite different. Take Call of Duty 4 for example: you have a button to move, a button to rotate the camera, a button for night-vision, a button to equip a grenade launcher, a button to change weapon, a button to fire, OK, you get the picture. This growing complexity in controllers, is demanded by more advanced games. So if video games get continuously more complicated, what will it be like in the future? Will we have a controller with 50 buttons?

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I, personally don’t believe we will have such complications because, although games have become more complicated, the ways we play them are being simplified. Let me explain. Games have had an increasing amount of content,stuff to do and things to interact with, and I believe that that will continue to increase. It’s how we carry out these actions that are beginning to be simplified. The Wii is a great example of this. Take Wii Sports Tennis: even though the general game has been simplified a little, the control system is far easier to use and is more natural than a tennis game with a normal controller. You swing the Wii remote in the direction you want your mii on screen to swing his or her racket. Simple. A tennis game with a controller however, requires you to press one of maybe two or more buttons (depending on type of shot), sometimes you have to hold for a power shot or something, and point the analogue stick in the direction you want to hit. That doesn’t really feel natural compared to the Wii sports control scheme and is over-complicated. The same applies to the PS3 and potentially with the Xbox 360’s rumoured new motion sensing controller: Microsoft Newton. So I think that different input methods such as motion sensing are the way forwards. While recently controllers have become more and more complex, they will now start (and have started) to become simpler and simpler. Here’s why:

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While over the past 10 years controller complexity has increased, console manufacturers can surely only go so far before an impracticality barrier is reached. You can’t just keep adding more and more buttons to a controller because it will eventually become impossible to play with. Therefore developers will have to find new ways to play games - like motion sensing, or the coveted ‘virtual reality’. However, eventually this simplified control system will begin to over-complicate, with convoluted gestures or techniques required to play a game. Then the cycle will start again (click on image if text not clear):

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Another major influence on the future of games will be genres. They have been done, and re-done and re-done to death. Another FPS with new bullet-time, big deal. Another FPS with a new online system, another FPS with improved AI etc. Sure, the developers can continue to add new features to old ideas, but in the end will it really move the industry? I believe they are just polishing the genres and eventually, it will get to a point when that genre can be polished no more. When was the last time that an original genre was “invented”? Years and years and years ago. Obviously thinking up a new genre that would be fun, is harder than a slab of metal and it would be a developer’s dream to do so. But I believe with the advancements of motion-sensing and whatever comes after, there are opportunities for more genres. But again, the clones would roll in and it would be polished to death with hundreds of games and no longer feel special. Another cycle.

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However, we’ve been playing platform games since Donkey Kong in 1981. That’s 27 years, and there are still platform games being released that are making money like Mario galaxy and Ratchet and Clank Future. The same applies for racing games, shooters etc. The reason that these genres are still fun, is due to new technology. If we stuck with the same technology as we have now, then, yes, the genres would become boring and perfected. However if in 10 years time we had virtual reality, then the platformer would seem fresh. Any other innovations that give us new ways to make and play games will also prevent genre stagnation. The original Mario platformers had very simple graphics, but Mario Galaxy has very advanced graphics that change gameplay. It’s hard to imagine how graphics could get much better now that games are near photo realistic, but something new will come along. And if it’s not improved graphics, it will be something else.

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In conclusion, I believe that we are not doomed. However, to prevent genres becoming polished to perfection, manufacturers need to know when to call it quits on a current gen console, then release something new and innovative. This will give us new ways to play games, before the genres become completely stagnant. Controller wise, we’ll go through a cycle of simple and complicated controller mechanisms, that will continue to innovate. If you’ve got any ideas, then just drop them in the comment box.

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By Avenhawk and Eoco

Nintendo has spent the best part of two decades crossing out the bits of games that risk making Mario’s moustache fall off with shock or excitement. Join us as we track the serrated edge left by The Big N’s pair of censoring scissors…

THOU SHALT NOT… show off chest skin.

Super Castlevania IV- SNES (1991)

BMX XXX proved that nudity in games is no problem for Nintendo in the 21st century. But back in 1991, even nude statues gave The Big N the shakes. Gamers playing Castlevania IV in Japan could stare at naked granite ladypecs until they grew hairs on their palms, but for the US and UK versions, the maiden’s modesty was completely covered up.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Nintendo walked straight past Punch-Out!! ’s Super Macho Man and his biology-defying pecks.

THOU SHALT NOT… bleed.

