*insert coin* Kung Fury!

Regular readers will know that I love retro videogames and 1980s action movies. Good thing they both seem to be regular haunts of the retro necromancers, bent on breathing another life into their pulpy neon dashed bodies. Ace.

If you've played the Far Cry 3 DLC Blood Dragon, this is familiar ground. Kung Fury is a balls out, OTT homage to 1980s games like Streets of Rage and Double Dragon. It was crowd funded through Kickstarter and stars a maverick cop who travels back in time to kill big boss, Hitler.
The mini movie (see above) features vikings and dinosaurs and hefty dollops of cheesy one-liners a la Commando.

Definitive Dishonored (PS4)

Its been a while since I got excited over the release of a videogame (life gets muted slightly as the years roll ever onward), but happily this excitement returned on Friday when I saw that Dishonored Definitive Edition was available to buy on Playstation 4. Despite ignoring it on release in 2012, the game has fast become one of my all time favourites (completed enough times to warrant a restricting order from Corvo and co *laughs* ). I also own three different versions on PS3, you know, just to make sure.

And now I have four. For weeks I have been like a kid outside a sweetshop (though I was never a big sweet eater) nosing up to the preorder Dishonored on PSN store. And when I logged in on Friday evening to see it was available to buy, I was happy as an assassin's blade dancing on some poor fools throat. Dancing? Well you get the idea.
I have been a huge videogame fan since the early 1980s, but getting hyped over a title is pretty rare for me now that I am settled in my forties. So im glad Dishonored has taught me that like possessing rats can be kinda fun, I still have a few nerves in my body willing to mke the jump into excitement.

Fallout 4 Collectors Edition

Collectors edition videogames don't really tick my boxes (though I have bought them) but the Fallout 4 Pip Boy Edition lit my heart up like a plasma rifle, and why not? Sometimes allowing your inner child to run riot is good for the soul. And even though I arrived at the Fallout universe later than most (2013 to be precise), the fanboy in this one is strong, which is why I caved in and preordered the thing.

Pip Boy edition includes: a physical Pip-Boy Pocket Guide, complete with illustrations/tips, a cool looking Vault-Tec Perk poster and the game comes packed into a metal Power Armour. As if that wasn't enough Vault Tec wannabes get a wearable Pip-Boy on a RobCo Industries stand, with working lights and buttons. Who said Santa is dead?
Of course I strongly suspect the Pip Boy will be banished to a shelf/drawer once the novelty wears off, but hype does terrible things to a man (gamers especially). But this is fine, I would fear a world that kills simple pleasures and £100 to revive the excited child who lives within us all is a small price to pay.
So without further ado, here's my caps and i'll see you all in Boston.

A dedicated App will also be available to use in conjunction with the Pip-Boy mobile app, manage your in-game inventory and perks.

Fallout 4

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The big news in videogames this week, arrived via Bethesda revealing the first trailer to the much anticipated Fallout 4. Naturally with a reveal as big as a triple AAA title, rising like a digital phoenix from a wasteland of indie games and remasters (and im not knocking either), the gaming world went into meltdown (it was trending on Twitter within minutes of the trailer being aired).
I won't beat about the prickly cactus plant, I liked it. I liked it a lot. My first two words after seeing the trailer were holy and shit and they still stand. Might be a tad 'green' of me, considering Bethesda's less than stellar record of bug free games on PlayStation 3 but whatever issues (mostly freezing) on previous Fallouts on that console, they can't kill my enthusiasm for Fallout 4.
The games are too damned good. Sure its hugely annoying when New Vegas stutters to a halt as your character is stealth boy'ing past Deathclaws roaming the Mojave and I have cursed Bethesda Studios to several trips to hell, yet despite this, my appetite for exploring the nuclear wastelands of America is equal to any blood thirst of the foul Deathclaw.
Of course not all of my gaming brethren are so forgiving and among the excited sunflowers, the dreaded thorns of caution were less than flattering. I don't judge them, but this is only 4 minutes out of what will be a 200+ hour game if Fallout 3 is any judge. Let's not condemn it to the scaffold just yet. Of course this being said, should Fallout 4 be plagued with the same 'annoyances' as previous games, I will find my Mad Max type, post apocalypse fun elsewhere. A few minor issues here and there is to be expected from massive, open world maps but if the equally big Far Cry 4 can do it fuss free, we should expect better from others also.

