R.I.P Annie Wershing.

Cancer has sadly claimed the life of another talented soul, in actress, and most importantly mother, Annie Wershing. Who has died at the age of just 45. Though most will recognise Annie as the hardened smuggler “Tess” from NaughtyDog’s “The Last Of Us”, it was her performance as Renee Walker in 24 that I will remember most prominently. During season 7, after the dissolution of C.T.U, that by this point had been infiltrated by more moles than a golf course, F.B.I agent Renee Walker is introduced as a potential understudy to serial interegator, Jack Bauer. Though a resolute investigator, Renee is initially reluctant to disobey the law to achieve her goals, but eventually resorts to the same methods employed by Jack to get the answers she needs. And Annie’s performance as Renee Walker elevated an otherwise mediocre season.

Her portrayal of Tess in “The Last Of Us” felt like an extension of her character in 24. Tenacious. Inured. As if Renee Walker had been pushed to the limit of her morality, that with the slightest nudge could tip her over the edge and into the abyss. We as an audience have been deprived of yet another great talent, but much sadder is her children being deprived of their mother. Condolences and prayer’s are a poor substitute. What a tragic loss.

Representation Matters.

Gaming has always provided a dissociative reprieve from the rigours of social or political infringement. Its escapism at its most embellished. In the early days things were much simpler: vague, blob like pixels could be manipulated from one side of the screen to the other, perhaps strafing over nebulous blurs that gradually lurch towards you. But with the advancements in technology and pursuit of mature orientated narratives, game’s have exceeded these primitive facilities, becoming much more influential means of entertainment. With games focused on historical conflicts like World War II for instance, you have to be mindful of balancing the real world themes with the engaging, almost glamorised depiction of it.

Whether we want to admit it or not, game’s have an obligation to convey cultures, social issues, ethnicity and historic periods in a considerate and equitable manner. Sure, the fundamental priority is to entertain. If you have a game like Tetris, I don’t believe the “L” shaped blocks stance on abortion is really a required narrative attachment. Game’s provide a fertile ground to explore all manner of themes that television and especially movies are too creatively sterile to represent.

Take the last of Us II for instance, a game that has garnered a coalesce of virulent controversy that I have ever seen against a computer game. A lingering resentment that still reverberates across social media as a way of gauging the comparable quality of another forum of entertainment and the subjective views surrounding them. For instance measuring the egregious standard of the final season of Game Of Thrones to that of the Last Of Us II. For the longest time I avoided NaughtyDogs much maligned sequel because of the the verbal convulsions instigated by those berating the game as either “woke” or “progressive”. Having played it though, it’s difficult to identify the anything related to either of these statements.

Is it the lesbian relationship? Is it swift, brutal execution of a main character? The buff physique of a Abby? I’m not sure where the outrage lies, but a game that deals with themes of abandonment, paternal loss and sexuality, having openly gay character pitted against someone justified in their lust for vengeance is to me, representation done right. That’s not to say the story doesn’t have issues, I certainly don’t think it’s as cohesive as the first. And Neil Druckmann does comes across as a pandering narcissist, preaching ineffective moralising for the purpose of sounding profound. And someone that believes he is a auteur of gaming story telling. He is a competent story teller, encompassing a great many talent that bolster his “vision”. But in my opinion, there’s very little here that warrants such universal vitriol.

I’m not in any position to demand what developers should do. To dictate the message, if any, they are attempting to present. I’d rather play a game that is inclusive, and not be bludgeoned over the head with it. But just because such social issue’s aren’t prevalent concerns for me, shouldn’t negate there significance to others. Representation matters and it’s hard to feel aggrieved or persecuted by the “prejudice” of being a straight white male. If you can weave these themes into a story without out it feeling forced, then why shouldn’t you?

Troy Baker And Nolan North Will Be Just Fine….In Time.

There’s only one thing more banal than the vacuous enmity of a “celebrity bust up” (whatever that means!) and that is the embellished sincerity of “fans” mourning the public annulment of a famous marriage. Or in this instance a presenting double act. In the case of Retro Replays beguiling hosts, acclaimed actors Troy Baker and Nolan North, the apparent dissolution of their resounding partnership is immensely saddening. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, let me summarise. Retro Replay is (was?) a YouTube channel featuring prominent computer game performers Troy Baker (Joel from the Last Of Us) and Nolan North (Uncharted’s Nathan Drake). Together they participate in various irreverent discussions while playing classic, and not so classic games from yesteryear.

The heart of this show had always been Troy and Nolan’s chemistry, as they exchanged humerous anecdotes like 2 best friends meeting up for a drink. We were just lucky enough to be eavesdropping on their absurd ponderings. Evident from their nonsensical banter, effusive interactions and more than a handful of questionable Christopher Walken impersonations, there was a genuine innate kinship between them that you simply cannot manufacture. Differing yet earnest perspectives from friends who have built a friendship around a mutual respect for one another. The same kind of rapport you’d expect to see from brothers. But like siblings there’d always be disagreements, which sadly seems to be the reason for Troy’s hasty departure.

