Are Shorter Games Better?

You could argue that gaming is like waiting for a bus. You spend the baron wasteland of the summer months patiently hoping for a decent release to appear on the horizon and just when you start to lose hope, loads arrive together at the same time. Within a two month period we have had Arkham City, Skyrim, Gear of War 3, Forza 4, FIFA 12, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: MW3 and Rage all vying for our attention. Even though it is said the average gamer is now around 34, not many people can afford to spend over £300 in the run up to Christmas in the current climate, or even have the time available to fully enjoy the experience offered by some of these games.

With this is mind, it appears that gaming is becoming a double-edged sword where we pay £40 for a game that lasts 6-8 hours and then trade in the following week for the next must have title. Does this cheapen the experience and simply add gaming to the disposable culture heap of the 21^st century, where we lust for something only to bore of it very quickly, and move onto something else?

I thought it would be interesting to look into the case for and against short game lengths.

In many ways we have now come full circle, as gaming actually began life with short playtimes in arcades all over the world, with titles that were designed to get all of the loose change out of your pocket at a rapid rate. A quick visit to some of the classic arcade titles available on XBLA or PSN illustrates this. As soon as games moved from cartridges onto discs, developers rushed to cram as much information as they could in order to have the biggest and best game.

8 hours of quality over quantity?

However in 2011, the audience is a little more sophisticated and a less forgiving about games that are padded out for the sake of it and quality now takes precedence over quantity. This can only be a good thing, after all, six hours of pure ‘wow’ has go to be better than twenty-five of ‘meh’, hasn’t it?

Let’s not also forget the elephant in the room; the multiplayer, that for many gamers is more important than the single-player campaign itself. This is especially true when talking about the CoD or Battlefield franchises, where many don’t even bother with the single-player. Your typical FPS fan may have a whole world of responsibilities and simply does not have the time to invest fifty hours in one game, and simply wants to unwind at the end of a hard day for a few hours by casually shooting at people online.

There is a very strong argument that shorter game lengths are actually ruining gaming, as the person playing is now simply rushing through a campaign to fill up on achievements or trophies, before trading in the following week for another title in a shallow, hollow and empty experience. People no longer fully enjoy the game but are more interested in wolfing it down as quick as possible before throwing it away, much the same way as people do with a fast food meal. Gaming has more soul than that, doesn’t it?

There is also a very cynical marketing ploy going on here, where it is easier to give people a six-hour game that doesn’t outstay its welcome or overwhelm the player, and instead leaves them wanting more. This way, the publisher can hold back portions of a game to release as DLC at quarterly intervals during the year. Why release twenty-hour games for £39.99, when you can release six-hour games and charge for the rest later, when we’re all desperate for more. To make matters worse, many of these six-hour games are released yearly and are incredibly similar to their predecessors, causing a growing backlash in some circles.

Can you spare 50 hours on a game?

There is no right or wrong, though. Just opinion. Personally, I would rather play an eight-hour Gears of War single-player campaign that keeps me on the edge of my seat, experiencing a range of emotions along the way and forming bonds with the characters, rather than a thirty hour game where I am running backwards and forwards collecting items for some faceless drone that’s void of any personality.

What about you, though? Do you prefer games of shorter or longer lengths? How are you working your way through the mass of quality titles of November and December? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

Interview: Barney Harwood

Barney Harwood is an English television presenter and actor, probably best known for his work with CBBC, on shows such as Blue Peter and Prank Patrol, while also helping compose the theme tunes and incidental music for the latter and one of his other shows, Bear Behaving Badly.

Barney is also a very keen gamer, so after meeting him at the BAFTA video game awards, we tracked him down, to find out more about his love of gaming.

Q. Where did your love affair with gaming begin?

“When I was about 9 years old, I was bought a commodore 64 with two games. Booty and Paperboy! I have a problem-solving brain that likes puzzles and so started with platform ‘find the key to unlock the next level’ stuff and progressed from there!”

Q. The best thing about coming from Blackpool is?

“Having an appreciation for a well cooked chip! They simply can’t do it down south! They use alien potatoes that don’t like to be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle! The best thing about coming from Blackpool is being able to go home to the best chippy I know!”

Q. PES or FIFA?

“FIFA every time! It’s like the Canon vs Nikon debate, though, once you choose one, you stick with it!”

Q. What’s your console of choice?

“PS3! The only reason I would own an Xbox is for Halo (this is, in fact, why I own an Xbox).”

Barney keeping it real with Top Trumps.

Q. What do you think of the PSN hacking debacle?

“It’s the world we live in! People are always gonna find a way of hacking into a system that uses credit cards! I feel sorry for Sony actually!”

Q. What kind of games do you enjoy most?

“Car games are my thing! I’m a bit of a petrol head anyway, so games like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit are right up my street. I’ve had a few high spec BMW’s over the years and I’m impressed with the detail and engine noise these digital versions make. They also manage to get ‘the feel’ of the car down too!”

Q. What is your favourite game soundtrack?

“Tough one! There are so many, but if I was to be perfectly honest and didn’t care about my street cred (we’re all geeks anyway right?), I would say that my all time fave is the theme to the Labyrinth Zone on the original Sonic game on Mega Drive! Love it!”