Hotline Miami

Strange In This Town


Games like Hotline Miami fill my 8-bit heart with warm, fuzzy joy because while we love to soak up the stunning vistas of titles like Far Cry 4 and The Witcher 3, we can also appreciate 'niche' titles like the surreal Hotline Miami (Dennaton Games).
Contrary to younger gamers (mistaken) belief that near photo perfect graphics is the main draw for Playstation 4, we retroheads who grew up in the 1980s with games like Manic Miner know different.
Here's a secret kids; gameplay is king. And it always will be. Developers can create the biggest, most detailed map ever seen but it will be for naught if there's no game to hold your interest. Grand Theft Auto V is a good example for me. Los Angeles has never looked better in a videogame thanks to GTA V but after completing the main campaign, I felt no urgent need to explore the map (no matter how cool being in that submarine was).
Anyway before this goes completely off track, lets go back to Miami. This game is Ace. 10/10 all the bells n' whistles ace. Yes its extremely violent (even for todays standards) and as tough as coffin nails (prepare to die LOTS) but the age old One-More-Go factor of Hotline Miami is like gaming crack cocaine.
If you haven't played them yet (there is a sequel) and are old enough to remember the original Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation 1 with its top down view, you will be on familiar ground. This also serves to help sugar coat the rampant violence because due to the birds eye view it never feels truly shocking. What won't be familiar (to newer gamers) is the unforgiving nature of Hotline Miami and its one hit kills because like retro classics of old, if you make the slightest mistake, be prepared to pay with your life. Fortunately the auto save will bring you back to where you died so the only frustration will be to the players monkey fingers.

It says a lot that for such a retro heavy looking game available on Playstation 4 when most people are doing cartwheels over Bloodborne (and obviously there is room for both), the only groan you could have is for the price. £10 each is a tad steep, and perhaps had Dennaton Games hung a £7 tag on it, it might have persuaded gamers who are still undecided to take the plunge. I'll be honest though, its still a very minor complaint when Hotline Miami is so darned FUN.


An easy 10/10 for me.

Styx: Master of Shadows

If you are looking for a Stealth 'em Up game in the style of Thief (and I enjoyed that game), then this isn't the game for you. You see, Styx Master of Shadows, is 100% pure stealth. In other words, if you get spotted lurking around, you can kiss your gobliny, green ass goodbye. Because you're not some muscle bound warrior who does a little sneaking on the side. Styx is a goblin, a quarter or enemies size and if you don't perform stealth kills and attempt a full on assault, you WILL be cut to pieces.
Battling gangs of bad guys simply isn't an option. Its sneaking all the way for Styx because anything else is suicide. Solid Snake or Agent 47 you are not. You play as a tiny goblin, and you'd do well to remember this. Of course, he isn't completely without tricks to lure the unsuspecting goon to his doom. For instance, Styx can unfasten heavy lighting (remember that classic scene in old British comedy Only Fools and Horses where they loosen the bolts to the wrong chandelier sending it crashing to the floor? Or the old poisoning food ruse? Both of these, along with more cunning tactics, are open to our goblin hero.
Proving you have enough Amber (the games 'skill juice'), you can even clone yourself and get to places inaccessible to Styx himself. Sure the clone has limited skills but he's a handy dude in a hostile city who look upon Styx as more demon than impish thief out to swipe the heart of the World Tree. Trouble is the tree is kept deep in the bowels of the impressive but maze like Tower of Akenash. (You can even hear some of the guards grumble about the complex nature of the Tower which can be comical).
That's another thing about Styx: Master of Shadows. The writing is quite brilliant at times, genuinely funny but it isn't above using swear words so perhaps remember this when playing with younger games. Indeed its the liberal amount of swearing that you need to watch out for when playing with children. In fact its wise to keep little hands away from Styx because foul language aside, you can use violence when reaching a difficult route (make sure you use stealth though because like previously said, going in daggers blazing will only result in hitting the restart button.
Developers Cyanide have had a good stab (pun intended)in making this prequel to the first game, Of Orcs and Men. Sure you'd probably find better looking games on PS3 but as we retroheads are fond of saying, gameplay wins over looks every time. You can create the most stunning looking game ever but if it plays like a dog then what is the point? That being said, its no walk in the park and you'll meet your demise many times. Certain areas can be balls hard and as Styx can be killed with one or two swipes from a sword, players would do well to never get spotted. Ever.
You have an orange tattoo that glows when unseen, and you'd do well to keep an eyes on it. Ignore at thy peril. I paid £15 for Styx: Master of Shadows on PlayStation 4 a few days ago, and as I enjoy a decent challenge which this game provides, ive not been disappointed. In a funny old way, it reminds me of Abe's Oddysee, a game that is a breath of air amongst the shooters and driving games clogging up the shelves.