Mortal Kombat- SNES (1993)

Even your gran probably knows about Nintendo’s infamous quest to make sure everyone’s spines stayed distinctly un-ripped-out in MK… and the way Ninty painted blood grey to resemble sweat. You know, grey sweat. Blood was spilled, in the boardroom though, when news filtered in that the uncensored Mega Drive version had smashed the SNES’s face in.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Enemies in Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode were packed with the red stuff.. oops!

THOU SHALT NOT… use the red cross

Earthbound- SNES (1995)

Clearly, the last thing you want is associating yourself with an organisation set up to help the sick and injured. Nintendo stripped the symbol of the Red Cross off the hospital in Earthbound - religious overtones, apparently.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Goldeneye 007 had a big red crosshair smack bang in the middle of the screen!

THOU SHALT NOT… do Hitler

Wolfenstein 3D- SNES (1994)

Don’t mention the war. Or at least don’t mention the name of Adolf Hitler in the presence of Nintendo. He was transformed into a cuddly, anonymous ‘Staatmeister’ during Wolfenstein 3D ’s journey from PC to SNES. Worse, he and his Nazi cohorts were renamed as a boy band for the European Bionic Commando- ‘Master D and the BADDs’.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Oddly, the EU Bionic Commando retained Hitler’s face at the end- as well as the exploding Hitler’s face.

THOU SHALT NOT… kick ass.

Earthbound- SNES (1991)

What’s your punishment for staying out late and striking up a conversation with a big talking bee? According to the Japanese version of Earthbound, it’s Dad smacking you a good old-fashioned spanking. And in the West? Why, it’s simply a good talking to and “no dessert for the rest of the decade”. Oh, boo hoo.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Boss monkeys who slap their own butt in Mega Man and Bass. Erotic? We don’t think so.

THOU SHALT NOT… cross reds.

Punch-Out!!- NES (1987)

When Nintendo decides the time is right to offend an entire nation of 143 million people, it isn’t too subtle about it as Punch-Out!! ’s Russian boxer Vodka Drunkenski proved. For the NES version, ‘Vodka’ was dragged down to the censoring office and re-monikered as Soda Popinski. Even his bottle got a big red ‘POP’ label plastered across it. He really loves his pop, you see.

IRONY ALERT!!!- We bet Mario himself gets real Italian-Americans hot under the collar. “Mama Mia!” they say.

THOU SHALT NOT… go to hell.

Secret of Mana- SNES (1993)

It’s hard to know which is more ridiculous: Secret of Mana ’s Hell Hound becoming a Heck Hound for the US version, or Nintendo missing the reference to Chunky Kong being “a hell of a guy” in Donkey Kong 64 ’s DK Rap and insisting on fixing it to “heck” in the Super Smash Bros. Melee remix- a full two years later.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Shadowgate casually trotted past the censors, complete with three whole Hellhounds and one lot of ‘Hell-spawned flames.’ Dagnammit!

THOU SHALT NOT… six things up.

Pikmin 2- Gamecube (2004)

It’s embarrassing when a company has to censor it’s own games. Nintendo originally gave the sinister nightmare-causing dismembered doll’s head in Pikmin 2 a value of 666 Pokos- the Pikmin treasure of the beast! By the time the game reached Japan, though, the ‘higher-ups’ had insisted on pricing it up to 670 Pokos. Thanks- we can sleep much better at night now.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Mr.Burn’s numberplate in The Simpsons: Road Rage reads ‘666-LUV’, and no one’s complaining.

THOU SHALT NOT… do that ‘arm thing.

Super Mario RPG- SNES (1996)

In Japan, it’s not uncommon to see game characters giving an arm gesture that would ensure you wouldn’t be invited back for tea. Nintendo US raised eyebrows when Bowser pulled off such gesture in Super Mario RPG : so in the USA version, he does the universal sign for ‘Yay me!’ instead. Very cool.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Mario’s been giving people behind him the two-fingured salute for years now.

THOU SHALT NOT… make grave mistakes.

Triumph- NES (N/A)

Nintendo’s battle with God continued. In this unreleased version of Japanese battle/strategy oddity Castle Quest. Dead warriors had to make do with cheapo tombstones on the battlefield instead of crosses. Even Disney weren’t immune: the crosses on graves in Ducktales were taken out in favour of ‘RIP’. Poor corpses.IRONY ALERT!!!- Nintendo decided to do their own, better gods in Ocarina of Time. They glowed, see.

THOU SHALT NOT… Utter the G-word.