Q. What is your favourite gaming memory?

“Street Fighter! Nuff said! When that game came out, it took our street by storm! Every kid wanted to play it and only one kid had a games console. We would wait for his mum to leave in the morning and then we’d all be round having massive tournaments! While the boys played on the console. We all warmed up with pillow fights in our home-made ring in the bedroom! My brother knocked me out by putting a doc martin in the pillow case! My how we laughed!”

Achievement Unlocked 50G – Secure a Blue Peter Badge

Q. What games have taken up most of your time this year?

“Lego Star Wars and Medal of Honour. I can be lost for days with these two! I actually discovered I can survive without food and water for long periods because of these games! It reminds me of when Resident Evil first came out on PS1, you didn’t see your mates for weeks!”

Q. Any interesting tales from attending the BAFTAs this year?

“I saw Dr Robotnik kicking off with a waiter ‘coz his soup was cold and all over his ridiculous moustache! I also heard Solid Snake say “don’t you know who I am” to David Hasselhof! Apart from that, a quiet night!”

Q. It has been said that you should never meet your heroes, have you ever met someone you admired only to be disappointed or not actually like them?

“In my line of work, I meet my heroes all the time! I was with John Craven last week, he’s a ledge and a very nice guy! The biggest for me was Billy Connolly, he invited me into his dressing room for a chat because he had a cold and didn’t want to come outside! Such a genuinely funny and brilliant man, I was like a kid!”

Q. What games are you most looking forward to this year?

“Anything Lego based and I’m there!”

Anybody moves and Basil gets it…

Q. Are Kinect and Sony Move just fads?

“One can’t help but wonder if the enormous success of the Wii forced their hand on this, eh? The simple fact for me is that the Wii is played by every single member of the family. It’s brilliant, and it does what it is designed to do extremely well. You don’t buy one for graphics, you don’t buy it for its massive hard drive and online playability.

You buy it because it suits absolutely everyone! Kinect and Move, in my humble opinion, are just copying something that works well elsewhere. There will always be a bit of competition but I doubt they’ll win this one! Can’t wait to see the Wii U!”

Q. Is there anything you would like to plug?

“Everything/Anything to do with Blue Peter! I’m also looking at a photographic expedition with National Geographic, where I’ll be taking some pretty crazy photos!”

 Q. Mythbusters time, Did you really swear on Basil’s Swap Shop?

“Nope!”

Q. Finally could you help settle an argument who would win in a fight between Marcus Fenix vs. Master Chief?

“Hands-down, Master Chief! I think it’s ‘coz he has that superbike helmet thing going on! I reckon when he lifts the visor he has Carl Fogarty’s eyes.”

I thank Barney for his time and walk off into a fake sunset, before tracking down my next, elusive celebrity gamer…

Was a hummer of dwarves, babes and condoms at the GMAS an accident?

As many of you are aware, I often tweet about the latest gaming bargains so that you never have to pay £39.99 for a game ever again, and I do so under the Twitter hashtag of#NeilsDeals. When posting these deals, I often come across a little-known indie store with big ideas called Grainger Games. Although they were founded in Newcastle back in 1997, they only hit the headlines a few years ago when they announced plans to increase to 80 stores and employ staff made redundant by Gamestation.

I was intrigued to learn how their ambitions were once again clear for all to see when they were revealed as the lead sponsor of the Games Media Awards (or their more affectionate title, “The GMAs”). As the winners are voted for by members of the media and industry PR, and also attended by 350 guests (including nearly 200 members of the media), this was an excellent opportunity for Grainger Games to get closer to the games media. What could possibly go wrong?How would you plan to make the most of such an event? What would be discussed in the countless brainstorming meetings to ensure the big night was a success?

I would liked to have been a fly on the wall during the build up, because I’d love to know who thought that arriving in a large orange Hummer and opening the doors to reveal two scantily-clad girls and dwarves was a good idea. If this was not bizarre enough, even the most broad-minded of journalists stared in disbelief as their table were scattered with ‘Grainger Games’ themed condoms.

As the free booze began to flow freely, the folks at Grainger Games began sing ‘Toon Army’for no apparent reason and heckled the host, Greg Davies, who most of you will know as the teacher from The Inbetweeners. One member even thought he would have his own Jarvis Cocker moment by doing a pelvic thrust on stage whilst someone was accepting their award.

For many, though, the most distasteful part of the evening was when Patrick Garrett began his speech before presenting a Games Media Legend Award to Colin Campbell. Throughout the speech, he was jeered by the inebriated gang while they performed a slow clap.

The infamous Grainger hummer rolls on to the next town.

Xbox Live editor, Daniel Maher, attended the event, and tweeted “Grainger Games are an absolute disgrace. Complete disrespect for the industry they’re supposedly a part of” which pretty much summed up everyone’s feelings on the night.

Stuart Dinsey, the managing director of Intent Media was very apologetic and clearly embarrassed in a statement that followed, when he said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise wholeheartedly for this and to make it very clear that Grainger will not be welcome back in any capacity to the GMAs, or any Intent Media events.”

Now the event is confined to history, the events could be read to be quite amusing or like a crazy dream that never actually happened, but the reality is quite shocking. To think that a sponsor for an industry event could treat it with such disregard is unthinkable, yet it happened.

There has been much talk online of how Grainger Games have ruined their business in one night by their antics, but I cannot help but think that this was a planned publicity stunt.

Outside of the games industry, not that many people are aware of Grainger Games or even the GMAs, come to think of it, so I doubt that much of the awards would have been so widely reported.

