Branching out!

A cop out, maybe! But worry not valued readers, I shall be giving you a proper and full blog post tonight / tomorrow :) In the mean time, be good little minions and go and like / follow our Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages! I'll give you many kisses if you do.

Try before you buy

Today's blog is all about demos. I remember the old days, the good days, when I'd go to the corner shop or Newsagents and spend my entire weeks pocket money on a magazine. For the most part I didn't read the magazine at all, I bought it for one thing - the ps1 demo disc. Several little playable snippets of games that were to be coming out soon. As I grew up I noticed these discs became less prominent, and I realise now that demos in general are less prominent within the gaming industry.

This confused me a little but admittedly I can see the sense in it - think of how many games you've bought in the past that have been either not what you expected them to be or just utter shite that you wouldn't waste 5 minutes even bothering with. However, it could go the other way; you could demo a game and that demo could push you to eagerly awaiting a release date and have you queueing outside your nearest Gamestation 'til some ungodly hour in the morning so you can fork out your hard earned cash for it. So, are demos a good thing? A bad thing? Or just.. demos.

For the consumer

For you and me, the average (viewtiful) Joe, game demos are undoubtedly a good thing. What could be better than having the opportunity to test a game before you buy it. A game that you either are unsure of, think is going to be awesome, or maybe a game you've never seen or heard of at all. Expectations can be raised, lowered and created from simply trying out a sample of the game. Think of it as tasting a cake before you commit to buying it, it lets you know what you're letting yourself in for.
Recently, the Asura's Wrath demo hit the PSN (SEN?) store. Out of sheer boredom alone I decided to download it and was very pleasantly surprised. as a result of playing the 10 minute demo which showcased the games gameplay, visuals, a look into the story - I now can't wait for it's release and will definitely be picking it up. Demos get a thumbs up!

For the company 

Now this can go either way. If a games company have made a bad game and a demo is released, everyone could play it, realise its crap and then no one would buy it. From this point of view, demos are bad. However, there's 2 sides to every story, 2 faces to every coin, 2 balls in my pants. Just as a demo can squash any hopes a company has of releasing a blockbuster, it can also catapult a game into peoples must buy list (ala me and Asura's Wrath) and from this point of view, demos are definitely a good thing. AGAIN WITH THE HOWEVER. Now, a different slant.. Not releasing a demo at all is probably the best thing a company can do (in regards to sales). Not releasing a test version of the game to the general public means that they can't be harmed by it. It can't fall short of peoples expectations, it cant show people just how bad your game may be, and it means that people may buy the final version out of curiosity if nothing else. So from a company's perspective, there's no real reason to release a demo.

The final verdict
My stand on this one is simple ladies and gents, i'm not a games producer and quite frankly if a game is awful I want to know so i dont waste any money on it. Demos are a good thing, companies should be good to us, the gaming masses, and more demos should be released. Also, everyone should go and download the Asura's Wrath demo free from the PSN store right now - if for no other reason than to see the sheer SIZE of one of the enemies.

Best / worst of 2011

Recycling images is cool.

This should really have been my first post for 2012 for obvious reasons but in truth I've had a bit of trouble in actually solidifying my choices. If you look at my Golden Joystick Awards post here you'll see a small selection of the games that I deemed best in their respective category, except for Game Of The Year. The choices available at the time featured a selection of games that I just didn't deem fit to receive such an award, but that has since changed. Though not featured on the Golden Joysticks GOTY due to their relatively late release date in 2011, I've managed to narrow my choices down to 2 games: Batman Arkham City and Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Ok, this is going to be difficult to do without getting into a full scale review which, at the moment, i don't want to do, as I want to give the game a post of its own to ensure I dont miss a single thing about it because I loved it that much. I'd never played any of the Deus Ex games before, only vaguely heard about it. I didn't know what type of game it was, any of the background story, I literally went in blind but something about it just drew me in so I asked for it as a present off one of my family for my birthday. What a choice it was. There is almost nothing I can fault about this absolute gem. The characters act and interact as if they are genuinely interested in each other and each one is in his / her own way likable / dislikable making them all well rounded. The graphics, though nothing cutting edge, are certainly impressive. Gameplay brings nothing unheard of to the table but uses a tried and tested formula and allows players either to sneak or run in all guns blazing and the story is relatively easy to follow yet provides entertainment enough to make the player want to carry on. The only downside is that towards the end, the game feels slightly rushed - end game enemies (notably the final boss) feel lack luster and almost out of place. Regardless, a brilliant game I would fully recommend.