Mario Party- N64 (1998)

We bet Mario asterisks under his breath when he discovers Peach forgot to set the Bowser Alarm again. But he only said “Oh my god!” once in the Japanese Mario Party, before Nintendo US soaped his mouth out. Even better: a car-punching minigame in Final Fight originally ended with the same phrase, but was censored on SNES to, “Oh my car!”

IRONY ALERT!!!- Erm, I think the True Crime games had a little worse than ‘oh my god’. Try ‘GET OUT THE WAY MUTHA****A’.

THOU SHALT NOT… do crime

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!- NES (1987)

The original arcade Punch-Out!! got by without a major celebrity. But then Nintendo slapped Mike Tyson’s face all over The NES version- just before ‘Iron Mike’ became ‘Iron Bars Mike’ after some very unusual criminal convictions. Next thing you know, Mr.Tyson’s out and ‘Mr.Dream’ is in.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Wario was allowed to endorse Super Mario Land, even though he’s a rather unpleasant chap.

THOU SHALT NOT… show dinosaurs urinating.

Primal Rage- SNES (1995)

When you replace humans with dinosaurs in fighting games, anything can happen. Except, it seems, one dinosaur urinating on another. What could be more natural? Oh, wait- how about a velociraptor that claws open your own dino’s chest, wrenches the still-beating heart out of it’s rib cage and then eats it in front of you? Nope, that’s just fine.

IRONY ALERT!!!- By the time Conker stumbled into view, urinating on game enemies had become an actual selling point.

THOU SHALT NOT… squash quite bunnies.

Cruis’n USA- N64 (1996)

Race games being censored? Sure. But racing games? The awful Cruis’n USA was a casserole of squashed dead bunny on the arcades, but on the N64, rabbit season was over. “[Nintendo] don’t have any sense of humour”, said Cruis’n USA creator Eugene Jarvis. “I don’t know what’s wrong with these people.” 43% Metacritic Eugene. 43%.

IRONY ALERT!!!- In Gun, I shot a horse in the face, then I rode another one so hard it it just dropped dead. OK…

THOU SHALT NOT… suck.

Maniac Mansion- NES (1990)

Visit www.crockford.com/wrrrld/maniac.html and former Lucasarts employee Doug Crockford will guide you through the hilarious process of getting horror adventure Maniac Mansion safely through Nintendo’s 1100m hurdle race of approvals. The best bit? “Getting your pretty brains sucked out” made The Big N cry, but “brains removed” was just dandy.

IRONY ALERT!!!- In Turok 2, the Cerebral Bore showed dino bipeds getting their pretty brains sucked out in loving detail.

THOU SHALT NOT… hail the king

Duke Nukem 64- N64 (1997)

Having been thoroughly un-PC on the PC, the Duke of Swearoborough had his dictionary of bad words thrown in the sin bin, his love of strippers cured and his ability to ’save’ slime-coated babes by shooting them in the face replaced with a nice sit down and a cup of tea (or at least a press of ‘A’.) Nintendo loves alien boars in pink dresses, mind.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Nintendo, about those severed bodies hanging by meat hooks by their head…

THOU SHALT NOT… see stars

Uninvited- NES (1991)

Pagans believe that the five-pointed pentagram symbolises the harmony of life between the five core elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. Which is why Nintendo ripped it out of the text adventure Uninvited. This lesson clearly hadn’t been learnt a decade on: GBA Doom had its giant pentagrams erased with the Giant Pentagram Eraser.

IRONY ALERT!!!- Zombies with three-quarters of their face missing are fun for the whole family!

THOU SHALT NOT… kill

Probotector- NES (1990)

Not directly attributable to Nintendo, this, but we need someone to blame. Contra ’s gun-happy humans, carefree about killing anyone so long as they obligingly lined up nicely in one of the eight compass directions, were deemed too violent for Europian tastes, and casually replaced with mechanical walk-o-bots.

IRONIC ALERT!!!- Happy skeletons bleeding all over the screen in 1989’s Monster Party, and a bloke smashing a dog’s skull in with a baseball bat.

THOU SHALT NOT…worship the devil

Mega Man- NES (1987)

The devil’s in the detail, and Nintendo’s obsessive attention to it meant that Mega Man’s retiring ‘Yellow Devil’ struck mortal fear into US gamers’ hearts with the terrifying title of ‘Rock Moster’. Again, it’s a religious thing: Ninty didn’t want mum and dad coming home to find little Jonny playing records worshiping a giant yellow snooker ball on legs. Like they would.