Maybe, just maybe, being as controversial and distasteful as possible at an industry event was part of some misguided battle plan to ruffle a few feathers and snatch some quick and easy headlines. The old adage of there being “no such thing as bad publicity” is more relevant in 2011 than ever before.

We will probably never know the truth behind that fateful night, but whatever your thoughts or feelings you can rest assured that next year will be a much quieter and safer affair.

Best Albums of 2011 Lists…

Back in the times before the internet (yes I’m old), my December tradition would involve a costly trip to the newsagents to soak up the copious amount of best albums of the year lists in the various music magazines. Luckily though, I don’t have to wade through such publications infested with advertisements now and can simply cherry pick them by getting my guilty pleasure on-line. Sure there is an argument that this is contributing the death of print media, but my philosophy is that you got to evolve or die, however in the name of good karma, I thought I would share my findings with you all.

First up is the Uncut Magazine which always carries a free CD and a good read but is usually to expensive for my tastes but has an interesting top 50 albums of 2011

No Pink Floyd this month?

50 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
49 Arbouretum – The Gathering
48 Cornershop Featuring Bubbley Kaur – Cornershop And The Double-O Groove Of
47 The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
46 Iceage – New Brigade
45 Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin
44 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
43 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
42 Jenny Hval – Viscera
41 Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’
40 Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
39 Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
38 His Golden Messenger – From Country Hai East Cotton
37 Little Dragon – Ritual Union
36 Jonny – Jonny
35 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
34 Fatoumata Diawara – Fatou
33 Low – C’Mon
32 Gil Scott Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here
31 Destroyer – Kaputt
30 Tim Hecker – Ravendeath, 1972
29 Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What
28 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
27 Björk – Biophilia
26 The Decemberists – The King Is Dead
25 Bill Callahan – Apocolypse
24 Real Estate – Days
23 Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
22 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
21 James Blake – James Blake
20 Ry Cooder – Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
19 Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
18 Tinariwen – Tassili
17 Feist – Metals
16 Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
15 Wilco – The Whole Love
14 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
13 Tom Waits – Bad As Me
12 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
11 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
10 The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
09 Bon Iver – Bon Iver
08 Wild Beasts – Smother
07 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
06 The Horrors – Skying
05 Josh T. Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen
04 White Denim – D
03 Metronomy – The English Riviera
02 Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
01 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

With PJ Harvey winning the Mercury Prize this year, this may seem a lazy choice but we will have to wait to see what the other magazines have to say for themselves.

Next is Q Magazine, who could be criticised for playing it safe and are stuck in the past by plugging anything britpop related but lets take a look under the hood.

Playing it safe with MOR?

50 Justice – Audio, Video, Disco
49 Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra.
48 Noah And The Whale – Last Night On Earth
47 Mastodon – The Hunter
46 SBTRKT – SBTRKT
45 Miles Kane – The Colour Of The Trap
44 Death In Vegas – Trans-Love Energies
43 King Creosote – Diamond Mine
42 Josh T. Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen
41 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
40 Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi – Rome
39 James Blake – James Blake
28 Feist – Metals
37 Washed Out – Within And Without
36 Katy B – On A Mission
35 Cass McCombs – Humour Risk
34 Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
33 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l 
32 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
31 Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two
30 Lady Gaga - Born This Way
29 Kasabian – Velociraptor
28 Gillian Welch – The Harrows And The Harvest
27 Ed Sheeran – +
26 Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
25 Wild Beasts – Smother
24 Real Estate – Days
23 Björk – Biophilia
22 White Lies – Ritual
21 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
20 The Weeknd – Thursday
19 Cass McCombs – WIT’S END
18 Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
17 Metronomy – The English Riviera
16 Kurt Vile – Smoke Rings For My Halo
15 Baxter Drury – Happy Soup
14 The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
13 Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind Of Fix
12 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
11 The Horrors – Skying
10 Elbow – Build A Rocket Boys
09 WU LYF – Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
08 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
07 Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
06 Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
05 Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
04 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
03 Adele – 21
02 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
01 Florence & The Machine – Ceremonials

Ceremonials is a cracking album and not many would disagree, but I got a feeling making it album of the year when it was only released a few weeks ago is going to cause a stir and trolls across the land will be rubbing their hands with glee but if these lists are created for us to debate then this certainly does that.

Mojo may be old school but they keep it dark...

MOJO have a reputation for being a little old school but are highly respected and this list impressive with more than a few hidden gems too.

50 Joe Henry – Revere
49 Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
48 Wire – Red Barked Tree
47 Radiohead: The King Of Limbs
46 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
45 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
44 Glen Campbell – Ghost On The Canvas
43 Gwilym Simcock – Good Days At Scholss Elmau
42 Booker T. Jones – The Road From Memphis
41 Destroyer – Kaputt
40 Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming
39 Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
38 The Sand Bag – All Through The Night
37 Duane Eddy – Road Trip
36 Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
35 Tinariwen – Tassili
34 Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
33 Glenn Jones – The Wanting
32 Björk – Biophilia
31 Nick Lowe – That Old Magic
30 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
29 Wilco – The Whole Love
28 Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
27 Arbouretum – The Gathering
26 Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
25 The Stepkids - The Stepkids
24 EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
23 Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
22 Beirut – The Rip Tide
21 The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
20 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
19 James Blake – James Blake
18 Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
17 Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat – Everything’s Getting Older
16 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
15 Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What
14 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
13 Cat’s Eyes – Cat’s Eyes
12 Kurt Vile – Smoke Rings For My Halo
11 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
10 Wild Beasts – Smother
09 Tom Waits – Bad As Me
08 Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
07 Josh T Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen
06 White Denim – D
05 Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
04 Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
03 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
02 The Horrors – Skying
01 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

So another win for PJ Harvey but I’m very impressed with how MOJO has well represented albums with dark themes and for not playing it too safe.