During an online Q&A session Troy alluded to the difficulties he’d been having with Nolan. When asked if they were okay, Troy replied with a cryptic admission that they’re not “….but they will be”. And as sad as that statement is, it shouldn’t be surprising. The consistency and rate at which episodes of Retro Replay are propagated is unusually rapid. Having to be around someone for prolonged periods at regular intervals, whether professionally or personally will inevitably cause friction. Familiarity breeds contempt, and no doubt 2 very gifted actors will at some point have opposing views that simply cannot be ratified without some resistance.

With Troy removing himself from what could be a volitile situation, he is taking the necessary precautions to ensure that their friendship endures. And not provoke a media furvour. Both Troy and Nolan are professional, mature adults, with decades of experience between them, that given time will reconcile. I doubt there’s any lasting annomosity between them. And if there is we as a community need to allow them the time and space necessary to resolve whatever differences they have. If they haven’t already.

Did you watch Retro Replay? If so how do you guys feel about Troy leaving the show? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

Why Comfort Is Just As Important As The Game Your Playing.

Gaming, for me at least is the exalted totality of my work day, allowing the formalities of the day to recede into remission, facilitated by a refreshing beverage and a comfortable sofa. It signifies my ascent into the vicarious assimilation into the realms that besmirch the repetitious conforming of another languid day. Essentially I love being lazy, which is mutually beneficial for a hobby such a gaming. Sure, if properly motivated I could you know, do…stuff and….things? But who has time for such laborious tasks? Who needs personal distension when you have that moment where you recline on the sofa, lifting your weighted legs and just uuggghhh……stretch. Being comfortable is the anointed edifice of the industrious gamer, but isn’t necessarily as easy as lethargy would suggest. Comfort is a very individual singularity, ordinarily necessitating numerous postural re-calculations . There’s no authoritative category that accurately defines what comfort is and gaming can be just as suggestive. Of course most people generally gravitate towards the traditional percept of sitting. Whether it’s a chair, a sofa, a bed or even a bean bag, the coordinated positioning of ones derrière is remarkably important.

Your perfunctory inertia is regulated by so many intricate estimations. It could be the ambient temperature, the overall luminous of the room, the reverberating noise from your neighbours television and not just how receptive your rear cheeks are to amenity. For those of you unaware of my own domestic residency, I currently occupy the spare room or “man cave”. Well its more like man “vestige” really, garrisoned by corrugated remnants of possessions which we have no place else to store. My seating arrangement is composed of a cushioned mattress with pronounced crescent-shaped divots and permanent ass indentations. My TV, adjusted slightly and tilted to the left to abate any environmental reflections is the primary focal point in the room. Its auspicious visibility means that whether sitting or slouched, expedient gaming is an accessible viability from almost any position (obviously not facing the wall). If your anything like me then comfort is influenced by emotive fluidity, shifting constantly from an admissible posture of geniality, to being perched in a tenable position on the very edge of the bed, to then reclined motionless wishing that I could tilt the TV 90 degrees so I can amiably play games while lying down. During the bitter autumnal months I find the duvet is a prerequisite, consolidating the errant body heat into conserving insulation. The convenience of wireless controllers also bestows further redeeming relief for my enigmatic predilections, the overtures of which are exhibited through various reclining dispositions until suitable comfort and visual awareness can be attained.

Of course food consumption is a subservient proclivity when in such a relaxed state, which invariably leads to questionable sanitation, as you brush crumbs from the matted crevices of the bed sheets. Of course comfort is temporary, mitigated by the domesticity and other logistical encumbrances. Have you ever tried explaining to your spouse that you neglected the washing up to “relax”? Yeah, it’s not generally received favourably. Now I get that some people enjoy lounging in the bathtub, soaking in bath salts and surrounded by scented candles, all in an attempt to ease those fastened muscles from the strains of the day. And this conduct is just as applicable to gaming. If you’re fidgeting, you’re not concentrating, if you’re not concentrating your losing, if your losing your me! And not at all relaxed. So sit back, lay down, stand up if you like, just get comfortable.

How do you relax when gaming? Do you have a preferred means of relaxing when gaming? Let me know.

Uncharted 4………Finally!