IRONIC ALERT!!!- Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins had enough devils going on to make even Satan switch to Barbie Horse Adventure for a break.

So there you go: the bits that Nintendo didn’t want you to see. Did they go too far? Was it justified? The comment box beckons you.

So the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are nearly upon us and therefore it’s about time a game emerges so you can play through all your favorite Olympic Games with your home country (or whatever country tickles your fancy.) Usually, I am not to fond of sport’s games, but this caught my eye.

Read on for Opinion Debug’s review of Beijing 2008.

Within Beijing 2008 there are 2 game modes which are available from the get go. The first is playing through the Olympic Games with your chosen team where you can take part in every event imaginable. The second is a ‘challenge’ mode where you can pick any event you want and try and beat your personal best (which I think I only managed to do once…).

Sports games are not particularly renowned for their graphics and so I didn’t have very hopes for Beijing 2008, however with so many events in one game it’s the character animations that are important which Beijing 2008 nails perfectly.

The big problem I had with Beijing 2008 is that the scenery and characters all look fairly basic and clinical, particularly during the pistol shooting games where you notice how block-like the pistol actually is. The game seems to use no shading preferring one solid colour with no tonal variety (The best example of this is the skin tone of the characters).

The sound effects in Beijing 2008, are quite disappointing. The general sound track of the game is good though, and it seemed to catch the moment quite well such as the fast pace dance music played during the menu.

Right, now to the disappointing part of the audio: I swear to god that there are only about 20 different sounds in the whole game. Every sound for the gun shots sound the same whether it’s a shotgun or a pistol and whenever you trip on a hurdle the noise the character makes is the same.

I did have quite a problem with this Gameplay of this game, purely for the fact every game mode was so god damn f*cking hard! Over the 6+ hours I played straight of this game, I did not beat an opponent. I never once saw a medal, trophy or any form of congratulations for sucking (gun shooting: Ninja Gaiden 2 on hard was easier then this…) I’m betting if you could actually play this game and get used to the controls, it would be a hell of a lot more fun and would add so much more play time to the game.

One thing I did love about this game is the amount of content which is available straight away on the disk, these being pretty much every game imaginable from the Olympic Games (as you’d expect.) One thing which also comes with the game is multiplayer support, where you can pick from a wide range of games which you can go against your friends or random people over your chosen service.

If you are into sport games with a hell of a lot of content and a crap load of games, Beijing 2008 is for you. Like I said earlier if you have the patience to get used to the controls and have friends who are into these sort of games you could easily kill a few hours and have some fun.

Story - 5/10
Graphics - 6/10
Gameplay - 6/10
Sound - 5/10
Lasting Appeal - 8/10
Overall Score - 6/10

1. It’s based off New York.

So Liberty city is a replica of New York, and a fairly accurate one to, but this immediately limits the game world. Instead of going crazy and creating large countryside expanses, deserts and mountains, Rockstar have had to tone down the crazy and put on their serious caps. By trying to recreate a place, Rockstar have limited their creativity in the environment. Instead of trying to build a city that has the sole purpose of being fun, Rockstar have modeled New York with the primary focus on realism and likeness to the actual city.

2. It’s all grey!

When your driving through Broker, can you honestly say you marvel at the vibrant, colourful landscape? Nope. I know Liberty City is an urban area and isn’t going to have green rolling hills, but they could have done something to make it less monotonous and boring. As you look out across the city in a helicopter all you see is grey, grey and more grey. Apart from the downtown strip, with colourful neon signs, the only colour in the environment comes from traffic lights. Games are meant to allow you to escape from reality, not extend it. I don’t want to be trundling round grey office blocks - I can do that in real life. I’d much rather be driving a camper van off Mount Chiliad into the lush forest below. I’m so disappointed that GTA 4 doesn’t have any countryside: it makes it unnecessarily mundane. Instead of creating a city for fun gameplay, Rockstar have created a city for realism. Who needs realism when you could be jumping across a canyon on a motorbike?

3.No satisfaction

When I unlocked the second island in GTA 4, I didn’t even notice. I only found out that a new area was available when I paused the game to set a waypoint and saw that I was on a different island. The same happened for unlocking Alderney. Where’s the excitement from San Andreas, of unlocking the next island? When you were finally allowed into a new area on San Andreas, you knew it would be completely different from what you’ve seen so far. In the previous games I would spend hours trying to survive a high wanted level, just so I could see the new area before I’d unlocked it, but there’s no chance of this happening now. Likewise, in the previous games I learned my way around the city, just by playing through the game. That’s not gonna happen with GTA 4. In Vice City and San Andreas, each area had its own sense of character: the desert area, the country side area, Las Vegas (or Las Venturas if you prefer) etc. What characteristic or theme separates Alderney from Broker? Nothing, there all the same!