A view from outside Hoxton and Shoreditch?

Over in the United States, Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine with the tagline  ”Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture.” It is always interesting to have a look in a the media over the pond who are not obsessed with the  Hoxton and Shoreditch scene.

50 Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
49 Mates Of State – Mountaintops
48 Drake – Take Care
47 Real Estate – Days
46 Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost!
45 Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose
44 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
43 The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
42 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
41 James Blake – James Blake 
40 Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain, In The Cloud
39 Gillian Welch – The Harrow And The Harvest
38 Over The Rhine – The Long Surrender
37 The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
36 Mister Heavenly – Out Of Love
35 Childish Gambino – Camp
34 Seryn – This Is Where We Are
33 The Head And The Heart – The Head And The Heart
32 Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
31 Telekinesis – 12 Desperate Straight Lines
30 Tom Waits – Bad As Me
29 Feist – Metals
28 Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
27 Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
26 The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
25 The Antlers – Burst Apart
24 TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light
23 The Belle Brigade - The Belle Brigade
22 The Black Keys – El Camino
21 Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming
20 Beirut – The Rip Tide
19 Cults – Cults
18 Wye Oak – Civilian
17 The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
16 Yuck – Yuck
15 Deer Tick – Divine Providence
14 Adele – 21
13 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
12 Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
11 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy 
10 The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
09 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
08 Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
07 Wilco – The Whole Love
06 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – It’s A Corporate World
05 Middle Brother – Middle Brother
04 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
03 My Morning Jacket – Circuital
02 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
01 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Bon Iver seems to be a popular choice on both sides of the atlantic and there does seem to be a few more hidden gems in this list than the predictable ones we have seen in the UK so far.

Another win for PJ Harvey.

A fairly predictable line up from the NME top 50 as the familiar names now begin to appear in all of the lists, along with a few bizarre ‘next big thing’ acts that appear nowhere else but yet gain that’s what you expect from the NME.

NME Top 50 albums:

50 Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch The Throne
49 SBTRKT – SBTRKT
48 Slow Club – Paradise
47 Real Estate – Days
46 Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
45 Austra – Feel It Break
44 Destroyer – Kaputt
43 Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
42 Patrick Wolf – Lupercalia
41 Death Grips – Ex-Military
40 Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years
39 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
38 Björk – Biophilia
37 White Denim – D
36 Iceage – New Brigade
35 TV On The Radio – Nine Types Of Light
34 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
33 Justice – Audio, Video, Disco
32 Alex Turner – Submarine Soundtrack
31 Florence & The Machine – Ceremonials
30 Friendly Fires – Pala
29 Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
28 The Field – Looping State Of Mind
27 Black Lips – Arabia Mountain
26 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
25 Planningtorock – W
24 Big Talk – Big Talk
23 Yuck – Yuck
22 Noah & The Whale – Last Night On Earth
21 Kasabian – Velociraptor
20 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
19 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
18 Cat’s Eyes – Cat’s Eyes
17 Battles – Gloss Drop
16 Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind Of Fix
15 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
14 The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
13 Suuns – Zeroes QC
12 Scum – Again Into Eyes
11 Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
10 WU LYF – Go Tell Fire To The Mountain
09 tUnE-YarDs – w h o k i l l
08 Katy B – On A Mission
07 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
06 Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
05 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
04 Wild Beasts – Smother
03 The Horrors – Skying
02 Metronomy – The English Riviera
01 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

NME Top 10 singles:

10 M83 – “Midnight City”
09 Howler – “I Told You Once”
08 tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness”
07 Metronomy – “The Bay”
06 Battles – “Ice Cream”
05 Wild Beasts – “Bed Of Nails”
04 PJ Harvey – “The Words That Maketh Murder”
03 The Horrors – “Still Life”
02 Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
01 Lana Del Rey – “Video Games”

The Guardian bring us the first 40 but tease us with the final top ten.

The Guardian release the first 40 of their top 50 albums of 2011 and will be counting down their top 10 albums of the year next week.

50 Iceage – New Brigade
49 The Antlers – Burst Apart
48 Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire
47 True Widow – As High as the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the
46 Beirut – Rip Tide
45 Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
44 Marius Neset – Golden Xplosion
43 Machine Head – Unto the Locust
42 Nils Frahm – Felt
41 Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
40 Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
39 The Streets – Computers and Blues
38 Nicola Roberts – Cinderella’s Eyes
37 Kanye West/Jay-Z – Watch the Throne
36 Pistol Annies – Hell on Heels
35 Cats Eyes – Cats Eyes
34 Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting
33 Destroyer – Kaputt
32 Lykke Li – Wounded Rymes
31 Lady Gaga – Born This Way
30 Gil Scott-Heron/Jamie XX – We’re New Here
29 Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
28 Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
27 Radiohead – The King of Limbs
26 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
25 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
24 Feist – Metals
23 Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
22 Noah and the Whale – Last Night on Earth
21 Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harvest
20 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
19 Drake – Take Care
18 St Vincent – Strange Mercy
17 Björk – Biophilia
16 The Horrors – Skying
15 SBTRKT – SBTRKT
14 Tom Waits – Bad as Me
13 King Creosote and John Hopkins – Diamond Mine
12 Wild Beasts – Smother
11 White Denim – D

I will update this list with the remaining top ten as they are announced but whilst we wait, lets have a look at the highly respected Stereogum who have just revealed their top 50 albums too.