And for that (in my opinion) the game deserves a 4/5

Sony PlayStation 20

20 years ago, two frikken' decades, Sony launched a home videogames console, the iconic PlayStation. We'd already had some pretty sweet games machines by then from the legendary ZX Spectrum to Nintendos SNES but I think we can say without argument that through clever marketing, it was the Sony PlayStation that made videogames cool. Hell, I even remember nightclubs having PlayStation booths which sounds kinda weird now looking back. But it proves if nothing else, that we gamers had seen nothing like it before. Videogames were now trendy *gasps*
Sure we had the likes of Street Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog from consoles like Sega Megadrive and the aforementioned SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), and these games systems paved the way for the even greater home arcades waiting in the wings (and let's be honest here, anyone having Wipeout 2097 on PlayStation in 1996 did feel like they had arcade quality games at home). Anyone young enough to have grown up with smartphones and tablets just won't get it. You had to have been there to witness a game like Tekken for the first time. Nowadays a tablet can handle these 90s classics without going into meltdown but in 1997? Games like Tomb Raider, Ridge Racer and Metal Gear Solid were pure gold.
I don't really consider myself a PlayStation fanboy, since ive owned (and still own and play) many other consoles including Sega Dreamcast (a personal favourite), GameCube and original Xbox (my 360 sadly flaked on me). But I must admit that its to Sony's boxes of tricks (I own all four), that I turn to first, so I guess there is a Sony fanboy lurking within me somewhere (wishing for a complete Resident Evil 2 reboot to arrive against all odds. Hey, a guy can dream right)?

So anyway, think ive bubbled on for long enough now. Especially since I have a few new PlayStation 4 titles to be cracking on with, including the aceness that is Styx: Master of Shadows and fighting a guy in a pink suit in the mighty Far Cry 4.
So have a very happy birthday PlayStation, here's looking forward to a few more decades of Sony glory! Its been an awesome ride so far and i'm glad you aeem to be winning the console wars this time around!

XIII Reboot

Seeing as remakes of older games are the craze today amongst developers (and fair play to Naughty Dog, The Last of Us Remastered was ace), why not go for the smaller titles? Plenty of underrated games out there that would look fantastic on PS4. Take XIII for example, that cel shaded FPS that many missed on PlayStation 2, and I have a feeling a remake would look fantastic on PS4.
Its all very well going for mega successful games like GTAV, they'll be money spinners afterall but why not take a gamble on lesser known videogames? A lot of people will skip the GTAV reboot simply because the PS3 version is still fresh in our minds. I know I won't be rushing out to grab a copy (especially in a month where brand new games are being released). But XIII? Now that could really pull in the punters. Sure I don't want the PS4 to be a console that simply polishes older videogames but my guess is that XIII is perfect remake fodder.

And if it happens? You read it here first.

Thieving Magpie

Thiefl by Square Enix has certainly stolen its shadowy tricks into my heart. I never once imagined that a FPS stealth'em up would ever grab my attention. In fact I dismissed it as (stupidly) just anther game  as one of those average titles we usually get thrown at in preparation for the real big hitters.
Lucky then that a generous sized demo was released on the PS Store, and I wisely downloaded it to see if Thief had the skills to nick my heart (okay no more bad puns) and pleased  was I. Last time I got this excited over a game demo was Spiderman on the PS1. I couldn't wait to get my mitts on the full game, so naturally when it was released, I was like a child  possessed  , grabbing it in Game. And the result? F**king epic! (Apologies for the F bomb but its the only way I can sum up the game in case of doubters).
I'm not going to go over the story here, you can read that on a hundred other websites, this blog simply exists to either praise  a game, or kill it dead if its a pile of shyte. Can't comment on how it looks on PS3 but on PlayStation 4 it looks absolutely lush. I can imagine some giving it a kicking because Thief can be quite challenging at times but stick with it and great things await.
The main character, Garrett, reminds me of an 18th century Batman. Gadgets? Garrett has them in spades.