Don’t get me wrong, GTA 4 is an incredible game, which I’ve had a lot of fun playing. While there are short comings in the environment, they are not major enough to detract from what is a truly excellent game. The involving story and missions make the game what it is. While driving around New York at 100 mph can be cool, it’s not as fun as some things I’ve done in previous iterations of the series. Hopefully we’ll see something new next time around, not a recreation of another city.

1. Heavy breather
2. The guy with no mic
3. The ‘is anybody there?’ guy
4. Abusive
5. Broken Mic
6. Tactician
7. Mean adult
8. Weirdo
9. The singer
10. The foreigner

So there they are. Now lets look at each one in a bit more detail. (If you don’t want to read this, then there’s a video at the bottom. Yay!)

Heavy Breather

There’s always one isn’t there? It doesn’t matter what game your playing, there will always be some guy who doesn’t turn his mic off, even though he’s not saying anything. The ‘Heavy Breather’ will, as the name suggests, breath heavily into his mic, but doesn’t speak or communicate in anyway. Truly annoying.

The No Mic

The ‘no mic’ tends to play tactical games such as Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 and GRAW 2 (Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2) where communication is essential, but can be found in almost any online game. Again, as the name suggests, the ‘no mic’ either doesn’t have a mic, or just doesn’t use it. When people are trying to sort out some tactics (see the tactician), the ‘no mic’ just sits complacently and enjoys being oblivious to the teams orders. If the team have designated masterchieffan385 to get the sniper, the ‘no mic’ can pick up the coveted weapon, pretending he cannot hear what the people have said. Of course he might actually not have a mic, but even then he should be able to hear the team’s commands through the speakers so there’s no excuse.

The ‘is anybody there?’ guy

Some say the ‘is anybody there?’ guy is the ‘no mic’s’ arch rival. Others don’t say that. Whatever your view is though, one thing remains certain: the ‘is anybody there?’ guy is very annoying. For those of you who don’t know, the ‘is anybody there?’ guy constantly and relentlessly asks if people have a mic. He can use such phrases as:

1. anybody there?
2. anyone got mic?
3. anyone speaking?

The ‘is anybody there?’ guy obviously wants someone to talk to while he’s playing and, rather than go into private chat with someone, he tries to rally the troops into talking to him. This can be particularly annoying for the ‘no mics’ as they have to face a constant barrage of noise that tries to get them to speak. The phrase ‘anyone speaking?’ is pretty stupid. Unless you can hear someone, chances are there’s no one speaking (other than you of course).

The Abuser

Ah the abuser. Sadly this is probably the most common type of person on Xbox Live. The abuser hates people, he will have a gamertag that looks something like this: XxIcEcOlDkILlA46xX, and can be of any age. The abuser tends to play games like Gears of War, Halo 3 and GTA IV, and will shout, abuse and be generally rude to people who are in the game. The abuser tends to yell ‘head shot’ after every kill (regardless of whether it was a headshot or not) and may try to cheat/glitch. The abuser particularly hates people better than him, and will team kill them or try to get them booted. The abuser also tends to have rap music playing in the background which everyone can hear. The abuser could be a 12 year old or a 30 year old. It doesn’t really matter though - whatever the age the abuser has a massive ego.

The Broken Mic

The broken mic is a person who speaks in games, but his messages are horribly distorted and inaudible for other players. Surprisingly, this is due to a broken mic that he either bought of a friend, found in a gutter or made himself.

The Tactician

The tactician or wannabe tactician fancies himself as a grizzled army vet. He tries to take control and lead the team, often using complicated military terms such as the economy of force and bounding overwatch. He is mostly ignored due to people’s desire to have fun, but occasionally he is obeyed when this happens he generally does a good job of things. However, it can be pretty annoying having commands yelled into your ears for an entire match and so most people will mute him.

The Mean Adult

While the mean adult is similar to the abuser, the two should not be confused. The mean adult likes to exert his age and life experience on younger gamers. He will commonly tell gamers to not play a Mature rated game because they are too young. He might also tell people go to bed because it is too late for them to still be up or to stop whining (they can complain once their voice has broken). The mean adult likes to laugh at other adults’ jokes (regarding younger gamers) and also likes people to laugh at his jokes. The mean adult is usually of a fairly high gaming skill, and tends to play later on in the evening due to adult work commitments.

