Games Are Best Played On Days Off.

Traditionally the release of a new game would necessitate time off from work and a chance to reserve a couple of days devoted to the engagement of some relaxation. Usually I’d bookend the weekend with the nurturing splendour of a new exciting game, brimming with untapped potential. All the speculative assertions you’ve made about a games quality can be vindicated, the game has the potential to exceed all expectations, with the farcical monotony of the world and all its trivialities for a short passage of time is everyone else’s concern. Your world is localised entirely through your 50 inch, 4K television with soundbar and compartmentalised on your preferred gaming console. An uninhibited experience that truly enables you to absorb a game without distraction or adhering to the limitations of time. Time off work or perhaps even school are always the best gaming times.

For most of us any opportunities to play a game is solely regulated on the caveat of restricted time. Whether there are other domestic or professional obligations to full-fill, borrowed time, restricted and mediated by the critical considerations that dominate our lives. So any time dedicated to the solitary delights of gaming is embraced as though the 4 Horseman were coming round “with the boys”. Utilising this time efficiently is dependant on external interference’s or in later years, battling dreaded unconsciousness, at least in my case. The only truly liberating method is taking time off these compulsory duties. To really engage and assimilate without yielding to some other pedantic or menial task. These are the best times to game.

Memorable moments are almost exclusively reserved for those introductory sessions of uninitiated catharsis. Those little points where your grasp of game mechanics are erratic, tentative and downright embarrassing. Familiarizing yourself with it takes time, with only fleeting sporadic periods that impart the briefest slivers of potential skill. You can’t replicate this kind of “toddlers first steps” progression with interspersed engagements, nor truly immerse yourself in new insatiable environments. You have to take your time to marvel at what you are playing. To savour the experience permitted by the luxury of time unrestrained by responsibility.

I remember playing Skyrim on day of release. I’d booked the day off, ventured out bright and early to my local Sainsbury’s that I’d reserved a copy from. Entering the store I sauntered over to customer service desk and requested my copy of Skyrim. After explaining to the elderly receptionist precisely what a Skyrim was, I purchased my copy, thanked the bewildered lady and dashed off picking up a few choice snacks to consume over the course of my day. I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent the first 20 minutes just looking at the case, not even considering the contents. Of course I eventually tore through the protective casing and rescued the trapped disc from its cellophane prison, idly trekking through this frigid and enchanting land. Such extended vagrancy and slow, listless ambling wouldn’t have been possible without taking time off work.

With only a few hours at your disposal you’re compelled to make good use of the time. You can’t compromise it by idly wandering with no direction, at least not without feeling like you’ve wasted your evening. That’s why it’s so important to take time off to play new titles. No commitments. No responsibilities. Just you, some unhealthy food and oodles of time to meander. I had the same experience with GTA V, Uncharted 3 and many others besides, simply because my first play-through was uninhibited by life. The simple extension of time is crucial to really experience a game without restriction. And nothing promotes this quite like a day off.

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There, I think I’ve just about justified to myself that booking the day off to play “Red Dead Redemption 2” is the right decision. As if I needed an excuse.

Warframe: The Game That Keeps On Giving.

First impressions are important. They enable individuals to positively affect how others perceive them. Most of us want to endear ourselves to another or casually aggregate oneself into a tight-knit group of friends. Yet attempts to positively influence a strangers view of you with only momentary interaction can be difficult to convey. It only takes one flippant gesture, one awry word and the congenial nature they’ve tried to project is forever tarnished. Warframe is the same. Despite its best intentions, employing some fun combat and visual allures we never really clicked. There was no chemistry, no attraction. Our severance was amicable as well as mutual. We’d moved on, seen other people and were content with our lives apart. Until one innocuous day, from across a crowded bar surrounded by dozens of would be suitors you see them, glowing in riveting exultation. They look different, act different. This isn’t the same person I remember, is it? It’s funny how a perception of something can drastically alter after a period of absence and that’s certainly the case with Warframe.