Mario, get Yer Guns

What are the odds I will go off subject in this post? Still, I will try.  After reading yet another article calling yet another videogame a "burglary sim", I had to put pen to blog.  Why? Because its lazy journalism, sloppy and winds me up. Hell, the same could be thrown at television but for some peculiar reason we don't do that.
I don't watch television but from the clips I've seen on the interwebz and things I hear on forums, nothings changed from when I did used to watch it. Scheming, plots, adultery, revenge, murder, and bloodshed. Its all there, played out by glamorous women and guys with chiselled physiques. Gotta look your best when you're knee deep in sin right?
And so it goes that videogames have followed that same path. Those age restrictions on the box aren't there to make the case look pretty, videogames have matured and its illegal for soft parents to give in ("for ten minutes peace") and buy wee Jimmy a shooter with a bloody big red 18 stamped on the box. Is that ten minutes peace really worth a hefty fine? Dont think it doesn't happen because it does (more often than you'd care to think).
So we have a burglary sim now do we? What about Grand Theft Auto? Armed robbery sim? Dishonored? A murder sim?
These are games fer Crissakes, but the way some journalists describe them make them sound like guides on how to raise hell for real. One of my current favourite videogames is Thief, a game where, yep you guessed it, you skulk around an 18th century London inspired city, pilfering gold watches and clubbing hapless city guards over the noggin. But I don't play the game to train as a cat burglar, anymore than a fan of 24 watches the show in hope of becoming a CIA agent (or whatever the heck Kiefer Sutherland is meant to be).
And what frustrates me more is that I read this on a gaming website not the Daily Mail  (where one expects such petty sniping). Honestly, videogames have become a massive business in these last few years and deal with mature subjects. Can't we be at least as responsible when writing about them?

Sleeping Dogs New Threads

Amongst the glut of videogame remakes that seems to grow every day ( and wont stop until the gaming goose is stripped clean), you can find some good ones,. Admittedly the price tag looks like Dick Turpin rides again, but if you happen to be a fan of the original, then taking a punt on the reboot makes the price sting a little less.
I was a huge fan of Sleeping Dogs on PS3 so when the 'Definitive Edition' was released a few days ago on PlayStation 4, I was on it like a fat kid on pizza.
£40 is too much, even when you get extras like the 2 DLC stories thrown in, with some very bizarre outfits for Wei to take on the lawbreakers of Hong Kong,band I can see many gamers not bothering because of it which will be a shame because Sleeping Dogs is great game. Wei is a cross between Dirty Harry and Bruce Lee so its sad to see that once again The PS4 needed a third action game after the ace The Last of Us Remastered which was pure brilliance and proof of what creative people with similar ideas can come out with if they're on the same page.
Not played Sleeping Dogs on PS3 yet? Then do yourself a favour and go get it especially I you're a fan of over the top 80s action movies. And don't forget, Wei has more than karate kicks to the throat to defeat thugs, when you gather enough experience points you can unlock special moves either for your cop list or Triad list, which oddly do more harm to enemies than firearms because following the PS3 version, the goons in Sleeping Dogs are like bullet sponges and are able to take a fair amount of rounds before getting dead.
Unfortunately the game seems destined to stay below the top shelf either though lack of promotion (PS3), or having a hefty price have for the PS4 and its such a shame for a game packed with some very cool stuff.  Another downer is that looks wise it doesn't look that much different to the PlayStation 3 version. Outfits and vehicles look better but the city itself looks and 'feels' the same as the original.
All in all Sleeping Dogs Definitive Version is a tidy game  all wrapped up in a decent enough story, but depressingly that forty squids price tag is going to scupper its chances of winning any new fans. A £20 offering would have done them a lot more favours. Like its doing for the Oddworld remake, New n' Tasty.  Throwing in a few extra 'cop jobs' isn't going to be enough to entice the fence sitters.
Speaking personally, I think this game is going to rock better than the forthcoming GTAV on PS4.