The Weirdo

The weirdo comes into a game by himself or with an other person. If he is by himself then he will say a load of random crap ranging from ‘I like pie’ to ‘when you have to HELLO vertical dreaming systems analysis’. No none else will understand why he is saying what he says, or what he means. Still, he is usually just mucking about and not clinically insane, so people can have a bit of a laugh at what he says. If he comes in with another person (ie. as a pair) then the stuff will be just as incomprehensible, but instead of being random, it will normally be in jokes amongst the pair.

The Singer

The singer will sing into his mic. That’s it. The song he sings can be anything, as long as it has lyrics. The singer is apparently totally oblivious to the fact his mic is on and any abuse he receives. Unfortunately the singer is becoming endangered and is facing extinction, we must do whatever we can speed up the process.

The Foreigner

It seems that everyone on Xbox Live hates people that are not from their country. The Americans tease the British about their accent, teeth and apparent love of tea and crumpets. Meanwhile the British make fun of the Americans calling them obese, stoned and spoiled. However, if someone joins a game and is not British or American then both the Americans and British must team up to insult that person.

Well there you have it. The 10 types of people on Xbox Live. Now if you didn’t feel like reading and scrolled straight down from the top I advise you to not be so lazy in future, or if you have read the article and have a bit of free time, then feel free to watch this video that I made. It basically shows all the types of people on Xbox Live in their natural habitat.

Note: The voice sound quality is meant to sound like an Xbox Live mic

Well the first details of the imminent Guitar Hero 4 have begun to trickle out of Activision, stating that Guitar Hero 4 will feature drums and vocals…hmm, this seems familiar. While this is just a rumour it is backed by some reliable sources, including Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Ok, this sounds like Rock Band, a lot. I mean really, couldn’t they have thought of something slightly original - a didgeridoo controller for example? However I think Activision are entitled to copy Rock Band and its peripherals.

Right, so here is the current situation: the CEO of Activision, and an Activision insider have said that there will be drums and vocals in Guitar Hero 4. Fair enough. Now, this probably isn’t much surprise to anyone, I mean Rock Band has been successful enough, so why shouldn’t Activision join the band wagon? Well, one reason is because they’d be blatantly copying the Rock Band peripherals, but I think they might be entitled to them? I think Activison may actually have the ‘moral high ground’ here. Let me explain. Let’s go back a year or so. After Guitar Hero 2, Harmonix announced that they were leaving Activision to join MTV. After they packed up their bags and left, Activision got NeverSoft to make Guitar Hero 3. They were allowed to do this, as they still owned (and still do own) the Guitar Hero brand. However, Harmonix came out with Rock Band, which featured guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Now while the drums and vocals were new, the guitar sections looked and felt, pretty much the same as Guitar Hero. Obviously there were a few differences, but everyone recognises that they were very similar. So as Harmonix replicated Guitar Hero into Rock Band, surely Activison need to get their revenge? And here it is, in the form of copying the drum and microphone peripherals.

On the other hand, Activision have not even tried to disguise what they are doing. Rock Band thought of drums first so Activision should just leave them to it and think of something different. If Activision keep copying Harmonix and don’t think of anything themselves, then they will always be a step behind. That said, there are certainly making more money off Guitar Hero than Harmonix are making off Rock Band, partially due to the ridiculous pricing of Rock Band in Europe (and the fact it hasn’t been released there yet).

So are Activision ripping off Harmonix’s idea? Or are they entitled to copying Rock Band’s peripherals? Tell us what you think in the comment box.

Source: Joystiq

Now I’m sure many of you have seen this site (and sites like it) and thought that the stuff we write is just negative. Now I was reading an interview on GamesRadar with Jeff Gerstmann talking about his new site, GiantBomb.com. In the interview he discussed how GiantBomb will bring the positivity back to gaming and that it will be a site for people who just like to play games. Now as much as I like to play games, I disagree that gaming journalism should all be positive. As with anything there is good news, and bad news and unfortunately the bad news is just as important.

There are many sites online that are not positive about video games. Take any review site for example. Do they just give good scores? Of course not, and that’s because there are bad games that deserve those scores. Likewise there is good news and bad news. Do news programs only report happy, positive events? Nope, because, again, bad things happen. Anyway I was therefore surprised when I read this interview and saw Jeff wants GiantBomb to be about:

‘The big thing with Giant Bomb is that we want to bring the fun back to videogames on the Internet, you know? We want to get away from all the negativity and all this other stuff and really focus on what matters, and that’s the games themselves, the people that make them, the people that play them, and that’s what we’re going for this Summer.’