Having originally played Warframe about 3 years ago on the PS4 I’d almost immediately dismissed it as just another pedestrian, free to play third person shooter, customary for the systems conspicuous lack of quality and quantity at the time. But I’ve got to tell you that this really isn’t the game I left behind. So much content has been added through updates that not only expands on the mythology and story but the amount you can do. You can travel to all nine planets in our solar system, and I’m including Pluto in that, as well as quadrants such as the Rift. I’d like to beguile you with each planets environment mystic but to be totally honest with you I can’t, because I’ve only reached my second planet, Venus. Whether you’re defending an alliance stronghold, capturing specific enemies, procuring intel, appropriating civilians from alien incarceration or simply murdering colonies of intergalactic terrorists to death, there is so much to occupy your time that you will probably repeat missions to accumulate resources to build better artillery for your expansive library of guns, as well as other implements of death.

There are a variety of Warframe’s to choose from, each with variable ballistic capabilities as well as special talents that can be activated during combat, dispersing compact groups with devastating effect. Your essentially a space ninja, circumnavigating the galaxy assassinating anyone stupid enough to impede you, and with such a huge roster of Warframes at your disposal you will discover ever more intriguing ways to initiate planetary genocide. Warframe is as mad as Mel Gibson’s drunk addled memoirs, and at times just as explicit. You’ll be hacking and shooting creatures in half with relative ease, even at such an early stage. But it’s not until you’ve really understood the dynamic nature of the Warframe that you’ll truly comprehend the insatiable lustre for speed.

The game has a very steep learning curve that’s difficult to negotiate preliminary. Other more distinguished players, suitably versed in the environments and combat will negotiate areas with a poise that will feel intimidating. You will look and feel cumbersome, often sustaining more hits and dispensing less punishment in the company of these more accomplished competitors. But you will still be a competent, functional member of the team, if not as effective. Speed is essential and there’s a fervent demand to resolve assignments quickly, expediting the trajectory of the mission into an intensely competitive affair between the randomly assembled legation. Manoeuvrability as a Warframe is very much suited to this kind of expeditious versatility. Not only is movement reactive but Warframe’s are proficient in swift verticality, engaging in dynamic wall sprinter and bullet jumps, a self-propelled discipline that sends a Warframe hurtling in any direction with transitory vigour. It’s gloriously fun and probably Warframes most appetising commodity….other than its primary attribution: it’s free.

Being a free to play game encourages participants to really enjoy exploration. Having an initial, obligatory fiscal value attached to it would somewhat diminish its success, but not by much. And of course there’s a premium service available to those that want to purchase a rare weapon or attire their Warframe in more appealing cosmetics, emblazoned in colour coordinated vibrancy. But almost everything you can buy can be earned through rigorous exploration and dedicated repetition. It’s grinding essentially, a deficiency often used to categorise Destiny’s own substantial limitations, but it’s never been this much fun. In fact you begin to wonder why the word grinding is uttered with such contemptuous derision?

Few games offer this kind of dedicated support to a game almost 4 years old, let alone contribute substantial updates that maintains the attention of both new and veteran users. Case in point is a new update expected for release sometime this year called “The Plains of Eidolon” that introduces an open world map, full of new and dangerous enemies as well as considerable opportunity for scavenging essential materials that can be fashioned into powerful weaponry, all of which will be available for free! Considering the enormity of this update, all the time dedicated to constructing an environment not yet seen in Warframe, “Digital Extremes” could have justifiably charged users for the privilege. But they haven’t. Could you imagine Bungie doing the same with Destiny?

You can’t help but admire their passion and applaud their philosophy. In a market saturated with unfinished games that demand further financial contributions to finish adequately, to have a game this expansive that relishes in the charity of its community and their patronage, rather than concealing content behind pay walls is commendable and certainly a rhetoric I’d like to see encouraged by other developers. Money is important, particularly with a game that requires a sustainable source of revenue to maintain its services over extended periods of time. But I believe Digital Extremes have demonstrated that though fundamentally the integrity of the foundation is crucial for generating repeat business, the way in which the structure needs to be constructed isn’t.