If history has taught me anything is that Brussels Sprouts are evil, drinking on an empty stomach is like juggling with knives, that my feet could be used to pasteurize Stilton and that ignorance is a far more appreciative endearment than the paternal inflections of opinion. While consuming German cuisine at a Bavarian themed festival last Saturday, as well as large flagons of malted liquids that may as well have been inseminated through dialysis rather than orally, little did a striking, devilishly handsome man of considerable repute know (elaborate dramatization may have been embellished for self repletion) that information regarding a certain treasure hunter, that isn’t Indiana Jones or that Albino fellow in Guardians of the galaxy were being demonstrated. Though I had coveted any professions regarding Uncharted 4 with earnest anticipation, connectivity was limited to jarring commentators on social media, with voluminous hyperbolic penchant. “The shooting is exactly the same!” expressed one tweeter. “It doesn’t look any different from the previous games” reflected another equally ruffled observer. From my observatory perspective scrolling through the documented revisions, the immediate antipathy that resonated through gamers expressions further incited the procedural, accusatory fan backlash, that thereby decreed Uncharted 4 a charlatan! “They’ve gone a messed it up” I renounced, as I reverted to the less suggestible state of plaintive foreboding. But fans, by definition are fanatical……..or a rotational series of blades designed to cool ambient humidity, but the prominent connotation is the former. So by association fans are also mad! By which I mean crazy. The contradiction that wants something new, yet exactly the same?

“Come….on…..almost……there!”

And I for one would like to congratulate their blanched, rasping retaliations and express deep personal appreciation for your subordinate deviations from rational sentiment, because with my previously effusive expectation greatly diminished by your damnable rhetoric, and having now watched the offending footage, my reticent curiosity was emphatically sated. My inquisitive presumptions were vetoed by the regaling nostalgia of watching Drake grapple vertical cliffs that look a less assured certainty than in previous games. As Drake procures additional scaling utilities to assist him in his ascension, thrusting a piton into the course surface for added purchase and cantering perilously on the uneven terrain. Supplementing his usually gregarious encounters for subverted consultations, Nate nimbly submerges into the verdant foliage. Even swinging through the densely prodigious environment like some form of humanoid arachnid (Spider-Drake) elicited a meek swoon of anticipation. But where would we be if Drake wasn’t bashing nameless thugs into walls, tossing goons into chasms and a generally unrepentant proclivity for deliberately shooting aggressors in the crutch. Or is that just me?

“Though Nate is looking a little old, he still looks better than me. Crap!”

Most importantly for me was Nate adhering to humorous abstractions that make you guffaw, despite whatever morose impediment his facing, like certain death for instance. The entire compilation gave recompense to any lingering resentment I may have retained from the perilous insinuations of others, as well as my own ambiguity that the series would eagerly borrow from the suggestible melancholy portrayed in “The Last Of Us”. The textures, however beautifully rendered did possess a darker palette than I would like and it was a trailer that was notably subdued. Deliberately so, I think? I don’t need reassurance from vehicular mishaps that has become a trademark of the series. Nor arresting harmonics, rousing orchestral respite or speculative cinematic’s where streams of lava pierce the sedimentary rocks, as volcanic embers skitter across the forests declining fertility, engulfing the leaves as they fall. It was a trailer thankfully bereft of obligatory speeches that are a little too on nose, as fans speculate the intricate details of a plot and devise separate premises. None of this was present, just a simple monogamous template that should be adopted by every games trailer, game-play or otherwise. Just the rudimentary unfurling of the concept, a lenient delineation of the overarching story, a demonstration how furtive negotiation through large quantities of enemies is as efficient as bludgeoning adversaries skulls in, and revealing an older sibling that was never mentioned before? They kind of gloss over that part.

“That’s going to hurt?!”

Uncharted 4 was laden with as much expectancy as a new Star Wars movie, and earlier reports that its impeccable cogency had been substituted for banal heresy proved, in my opinion to be a largely fabricated grievance. It has seemingly preserved its heritage, bound by the inheritance of greatness we’ve seen before. Of course if you aren’t beguiled by Nates considerable masculinity, intellectual yet humorous aphorisms, ruggedly handsome features that remind me of my own……..time playing the games, then its likely that you’ll find nothing compilable here. Its expansive scenic breadth has always been regulated to vestigial aesthetics which are deceptively exposed, yet linear which irks many. Though in fairness you can’t alter the complexion of a game like Uncharted without compromising the concept, any more than you can criticise FIFA for promoting football. And yes the previous couple of games have ended in identical fashion and the supporting cast such as Elena, Sully and Chloe are exceptionally important foils for Nate’s charismatic troupes, and with both the former and the latter currently absent from any footage you do have to worry, just a little, that Naughty Dog may rely on *gulp* new characters to interact with him. I maybe reaching on that point, but I’m finding it difficult not justify purchase.

“Goons R Us are seemingly back in commission.”

The game-play, the environments and of course a weary, weather-beaten Drake only ratifies my bias and vindicates the pre-order I placed almost 8 months ago. Now Naughty Dog, if you could just, you know, RELEASE IT! PLEASE.

What did you think of the game-play trailer?