GunPlay: Boys @ Work

Not so long ago, in the drunk and not so distant (but very distorted) past, I used to hate FPS (first person shooter) videogames. Well maybe 'hate' is a tad strong word but certainly I was no big fan of the genre. Oddly enough (seeing as the player is playing as if they were 'in the boots' of the hero/villain), that perspective didn't work for me. I always felt out of the action if you get my drift? For me it was third person action games like Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil that roped me in.
I felt much more attached to a character who I could see/control in front of me than something like Call of Duty or Killzone where all you ever saw was the barrel of a gun and if you were lucky, a pair of dodgy looking feet. Far from looking realistic, it was like a ghostly gun floating around, mopping up the bad guys. I played them of course, who didn't love those early Medal of Honour games on PS1? But as good as they were, my heart was always looking for the next Tomb Raider and more badass third action shenanegans.
Then something *cue sinister music* changed, ooh around halfway through the Playstation 3 life cycle. I started picking up more and more FPS games and so began a new found appreciation of the genre. And it wasn't the big hitters that turned me on either. Nope, the first person shooters which had me waving the boomstick were titles that didn't set the charts on fire; Resistance, Dead Island, Duke Nukem Forever and Bioshock. (Okay Bioshock was a pretty huge deal but the others weren't exactly dripping with awesome).

Anyway enough waffle, there have been some ace shooters released these last few years. And here are my gaming gold FPS. If you are a fan of videogames and guns, all titles below should be on your shelf.

1. Dishonored

Corvo Attano is a legendary assassin who sports a very cool metal skull type mask. He looks seriously badass, especially when combined with powers such as bending time and the ability to summon a freaking plague or rats to devour his hapless victims to the bone. The guy is a killing machine, pure and simple. Now some games have great ideas but fall short on being average to play. Dishonored is not average. Its a 10/10 Must Play before you die.

2. Bioshock Infinite

Now the underwater city of Rapture with its 1950s theme made the first Bioshock stand way above other shooters of its time, and im pleased to report that Columbia (this time a city in the clouds) is just as good. Probably more so due to being able to use sky hooks to deal deth from above. Its a genuinely great story too with not one but two fantastic baddies to battle; a motorised patriot George Washington, and the sinister Songbird.

3. Thief

Looks bloody fantastic on Playstation 4, and a looters dream with an abundance of trinkets to find/steal. Its quite a thrill lurking in the shadows of houses of olde worlde London (or the City as its called here). Thief is only let down by having one of the most boring stories ive seen in a while in a videogame, and you don't much care for the characters either (or was that just me?)

4. Outlast

I dare you to play this game late at night with the lights out. Its creepy and disturbing, and when you are armed with only the light from a camcorder (no weapons here sorry) Outlast leaves you at the mercy of crazed asylum inmates who roam the dark corridors and basements, leaving you feel extremely exposed to murderous attacks. Its f**king terrifying and anyone who says otherwise is puling yer plonker.

5. Far Cry 3

I hated Far Cry 2. Absolutely loathed it in fact, so was happy when UbiSoft hit it out the park for the third outing. F**k me, you can even fight sharks and crocodiles and turn them into wallets! Oh and use hand gliders from the highest parts of the map. And the map? Its massive, filled to the brim with coo stuffs to discover.

CounterSpy review

There is little point beating around the bush, or shadowy enemy installation here: CounterSpy is bloody brilliant. Its stylish, cool, doesn't take itself too seriously, and most importantly its a jolly fine blast to play. Such a blast that after stopping the Doomsday Clock from going off (this time on the moon), you will be wanting more. And more. And being as players can complete CounterSpy in the 2 hour mark,  this is my only gripe towards it. I want more dammit, so much more.
True to its stealthy ways, CounterSpy (by Dynamighty games), appeared out of nowhere, popping up on my PlayStation 4 dashboard unannounced  like a fel shaded ninja. And with those looks I was hardly going to ignore IG, especially when  I clocked the trailer. If the gameplay doesn't hook you, that wonderful theme music will,  a bombastic little number made for movieland rogue agents everywhere.
Your guy is a matchstick type hero with white eyes and an arsenal of guns and sneaky moves at his disposal. He might look a bit weedy but don't be fooled, this dude from C.O.U.N.T.E.R spy agency is as much a master of weaponry /shadows as any Solid Snake. Hell even Snake can't steal the enemies national defence lunch money. Its little quirks like this this that give CounterSpy much added coolness. Did I tell you that I love this game?
Infiltrate Imperialists or infiltrate Socialists but get those all important launch plans soldier before those rockets fly, and the moon gets a new make over.
And how much for this slice of stealth pie? A mere ten of your earthling pounds sir! Worth every penny too in this humble gamers opinion. Believe you me, CounterSpy will get every much as plays as big hitters like The Last of Us and you can take that to the bank. Or secret bunker.