Batman: Arkham City

Sequel to the 2008 blockbuster, Batman Arkham Asylum, I expected great things from Arkham City and boy did it deliver. Arkham City transcends the infamous Arkham mental institute and takes Batman into a large o open city where he can be free to grapple and swing from rooftop to rooftop seamlessly in a Spiderman 2-esque style. Traversing the back alleys of Arkham City presents Batman with various side missions ranging from solving the mysterious murders of several inmates of the mega prison to stopping random acts of violence against political prisoners. The fantastic combat from the first game is still present and has been relatively unchanged, with the exception of the player now being able to take on more enemies than before at any one time, showcased impressively several times in the game; notably The Penguins Arena. Combat itself is intensely satisfying, flipping back and forth between enemies and almost being able to feel the angry, helpless inmates bones crunch as Batman brings down an elbow onto one of their knees. The game showcases a host of Batman's fan favourite enemies, from The Penguin to Mr Freeze and of course; The Joker. Mark Hamill once again plays Joker fantastically in a performance fans will never forget. Couple all this goodness with more Riddler trophies to get and a new playable character: Catwoman, its an all around incredibly enjoyable game with enough features to keep people coming back for more.



Dead Island

I'm sure you all remember the cinematic trailer of Dead Island that spread through the Internet like wildfire. It was a beautiful, emotion invoking masterpiece that catapulted this game from obscurity right into the public eye, making people like me extremely anxious for its release. Well, if we hadn't learnt before we have now - NEVER base your aspirations and expectations for a game on its trailer. The trailer did not reflect the game in any way, because the game for the most part was just plain bad. An FPS zombie game featuring 4 characters each with their own specialisation in either melee, thrown, firearms or melee weapons, Dead Island was host to repetitive and often boring gameplay while being incredibly buggy (picture enemies floating through the air, getting stuck on items that weren't there, that sort of thing), dire voice acting and bad graphics. It was also accused of being racist, which, it is. This game was a massive disappointment for me, and for that would earn my worst of 2011 if it weren't for...

Thor.
This game is that bad, that insufferably terrible that it gets a class of it's own. It doesn't just win my worst game of the year, it wins my worst game I've played in memorable history. Diabolical gameplay mechanics, graphics, combat system, voice acting.. The lot. Avoid, at all costs, this blight on gaming.

And now for..Please buy DLC to continue.

(And sex)

Ok, now let me just get one thing straight before we get to the main point here. I don't have a problem with downloadable content; if it's done properly. The way I see it, there are three kinds of downloadable content.

The Good kind:
This may seem disconcertingly vague as a description but it's really the best way I can describe it. I believe that downloadable content should be a reward, or even a gift from developers to the fans. TecmoKoei and Rocksteady have shown prime examples of this, with Rocksteady giving Arkham City customers a free Batman: Earth One skin in celebration of Christmas. TecmoKoei have released numerous free character skin packs and weapon packs, both on PSN and free to those whom are hawk-eyed on their various fan pages like Facebook and Twitter.
However, to simply expect a company to dish out free content to people is both unreasonable and incredibly unlikely. When it comes to the bottom line, these developers create games to earn profit and DLC is invariably a way to generate extra revenue, which is where the second 'good kind' comes into effect. DLC that isn't essential but isn't pointless either. The best way to embody this is with Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow DLC Reverie and Resurrection. The game boxed itself off fantastically and was a true gem in my eyes but these DLC were released to show what happened between the final scene of the game and the, aftermath of it. It was a nice little bonus, the game was perfectly fine without it but buying the DLC was enough for me to take it off the shelf and pop it back in the machine (even if the 2 DLC packs should have been one as they were both short and somewhat lacking)

The Neutral kind:

Downloadable, and buy this I mean, bought skins and background music or extra weapon packs of little to no importance at all, released simply for slight game enhancements or variations. Things that most people won't really bother with, but die-hard fans will want to purchase. These could really be given away for free but usually cost not that much, doesn't really harm to charge for them as businesses are, after all, about making money and these probably generate very little revenue as the number sold will be relatively low.

The annual fathers for justice meeting.

The BAD kind:

Here we are, the naughty corner; where a hell of a lot of developers are sat ignorantly sucking their thumbs, all accountable for following this route. The bad kind of download content can simply be reduced to, something which you should not have to pay for. It can be argued by people that you shouldn't really have to pay for anything beyond the game itself, and vice versa. Characters, multiplayer playlists or game modes, multiplayer itself that is actually ALREADY on the disc! (I'm looking at you here Capcom) 

Yes indeed, Capcom are notoriously bad for this kind of thing. Just look at 3 of their big releases, smash hit Resident Evil 5 was revealed to have multiplayer on disc but could only be unlocked if the DLC was bought. Street Fighter IV was released, a flurry of DLC followed, then Super Street Fighter 4, then after that Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Marvel vs Capcom 3 and the subsequent Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a mirror of this. This remorseless money grabbing technique is nothing less than shameful. 