Great to see Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost getting the credit, it deserves.

50 Youth Lagoon – The Year Of Hibernation
49 Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine
48 Oddisee – Rock Creek Park
47 Wilco – The Whole Love
46 tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
45 Adele – 21
44 James Blake – James Blake
43 Twin Sister – In Heaven
42 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
41 Das Racist – Relax
40 Kendrick Lamar – Section.80
39 Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
38 Burst Apart – Burst Apart
37 Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
36 Cut Copy – Zonoscope
35 Atlas Sound – Parallax
34 Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
33 SBTRKT – SBTRKT
32 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
31 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
30 Radiohead – The King Of Limbs
29 Washed Out – Within And Without
28 Pictureplane – Thee Physical
27 Destroyer – Kaputt
26 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Belong
25 Cold Cave – Cherish The Light Years
24 Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra
23 Wild Flag – Wild Flag
22 Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
21 Clams Casino – Instrumental Mixtape
20 Real Estate – Days
19 Iceage – New Brigade
18 Beyoncé – 4
17 Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
16 Neon Indian – Era Extraña
15 Zola Jesus – Conatus
14 Austra – Feel It Break
13 Yuck – Yuck
12 M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
11 Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
10 Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne
09 ASAP Rocky – LIVELOVEA$AP
08 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
07 EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
06 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
05 The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
04 Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
03 Bon Iver – Bon Iver
02 Drake – Take Care
01 Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Assertiveness Against Lazy Game Characters

I am an easy-going, affable guy, but there comes a time in every man’s life, where he has to be more assertive to avoid people taking advantage of his kind nature. Just lately, for these reasons my love of gaming has been put to the test. The aspect of escapism is what has always drawn me in and, of course, we all love to be the hero, but it seems to me, however, that the other characters in games are, to put it bluntly, not carrying their weight. I’m not going to take it anymore!

My love affair with the Marmite zombie adventure game Dead Island was a fairly brief one, when I took offence to several of the characters being more dead and lifeless than the zombies themselves.

For a few moments, try to imagine being trapped on the island of Banoi for real. Every step you take ends up with hundreds of zombies attacking you, but you stumble on a gang of survivors and suddenly you have the feeling that if we all work together, maybe everyone could actually get out of this mess alive.

With this in mind, what would you do in your hour of need when the new friends that are your only hope for survival, suddenly started making you their glorified errand boy?

Hank wants spark plugs, Mike sends you off for gas, Jack sends you off for medical supplies and Jeanine would like you to get her necklace she forgot in her bungalow. All the while, they all sit safe and have a nice chat about the good old days. I can’t speak for you all, but I would be telling Jeanine as politely as possible to piss off as there was more important shit going down on this cursed island than her crappy necklace.

We are going to stay here because its safe, but can you fetch us lots of stuff?

As for the rest of them, they can get off their fat asses and give me a hand fetching supplies rather than sending me on a one way trip to palookaville. I bite my tongue and carry on regardless, because it’s just a game, right?

Enter Mike, an Iraq war veteran pumped up and excitable, which may have been down to taking a little too many steroids like our old friend Brucie Kibbutz in Grand Theft Auto, but he also seems to be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. Why? Because he won’t shut up about the smell of dead bodies and wants to watch them burn, so sends me on a mission to get some gasoline.

I go out there all on my own, fighting off zombie hordes to get the required gasoline, whilst the so-called tough guy stays at base camp. Even the survivors at the petrol station do nothing but hide whilse I risk life and limb to fill up the containers. Against all the odds I make it back alive and Mike says to me “You took your fuckin time!”

At this point I ejected the CD from my console and shouted at the screen. “Took my time, Mr Tough guy Iraq war veteran? You sat there on your steroid ridden cowardly ass and that’s all you got to say?” This is where my vacation on Dead Island ended and I don’t care what happened to any of the slackers on that damn island.

A few weeks have passed and I rediscovered my gaming mojo when picking up RAGE from id Software. I quickly forgave the all-too familiar formula of futuristic adventures which must contain words such as “ark” and “cryogenics”, as I was being rescued by Dan Hagar. Dan, the founder of the Hagar settlement, is voiced by John Goodman, which quickly brought back very fond memories of Walter Sobchak in the film The Big Lebowski.

My patience was about to be tested once again because Dan was simply going to send me on several suicide missions on my lonesome, while he relaxes with a glass of whiskey in a dirty glass. “Here we go again” I thought, as more people started asking me to find buggy parts. I had to take a break at this point, and although I will return to the Wasteland, I will need to recharge my patience again first.

The growing trend in games seems to involve a gang of redundant characters sitting down and telling you to jump through hoops fetching them stuff. I don’t mind doing my bit, but the very least they can do, is accompany me on the journey and watch my back along the way. Traditionally gaming characters have not been much use and have opted to stand by your side shooting at nothing, but at least they are trying, god bless them.