As I am so fond of saying, this game is f**king ACE. 5/5

When Dog Chews the Tale

As a gamer now for over three decades...hold on, let me say that again, gamer for over three decades gulp! *reaches for the Botox* It is fair to say that I have played more than my fair share of videogames. Ever since rescuing Xenon princess Roz in Zorgon's Revenge on the Oric 1 inbetween my half hearted attempts at homework, I was addicted (and despite what Daily Mail scribes would have you believe, videogames have never done me any harm).
During that time, I must have spent a gazillion hours shooting zombies, raiding toms and solving bizarre puzzles (cheers Silent Hill). And so its natural that from spending so much time with your pixelated hero/villain, a bond is forged. A bond which makes turning a successful game into an equally successful movie very difficult, and rarely is a director enough of an alchemist to pull it off. Indeed from all the game to film releases, it is only the Resident Evil movies that have held my interest (and even this is because I find them entertaining in their own right and not because they are equal to the cool of the videogames).
So when I heard about The Last of Us movie that is evidently in the works, my little 'ol heart, that heart which has shared many a nervous jump with Joel and Ellie, was not exactly thrilled. And who can blame me? I still shudder when anyone mentions Street Fighter and Kylie Minogue in the same sentence. And less said of Uwe Boll the better.
All the best men know. Even the genius that is Hideo Kojima, who is a major movie fan, will admit deep down to being a tad wary of turning his beloved Metal Gear Solid into a motion picture because he knows like the rest of us know, 9/10 films of games are garbage. Just drop the aforementioned Mr Boll's name into a conversation with Kojima san, you'll get the picture (or not if you happen to be Uwe Boll). Why do you think a MGS movie has not been made yet? Despite being offered multi million deals? Hideo understands man.
Like I said, we gamers forge a special bond with characters over many hours of play, and seeing those "magic moments" reduced to a 2 hour romp ruins it. Take games like Skyrim and Fallout 3 for example. How many hours do we spend in the company of our newly created badass? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say 200+ hours. You go through many different challenges together, notching up a heroes portion of triumph (and deaths), and all personal to you the gamer. Were someone to come along and turn Skyrim into a fantasy film it would fail, and fail hard because none of your private victories would feature. All those little things you see/hear/feel as you clutch your controller and add up to make a unique overall experience is gone, replaced with a directors vision which so often feels like huge disappointment. No more hero than a bit part player relegated to the side lines, and to be blunt, it f**king SUCKS! Its almost like the movie is invading "our" space. (Similar to books but games go even deeper as they put YOU in the action).
So forgive my failure to get all hard and excited (ooer!) over another game-to-film cash grab, but history shows we videgame fans are always better off sticking with the game. We have too much time invested to see it be reduced a film extra.

Lego: Last Of Us

If this was from an actual game? Totally buy it I would. Sadly its not, BOO! But hats off to the creator of this awesome tribute video, its one of the best things ive seen all week. The Last Of Us Lego! Ace.

The Next Gen Consoles

Xbox One (or XBone as its 'affectionately' become known to gamers) was released just 15 minutes ago. Playstation 4 out next week. But most gamers I know on forums are waiting until next year until they get one because there are still great games out for PS3. Oh and there are not many new titles worth the splurge, especially at £50 a pop :o Killzone is the only one I would be interested in. Watch Dogs too but thats been delayed.
Ive still got loads to finish myself: Sly Raccoon 4, Heavy Rain, Killzone 3, Hitman Absolution, Arkham Origins, Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3 etc, not to mention the awesome The Wolf Among Us series, so even though I will be getting a PS4 (I was offered a special exclusive deal) I can't see me playing much on it for its first few months of life.
The graphics jump this time around are not going to be as spectacular either. Gone are the days of SNES to Playstation 1 improvement, or even the PS2 to PS3 which still feels like yesterday (was only 2007 remember). Going from PS2 (still a [b]great[/b] console) to PS3 was very impressive; jaws were indeed dropped when Motorstorm first hit our screens after MGS3 or Hitman: Blood Money on PS2 (again still fantastic titles) but the PS4 and XBone don't look to be much different to what we have now. Oh the number crunchers will notice for sure but yer average player will not.