I can understand what Jeff wants. Many blogs make fun of video games, and everyday forums rage with arguments over formats, consoles and games. Jeff obviously wants to get rid of the hate, and bring a bit of positivity back into gaming. It’s a great idea. I’d love it if the only games released were fantastic, there were no delays and there was never anything bad in the gaming industry, but unfortunately that’s not the case.

This is recognised by N4G on their posting guidelines:

‘Even though negative news about a console can make the fans angry, it is still news and should be posted as any other story.’

So while a site could report good news only, and just review good games, they would be deluding themselves and their readers. Bad stuff happens and it’s just as important.

Sources: GamesRadar, N4G

A few days ago a rumour started that Microsoft were making a motion sensing controller, codenamed Newton, that looked very similar to the Wii remote. Now fortunately I managed to resist making some stupid Isaac Newton joke in the title like: ‘New 360 remote isn’t down to earth’ or ‘360 Motion control, a bad apple waiting to fall’. Ok enough with the the Newton jokes, they barely even make sense. Lets get this over and done with.

For those of you who don’t know, the Microsoft motion sensing controller promises to have a microphone, speaker, A, B, X and Y buttons, a trigger and an analogue stick. Sound vaguely familiar to you? Of course it does, you can’t say motion sensing these days without thinking of the Wii and obviously this controller has similarities to Nintendo’s console. Now I think if Microsoft release this controller, they will be maing a big mistake. Here’s why.

The Wii has been a storming success, with casual and hardcore gamers buying the console. Nintendo are in the money once again and Microsoft want to cash in on it. After all, Sony released the SIX-AXIS so why shouldn’t Microsoft join the party? What Microsoft don’t seem to understand is that the Wii’s motion controls, while making it stand out, are not the Wii’s only selling feature. As much as I try, I cannot think of a game that has impressed me so much with its motion sensing controls, that I couldn’t play the game without it (except Wario Ware). Very few Wii games actually use the motion sensing controls to their full potential, often favouring convoluted methods. For instance to open a door you might have to draw a circle in the air while holding a button, instead of just pushing the remote away from you. It’s motion control, but not translated from real life. Motion control is just one of many selling points for the Wii and not the sole reason it is popular.

Secondly how will Microsoft integrate this new controller? They certainly won’t replace the standard controller. They have four options:

1. Bundle it with all the SKU’s, as well as the standard controller.

2. Bundle it with some, but not all of the SKU’s, further confusing the consumer.

3. Create a new bundle with the new controller in. Again, this will divide the market.

4. Release it as an optional peripheral.

I have to say I don’t see Microsoft bundling in another controller into any of the SKU’s, it’s far too generous. That leaves two options: create a new bundle, or release separately. If Microsoft creates a new bundle with just the Newton then that means all games will have to support the new controls (more on this in just a second), but if they release it separately they face low sales.

Next comes the problem of integrating the controls into games. It would be near impossible for Microsoft to integrate controls into every game released so far - it would require all the released games to be patched with the new controls and this would be impossible for games like Shadowrun, whose developers now no longer exist. That means that they could just update the popular games, such as Halo and Burnout Paradise, and then make sure all future games support it from then on. Alternatively, they could update the popular games from the back catalog, and then make motion controls and optional extra for developers to use. Obviously, we don’t know how much or how well, developers would use this new tool.

Next up, there’s the little problem of why anyone would buy this. Obviously 360 only owners may pick it up, but why would a Wii owner buy it? I do not see the majority of Wii owners heading out onto the streets (or ordering online if you prefer) to go and pick up an accessory that does the same thing that their existing console does. PS3 owners have SIX-AXIS, and if they wanted better motion controls they would probably pick up a Wii for a lower price.

Now I’ve touched on this next point already, but I decided to give it a whole paragraph to itself. Wii games are good because of their content and design, not because of motion sensing. Can you honestly tell me that if motion sensing was removed from Mario Galaxy or Metroid, they it would still not be good games? Of course they’d still be good. Both the games are well designed and fun to play, regardless of the controls. The Wii remote is a gimmick, and while it can really improve a game if done well, most of the time it adds nothing (obviously there are exceptions like Wario Ware). I mean, shaking a controller to attack doesn’t improve gameplay that much, if at all. So this means that unless developers integrated motion controls extremely well, which is unlikely given that it would not be the default controller, motion control will not add anything to an already good game. Microsoft would still sell their games based on quality, not a new control scheme, much like the Wii and this leaves little reason to release a motion sensing controller.