If this kind of lazy behaviour was to occur in real-life and people were to ask you to fight fifty bad guys on your own just to collect trivial items for them, while they sit down with their feet up, what would you say? You would obviously ask “what exactly are you going to be doing whilst I risk my ass?”, so why do it in a game?

Am I over reacting or does anyone else get frustrated at lazy gaming characters?

When Online Smack Talk Ends With A Man’s Hands Around Your Throat

Once again, gaming was the talk of the town for the wrong reasons a few weeks ago, thanks to headlines such as “Gamer throttles schoolboy over online war game” spread over the internet. The usual suspects at the Daily Mail reported the story in which a 46-year-old man was playing Call of Duty all day and suddenly lost it when a 13-year-old boy goaded him over his online death in the game. The man went to the nearby house where the boy was playing, walked into the front room and grabbed him around the throat with both hands.

Behind the sensationalist headline, we once again find there is more to this story than the headline originally led their readers to believe. We quickly learned that we were actually dealing with a 46-year-old unemployed father of three with mental issues, who was also a loosely connected friend of the thirteen year old boy’s family and the incident was over a game with an 18 certification.

When looking at the facts of the story, it’s not hard to see that a game such as Call of Duty is not to blame here. Once again, the growing number of social issues that the media prefer to brush under the carpet are caused by evil games, because its easier than tackling the real problems.

Much more interesting though, were the results of a new study that showed that teens were non-bothered by vulgar slurs online. Most realise that everything is said in the name of banter and that deep down, everyone knows they don’t really mean it. That’s according to an Associated Press-MTV poll of young people between 14 and 24.

The article said “Most say they feel more comfortable with slurs online because people are just trying to be funny or cool. Fifty-four percent of young people think it’s okay to use discriminatory language within their circle of friends because people know we don’t mean it.”  In short, it’s become an accepted part of people’s experience online.

It is quite strange to think that there are two worlds out there. You have the real one, where you are unable to you use offensive language as you’ll be perceived as having the character of an uneducated scumbag, and then this alternate world, which serves as a virtual wild west where anything goes. You can say whatever you want, which although you know is wrong, is equally quite liberating.

Of course, there is a seriously dark and sinister side to this online bullying, it’s a growing problem that needs to be taken very seriously. We all know that bullying should never be trivialised or mocked, but this two-sided life in the 21^st century is nothing short of fascinating and showcases the hypocrisy of the modern world.

Jay and Silent Bob will hunt down trolls…

Finally, if you are one of the internet tough guys that spends their time online abusing anyone and everyone that they come across, one of those hiding behind the anonymity of your PC because it makes you feel a little better about yourself, helping you forget the fact your life is actually going nowhere. If you are one of these people, then may I remind you of the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back? A movie where the titular duo spend their royalty money on airplane tickets, solely to track down everybody on the internet who expressed negative opinions about them so they could kick their asses.

“It’s just a dumb movie!” I hear you shouting at me. Maybe that’s what the 13-year-old thought, shortly before finding a mans hands around his throat. So, next time you find yourself feeling brave and reckless online, maybe you should have a quick think on what might happen…

GAMEFEST 2011 BIRMINGHAM NEC

Most of you reading this will already have the much-anticipated Eurogamer Expo firmly stamped in your calendar, but this year, high street store GAME has decided to get in on the act by putting on a show of their own: GAMEfest 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham. The event was exclusive for GAME Reward Card holders and is conveniently tagged on to their annual conference, allowing them to dip their toes into the event market.

The timing of the event has caused criticism from some publishers who feel torn between a new event from the UK’s biggest games retailer, and an established consumer show.

One affected publisher anonymously told MCV recently that “with just three days to move from one site to the other, many are unimpressed by the expected costs”. Eurogamer chief, Rupert Loman, told MCV he was “disappointed GAME is attempting to split the market”.

The reality is, there is room for both events and publishers should cease complaining about their overwhelming success, and realise that gamers exist outside of London town. The figures speak for themselves as last year, over 20,000 people attended the Eurogamer Expo in London and it was so successful they have doubled in size this year. The GAMEfest event has been attended by over 30,000 GAME customers and there are already plans to expand on this next year, after being taken by surprise at its success.

To put things into perspective in 2011, where the exhibition and event market has been struggling, over 70,000 people will have attended a gaming event in the UK in ten days. Gaming is now a mainstream entertainment medium and games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 will have opening weekends to rival the majority of Hollywood blockbuster movies. The world is slowly waking up to this.

GAMEfest had something special up its sleeve in the form of an exclusive showing from Activision; this was the first time UK Gamers were able to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 before its release in November. Considering the only other people to have played MW3 were at the CoD XP event in L.A along with Kanye West a few weeks ago, this is quite a coup for GAMEfest.

Upon entering the gaming hub for a presentation of MW3 by Activision, I sat down and was tweeting during a truly cringe-worthy Turtle Beach advert, I was tapped on the shoulder and told to turn my phone off. This seemed a bit of overkill, considering the majority of people have already seen this footage from E3 online anyway.

No phones allowed in the hub…

However, you cannot deny that the footage, showing you surfacing from the depths of the ocean and climbing on to a Russian submarine to witness the New York skyline ablaze (complete with the Freedom Tower in the distance), is nothing short of epic. If that doesn’t grab you, then a battle on the London Underground will make you admit that this shit actually looks good. Hey, the Daily Mail would probably be outraged but that is a foregone conclusion.