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Have you been playing Warframe? If so what do you think of it? And if not……why?! Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

The Healing Trope Of Gaming.

Here’s a fun fact: did you know that the human eye can actually recognise the visual obstruction of the nose, but the brain chooses to ignore it? Pretty cool right? It’s amazing that your brain is able to determine that the nose doesn’t require a concerted visual consistency to know it’s there, and that it has a systemic program that alters your perception of reality to accommodate the individuals vision. Considering the distended size of my nose this is a very useful exercise for my own brain to coordinate. By extension the human brain, depending on the occupier of course is capable of applying such valuable disregards to other areas. For instance being able to ignore a plot hole in a movie elevates the enjoyment you perceive exponentially. Possessing the capability to abide certain game-play issues or cliche character dialogue provides a much more meaningful experience to a game that could potentially compromise enjoyment because of these problems. Personally there’s a lot I can let slide. The murderous endeavours of Nathan Drake. Rocky Balboa beating Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV” despite Apollo Creed, an opponent Rocky barely defeated by one second, dying within two rounds sparring with the same Russian juggernaut. The fact Buzz Lightyear believes himself to be a space ranger, yet still remains totally inanimate whenever Andy enters the room doesn’t bother me either. No what concerns me is something a little more tenuous. An understated phenomenon in gaming implemented without any real explanation. I’m of course referring to the naturally occurring cell regeneration that afflicts a number of player controlled protagonists.

The ability to heal one self is without a doubt the most useful, inert skill a player controlled character can have. It’s inclusion hastens the rapidity of combat allowing for a far greater emphasis on dynamic entertainment rather than the methodical conservation of health, ultimately depleted by tough and engaging confrontations. But just because I accept its assistance shouldn’t precipitate that I understand it. Games that primarily strive for realism often adopt the inherent regenerative properties without any real explanation? Is this evolution? Have the characters inherited these unique skills through some freak accident? Were they born like this? Perhaps bitten by a radioactive aspirin? I don’t know. It’s never explained! This troupe takes logic outside and shoots it in the face! Presumably a critical wound it would recover from! Realism, when applied to esoteric scenarios or arresting situations like the ones in Resident Evil 7, where environments are so incredibly detailed yet the nature of the story is as realistic as a David Icke account on global politics. Having a character that can casually recover from a gun shot wound just by concealment behind a crate makes little sense anyway. As does life nurturing elixirs.

Often regenerative potions or wounds remedied by embellished salves are administered as a statutory resource for all physical maladies. A characters life bar is flashing red intermittently indicating that immediate hospitalisation is necessary to recover from the life threatening wounds sustained in combat, such as a bullet to the face. But wait you have that first aid kit that you recovered from that ravine earlier on! Yes, that’s it. Let me quickly rap this bandage around my hand which should heal said gunshot….on my head? One minute you’re rasping at deaths door, the next you’ve become a Knight in a Monty Python sketch! “It is but a flesh wound”. Resident Evil 7 perpetrates evocative themes of torture or indeed amputation that can be treated with some absurdly powerful medicated solution is something I’ve never quite trained my brain to ignore. That small part of my brain that feels compelled to rationalise this explicable feat of medical engineering, is a conceptual blemish somehow more distracting to my immersion than how adept I am at reloading a gun. Or how my assimilated persona has the physical capacity to haul enough weapons, garments or other life preserving regents without encumbering my expeditious agility, that allows for consistent almost inexhaustible ability to sprint. Why would I question the legitimacy of such incredible actions when I can barely get out of bed in the morning without injury, let alone heave a bag up a mountain that weighs the equivalent of a whales uterus? Or even how all of this hefty equipment fits inside a satchel?!