L'enfant Terrible

E3 2013: Playstation 4

Playstation4

After the dust settles on the heels of the much anticipated Playstation4 reveal last night at E3, its time to do as a million other websites/blogs are doing and chuck out some initial thoughts on Sony's new beast. I'll be honest, im not entirely thrilled by the design of PS4 but then XboxOne is none too pretty either, both reminding me of 1980s VCR players. Still, I buy games consoles for how they look on my television and not under it so I ain't going to be spitting my cider drenched dummy out.
Where it counts, Sony (in my opinion) nuked Microsoft clean out of the waters; no restrictions on game ownership (lend or sale), no 'must be hooked to the internet 24/7' guff in order to play or authenticate games and best of all Playstation4 will be £350 compared to the XboxOne's £429. Oh and PS4 will not have a creepy camera watching you all hours and there will be no online fees (unless you sign up for Playstation+.) More exclusive games for Sony's box of tricks too. Bonus!
In short Sony just finished Microsoft with a lethal fatality move.

Playstation press conference



But its really all about the GAMES and believe you me, there are quite a few impressive lookers vying for your cash. Ready at Dawn (they made God of War: Ghost of Sparta among others) has announced a new game, The Order 1886, which is a Victorian era steampunk horror (see trailer below.) Looks interesting, as does inFAMOUS Second Son from SuckerPunch. But the three that gave me the biggest horn were The Division, Assassin's Creed:Black Flag and racing game The Crew where the ENTIRE USA is your playground. You can supposedly drive from New York to Los Angeles, which is batsh!t awesome!
You can check all the trailers below.


The Division


The Order 1886


infamous Second Son


Batman: Arkham Origins

Hitting the Realism Wall

Playstation 4

Ubisoft's Watch Dogs

Wednesday 11pm saw gamers huddle around their laptops,iPads,etc to watch the live announcememt of Sony's new console, Playstation 4. And as a fan who has been the Playstation since it first surfaced back in 1995, I expected to be skipping on rainbows of ecstasy like a giddy schoolgirl by the end of it (forgetting the fact im now 41.) I dont care what anyone says, there is a curious thrill about the unveiling of a new videogame console. I was stunned by Wipeout (PS1), KO'd by Resident Evil 2 (PS2) and even swooned over Motorstorm when that hit Playstation 3 in 2007. Im not ashamed by this, its what you get if you give a boy an Oric 1 for Christmas in 1983.
So it is with great sadness that after admitting all of the above, the Playstation 4 announcementleft me slightly cold. Not quite sub zero cold, (more like tee shirt in March cold) but I was certainly not overheating in anticipation of pixelated rapture. I think it was all the talk of "social media" and sharing on Facebook/Twitter that did it. Sorry Sony but I just want to play VIDEOGAMES, im not in the least bit interested in posting scores on Facebook or challenging Twitter followers to online races. I simply want to slip a game into the console and smite weird beasties to kingdom come. Balls to Facebook. Im old fashioned like that. Its nothing new of course, theres already a ton of places on teh interwebz that use social networking sites to share folks interests, and fine some people like that kind of thing but it doesn't boil my kettle im afraid. (Reading comments on forums and underneath news stories about PS4, im not alone either.)
As for the Playstation 4 being able to predict what game you might be interested in and downloading it automatically? I hope we'll be able to disable that nonsense. (Im being dragged into the future kicking and screaming Laughs Out Loud.)
Thankfully things start to look up on the gaming side of things. This is why we're here afterall! 'Watch Dogs' got me most interested (see the trailer above) as did 'Killzone: Shadow Fall'. I didn't notice a huge difference graphically to PS3 (even when a Evolution developer waffled about "even the suede on the car seats has a direction") but as time goes on, game designers will learn how best to squeeze the most OOMPH out of the machine. We didn't get to see any sports titles (or was I asleep?) and I can't wait to see how a NFL or golf game looks on Playstation 4.
Unfortunately we also didn't get to see what the actual console looked like either so fanboys will have to make do with gawking at the new DualShock 4 joypad, complete with touchscreen and LED tracker. Looks a little rubbery but I quite like it. The screen on the pads front reminding me of the Dreamcast's VMU. Speaking of older consoles, as a RetroHead backwards compatabilty is important to me so I was a tad miffed to learn that PS1, 2 and 3 games will be available via Playstation 4’s cloud service. So no using my original copy of Tombi or Yakuza then? Bah! Happy they will be available in some form though.
I realise this started on a downer with the Facebook sharing side of things but I am quite excited about Playstation 4. Its just (obviously) not the mind blowing transition I experienced going from Oric to MegaDrive to Playstation back in those wilderness years.

Here are some games that we got a glimpse of:

Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla)
Diablo III (Blizzard)
DriveClub (Evolution)
Deep Down (Capcom)
Destiny (Bungie)


DriveClub