With my own fingers and thumbs I was able to play the Survival Spec Ops mode, which, I am sure you are aware, involves fending off assaults from increasingly difficult waves of enemies. I was paired with a member of the Activision team, who I must admit performed better than I did, as my accuracy rating could use a little work. The levels France and Dome were typical Modern Warfare but, with the TurtleBeach cans turned right up to eleven, it was very hard not to be won over.

Before playing Battlefield, you have to get past these guys.

When originally arriving at GAMEfest, I was expecting Battlefield to blow CoD out of the water, but after playing through the Battlefield 3 single-player mission, Operation Guillotine, which is a somewhat generic, night-based mission set on the outskirts of Tehran, I was left feeling a little underwhelmed.

IS CALL OF DUTY ELITE PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION A FAIR DEAL?

When Activision originally announced their new Call of Duty Elite premium subscription package for £34.99 or $49.99 a year (or included in Modern Warfare 3‘s top-end Hardened Edition), I originally responded with “What a bloody rip off” and walked away thinking that once again, Activision were milking their cash cow for all it’s worth. They seem intent on squeezing every last drop from the world’s best selling game, whilst fleecing gamers in the process. Once I had time to calm down and look under the bonnet to see exactly what was on offer, I hate to admit that actually the deal could actually end up saving you money if MW3 is your weapon of choice.

A quick look at the FAQ reveals the following: “The annual subscription to Call of Duty Elite is an all-inclusive membership, and that means you get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 downloadable content, including all of the MW3 map packs and more as part of your premium membership. No need to buy additional DLC.”

Previous Call of Duty games released, on average, four map packs during their life cycle. If you are the kind of CoD Fan that would buy all of these maps, the Elite Package would actually be considerably better value than buying them separately throughout the year.

There is certainly a bittersweet pill to swallow here, as the Elite members will get their hands a new batch of content every month first, rather than waiting for the usual quarterly release of multiplayer maps, extra spec ops missions and new game modes. This means that non subscribers could end up of the pace and playing catch-up, which in effect could be seen as forcing them to subscribe to get the most out of the game.

Value for money or pointless willy waving?

Personally, I am of the belief that Activision are marketing the Elite Premium subscription all wrong. Nobody gives a rat’s ass about gold clan tags, premium theatre, groups, Elite TV and various other willy waving statistic boards. The majority of people are unaware that you actually receive all MW3 DLC, which will be around twenty items and released monthly so you will always have something new in the game. If you don’t like the game, then this will never appeal to you, but for a Call of Duty regular; this is genuinely a good deal.

Although Elite Premium and EA Sports Season tickets are receiving growing criticism by offering their own services, they are arguably better value than paying Microsoft £40 Xbox Live for a marketplace to buy more things. Especially considering that if you were only ever playing FIFA online on your Xbox, which uses EA’s own servers, you have to ask: “What am I paying Microsoft for?”

The world is caught in the middle of a financial crisis and everyone, more than ever before, is having to watch what they spend. If you are one of the gamers out there who have paid  £40 to Microsoft for Xbox Live, £40 for a game and then £35 for an exclusive club, then you have just blown £115 to play one game on a console. How many people can actually afford to do this? As people begin to get more thrifty, you can see on many gaming forums that there is a growing voice of people calling Activision greedy, as they are tired of playing the same game each year.

Franchise down… Repeat, we have a franchise down.

Even hardcore CoD fans seem to be getting more excited about the release of Battlefield 3, and maybe it’s not about CoD refusing to change or even the fact Battlefield 3 has Jet Fighters; but people are simply getting tired of Activision’s greed and are starting to make a stand.

So as the haters begin to defect from CoD, the irony is that they could quite easily end up spending more anyway, as they will have to pay for individual map packs for Battlefield over a year. Gamers will never win, and maybe that’s what attracts us all; the constant challenge and thrill of the chase.

That said, if your life is not complete without CoD MW3 and all of the map packs for the next 12 months, then the Elite premium subscription package is officially a good deal, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

THE UK EMERGENCE OF GAMESTOP!

Over the last few years, supermarkets have received criticism for selling big title games like Call of Duty and FIFA at a loss, knowing that they will end up recouping the money quickly. They did this with the thinking that the average customer will probably spend more in store anyway, so on paper it’s a cunning yet shrewd move.

However, maybe gamers were too frugal and simply brought the game and nothing else, because supermarkets don’t seem to be offering the same tempting deals any more.

There is a new sheriff is in town, though, and he answers to the name GameStop. This tough hombre seems to be adopting a very familiar tactic (I’ll stop this western thing now, shall I?).

Although not hugely popular here in the UK at the moment, GameStop have been around since 1984 and are the world’s largest video-game and entertainment software retailer with 6,500 retail stores worldwide. They seem to be aggressively moving into the UK online market, which can only further affect troubled stores like GAME, who have been closing stores at an alarming rate.

For those of you that have missed out on the recent deals, last week the retailer hit the headlines when it reduced current UK No.1, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, to just £20.97 for a limited period. They followed up with Driver: San Francisco for just £21.97, after tweeting the deal and advising that it would last for one hour.

Online shoppers will be more than aware of this interesting sales strategy, which comes through the medium of social networking sites such as Twitter. They can sell the most popular games at a loss, which will guarantee high levels of traffic to their website and new customer sign-ups, which would most likely be much cheaper and more effective than any big advertising and marketing campaigns.