I realise how trivial this argument is, if you can even call it that but it’s still something my mind simply can’t ignore. Dying and re-spawning unscathed at a designated checkpoint? Yep, makes perfect natural sense to me. By self healing? That’s just so unreasonable! Even the simplest of explanations would satisfy my curiosity into this obscene logistical anomaly. Explaining that the character in question possessed a strong constitution against death and dismemberment would suffice in my erratic little brain! Alternatively God could bestow me with a life. That would be nice.

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What gimmick in gaming annoys you? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

Can You Be Too Loyal?

Loyalty is a commendable attribute. It’s a measure of one’s integrity to value the convictions of another’s adaptable principles with resiliency and respect, even if mistakes are made along the way. We consider loyalty a virtuous exercise in tolerance, a virtue deserving of admiration. Is there anything more chivalrous than 2 heroes stood side by side, facing down against an opposing force even though their failure is all but assured, simply because loyalty commands them to do so? To wilfully betray someone who you’ve followed with such dedication can be perceived as dishonest or even cowardly. But when does loyalty become obstinate faith, blinded by perceived nobility? Is loyalty really a commendable attitude to have or just a falsity derived from the persistent hope that things will improve because of your staunch defiance or willingness to persevere whatever the cost. We form bonds and relationships everyday with people we expect to pledge significant loyalty too. Friends that you’d happily lend money too, spouses you can rely upon to provide counsel in times of distress or football teams that continually disappoint. We forgive the minor transgressions because of the dedication of familiarity and the committed modesty of loyalty that has been forged by years of sustained attachment. So it funny just how often loyalties are disposed with by gamer’s and just how fickle we tend to be.

Being loyal to a brand is grounds for either instant acceptance among your peers or instant isolation. The “console wars” that have been waged since the SNES and Genesis days has always been about flaunting your preferred fealty to one or the other. In school playgrounds there would be heated discussions between two opposing students at lunch that often resulted in fraudulent evidence distributed by both that trumped the other, and a petulant retaliation of scrappy punches and name calling. These sorts of conflicting loyalties haven’t abated as the consoles have progressed but have worsened, thanks in part to the advent of PC’s and the all too often communal latrine known as the Internet, where opinions are expressed and presented as fact! I myself have always favoured Sony products because of their reliability. Having been a firm investor in Sony products since the PS1 days, I have never felt compelled to purchase a competitor as I’ve never experienced any significant issues with any of my endeavours, barring a few innocent, self-inflicted fractures. Not even Sony’s arrogant approach to marketing the PS3 didn’t deter me from remaining loyal to my favourite ambiguous entity. Of course such purported reliability is all relative as others may have had opposing situations that they themselves just couldn’t tolerate, deciding instead that the freshly mowed grass on the other side was perhaps greener.

Many would consider my loyalty to Sony to be something of considerable naivety, that I have been too lenient towards Sony’s shortcomings. It’s understandable that formerly resolute defenders of Sony would feel discouraged by their inability to secure their own servers from hackers, causing PSN to collapse quicker than a stack of cards assembled by arthritic Nan. You can’t blame gamer’s for turning their backs on such a catastrophic lapse in security and protecting their clients confidential information from cyber terrorists. The trust, reliability and of course loyalty is hard to repair then. Yet I remained and continue to do so just like so many others. Does that make us ignorant? Stupid? Loyal? I remember when Microsoft announced they would be implementing restrictions on trading games on the Xbox One, in an attempt to regain profits lost through the second-hand market, by supplementing trades with a convoluted initiative that permitted trade agreements between specified friend for a limited time, rather than simply giving the game to a mate and play at their own discretion. Many fled the proposed dictatorial scheme, which was an obvious collusion between developers and Microsoft like guests at a Coldplay concert, yet many stayed. Are those loyalties any less deserving?

I guess extreme situations such as these are more to do with trust rather than loyalty, though they are mutually associated. So when can an individual or a product representative of a corporate agenda push the loyalties of someone too far, to the point that their rooted allegiance becomes irreparable? Personally I think it really comes down to just how much trust you have, without that how can anyone expect to remain loyal? If you maintain trust then you should retain the loyalty of your friends. Just don’t get hacked….or try to undermine your audience. That’s the moral here folks.