However, can the developers really shoulder all the blame? Well in a sense yes, they're the ones doing it - but it begs the question, would they continue doing it on this large a scale if people weren't buying it? Maybe, maybe not. Unfortunately we'll probably never know, there will always be people willing to mindlessly and blindly shell money out to developers; be it rightly or wrongly. I suppose it's their money at the end of the day, and they have the right to spend it on whatever they like. Except the Thor game. It was AWFUL.

No really, its terrible.

Merry Christmas, Its give away time!

Merry Christmas everyone, here's hoping that Santa brought you a stack full of gaming goodies in that big old sack of his this morning. Personally, the old man in red treated me to Arkham City, Ultimate Tenkaichi, some new Turtle Beach headphones and Sonic generations! As well as some vodka to get me through the rest of the week of course!

In lieu of this festive season I thought I'd do something special for all you readers who are actually paying attention to this little blog posts of mine, after all it's you people that keep me going and keep me writing :)

So today I'm bringing you... THE FIRST EVER TCXS GIVE AWAY. That's right, like a real big gaming company I will be giving away a prize to the reader who gives me the best answer / response to this seasons theme, 'Festive gaming story!' Send in your favourite gaming story of the festive season and you'll be sent the shiny Arkham City related prizes!

Either email your response to tcxs@hotmail.co.uk or leave them in the comment box along with your contact details. Entries close January 1st, good luck everyone - and Merry Christmas!

Revengeance..?

Hi there true believ..Wait Stan Lee Might sue me. Hi there!
This is just a little post to keep you snappy Christmasy types at bay for a week or so 'til i can call in my guest reviews and actually get round to writing that Deus Ex review! (After I've stopped enjoying it so much)

In the mean time, you might remember a while back I mentioned Metal gear Solid 5: Rising. If that's the case, you may also remember that I was absolutely hyped for it - well what a shame that the game DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE.
That's right, 'Metal Gear Solid 5: Rising' has been completely scrapped as a project and has now been replaced with, 'Metal gear Rising: Revengeance'

This is a completely different project being spearheaded by the famous Platinum games company, the great Hack'n'Slash minds behind the brilliant Vanquish and acclaimed Bayonetta. I had mixed feelings about this. Metal Gear Solid is, without a doubt, my favourite gaming series of all time. Famous for it's protagonist, Solid Snake, the character who has single handedly touched the hearts of gamers everywhere - Metal Gear Solid has always based itself around Stealth but this is taking the game in a whole new direction..
At least that's what I thought until I found out that this game is actually a spin-off which simply keeps the title Metal Gear, not Solid. A small condolence but a condolence nonetheless.  There's no reason why this game can't be absolutely brilliant and I've no doubt it will be fun to play but the fan boy inside me is already screaming for me to boycott it. Take a look at the trailer for yourself here:
http://uk.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid-rising-revengeance/videos/birth-and-evolution-metal-gear-rising-revengeance-video-6347606

Edit: The blow has been softened yet again by series creator Hideo Kojima who confirmed on his twitter that impatient fans should simply try and sit tight and wait for Metal Gear Solid 5 which will return to the stealth elements..

Kojima, I love you.

And we're back.. Again!

It seems that every time I manage to drum up some momentum here at TCXS something comes along and shoots me down! The latest in the list of things to try and shit me down.. Copyright. A concerned reader made apparent that the name and logo of my blog were already copyrighted by Sony, and after some investigation I found this to be true and found that Sony were threatening to not only shut me down but sue me.. So after a 'all rights reserved' legal mumbo jumbo at the bottom of my site, we can get back on track!

There are a LOT of things I've been wanting to write about since August (It feels like so much longer!) because it's been a MASSIVE few months for gaming! MW3, BF3, Arkham City just to name a few blockbusters..

We'll get to all that juicy goodness soon enough fellow TCXSers but right now I have a few announcements to make. First and foremost, I need ALL of your help, whomever you may be, to get my name back out there. My momentum has been stopped and viewer ratings fallen due to the copyright scare but now that we're back with a vengeance - I really need you all to pull out the stops and recommend friends!

Secondly, TCXS has recently received the support of 2 gaming giants. TecmoKoei, the minds behind the Dynasty Warriors (Mushou Warriors if you're one of our friends in the land of the rising sun) and retailer GAME recently joined forces to bring you even better service.. and TCXS have been included in the relationship!!! Head on over to Twitter to find out more and see deals, competitions, news and a lot lot more! Oh, and follow TCXS while you're there ;)

https://twitter.com/#!/TriCirXSquare