Make no mistake though; no consumer website is actually your friend and will never operate with only your best interests at heart. It is worth remembering that GameStop also recently admitted to removing coupons from the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The coupons would have entitled buyers to sample a free copy of the title on streaming service OnLive, but Gamestop removed them as they are launching their own game streaming service in 2012. It would not be a giant leap of faith to see the importance of gathering customers information to prepare for such an event, and what better way to do this than to offer cheap games?

Deus Ex: HR for £20.97, but what’s the catch?

In under a week they have massively discounted two of the biggest games this year and when asked by Tweeters about the deals, they replied with “There’s more to come!”. I have a feeling that we will be seeing lots more gaming bargains heading our way this year, but at what cost?

As a gamer and a man that appreciates the concept of value, the allure of a gaming bargain often proves too great to resist, but it’s also very important to remember that stores selling games at a loss are doing this to destroy the competition. When your local friendly independent store has gone, you can guarantee that the bargains will no longer exist, so in the long game do you actually save any money?

I am of the belief that gamers are quite a savvy bunch and their favourite pastime prevents them from being played by marketing teams. They play the game well, which is why supermarkets have retreated a little from the price war.

You all know the risks involved. You know that you are being offered games at a steal in the hope of you signing up and becoming a loyal customer, just so they can reap the rewards in the near future. We have all played through enough story arcs to know that misguided loyalty or blind faith will kill you faster than any bullet, but we’re also wise enough to know if you play the game right you can bag yourself a true bargain.

What are your thoughts on this kind of sales strategy? Let us know how you feel about GameStop by commenting below.

COD XP AND THE KAYNE FACTOR…

We are living in the age of celebrity, where Heat Magazine sells by the bucket-load. Cynical gamer types like us don’t need to worry about trivial things like that because we’re different, right? Sorry, guys and dolls but you may have missed the memo. Gaming is the new rock n’ roll.

With budgets and sales to rival Hollywood blockbusters, I guess it was only a matter of time before the PR Machines began to throw celebrities into the mix. They’re trying to make the big game releases feel more like movie premieres; complete with full red carpet treatment.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops officially being the “best-selling game of all time”, maybe it’s of no surprise that Activision have announced that their Call of Duty XP Event will hit Los Angeles on September 2nd and 3rd and will headlined by Kanye West. There are even rumours that Jay-Z will make an appearance in front of 6,000 people paying $150 for the privilege. The event will be the public’s first chance to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 online and Microsoft are even sponsoring a $1 Million Tournament.

We are talking about big business here, considering how much the average CoD fan will spend on map packs, DLC and the title itself over a year before repeating the process all over again (break the cycle people!). When you strip this down to the bone, you can see that this is no longer about gaming, but simply a huge ad campaign defending a multi-billion dollar first-person shooter brand to ensure Activision’s market share remains intact. This is not something the average gamer will think about when buying Modern Warfare 3, but to the men in suits this is all that it’s about.

Some serious money is being spent on the event. To me it feels like a boxing movie, where the ageing champion has become arrogant and having lost sight of what made him the best in the world has resorted to entering the ring throwing money into the crowd. Despite spending thousands trying to guarantee CoD retaining its title as the best FPS, there is a worthy challenger in the form of EA’s Battlefield 3 waiting for their moment of glory after smelling a weakness in their adversary.

I’mma let you finish, but…

As fiercely loyal as CoD fans are, a look on Twitter, Facebook or the many gaming forums online there is a definite wind of change in the air. It is almost considered very cool to knock Activision and dislike the Call of Duty franchise, where the Battlefield series appears to be gaining much online love since July when the official site for EA’s upcoming blockbuster launched. Although EA are far from being small fry, it seems people will always root for the underdog, especially when they announce that they want to destroy their opponent.

Here at This Is My Joystick we have interviewed several gaming celebrities who genuinely love gaming, but there seems to be a growing trend of using big-name celebrities who have clearly never played a game in their life. Take Helen Mirren and Terry Wogan in Nintendo’sChristmas Campaign last year. You can imagine some hipster standing in a boardroom saying“If we are going to sell this shit to the public we need to add the Hollywood Effect”.

Whatever you are selling, it’s common knowledge that if you want to fool your customers then you need to use celebrities in your ads. It’s the modern way and somehow makes people think the product is must have and glamorous. Hell, it may even make you cool if you buy it.

The reality is that the agent calls the so-called celebrity and says something like “Pretend you like Product X and you’ll get a suitcase full of cash for an afternoon’s work. You in?” I like to think that gamers are a little more switched on than this though and can smell a sell-out when they see one.

Mock my knitwear collection but don’t mention the fish sticks joke…

Despite the idiocy of it all and the ridiculous lengths that Activision are going to simply to protect their turf, I think it is testament to just how successful gaming has become as an entertainment medium. A game release is just as an important as a Hollywood summer blockbuster premiere in the eyes of the world, which is something that I never thought that I would see in my lifetime. With this comes the dreaded celebrity endorsements and the hypocrisy that comes with them, but unfortunately feel that this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

As the two giants, EA and Activision, go toe-to-toe with each other, the only real winners will be the gamers. Tough competition will force the developers to up their game to create the best possible gaming experience, so maybe it’s not that bad after all.

Let us know what you think about the battle of the two FPS giants, celebrity endorsements and gaming getting the Hollywood treatment.