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Do you think you can be too loyal? What does loyalty mean to you? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

Everyone Has A Game Room.

We all have or had an enclosed space purely reserved for gaming. A dedicated hub for all our non-societal predilections. For me that space was my ancestral bedroom that I absconded from over 2 years ago. It’s where I plied my craft, where I developed my angry, grouchy shoutey techniques that is still registered as my most earnest gaming conception, displaying an insatiable capacity for abject cynicism and inability to lose gracefully. Much of my days were reduced to securing ample absence from the series of external distractions designed to prevent me from playing games all day, otherwise known as a “life”. It’s only recently that I finally revisited my hereditary home that I had moved from a couple of years ago, sad to discover that the house did not display a plaque depicting excerpts from my life, instead receiving confirmation that my room had been converted into a utility room, replete in spare clothing and a washing machine, implemented without my expressed consent. I had presided over much of my childhood home like a conquering hero, surveying the familiarization of a place I had spent over 3/4 of my life in, but felt vaguely numb at the sight of my former residency.

I’d been notified that my room hadn’t been entirely preserved for future generations to marvel at my humble beginnings, but was still shocked by the vacuity. It bore the same shape, similar structure to what I remember, yet it appeared smaller, almost feeble in comparison. It had been my home for as long as my neglected memory could recollect. It had been the subsidy of all my gaming inhibitions. The inert sustainment for my sanity as well as the effervescent enabler for all things gaming. Even now I can still remember the set up in here, such as the wires slinking across the wooden floor like snakes eagerly seeking refuge from a predator. It was a place of such humble attributes, like shielding me from my nights out drinking until 4am, returning home with a headache, half eaten burger and enough surplus change scattered across my floor that it was no wonder there wasn’t middle-aged men with metal detector walking through. These are memories of such evocation, of misspent adolescence and virility sadly expressed with succinct lamentation. The preferential treatment my ex room has received is certainly indicative of my mother’s predilections. There have been some rather exultant alterations applied to much of the house’s interior, but none so dramatic or with such hastened deformation than that applied to my absence. The curtains, anointed with vibrant floral motif cast a grisly veil over the odd arrangements of ferns, which I have been reliably informed is a temporary application. The walls have been stripped bare as various household appliances sit idly as huge corrugated receptacles that contain various unwanted items impose themselves on the wall. It’s no longer a room but a space occupied by box’s, castigated memories and a small tree?! The loss of its innate sophistication is jarring, encroaching on my childhood until its effluent sparsity begins to retain an idle familiarity as I derive fleets of fragmented imagery that are soon constructed into memories.

The bed that still resides in corner of the room is my bed. The same bed I spent many hours having, uh er, sleepy night night-time? The mattress, that still retains the slight indentation from when I’d spend hours gaming was the exact location that I first engaged in nocturnal congress with my girlfriend (mercifully not the same mattress ugh!) finally expelling any lingering chastity. The room itself, in all of its reserved nakedness provided images of sick days I had, one which resulted in me tossing a copy of PES out of the window like a Frisbee! I’ll blame bacterial manipulation for that one. There is also much enamoured notoriety too, the things you wish you could forget, like the labouring solemnity I felt when I discovered my adulterous father had cheated on my mother and all the resentment for that judgement that had led to the segregation of the family I had known. But it was also indicative of the resolve my mother, sister and I had. I remember when I was a kid looking out the window and imagining the sky being one continuous ocean, with planes riding on the crest of waves, skirting across the canopy sea. Even it’s nakedness vestiges, beset against the conformity of complicit change ushered in by my mother evokes context sensitive intimacy that binds these four walls to my endeavours. This isn’t just a room in an indistinct semi-detached house amidst equally innocuous suburban street, this was a personalised archive that retains the most significant moments of life. Moments forever solidified by four indistinct walls.

Let me know what your most memorable place for you to game? Cheers.