Finally we mustn’t forget that Microsoft have had a go with motion controls already, with the Vision camera. I know it’s not exactly the same as Newton, but it’s still a new way to play games. There are pretty much two main games that are controlled with the Vision camera on the 360: Totemball and Rayman Raving Rabbids. These games are controlled directly with the Vision camera and both are pretty weak - Totemball especially. Microsoft have barely supported the camera, and what is to say that this won;t happen again with Newton?

So, overall it’s looking pretty bleak for Newton. I reckon if it was launched, it would flop (due to gravity). With Microsoft dividing the market further and having to try and integrate controls into existing games, it looks like they would have a lot on their plate. Obviously this is a rumour and it could turn out that they have no plans of releasing a controller, but I have a feeling they will. So what do you think? Good idea, or bad idea?

Recently I have found myself becoming increasingly bored with video games. Often I will find myself firing up my console, and just not wanting to play any of my games. Now the reason is not that all the games released are low quality, in fact it’s far from it. It is the simple fact that all the games released in the past year (except a few, more on those later) lack a certain quality. It is this unique aspect of a game that separates it from other games. Now this ‘quality’ is not graphics or sound or whatever, it is something quite different, but I can’t pinpoint what it is. Hmm…this is quite hard to explain…

Let me give you an example. Take Call of Duty 4. Now everybody agrees that COD4 is technically a good game. It has good graphics and sound, the online and perk system is great, now while these certainly contribute to it, these are not the things that make the game special. There are two levels in the game, where you do practically nothing. They’re almost like cutscenes, but from a first person perspective. However, despite this, these are my two favourite levels in the game. The first of these levels is where you see yourself (President Yasir Al-Fulani) assassinated. You are shoved into a car and driven through a city, before being shot in the head. It wont come through in text, but when your watching it, it is so absorbing - you feel much more sympathetic towards the character, and feel much more against the killer. The second level is when you wake up after a nuclear weapon has been activated. You crawl out from your crashed helicopter, only to find a destroyed city, with debris flying everywhere. Amazing.

Technical aspects and how fun the game is definitely contribute to whether the game memorable or not, but there is also something else.

Despite what I’ve said, I don’t think the ‘quality’ that is missing from so many games is the ability to emotionally involve a player. No, that’s not it. It’s just that most of the recently released video games aren’t special. Take Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 for example. It’s an ok game, but there’s nothing special about it. Again, Burnout Paradise, it pretty fun, but it’s not special, I’m not going to remember it as one of my favourite games of all time. So many games that are released now are just so uninspiring. That’s it! Uninspiring. See if you can think of a game released in the past year, that you can honestly say is inspiring, or really special. If I had to, I’d probably go with Call of Duty 4 and maybe Bully: Scholarship Edition. The only game that I can say has truly inspired me if Portal. Three games isn’t a lot. I’ve bought all the big releases this year and some small ones, but I’m still bored. There is only one reason I can think of - that gaming has become a bit stagnant lately. There were very few new franchises or series launched, and most of the big hits were sequels (Call of Duty 4, Halo 3 etc.), if you look on the horizon all I can see is more sequels like MGS4, GTA4, Fallout 3. These will all be great quality games, and I’m sure everyone will enjoy them. I mean, games can still be a hell of a lot of fun, even if they aren’t inspiring - I know I’ve enjoyed laying a lot of games this past year. Now before you all think I’m crazy I know I’m not alone in this view. I’ve spoken to a couple of people on Xbox Live that agree with me and I’m sure there must be others. Don’t get me wrong, I love gaming and I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the games this year, but just feel they could have been better. I read about games, buy games, write about games, but recently I really am loosing faith in them. Strange. Come on video game industry, show us something amazing! Maybe this year will reignite my passion for my hobby.

Note: I know this all sounds a bit weird: ‘How can a guy have lots of fun playing games, but still be disappointed with them?’. Well before you all yell ‘hypocrisy!’, just because a game isn’t special or inspiring, doesn’t mean it isn’t a hell of a lot of fun.

UPDATE: I saw a really good comment on N4G about this article from a user called ‘Breakfast’. I think it summed up what I’m trying to say really well. Here it is:

‘Theres nothing unique about some of the games that come out today. They just take a concept that has been done before, make it there own, and add some new features.’

EDIT: added in a mention of Portal

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